Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Mark chapter five. Mark chapter five. This is a very familiar passage
of scripture. One that I've preached out of many times. I was looking at my notes a couple
of days ago, and unless I'm sadly mistaken, which is very possible, been over 10 years, about 11
years since I spoke out of this passage. When you realize what
it is, it's the story of the demoniac that was delivered by
the Lord. You think to yourself, Has it
been that long? Or this life is fleeting, isn't
it? Mark chapter five. Now this scripture
that we consider today is one that may seem at first to be
very, very particular just to one man, just the circumstances,
that was set forth. But this man that we're going
to look at today is truly a picture of all men, women found to be
born into this world. When we see the state of this
man, This man, we're gonna look at the first five verses, and
I'll look at some more, but I just, I'm gonna start with the first
five in just a second. And here was a man that was totally
in bondage to Satan. Like I said, we might consider
when we first read these first five verses that this was just
the exception to the rule. Nobody's like this. You know,
by and large, nobody's like this. Oh, my friend, it's because we
don't see the depth of the natural man, a man born in Adam. So as we consider these first
five verses, and then Lord willing, going from there, I want you
to realize when we read this, Don't think of this as just being
just something that's just total, out of the ordinary. No, this
is the reality. This is what God has set forth
that all men by nature are like. Mark chapter five, verses one
to five. The scripture sets forth, and
they came over unto the other side of the sea, country of the
Gadarenes. And when he, that is the Lord,
was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs
a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the
tombs. And no man could bind him, no,
not with chains, because that he had been often bound with
fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him,
and the fetters broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he
was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself
with stones. Scripture sets forth that this
man dwelt among the tombs. You know, tombs serve but one
purpose, don't they? What's a tomb for? To house the
dead. To house the dead. That's what a tomb is for. That's
the only thing you do, naturally speaking, with a tomb. You put
that which is dead. Now, is that not the common residence,
spiritually speaking? of every man from birth, all born spiritually dead. Almighty God has set forth that
we're residing from birth in a body of death. Now this was
the truth. Now what I just said was we're
all born by nature residing in a body of death. You're looking at me right here
and you said, well Marvin, I'm looking at you. You're alive
physically, but there's still from birth. There's still an
old man in me that has not changed. There's an old man in me I was
born spiritually dead, and you were too. And that old man is
still there. You that know him, you wrestle
with him every day. There's a battle going on every
day. The Apostle Paul said this concerning
himself, Romans 7 24. Old wretched man, not that I
was, Also, Paul was a converted man. He knew God. God had given
him a new heart. Revealed himself to him on the
road to Damascus. He asked the Lord, who are you?
He said, I'm Jesus, whom you're persecuting. It's hard to kick
against the bricks. And he converted this man, gave
him a new heart. But that old man was still there
in Paul. Paul confessed that right here.
Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? Every believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ knows that there's two men in him, one alive and one
dead spiritually. The scripture declares concerning
this man, back in Mark 5. Here's what it said. No man could bind him, no, not
with chains, but again, now spiritually. Is this not the common thought
of all those that are born into this world, spiritually dead,
think themselves to be spiritually alive and self-sufficient? That's the way man thinks. I
can handle this. Incapable of being spiritually
bound and trespasses, he's incapable. He's incapable of himself to
bind what he is by nature. Men think, I remember thinking
as a kid, I grew up in false religion, and I can remember
thinking to myself, I'd sit there and listen to men tell me that
I had a free will and that I could, you know, the Lord was wanting
to save me if I'd let him. Isn't that disrespectful? If I'd let him. He wants to save you if you'll
let him. He wants to give you life. He wants to save you. If
you'll let him. And I remember thinking as a
kid, well, I'll tell you what I think I'm gonna do. I think I'm gonna,
there's a lot of things I wanna do in this world. Some of them
I'm thinking may not be so respectful and everything like that, but
what I think I'll do just before I die, I think I'm gonna give
my heart to Jesus and I'm gonna get saved just before I die. Isn't that foolish? You don't
know what a day's gonna bring. Scripture says that this man
right here was having his residency among the tombs. No man could
bind him. Scripture says in verses six
to eight, this man, when he saw Jesus afar
off, He ran and worshiped him and cried with a loud voice and
said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, our son of the most
high God? I assure thee by God that thou
torment me not for or because he, the Lord, had said unto him,
come out of the man thou unclean spirit. Now here's a man, let
me just sit, here's where we are. Here's a man that is in
the tombs, has his residency in the tombs, and he's cutting himself, he's just living
in absolute, total rebellion against everything that's honorable,
right, just, And the scripture says that something happened
to this man. And again now, let's don't discount
that what this man was said to be is what we are by nature. This is us. Our problem is that we just give
way too much respect for what we are by nature. We think that
we're able, we're not, we're not. This is us, but something
happened to this man. Something happened. The scripture
says, when he saw Jesus. When he saw Jesus afar off. You know how I am about looking
up words. I always invite you to do that.
