WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.320 Thank you. 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.160 Well, it's such a joy to be with you. 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:08.080 Although I wish that I could have been with you in person to be able to open up God's word with you, even in this form. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:09.679 It is such a joy for me. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:13.519 And so you guys can take your Bibles and open them up to Mark chapter 5. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.120 And we're going to be in verses 1 to 20 this morning. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:27.839 And as we're opening there, I wonder if you have ever met someone who, at the time that you first met them, you didn't realize that they possessed a certain power. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:31.920 Maybe it was a strength or a characteristic or an ability. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.439 And the first time you met them, you didn't know that they had this ability. 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:42.960 But as you came to know them more and more, you realize that they weren't what you first thought they were. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.479 Maybe this person has a strength that you didn't think they would have. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:55.039 You shook their hand and they had that real businessman handshake, the crippling handshake, and you came to realize this person has more strength than I realized. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:59.920 Maybe you might look at a person and say, well, that person is smarter than they look. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:08.400 Whatever it is, this person has a strength and a power that you didn't think originally that they would possess. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:18.159 But as time passes, you become gripped with this ability, you become gripped with this power, you begin to comprehend exactly who this person is. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:28.719 Now that familiar feeling that we all have experienced at times in our life is the feeling that the disciples are going to experience with Jesus in Mark chapter 5, verses 1 to 20. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:43.599 As they stood on that hillside and watched Jesus interact with a man who was possessed with demons, they were about to witness Jesus' power on display. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:52.000 And their jaws would drop as they came to realize again just how powerful Jesus is. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:02:03.439 In fact, this display of power that Jesus would put on, it would be the greatest display of Jesus' power since before the creation of the world when he cast the demons out of his heavenly presence. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:13.360 And the disciples and us this morning, we get to stand and watch Jesus Christ display his power against these demons. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:16.879 Jesus isn't putting his power on display just to show off. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:25.919 He's putting his power on display with great intentionality because he wants to accomplish something in your heart this morning. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:34.639 He wants to show you that if you have any chance at possessing the faith that is required to follow him. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:39.520 It requires that you are gripped by his power. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:48.800 That if you are able to follow Jesus, you must be daily gripped by the power of Jesus. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:53.759 And listen, we need to be taught this lesson this morning. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:01.120 We need it so much because following Jesus is impossible if we're not gripped by the power of Jesus. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:03.039 Think about this for a moment. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:09.039 If you don't believe Jesus is powerful, then you will never turn to Jesus. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:10.319 Why would you? 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:23.919 It is of immense importance that you are gripped daily by the power of Jesus, because if you believe that Jesus is a powerful person who can act in your life with great power, you will turn to him constantly. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:35.120 Listen, church, what what will happen if we're gripped by the power of Jesus and that common anxiety starts to well up in our hearts and starts to well up in our souls? 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:42.879 Well, if we were gripped by the power of Jesus, we would turn to him, knowing that he is able to deliver us from whatever situation that we're that we're in. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:52.080 What would happen if we were discouraged by the sin that seems like it has such a powerful grip on us that seems like we just can't get it unrooted from our lives? 00:03:52.319 --> 00:04:02.719 Well, if we are gripped by the power of Jesus, we would turn to him, knowing that his power is greater than any sin that could ever take root in our hearts. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.439 So then we must be gripped by the power of Christ. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:19.920 And this morning we're going to be seeing Jesus putting his power on display for this very purpose, that you might be gripped by his power, that you might have the faith to be able to follow him no matter the circumstance. 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:25.920 So I want you to see this in Mark chapter 5, verses 1 to 20. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.519 And I'd like to read the passage in full for us. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:31.199 You can read along with me. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:35.920 It says this they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Garosenes. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:42.480 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:47.519 He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, and not even with a chain. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:56.959 For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, he broke the shackles in pieces, no one had the strength to subdue him. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:02.879 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:10.879 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him, crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have you to do with me? 