Open your Bibles if you would
to Luke chapter 8. There are some portions of scripture
that are just very, very dear to each believer. And this portion
that we're going to look at, I've always been blessed by reading
about this certain man. Always, always come away in awe
of the great power of our Savior. the Lord Jesus Christ. So we'll
be in Luke chapter 8 today. We'll be looking at verses 26
and 39. We'll read that in a few minutes. The portion right above this
passage, the Lord had just calmed the storm. And in doing this,
He manifested His deity. He manifested His power. And
he showed the disciples the fact that he has all power and all
he did was say, peace be still. And the storm was calmed and
the sea became like glass. And I remember as a young little
boy going out on the lake with my dad and we'd go fishing and
we'd go on what's called the Trent Waterways back home where
it's part of the lock system to go to the Great Lakes and
you'd see Large cabin cruisers going through there and things. But the thing that I remember
and still take from that was seeing the geese in the morning
flying and the tips of their wings were just hitting the water.
And the water was just like glass. It was incredible. And things
like that you remember. And so when the Lord calmed the
sea, it was like glass. It was just calm. So let us always
remember that all that took place according to God's eternal purpose.
It wasn't by chance that that storm came. It was all by God's
eternal purpose. And we know that our Lord was
here upon this earth on the divine mission, right? He came to save
His people from their sins. He came to do the Father's will.
And the truths that are written about Him in this wondrous book
are written to proclaim Christ, and they're also for our learning,
too. They're also for our learning. And God's eternal purpose and
the fact of His sovereign majestic rule over all things are proclaimed
in this wondrous book. They're proclaimed in this wondrous
book. And we who are God's people, we see them. We've been given
spiritual eyes to see these truths, haven't we? We didn't see them
at one time. I remember reading the Bible
before I was saved and there was nothing there for me. Now
this book is wondrous. It's wondrous. And so all through this wonderful
book, the Holy Bible, it proclaims the wondrous fact of God's absolute
sovereignty and God's sovereign grace and His sovereign mercy.
And it proclaims the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
our blessed Redeemer. And it proclaims the union that
we as believers have with Him. Let's look at our text here.
Luke chapter 8, and we're looking at verses 26 to 39. So after
he had calmed the storm, now they arrive at the country of
the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he
went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain
man, which had devils long time, and wore no clothes, neither
abode in any house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he
cried out and fell down before him, With a loud voice said,
and with a loud voice said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus,
thou son of God, most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. For he had commanded the unclean
spirit to come out of the man, for oftentimes it had caught
him, and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters, and he
break the bands and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.
And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said,
Legion, because many devils were entered into him. And they besought
him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain,
and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into
them, and he suffered them. And then went the devils out
of the man, and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently
down the steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they
that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told
it to the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what
was done, and came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom
the devils were departed, sitting. at the feet of Jesus clothed,
and in his right mind, and they were afraid. They also, which
saw it, told them by what means he was possessed of the devils
was healed. Then the whole multitude of the
country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart
from them, for they were taken with great fear. And he went
up into the ship and returned back again. Now the man out of
whom the devils were departed besought him, saying that he
might be with Jesus. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath
done unto thee. And he went his way, and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done. Now earlier I stated that the
Lord Jesus Christ was on a divine mission, and He came to save
His people from their sins. He came to save His people from
their sins. He came to find that which was
lost, to do the Father's will. And note here, it says in verse
22 of this chapter, the Lord said, let us go over unto the
other side of the lake. And we see the reason the Lord
had to go over to the other side was that one of his lost sheep
was over there. One of his lost sheep was over
there, and it was the will of the Father that Christ had a
divine appointment with the man who our text proclaims in verse
27, a certain man, a certain man, not just any man, not a
whole bunch of men, but a certain man. And you who are the redeemed,
blood-bought saints of God, are we not joyful, that is, that
at a certain time, and by God's divine decree and His providence,
that just like this man, we had an appointment with the shepherd. We had an appointment to have
revealed to us the Lord Jesus Christ, all through the preaching
of the gospel and all by God's eternal decree. So the storm
earlier in the chapter was not designed to stop the Lord Jesus
Christ. The storm came by the Father's
will to bring glory to the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ
to bring glory to Him and to manifest Christ's Lordship over
all things. So when He calmed the sea, it
manifested His Lordship over all of creation. Over all of
creation. And now in our text, we see His
Lordship manifested in salvation. In salvation. Note in verse 26,
they arrive at the country of the Gadarenes. and they arrived
at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. All that has come before this
and all that will come after this was designed by the Father
to bring glory and honor and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is God incarnated in the flesh. The scripture declares
this, and without great controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit. seeing
of angels, preached in the Gentiles, believed on in the world and
received up into glory. So we see here God incarnate
in the flesh. The Lord went to the other side
of the Sea of Galilee, and he is doing the father's will belong.