Look up what is being said. When he saw. The word right there. It can mean just to be able to
look. when he saw, but the reaction
that this man had showed that something else other than just
a natural looking, you know, I can look outside, I see those
trees out there, I see that, I'm looking. But what this man
did after he saw, and I look this word up, when he saw, and
the definitions that when he saw with the mind, when he saw
and was acquainted by experience. When he saw, that is, to care
for, when he saw, when he paid heed to, this man did see the
Lord, but something else, David, happened. There was something
else that happened. This man saw, and now he paid
attention, paid heed, he cared, he was acquainted, When this
man, who was night and day, he was hastening to eternal destruction,
but here by the grace of God, something has caused this man
to now see. He sees Greg spiritually. He sees something real. He sees something that he hadn't
seen before. This man right here saw the Lord. And the scripture says in verse
six, when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and he worshiped him. I said, well, that doesn't mean
that he just, well, let me tell you what the word worship means. It's the same word that was used
by the Lord himself, that word worship. I mean, the Lord had
told a woman at the well one day, you worship, you don't know
what you're worshiping. This word right here, worship,
here's the word, same word found in Luke 4a. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, get thee behind me, Satan, it's written, thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. This word that was used for this
man right here is the same word that the Lord said, thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God. This man did something. Something
happened to this man. Was he one that was consumed
with unclean spirits? Yes, sir. He sure was. But beloved, so was every one
of us too, whenever the Lord came to us. And whenever we saw
for the first time, something happened to this man that was
real. Was he a demoniac? Yes, sir.
So was I. Did he run around every day like
he was cutting himself with stone, going for, you know, self-destruction,
spiritual suicide? Is that what I was wanting to
do? Yes, sir. That was me. That was me. not caring one whit
for the things of God, but when it pleased God, it separated
me from my mother's womb and saved me by His grace. Oh, did I frequent a place where
people meet together and sing songs and, you know, oh yeah,
I did that. But did I know anything about
who God is? No, nobody ever told me. Nobody
ever told me what I am by nature, who God is. I didn't know. I was religious, you know. I
was just a walking tomb is all I was. But, but, when he saw,
when he saw, The Lord, when he saw Jesus, when he perceived,
when it was made real to him, something happened. The scripture
says, verse 6, when he saw Jesus afar off, now verse 7 and 8,
he cried with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with
thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God? I assure thee
by God that thou torment me not. Now this man is eaten up with
demons. How do I know that? The Bible
tells us he was. You're getting ready, the Lord's
getting ready to cast him out. For he said, for the Lord said
unto him, come out of the man thou unclean spirit. I just, I read that this morning
and I was thinking to myself, my what a, what a battle must
have been going on in this man. This man was eaten up. We're gonna find out how many
were in there. The Lord getting ready to ask
him a question. I'm gonna go ahead and just read
it now, because I was getting ready to get ahead of myself on my
notes, which is not hard for me, but this scripture reveals
that this devil had cried with a loud voice, asking the Lord. Whenever verse six said, this
man, This man saw Jesus afar off, and he ran and he worshiped
him. And then, verse 7, he cried with
a loud voice and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou
son of the Most High God? I assure thee by God that thou
torment me not. Now there's a demon speaking
in him, because the Lord's getting ready to cast him out. What have
I to do with thee? What is there in common with
us? That's what he was saying. Look at that. What have I to
do with thee? For, in verse 8, because he,
the Lord, said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean
spirit. Whenever the Lord was getting
ready to do something for this man, humanly speaking, everlastingly,
purposed to come get this man. He was there to get this man
right here. And the Lord had said, come out of him.