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:17.199 Jesus, Son of the Most High God, I adjure you by God, do not torment me. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.720 For he was saying, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:23.360 And Jesus asked him, What is your name? 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:26.480 He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.079 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:37.120 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, Send us to the pigs, let us enter them. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:47.600 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:50.879 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:06:03.199 The people came to see what it was that happened, and they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:11.040 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs, and they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:17.360 And he was getting into the boat, and the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:26.319 And he did not permit him, but said to him, Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:34.319 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decopolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:42.720 First thing I want you to see is that if we're going to be gripped by the power of Christ, we must come to expect the destructive power of the enemy. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:48.319 If we're going to be gripped by the power of Christ, we must come to expect the destructive power of the enemy. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:59.680 Now, at this point in the Gospel of Mark, the disciples had seen the power of Christ put on display time and time again, and yet still they were not gripped with it. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:12.000 At this point in the Gospel of Mark, they were just freshly shaken by perhaps the most terrifying experience that they would ever endure. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.959 See, they had just boarded a boat with Jesus. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:26.879 And while they were on the boat, a great storm arose, and as wind beat it against the side of the boat, and as waves were crashing over the side, they feared for their lives. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:33.839 They wondered if they would ever make it, and then they found Jesus, the one who was proclaiming that he was the Son of God. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:35.439 And what was he doing on the boat? 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:36.959 He was asleep. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:44.240 As they feared for their lives, they cried out to Jesus and they said, Don't you, don't you care that we're perishing? 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:46.959 This boat is sinking and you're asleep. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:54.800 And Jesus arose, and the disciples would see what we read and see. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:59.279 Jesus' great power put on display against nature. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:01.120 He would speak to the wind and the waves. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.319 He would say, Be still, and they would stop. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:10.079 The disciples would realize that Jesus has a power that is utterly unique. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:22.399 Now, what happens next in that story should really shock the reader because we would expect that Jesus would turn around after calming the wind and the waves, he'd turn around and he'd say, Wow, that was a deep sleep. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:25.360 I can't believe I just slept through that huge storm. 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:34.879 Instead, what he says in Mark 40, Mark 4, 40, he says, Why were you so afraid? 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.559 Have you still no faith? 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.000 Why would Jesus respond like that? 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.320 See, we should be able to sympathize with the disciples a little bit. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:48.480 They feared for their lives. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:56.159 They didn't think that they were going to make it, and they looked at Jesus, the one who said he had power, and he was asleep on the boat. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:05.039 And yet Jesus responds like this because the disciples should have already been gripped by the power of Jesus. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:09.840 They should have come to expect that his power would deliver them. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:15.600 They should have been gripped by the power of Jesus, and so they had no faith. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:20.399 Because of this, the disciples respond at the very end of Mark chapter 4. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:25.039 They say, Who then is this that even the wind and the waves obey him? 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:31.919 Now that question will be answered, but Jesus will do more for us than just answer the question with words. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:37.679 Instead, he's going to practically show us and the disciples exactly who he is. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:49.279 Actions speak louder than words, and so this is the compassion of our Savior that he wants us so much to be gripped by the power of Christ that immediately after the disciples ask this question, Who then is this? 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.519 He finds himself in front of the demon-possessed man. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.360 And so look what it says in Mark chapter 5, verses 1 to 2. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:14.879 It says they came to the other side of the sea into the country of the Garrisons, and when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, see this word, immediately, Jesus wants to impress this lesson on our hearts and on the disciples' hearts, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:21.440 And Jesus steps off the boat and out from the tomb comes running to him, a man with an unclean spirit. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:27.279 Now we learn a bit more about this later, but this man is possessed by thousands of demons. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:43.840 As we come to know this man and to hear his story, we will become increasingly horrified by the way that these unclean spirits, these demons, have absolutely destroyed this man's life. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:52.240 There's been absolute destruction and ruin of his entire life. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:11:00.159 One commentator notes that this story of destruction and ruin, he says, is one of the most lamentable stories in all of Scripture. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:08.399 See, this man's life had been come to absolute ruin by the destructive powers of the enemies of Christ that were possessing him. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:12.639 So much so that Mark tells us that he lived among the tombs. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:15.919 Now, the tombs, they functioned as a modern-day graveyard. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:23.360 And so what society was saying to this man is your life is in such ruin, you are such a mess that you are worth nothing to us. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:27.679 Go and live among the dead because that's as good as you are to us. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.879 And so this man, he lived among the tombs. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:36.559 Living among the dead, he would be ritually unclean according to the Levitical law. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:37.919 And you need to hear this. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:54.159 If you are listening to God's word this morning and you are an unbeliever, you need to hear that there are demons, that Satan is real, that there are powers of evil that are out to destroy your life this very day. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:59.120 That Satan is aiming for your eternal destruction. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:05.440 This is why Jesus says in John 8.44 that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.799 He desires your eternal destruction. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.120 He has murderous intent. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:15.840 And if you're an unbeliever here this morning, you need to hear this. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:21.840 Maybe you respond, well, Satan and demons, that's just fairy tales, that's not really real. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.919 But let me ask you this question. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.159 Are you sure? 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:32.720 Are you 100% sure that they are not real? 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:40.639 Because God has come and He's spoken into this world to say that they are, and they are aiming for your eternal destruction. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:44.559 And yet this is God's grace to you. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:48.399 That He's hit the pause button at this very moment. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:13:09.279 He's hit the pause button on the enemy's destructive intent in your life so that you, for the next few minutes, can hear of the power of the one who can deliver you, so that you can openly be invited to rest in the protection that Christ can offer you from the destruction of his enemies. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:17.120 Now, the tombs, they were a suitable place for this man because this man had been an absolute terror to those that were around him. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:21.679 Verse 3 tells us that he was so set on destruction that he could no longer be dealt with. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:23.039 Look what it says in verse 3. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:29.840 He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:34.000 You see the absolute destruction that the powers of evil had had on this man's life? 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:40.559 No one could bind him, not for any length of time, not with any type of material, even chains. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:41.919 They had tried everything. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:43.120 Look what it says in verse 4. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:50.000 It said, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.039 No one had strength to subdue him. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:14:00.639 Nothing could work, and it is clear that at this point in time he is a hopeless case. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:05.759 Even Mark would admit that no one had the strength to subdue him. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.919 Not only was he a terror to those around him, he was also destroying his own life. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:11.120 Look what it says in verse 5. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:18.480 It says, Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:22.399 Now stop here for a moment. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:34.879 Because as we read of the destruction of this man's life, because of the demons that have possessed him, the feeling that we have should be like the feeling of seeing a horrific car accident. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.039 This is a picture of absolute destruction. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:49.120 And this is what we must come to expect from the enemies of Christ if we are going to be able to be delivered or be gripped by the power of Christ. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.320 This is what Satan and his demons and the powers of evil want. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:57.279 They want your destruction. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:00.960 They're out to destroy. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:08.080 And so every time in scripture, when we get a glimpse into the workings of the enemies of Christ, we see destruction. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:09.440 We see it in the garden. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:13.519 When Satan successfully tempts Adam and Eve to disobey God. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:22.000 Peter writes in 1 Peter 5.8, he says, your adversary prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:29.200 And all throughout Scripture, whenever Satan shows up, we see that his aim is destruction. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:31.440 And so let me ask you this question. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:38.000 Have you come to expect the destructive power to be active in your own life? 