It's the father's will that this man will be delivered. It's the
father's will. This man will be delivered from
the power of darkness. And what a picture of what the
Lord does for every one of His blood-bound saints we have here
before us. Now we know that this man was
one of the Lord's lost sheep, and here are three things for
us to ponder, to meditate upon this week. We looked at in Sunday
school this morning that our Lord is the shepherd of His people.
He's called in Hebrews 13.20 the great shepherd of the sheep. And here we see him in our text
here. Here we see the great shepherd
right here seeking out one of his lost sheep. Seeking out one
of his lost sheep. The second point for us to ponder
and meditate upon this week is our Lord Jesus Christ came here
to earth to seek and to save that which was lost. Do we not
see that right here in our text? With this This man. This man didn't seek the Lord,
did he? No. Not at all. But the Lord sought
him. And then the third point for us to consider upon this
week is that none of us in our unregenerate state will ever
seek the Lord. Will ever seek the Lord. Because
scripture declares in Romans 3.11, there's none that seeketh
after God. There's none. The Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the great shepherd of our souls, seeks out his lost
sheep, seeks them out. And we see that very clearly
in our text today. Very clearly. So this wonderful
God honoring account of the Lord Jesus Christ manifesting his
power over nature and then manifesting manifesting his power and salvation
and over all things. We see in this portion he delivers
one of his lost sheep, one of his elect ones from the power
of darkness. from the power of darkness, from
the power of Satan, and from the power of sin. And this is
recorded in the Word of God for our learning, beloved, for our
learning. And just like this demon-possessed
man, we were dead in trespasses and sins. And we will profit
much if we see the miracle of our own deliverance from the
power of darkness and the conversion of this man and what the Lord
did for this man. Look at verses 26 to 29. And
they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over
against Galilee. And when he went forth to land,
there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils
long time, and wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but
in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out
and fell down before him. And with a loud voice said, What
have I to do with thee, Jesus thou son of God, most high? I
beseech thee, torment me not. For he had commanded the unclean
spirit to come out of the man, for oftentimes it had caught
him. And he was kept with chains and fetters, and he broke the
bands and was driven of the devil into the wilderness. Take note
in verse 27, as soon as our Lord and his disciples got out of
the boat and was walking away from the Sea of Galilee, there
met him out of the city a certain man. Not everybody came out,
but a certain man. This man, beloved of God, was
drawn to Christ by the sovereign, invincible, irresistible power
of Jehovah, our great God. Just as Psalm 110.3 which proclaims,
thy people are made willing in the day of God's power, this
man was made willing to come to Christ. And it was God the
Father who was drawn this vessel of sovereign mercy. And remember,
He's one of Christ's elect. He's a vessel of sovereign mercy.
It doesn't seem like it when you read the text, does it? But
beloved, He's a vessel of sovereign mercy, the demoniac. And to the Lord Jesus Christ,
He's being drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ. And here we have
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ come to life right before our
eyes when He said this, No man can come to me except the Father,
which has sent me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last
day. We see that coming, right? We see it coming alive right
before us in this text. And we know that from our text
that this man was possessed by a legion of demons, and he was
not in his right mind, but even in this state, the one who has
all power in heaven and earth, the only one who can deliver
this man from the power of darkness is standing right in front of
him. all by God's eternal purpose, the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate
in the flesh. And may God, the Holy Spirit,
apply these precious truths that we have set here before us, that
in our unregenerate state, we were enmity against God, and
it was God's providence and power that bought us under the preaching
of the gospel. And when God revealed the Lord
Jesus Christ to us, Only then did we understand the gospel.
Only then. We didn't understand it before
we were born again. And note the condition of this
man who met them. He wore no clothes, neither a
bow in any house but in the tombs. This man was in a helpless and
hopeless state. In the eyes of man, he was helpless
and hopeless, and he'd been demon-possessed for a long time, and he lived
in a cemetery. He lived where they buried dead
people. And he's running around naked. Turn, if you would, to
Mark, chapter 5. Mark, chapter 5. The account
over here in Mark, chapter 5, verses 2 to 5 says this about
the man. Mark, chapter 5. Starting in
verse 2, and we'll read the verse 5. And when he 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 he had often
been Because he had been often bound with feathers and chains.