That demon was crying out, what have I got to do with you? What's
common with me and you? The Lord had told that demon,
you come out. He's coming out. You know, the
unclean spirits know who they're going to face in judgment. They
know. Therefore, they know right now
who is ruling in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. In that day, I can tell you This
is what's gonna happen to them. I was looking at this scripture
right here, Matthew 25, 41, concerning the end result of these demons,
these evil spirits. Then shall he say unto them on
the left hand, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels. There's going to be a
day of reckoning. And God Almighty is gonna deal
with all that is in rebellion against him. The Lord came to
this man, he'd cut himself, just terrorizing everybody in the
area. Nobody wanted to fool with him,
stay away from him. The Lord had come to him and
told that demon, come out of the man. And that demon asked him, what
have I got to do with you? Scripture declares that the Lord
exercised that demon out of the man. And then the scripture says
in verse nine, he asked him, now this is the Lord asking him.
He asked him, what is thy name? And he answered saying, my name
is Legion, for we are many. Now, let me just, let me just
say something here that doesn't, is obvious, but I just want to
say it. The Lord's question was not asked for his information. Do you think the Lord knew who
he was talking to? Do you think that this, this
one named Legion, Legion was a, a number that was for thousands
of legionnaires, thousands of them, thousands. What is your
name? And here again, the Lord knew
exactly what his name was, but he's going to acknowledge something
in front of the Lord's disciples. And for our information right
now, I think about what we know because of what question the
Lord asked this man hundreds of years ago. What's your name? is thy name. He said, my name
is Legion for we are many. How many was in there? A bunch. Let me say like this. Thousands
are as a Legion, you know, Roman army. But here we're, we're,
we're taught something. This is real. This is, this is,
the Word of God revealing something, what we're dealing with. The
Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6, 12, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Men think that they're born into
this world and that there's nothing else going on except what they
can physically see. No, no. This is real. We live in a real world that
is wicked. And in the midst of it. And it's
only by the grace of God that these things are revealed unto
us. And the Lord would give us a heart like He gave this man
a heart. Verses 10 to 13. And besought him much that he would
not send them away out of the country. This is the demons. Legion, what's your name? My
name is Legion, as many of us. And he besought him, the Lord,
much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh a herd
of swine feeding, and all the devils besought him, saying,
send us into the swine that we may enter into them. And forthwith
Jesus gave them leave, The unclean spirits went out and entered
into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place
into the sea. They were about 2,000 and were
choked in the sea. We surely behold something of
a transfer. These demons were in this man. And the Lord spoke to him and
said, you come out of him. They talked with the Lord, asked
him if the Lord would put them in these swine. And the Lord,
and the Lord did. I looked at that, and then I
realized, and I want to be very, very clear here. I don't, and
I would say this to anybody that was standing in a pulpit to preach.
Don't ever go any farther. Don't try to go any farther than
what is revealed in the scriptures. Don't go any farther than that. And if you can't back up with
truth, what you're saying, then it's just a hypothesis. and educated guests. But the
Lord exercised these demons. They ask him, they ask him, would
you, would you send us into these swine? The Lord was gonna cast
them, he told them, come out of the manor. And they ask him,
they ask him, can we go into those swine over there? You know
why they ask him? Because he rules in the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. and nobody stays
his hand. People talk of the Lord as if
he's someone in need of our permission to do something. My friend, we're
dealing with God. We're dealing with the Lord.
And they ask him, would it be okay? Would it be okay with you
if we go into these swine? And the Lord permitted him to
do that. No swine were there and I saw
in that and this is what I want to say and not go any farther
than what was set forth. Leviticus 11.7 sets forth that
swine and hogs in the Old Testament was a forbidden food to the Jew. It was forbidden, that's Leviticus
11.7. They were an unclean thing, unclean,
unclean. And these swine, about 2,000
of them here, have asked, these demons have asked, can we go
into those swine right there? You're gonna cast us out of this
mansion. We go here. These swine were
the objects of their request. Can we go into these unclean
things to you? And the Lord told them, yes. But those swine, now here's the
picture. Those swine who personally, they
were hogs, they were swine. They had not personally rebelled
against the Lord. But they were, according to the
law, they were unclean. They were unclean, they were
an unclean thing. They had not personally rebelled against God. Nonetheless, they were made to suffer the
anguish and the death that was actually deserving to
that demoniac. That demoniac had actually, he
was a rebel against God like me and you. He was a rebel. And he deserved death. He deserved
it. As you and I deserve it. But
here's what these demons ask. Would you take and put us in
that which is unclean? And the Lord did. And what happened? The swine ran down the hill and
they drowned. Death was the end result. Now you just think with me for
one second. With that divine exchange that took place whenever
the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross for his people. His people. His people who in
themselves deserved death. Why? Because all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Did we deserve death? Yes.