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:49.440 The reality for many of us is that there is a prowling lion around us seeking our destruction, and many of us live like there, like we face no harm at all. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:51.759 Like there's no power that's against us. 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:54.320 We live as though Satan doesn't exist. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:01.600 And so let me ask you this question: when was the last time you really thought about the potential danger you are in? 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:09.039 And the ways that Satan and his evil minions and the powers of sin in your life may be leading you to destruction? 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:14.720 Because there is a lion that is prowling around and seeking your destruction. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:24.799 Let me ask you this: what footholds might sin have in your life right now that could lead to your destruction? 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:31.519 Satan is seeking to use those things in your life to destroy you eternally. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:40.080 Many of us live as though Satan doesn't intend to destroy us, and this is the way that Satan would have us, have us live. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:45.279 Satan doesn't want us to know that he is actively out to destroy us eternally. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:52.080 See, what Jesus is doing here for us is he's teaching us the way that evil works in our lives. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.360 See, Christ's enemies, they don't like to be expected. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:59.759 They like to destroy your life without you even knowing it. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.480 And so notice that the text says that the man, he couldn't be bound anymore. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:17.920 That means that there was a time in this man's life when the evil had only had so much destruction on his life that he was still able to be bound, but now it had come to a point where evil had such a grip on him that he wasn't even able to be bound. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:21.039 And this is the way that Satan would have it. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:25.039 This is the way that evil works in our lives. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:30.240 See, we're not often presented with a life-destroying sin on a platter in front of us. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:34.880 Satan doesn't appear to us one day and say, hey, why don't you go and cheat on your spouse? 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:37.680 Instead, it starts with something small. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.160 Maybe it's a lustful look. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.160 Maybe it's a private conversation. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:18:00.720 It leads to some more destructive action, whether it's addiction, a pornography, or an inappropriate, appropriate meeting, and day by day you are led down this path of destruction until Satan is able to take absolutely everything away from you and destroy your life completely. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.000 And so diagnose your life right now. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:08.000 What footholds might Satan have to destroy you? 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:14.240 Here is a man absolutely destroyed by the power of Christ's enemies. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:25.839 And yet by the grace of God, both this man and we this morning stand in front of the one who is able to deliver us from the destructive power. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:35.359 And so the next thing I want you to notice is that if we want to be gripped by the power of Christ, we must experience the delivering power of the Savior. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:38.960 We must experience the delivering power of the Savior. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:46.640 Now in verse 6, we take our eyes off of the destruction and set them back on the encounter between this man and Jesus Christ. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:55.759 Now that Mark has set the stage for the destructive power, the delivering power of Jesus is all the more magnified. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:58.640 Now we know what Christ is up against. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.759 And so now we read this story with great anticipation. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:06.079 See, here is a completely hopeless man in a hopeless case. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.160 No one can deliver him. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:17.279 And on this side is this man that cannot be delivered, but then on this side is this man, Jesus Christ, who can stop the wind and the waves. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:30.160 And the question is this does this man who calls himself the Son of God have the power to deliver the most hopeless of the hopeless? 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.519 The most destroyed man. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:38.400 Is it possible that Jesus has the power to deliver this man? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.599 Now it's clear what the demons think about the power of Christ. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:53.200 Before the battle could even begin, the demon, the one who is powerful enough to break bonds of iron, he hurls himself at the feet of Jesus. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:54.720 And look what it says in verse 6. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:20:00.160 It says, when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:04.000 On his knees, listen to what he screams to Jesus in verse 7. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:09.599 He says, crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:13.200 I adjure you by God, do not torment me. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:20.880 See, these the initial words of the demon show who has the ultimate power in this battle. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:23.920 Even the demons know. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:29.440 Even the demons are clear that Jesus is infinitely more powerful. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:40.480 And so in an instant, this man who had untamable strength is tamed in the presence of Christ, bowing at his feet, pleading and begging before him. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:51.599 And so our question is this: why do the demons who have brought such destruction to this man's life, why do they submit so quickly to Jesus? 