The chains had been plucked asunder by him. And the feathers 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. He was cutting himself
with sharp stones, beloved. And no one could reason with
him. Some had tried to chain him up. and shackle his feet,
and you know what that pictures? That pictures religion, trying
to make him a better person. Oh, but he'd broken all those
chains. And none could help him, beloved, but the one standing
in front of him, God incarnate in the flesh, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Again, this pictures us in our
natural state. We preferred the company of those
who are spiritually dead. spiritually dead sinners, we
had no righteousness, we were naked before God, and no man
could tame us in our natural state. We were bound by the cords
of sin and the iniquities of our sins, and we were bound up
by the power of darkness, just like this man in our text. And
we loved darkness, didn't we? We loved darkness when we were
lost in our lost estate. And we would have continued in
it if the great shepherd of our souls had not come to us. had
not come to us. And He called our name, didn't
He? Through the preaching of the gospel. And God the Holy
Spirit drew us to Christ. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Just as this man was drawn to
Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ set us free, delivering us from
the power of darkness and translating us into the kingdom of His dear
Son. And we were granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And beloved God, we will never understand the sovereign
grace of God, unless we understand the total depravity of man. The
total depravity of man and how we fell in Adam. And in our unregenerate
state we were without God and we had no hope. The scriptures
declare this truth over in Ephesians chapter 2, I'll read this, that
at that time you were without Christ, that was our natural
state, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God
in this world. Now let's look at verses 28 to
33 in Luke chapter 8 and we see the demons acknowledge the Lordship
of Christ. They acknowledge the Lordship
of Christ and we see his Lordship in action. Now remember, the
disciples had seen his Lordship in his deity manifested when
he calmed the storm. Now we see the demons even acknowledge
his Lordship in what he says. to these demons and what happens
after that. Luke chapter 8 verses 28 to 33,
When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and
with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus,
thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.
For oftentimes it had caught him, and he was kept bound with
the chains and in fetters. And he broke the bands and was
driven of the devil into the wilderness. And Jesus asked him,
saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion, because
many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that
he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there
was a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought
him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered
them. Then went the devils out of the
man, and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down
the steep place into the lake, and were choked." Now note this
chosen lost sheep of God was under the control of these demons
before in his natural state here. And when he fell down, he falls
down before the eternal Son of God, God incarnate in the flesh.
And notice there was no worship of God in this man's heart, no
worship of Christ. Not yet anyways, but there would
be a great change which was going to happen. And it would all come
by the power of God. It was a demon, as one commentator
said, the spokesman for the whole legion that was speaking. And
they fell down before Jesus. They fell down before him. All
the forces of evil know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. They know
who he is. A note in our text. What have I to do with Thee,
Jesus, Thou Son of God, Most High? I beseech Thee, torment
me not. They had nothing to do with the
Lord Jesus Christ. And they did not desire to have
anything to do with Him. They had no interest in His salvation.
And there's no redemption for fallen angels. But here before
them is the Lord of glory. the Lord of Glory, and they know
who He is. They know who He is. Over in
Mark 1, verse 24, an unclean spirit says this about the Lord.
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. The Holy One of God. Then our
Lord says to the unclean spirit in Mark 1, verse 25, hold thy
peace and come out of it. Beloved, the demons tremble with
fear before the Holy One of God, before the Eternal Son of God.
They know who He is. They know who He is. They know
that He is the One with all power over them and over all things.
And note here in our text the demon begs Him not to torment
them. What have I to do with thee,
Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. Over in Matthew 8.29 it says
this, And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to
do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither
to torment us before the time? All the forces of evil know that
God's eternal damnation has been reserved for them. They know
what's waiting for them. They know that day of God's wrath
is coming for them, and they tremble. Turn, if you would,
to James 2. James chapter 2, verse 19. You know, man doesn't tremble
before God sometimes, right? Most men have no fear of God,
do they? But you know, the devils believe and tremble. That's what
this text says right here. James 2.19. James 2.19. Thou believest that
there is one God, Thou doest well, the devils believe and
tremble. Thou believest that there is
one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. We see that right here in our
text. So let us take courage, beloved of God. We are not to
fear the devil, although we're no match for him, none at all.
We're no match for him or for any of the forces of evil. But
we're not to fear men who are blinded by the God of this world.