Yes, we deserve death. And what did the Lord do? He bore the guilt and the burden
and the responsibility of what his people are by nature. Those
swine were unclean. What does the scripture say the
Lord was made? He, the Father, hath made him sin. for us, he who knew no sin. Those swine were personally not
rebels against God, but they bore the brunt of it. They bore
the brunt. In type and picture, we see what
the Lord was made for us. And here to deliver this demoniac,
the Lord took what he deserved and put it on the swine. And
they died. They died. According to the law,
they were unclean. Unclean. The scripture says concerning
the Lord, Psalm 40 verse 12, for innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Here's what he says. Mine iniquities
have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs
of mine head Therefore, my heart faileth me. Was the Lord personally
guilty? No. No. He, the Father, hath made him
sin. He, the Lord, who knew no sin.
He was innocent. He was innocent. God made him
sin for his people, for his people, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Those hogs bore the brunt. They bore the brunt of it, and
they drowned. Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. So whenever we see this right
here, don't just pass it off as just, well, that was just
kind of, I don't know, there was some hogs there and it was just,
there was a great lesson being taught here. There was a divine,
divine lesson of the exchange of what God Almighty has done
for his people. Verses 15, 17. They come to Jesus. Now this is after they, These hogs have all drowned,
and God has done something. He's given this demoniac new
eyes to see, spiritual eyes, new heart to believe. He saw
the Lord. He saw him, and he worshipped
him. He worshipped him. God had done
something for this demoniac that that demoniac couldn't have done
for himself. I can tell you that right now. That demoniac, like
any of us, couldn't give himself a new heart. He couldn't do that. I can't rebirth myself again.
I was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, October the 5th, 1949. That's
set in stone right now. Or that's what my birth certificate
says, let me say that. There ain't no way, humanly speaking,
that I can rebirth myself. Why don't I just rebirth myself
and start over? Because I'm powerless to do it. My day of birth is set. That's
it. Nobody can rebirth themselves. Being born again, you must be
born again. God alone can rebirth a man,
give him a new heart, a new mind. can make him new in Christ Jesus.
And the scripture says concerning after he had done that, verse
15, they come to Jesus, they see him that was possessed with
the devil and had the legion sitting, clothed in his right
mind. And they were afraid and they
that saw it told them how it befell him that was possessed
with the devil. also concerning the swine, and
they began to pray him to depart out of their coast. Now, oh,
how insensitive is man, carnal man by nature, toward the mercy
of God. Here was a man that just, just
before, man running around, crazy man, crazy. Doing crazy, stupid
things. Cutting himself, howling all
night. Crying out. Mad man. And scripture says all
of a sudden this man, a light switch came on. And he
saw the Lord. And he fell down before Him and
started worshiping Him. He worshiped Him. Praised Him,
blessed Him. God cast those demons out. And then everybody that had seen
him before started looking around. And they came to this man that
had been naked and had some clothes on. This man that was formerly just
doing all kinds of insensitive things, Sitting, picture of spiritual rest. You
know, I think about how the scripture says that the Lord, when he had
finished, he rested, he sat down, he sat down, he sat down. Why? Because he finished. That's it,
sitting down, a picture of spiritual rest. And he was clothed. This demoniac form or demoniac
clothes. Oh, what a beautiful picture
and type of being robed in the righteousness of Christ. You
know what we're wearing from birth? Filthy rags, you know
what that is. Filthy rags. And just man by
nature is just proud of them. Minstrel's cloths, that's what
it is. Man by nature, that's what he
wears. Filthy rags. A man by nature
says, look at this. The Lord is taking him. Here's
this man clothed, a picture of the righteousness of Christ.