00:20:52.400 --> 00:21:08.000 See, this is just a reality that if you know anything about martial arts, that if you are fighting someone who is bigger than you, who is more powerful than you, then the best martial art that you can practice against them is the martial art of fleeing. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:12.960 The best thing you can do if you are up against someone who you know can destroy you is run away. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:16.720 And yet these demons, they don't run away, instead, they run towards Jesus. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.319 Why would they do that? 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:22.640 Because they know who he is. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:27.200 They correctly call him the Son of the Most High God. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:34.720 They rightly recognize that Jesus has a power that is unique and universal, that there's no power like his. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:38.079 Because there's no power that is above his. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:45.440 Jesus is the greatest power, and so the demons know exactly what is about to happen. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:46.799 And so they beg Jesus. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:50.640 They say, I adjure you by God, do not torment me. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:59.680 The demons understood where they stood in relation to Christ, that they were enemies of Christ, and that Christ's power was not only superior to theirs, but high. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.519 Hostile to them. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.640 See, outside of Christ, this is your greatest problem as well. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:16.079 See, sin is a great problem because if you're not gripped by the power of Christ, you are hostile to the power of Christ. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:22.079 This is why your sin puts you in a horrible position. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:28.240 Because not only have you not lived for God, actually in your life you have lived against God. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:35.920 This is why you're so deserving of condemnation, because you're not just indifferent to God, you're actually hostile to God. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:42.720 And so the demons, they know the superior and hostile power of Jesus towards them. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.240 And so they can't run away. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:49.440 They've got to run to him and quickly submit and quickly surrender their lives to him. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:59.119 That's why Mark notes in verse 8, he says this, for he was saying to them, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:12.640 See what the demons say in verse 7 is actually in response to the fact that they know, as soon as they say, as soon as they see Jesus, they know that he has come to deliver this man from their destructive power. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.039 Their fate is sealed. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:22.079 And though that so they have a fear and a respect of Jesus' power because they know the direction of Jesus' power. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:29.920 They know that Jesus has come to powerfully deliver this man, and so that means that their destruction was imminent. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.720 This is who our Savior is. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:39.359 Jesus Christ is the compassionate savior of those who cannot deliver themselves. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:47.440 Jesus, the powerful one, comes to deliver his children from the grips of evil. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:54.960 See, this morning we need to see and be gripped by this reality that Jesus' power is a delivering power. 00:23:55.119 --> 00:24:03.200 The Son of the Most High God came that he might deliver his children from evil. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:16.799 See, if you're a child of God in the presence of Jesus, your heart can rejoice, because here is the one who has come to deliver you from the grips of evil in your life. 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:23.920 Where the demons tremble in fear, the children of God find comfort and rejoicing. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:28.400 Jesus has come not to condemn, but to deliver his children. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:33.440 And so let me ask you this: when Jesus returns, imagine this day for a moment. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:38.400 When Jesus returns, what will your reaction be? 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:43.839 He's coming back to deliver his children and to destroy his enemies. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:51.200 And so the question is, as a child of God, will you experience the delivering power of the Savior? 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:57.359 Or as an enemy, will you experience the condemning power of his justice? 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:04.559 See, the coming of Christ will be much like if the police were to show up at a house that is in the process of currently being robbed. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:09.279 When the police show up to that house, there's two reactions of people inside the house. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:15.519 If you're the person whose house it is that is currently being robbed, then when the police show up, there's great relief. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:21.279 Here are the ones whose presence means you are about to be delivered. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:24.720 In their presence you find protection. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:26.480 In their presence you find safety. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:33.920 And yet, if you are the robber in that house, you find great dread, knowing that they are coming for you. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:39.839 Knowing that in that house you are the one who has been working the forces of evil. 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:44.799 And the police, the authorities are there to destroy you. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:54.880 The question for you is on that final day when Jesus returns, it will be the same presence of the same man, and yet there will be two different reactions. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:57.200 And what reaction will you have? 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:00.720 See, the thing that makes all the difference is faith. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:16.640 If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, if you have been gripped by his power, then on that day when he returns, you will know that your deliverer has come to deliver you finally and forever from evil. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:21.039 But outside of faith, you have no hope. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:28.079 This is the power of Jesus to deliver his children from the grips of evil. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:32.319 But Mark this morning, he wants us to find even more comfort than this. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:44.000 See, by giving us a window into the nature and the identity of the unclean spirits, Jesus is showing us that he's not only intent on delivering us from evil, he's also able to deliver us from evil. 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:45.759 Look at what it says in verse 9. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:48.880 It says, And Jesus asked them, What is your name? 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:53.119 He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:58.240 Now, what Mark is doing here is showing us exactly who Jesus is up against. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:00.400 The demon's name is Legion. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.559 Now, Legion is a Roman word. 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:06.960 It's used to describe an army that contained close to 6,000 men. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:12.079 And the number is significant here because it's showing us that this is not a fair fight. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:13.519 This is not one verse one. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:15.759 This is one verse six thousand. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:19.039 And this is not an unorganized mob of demons. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:26.720 This is a legion of demons, an army of demons that are powerful and have the intention of destruction. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:29.119 They're after something here. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:31.839 And so do you see what is happening here? 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:38.480 We're continuing to see the destructive power of the one that Jesus is up against. 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:45.680 And why is Mark spending so much time describing to us just how powerful the demons are in this scenario? 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:54.400 It's because if Jesus is able to deliver this man from this situation, how much more is he able to deliver you? 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:59.599 This is an argument from the greater to the lesser. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:04.640 See, if Jesus is able to deliver this man, so much more is he able to deliver you. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:12.720 If he's able to deliver the most hopeless, how much more is he able to deliver you? 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:17.680 The disciples had just asked in in chapter four, who is this man? 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.359 And the answer is about to come. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:26.079 He is the one who is able to deliver the most hopeless from their most hopeless situation. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.440 And so in verses ten to thirteen we see the deliverance take place. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:30.640 And read with me here. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:34.799 In verse 10 it says, And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:41.680 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, Send us to the pigs, let us enter them. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:54.160 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:29:00.799 Now I know we have some questions here, and perhaps at the top of our mind is this question Well, why the pigs? 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:04.720 Or maybe some of the men in the church are asking, well, where's the bacon? 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:10.559 Wondering if maybe they went up and had a big pig roast, carved up some bacon, it was time to feast. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:19.680 Well, I want to talk about the pigs, but can we just take a moment to hit the pause button on the story and appreciate what has happened here? 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:24.000 Here is the delivering power of Jesus on display. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:27.519 The demons who could not be subdued are subdued. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:31.359 The demons that could not be bound are bound. 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:37.039 The one man who could find no deliverance has been delivered. 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:41.200 See, church, we need to find such great comfort here. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:46.000 Jesus is the one who is able to bring healing to the most hopeless. 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:49.039 He's able to deliver the most destroyed. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:58.640 And if Jesus is able to deliver this hopeless and destroyed man, how much more is he able to deliver you from whatever you're facing this morning? 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:04.960 Many are here with the great burden of difficult circumstances. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:09.920 You're walking through trial and in the valley of darkness, you see no way out. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:17.920 And Jesus has a word for you this morning that he is powerful and that he is able to deliver you. 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:21.839 By his power, he is able to protect you. 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:31.359 As you see the power of Christ, Jesus wants to lift that burden off of your shoulders and say to you, Come and find rest in me. 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:38.079 I have power adequate enough for you to be delivered from your greatest trials, from your greatest burdens. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:44.319 Perhaps you're here this morning and you've been struggling with sin in your life. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:47.200 Maybe it's a sin you've been battling for years. 00:30:47.359 --> 00:31:04.559 And Christian, you need to hear this that your Savior, your deliverer is one who has the power to deliver you from the deepest, most rooted sin that could ever take hold of your life. 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:09.200 He has the power to deliver you. 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:31.440 What a great mercy it is when we find ourselves here in this moment realizing that we don't have the power to deliver ourselves, that there is only one man who has the power to deliver us, and it is Jesus the Christ. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:32.960 Turn to him. 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:42.480 Turn to our compassionate Savior and be gripped by his power, the power of the one who is able to deliver you in this moment. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:47.519 If you will place your faith in him and say, I can't do it, but Jesus, you can. 00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:50.480 You are the one who has the power. 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:56.000 See your anger, it's not going to be cured by breathing and meditating. 00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:00.559 It will only be cured when you bring it to the feet of Jesus Christ. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:05.680 Your fear of man, it's not going to be solved by gritting your teeth and having some courage. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:07.920 It will only find healing. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:17.279 You will only find healing when you are at the feet of Jesus Christ, the one who is able to deliver you from your greatest sin struggles. 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.319 But finally, why the pigs? 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:29.440 Well, this brings us to our third point: that if I'm going to be gripped by the power of Christ, I must embrace the demanding power of the gospel. 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.480 I must embrace the demanding power of the gospel. 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:43.519 Now, the first thing that we need to realize is that the moral question of the pigs is not really something that was brought up by the modern-day hearers of this story. 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:52.000 It's not brought up in any of the gospels, and the reality is that we're not really told exactly why Jesus chose the pigs. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:33:00.640 But based on the lesson that Jesus is teaching on what it means to be gripped by the power of Christ, we can actually come to a few answers. 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:08.240 Now the reality is that as a society, we have kind of had a shift on how we think about pigs. 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:11.839 And so we read this story, and our immediate thought is, uh, the pigs? 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.359 How could you do that to the pigs? 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:14.880 They're so cute and cuddly. 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:19.440 And you just need to know that's not what the modern day hearer would have thought. 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:22.319 Pigs were thought of much more as a commodity. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:24.079 It was much more like money. 00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:26.240 To have pigs was to have wealth. 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:28.880 And they weren't thought of like these own personal pets. 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:31.599 We've actually had a big cultural shift on pigs. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:39.599 So that if you were to go on like something like Airbnb, you can actually go, you can pay someone to go to their farm and you can pet their pigs. 00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:46.240 And a lot of people, I'm not included in these people, but a lot of people think that that is something that is would be very fun to do. 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:48.240 And I don't 100% understand it. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:53.119 I think you could just go and lay in a dumpster and experience the exact same thing as being with pigs, and that's free. 00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:58.960 And yet we've had this shift so that we look at the story a lot differently than the modern day hearers would have. 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:03.839 But Jesus does cast these demons into the pigs, and the pigs are destroyed. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:06.640 And perhaps there are a few answers we can come to. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:10.079 The first answer is this as to why Jesus would choose the pigs. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:16.320 First, by casting the demons into the pigs, Jesus was proving the effectiveness of his deliverance. 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:24.960 See, no one could stand there and argue that Jesus didn't have power to deliver this man because it was so clearly it so clearly happened. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:34.159 His power was so visibly put on display as the demons exited out of this man and entered into the pigs, and two thousand pigs ran off the cliff. 00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:37.360 See, people around weren't saying, well, that's a normal thing to happen. 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:45.760 That is a strange and absurd thing to happen, and it could only happen if Jesus was who he said he was, the one who is powerful to deliver. 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:54.480 Secondly, it would be so overwhelmingly clear to the disciples and to the people there that the demon's intent was destruction. 00:34:54.719 --> 00:35:01.360 See, again, we see that the enemy is out for destruction because as soon as they enter into the pigs, what do they do? 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:03.679 They hurl themselves off the cliff. 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:05.599 They commit suicide. 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:11.599 If Jesus had not delivered this man, they would have done the exact same thing to him. 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:24.320 But thirdly, and maybe what's most significant to note here is that the pigs show us that Jesus values our deliverance so greatly that he will stop at no costs. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:29.679 See, the 2,000 pigs would have represented an enormous livelihood. 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:42.480 To lose 2,000 pigs would have been a great economic loss, but Jesus is so committed to delivering his children from the grip of the evil one that he will do it no matter the cost. 00:35:43.039 --> 00:35:54.400 Whether it's 2,000 pigs or 2 million pigs, so great is the value of one human soul that Jesus will stop at no cost to save them. 00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:56.719 It doesn't even require a footnote. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:01.840 It should be obvious that this man's life is so much more valuable. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:10.719 This is the cost of salvation of this man, 2,000 pigs. 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:15.039 Well, in scripture, we're shown an even greater the greater cost of salvation. 00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:29.199 We see the cost of salvation most clearly in the cross, where the perfect Son of God would give his life so that he might ransom sinners from their destruction. 00:36:29.760 --> 00:36:45.039 See, if 2,000 undeserving pigs are a great tragedy to you, how much more of a tragedy is it that the only perfect man ever to walk on this planet, he died the death of sinners. 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:51.760 He gave his life to deliver his children from the grips of the evil one. 00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:58.159 He did not deserve it, and yet he died so that those who did deserve death could live forever. 00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:04.880 See, to experience the salvation Christ offers, we must recognize the cost. 00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:19.360 We must recognize what Jesus gave up in order to secure our salvation, not only the lives of 2,000 pigs, but more importantly, his own life, so that you may have eternal life. 00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:28.000 Not only does Jesus want us to recognize the cost, he also requires that we be willing to embrace the demand. 00:37:28.239 --> 00:37:31.920 And yet verses 14 to 17 show us that the community would not agree. 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:38.320 They would disagree with the cost, saying that it was too great, and they would disagree with the demand of Christ, saying that it was too great. 00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:40.800 And so look what happens in verses 14 to 17. 00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:47.599 It says the herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country, and the people came to see what it was that happened. 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:55.119 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed in his right mind, and they were afraid. 00:37:55.360 --> 00:38:04.400 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs, and they began to beg Jesus to depart from there. 00:38:04.639 --> 00:38:21.599 See, this whole community gathers around this amazing display of power, and it's so evident that what has happened is that the man who was untamable was tamed. 00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:26.559 It's so evident this man had been delivered because there he sits at the feet of Jesus. 00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:36.639 The one who was crazy, the one who was breaking binds, shackles of chain and steel, was sitting calmly at the feet of Jesus. 00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:38.960 And so what should their reaction be? 00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:50.719 Well, if they valued what Jesus valued, you'd expect they would bow down and worship and be amazed at what Jesus had done in this man's life, and perhaps be amazed at what Jesus could do in their lives. 00:38:51.519 --> 00:38:55.519 Surely many of them would desire deliverance themselves. 00:38:56.719 --> 00:38:58.639 And yet it's certainly not what happens. 00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:01.280 Instead, we're told they were afraid. 00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:10.239 They had seen the power of Jesus delivering this man from evil. 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:15.840 They had seen how much it cost, and they weren't willing to embrace the cost. 00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:20.400 See, Jesus is teaching us that following him comes at a cost. 00:39:20.559 --> 00:39:26.000 This is a rebuke to our modern day Christianity, our easy believism. 00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:30.320 See, in our day, the call to Christianity is that you don't have to give up much. 00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:34.000 Just be a good person, just go to church, and it's all good. 00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:46.159 But Jesus has a whole new definition that to follow him, to be gripped by his power, is to offer your life as a blank check to him, to say, Jesus, your will is my way. 00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:49.519 I will do whatever you call me to do. 00:39:50.159 --> 00:39:54.960 You are saying that you are now a follower of Jesus, that you have a new king. 00:39:55.760 --> 00:40:03.360 And for some of us, we began our walk with Christ, offering ourselves completely to him, offering our lives as a blank check to him. 00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:07.360 But since then, maybe we've taken back some of our original commitment. 00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:14.639 Maybe in the midst of this pandemic, it's possible that we've loosened our commitment to Christ. 00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:20.400 Where once we were willing to give him everything, maybe now we've taken some back selfishly. 00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:22.480 We want to live our own life. 00:40:29.679 --> 00:40:40.000 Maybe our routine pre-COVID was had us serving in the church, had us discipling our families, had us committed to a small group, had us sharing the gospel with our neighbors. 00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:44.719 But COVID has changed the way that we participate in all of these things, hasn't it? 00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:54.239 And maybe as the routine has changed, you've just stopped completely doing these things that you were once doing to give your life to Jesus Christ as his follower. 00:40:56.480 --> 00:40:59.280 In your season, have you asked yourself this question? 00:40:59.519 --> 00:41:01.840 How can I give myself wholly to Christ? 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:02.880 What needs to change? 00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:20.960