Because the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed our eternal souls.
And he is the very one before whom the devil and his angels
tremble. Tremble. There are no mats for our sovereign
Lord. There are no mats for our sovereign Lord. He controls all
things visible and invisible. They're all under his sovereign
control. So what can we learn from the
text before us? We can learn that apart from
God's sovereign, permissive will, nothing happens. Even Satan and his angels must
get permission from the Lord Jesus Christ before they do anything.
We see that in the book of Job, and we see that very clearly
right here before us. Let's look at verses 30 and 33
now. And Jesus asked him, saying,
what is thy name? And he said, legion. because
many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that
he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there
was a herd of swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought
him that he would suffer them to enter into them, and he suffered
them. Then went the devils out of the man and entered into the
swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake,
and they were choked. Now, let us take note here. Our
Lord asked them their name, but He doesn't ask them for information.
He already knew it. This is for the disciples' learning.
And this is for our learning also. Note, they tell Him their
name. There's no waiting. There's no,
well, you know, I'm not sure. There's none of that, is there?
No. He asked, and He must speak. He's a sovereign Lord, beloved.
He's a sovereign Lord. These demons are confronted by
the King of Glory. And they must answer. They must
answer. And Jesus asked him, saying,
What is thy name? And he said, Legion, because
many devils were entered into him. And the Legion in the Roman
army is 5,000 men. And then note, they besought
him. And besought here in Greek means
to implore, to beg. to request. And they besought him that he
would not command them to go out into the deep. They were
begging him not to command them to go into the deep, which refers
to the place of eternal torment, the abyss, eternal darkness,
hell itself. And note the word commanded.
Note that the Lord commanded. No, it is the eternal son of
God who commanded them not to go into the deep, but if he had
have commanded them to go into the deep, they would have had
to obey his command. They would have had to obey his
command. So what a powerful lesson this was for the disciples. They
had seen the wind and the waves obey the Lord's command, and
now they were hearing demons begging that the Lord would not
command them to go out into the deep, which means abyss in the
Greek, because they must obey his command. They must, they
must obey his command. So truly, in this portion of
scripture, the deity of Christ is on full display. It's on full
display. The demons begged our Lord to
allow them to go into the herd of pigs, and our Lord gave them
permission to do so. We see that in Luke 8, verses
32 and 33. And there was there a herd of
many swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought him that he
would suffer them to enter into them. and he suffered them. Then
went the devils out of the man and entered into the swine and
the herd ran violently down a steep place in the lake and were choked."
Now let us consider the reaction of the ungodly man in the country
which is typical of all ungodly men in all generations and we
see that in verses 34 to 37. Look at verse 34 and when they that fed them saw what was done
to the pigs, they fled and went and told it in the city and in
the country. So we see here in verse 34 that
those who were keeping watch over the swine saw what was done
and fled. Gil says that they were hired
men and fled to the owners of the swine and proclaimed what
had happened. Then look at verse 35, Then they went out to see
what was done and came to Jesus and found the man out of whom
the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed
and in his right mind, and they were afraid. So the people of
the city come to see what was done and found the man from whom
the devils had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus. He's sitting
there and he's clothed. Remember, no man could tame this
man. This man had a reputation as a wild man. None could tame
him. And they come and they see him
sitting at the feet of Jesus. They see him clothed, and they
see him in his right mind, and they were afraid. And this was
ordained by God. Most of them, if not all of them,
knew this demonic, demon-possessed man. He'd been in their country
as far as we know for a long time and his demonic ways were
known by all who lived in that country. And take note, beloved,
that he who was possessed of demons is now sitting, sitting
at the feet of Jesus, sitting at the feet of his clothes and
in his right mind. had been set free from the powers
of darkness. And he's now sitting at the feet
of Christ, hearing the glorious truths about his kingdom and
looking into the face of the one who had set him free. God
incarnate in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's clothed,
now he's clothed with which pictures we who are born again, we who
are God's blood washed saints. We were once naked before God,
weren't we? Oh, but now what are we? Clothed
in the righteousness of Christ. Now we can be in the presence
of God. Because we're clothed in the
perfect spotless righteousness of Christ. And when we get the
glory, we're clothed in that righteousness still. And we're
going to be sitting and looking at Christ. Looking to Him. Looking
to Him. He's also in His right mind.
He's been given an understanding of who Christ is. The fact that
He's delivered Him and He's revealed Himself to this man. And now
He has an understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He just
sits on His feet. looking looking and take note
of the reaction of the multitude of the country of the gatherings
look at verses 36 and 37 and they also would saw told them
by what means he was possessed the devil's was healed then the
whole multitude to the country the gatherings roundabout beside
him to depart from them they were taken with great fear anyone
up into the ship and return back again Remember, it said they were afraid.
We know that unregenerate men do not fear God. They fear death,
though. And they fear the great day of judgment, and they fear
eternal torment and punishment, but they don't fear God. And
one commentator said this fear here is not a reverent fear,
but they feared they'd lose more of their worldly goods. They
just lost 2,000 swine. And they loved this world and
the things of this world. And now we see them asking Christ
to leave their country. And let us remember that they
did not come to Christ for salvation. They came to see what had happened.
They came to see what would happen. And let us always remember that
natural man loves darkness rather than light. They hate the truth
of the gospel. Religious folks don't hate the God of their own
imagination. They don't hate the gospel that they fabricated, but they hate the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they hate the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace,
His distinguishing grace, and they hate the Word of God, which
proclaims His absolute sovereignty. And let us remember this, the
world hasn't changed. It hasn't changed. Unregenerate men have
not changed. False religion has not changed.
But let us remember this too. Our God does not change either.
Oh my. And He hates all the workers
of iniquity. And He still is absolutely sovereign and He ever
will be forever. Note in the latter part of verse
37, and He went up into the ship and returned back again. Now
let's look at verses 38 and 39. Now the man, out of whom the
devils were departed, besought him, that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
Return to thine own house and show how great things God hath
done unto thee. And he went his way and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto
him. Now let us take note that the
new convert wanted to go with the master. He wanted to go with
the master. He wanted to be in his presence,
didn't he? He wanted to be with the one who had delivered him
from the awful state of spiritual darkness that he'd been in. And can we blame him? All of God's people, all of God's
blood-washed saints, We want to be with our Lord, don't we?
You see the picture, beloved? We want to be with our Lord.
We want to be with Him. And this is evidenced in the
fact that we want to be together when the Lord's people meet and
worship. We also are like the Apostle Paul, we'd like to depart
to be with God, to be with our King in glory, and that would
be far better, but like the man before us here in our text, We
must wait for the appointed time of our departure. We must wait
for the appointed time to receive our promotion to be in the presence
of the Lord. And note what the Lord said to
him here in verse 39. He says this, return to thine
own house and show how great things God hath done unto thee.
And he went his way and published, he wasn't a silent witness, beloved,
and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus
had done unto him. He's told to go home and tell
others the great things the Lord had done for him. And it was
God's will for him to do this. It was God's will for him to
do this. He was a trophy of the grace of God, just as every one
of God's sovereign elect chosen people are. We are all trophies
of God's grace. Every one of God's blood-bought,
redeemed children are trophies of His grace. Again, his response, he's commanded
to do this, and it says, and he went his way and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto
him. He was obedient to the Master.
He wanted to go with Christ. He wanted to be with the Lord.
But he knew this was not the Lord's will. And he did what
he was told to do. And think of the message that
he had. Think of what he proclaims. It's
the same message that we proclaim, beloved. It's the message of
God's sovereign, free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's the message of God's sovereign
power setting us free. And again, he's a living testimony.
And so is every believer. He's a living testimony to the
grace and mercy of God. He's a living testimony of the
grace and mercy of God bestowed upon sinners in and through Jesus
Christ our Lord. And so is every one of God's
blood-bought saints. It's incredible. And we desire
to be with the Lord, don't we? He has us here. until that appointed
time when he calls us home. Oh my. He told his hearers the great
things the Lord hath done for him. He pointed his hearers right
to Christ. The Lord did this for me. The
Lord Jesus Christ healed me. The Lord Jesus Christ delivered
me. And he published it throughout
the whole city. The great things the Lord Jesus
Christ had done to him. And this is what we who are believers
do. We proclaim that the Lord Jesus
Christ, He alone purchased our eternal souls on Calvary by the
shedding of His precious blood. And we proclaim that salvation
and that redemption is in Christ, in Christ alone. Nowhere else. And we proclaim
that we are justified before God in and through our wonderful
substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we live a life seeking
to glorify Him, don't we? Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ
and magnify His name. for the great things that he
had done for us. May we leave here today and may
we ponder and think about this week, we who are his blood washed
people, blood purchased by his precious blood. May we leave
here and just ponder through the week the great things that
God has done for us.