He was in his right mind. That's what the scripture says.
They come, 15, and they come to Jesus and they see him that
was possessed with the devil and had allegiance sitting and
clothed in his right mind. And look here, they were afraid. They were afraid. Man, by nature, he's afraid of the miracle of
God's saving grace. And they wanted him to leave. Don't stay here, verse 7. They
began to pray him to depart out of their coast. Let me tell you
what man by nature wants to do when they hear someone until
the Lord gives them a new heart to believe the gospel. Let me
tell you what they want. Don't stay here. Go somewhere
else. I don't want to be around you.
I don't want to be around you. The assembling of ourselves together,
what a miracle of God's grace that we want to be together.
Whenever the gospel of God's grace is preached, this is what
God's people want to do. They're sheep, and they want
to be where God's people are. Don't tell me how good I am.
I know better than that. I know what I think. If you knew
what I was thinking right now, you'd say, Marvin, why don't
you sit down? Why don't you just sit down and be quiet? Don't
stay here. Scripture says in verses 18 to
20, here they are, they wanted the Lord to leave. 18, when he was come into the
ship, he that had been possessed with devils prayed him that he
might be with him. What does that mean? Well, this
man that was delivered from these demons, been given new eyes to
see the Lord. He saw God. And the Lord was
leaving. And the scripture says that he
came to the Lord and he said, can I go with you? Can I go with
you? Can I leave with you? And verse
19 says, howbeit Jesus suffered him not. But he saith unto him, Go home
to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath
done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and
began to publish in Decapolis. That's where he was from, just
right outside, close to where Jairus was. I looked it up to
see where he was, where Decapolis was. He began to publish in Decapolis.
That was his home area. How great things Jesus had done
for him. And all men did marvel. Oh, how wonderfully do we behold
the Lord Jesus Christ and coming to where this man was. This man would have never gone
to where the Lord was. Leave this man to himself, he's
gonna stay out there in the tombs. That's where he wants to be.
That's where he feels comfortable. But now the Lord is giving him
a new heart. Now he wants to go where the
Lord is. Oh, but though this redeemed
and regenerated vessel of God's mercy wanted to go, where the
Lord was. I'm going to go with you. The
Lord, according to His good pleasure in choosing, is what He said.
The Lord didn't forbid it. He said, I want you to go home
to thy friends. I want you to go home to the people
that know you. I want you to go home where you
grew up. And you tell them how great things
the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. I heard Brother Henry Mahan said
this one time. He said, if you want to know
what kind of a husband man is, Don't go ask somebody that's
just an acquaintance with him. If you want to know what kind
of a husband I am, don't go and ask one of you ladies. Go ask Linda. If you want to know what kind
of a dad I am, Don't go ask, I'm not gonna go ask your kids
or anything like that. You go and ask one of my four
kids, or six kids, if you wanna know what kind of a husband or
a dad I am. You go to somebody that lives
with me, somebody that knows me. You go ask them. I wanna go with you, he said.
I want you to go home That's what He said. Go home. Go home
to thy friends and tell them. I want you to go to the people
that you know, that know you. They're going to see a difference.
They'll see. They'll know. Lord, guide me. Teach me. Until the Lord is pleased
to call His people home, to be with Him. We're going to be allowed
to behold the sustaining grace of God daily and his provision
for needy sinners like ourselves. He knows our frame. If God's
people has been blessed to know something of the miracle of God's
grace. I heard Brother Scott say this,
not original to me. He said, it'll come out on you.
If God done something for you, it'll come out on you. If he
hadn't, it'll come out on you. You'll know. I wanna go with
you. No, no. You go home. You go home. You go home to where
those that you grew up with knows you. And you tell them what great
things the Lord's done for you. You tell them. Here's a personal
word of testimony. You tell them, this is what I
formerly thought. This is what I formerly believed.
I thought I was a God of my own destiny. God showed me what I
am by nature. And he's had mercy on this sinner.
And he's done something for me that I couldn't do for myself.
And I just want to tell you about it. You go home and tell them
what great things the Lord's done for you. That's your ministry.
I pray God bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake.