Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Mark, chapter 5. Mark, chapter 5. I dealt with this passage of
scripture a few years ago, but I was looking at it again this
week. And I want us to look at both messages today. I'm going
to look at chapter 5, verses 1 to 5 in the first one, and
then verses 6 to 20 in the second. And what I want us to consider is the salvation of a demon-possessed
man. And this man is a beautiful type
and picture of every one of the objects of God's mercy. All those that the Lord has eternally
purposed to save. Now this rebel against God, like
all of God's sheep by nature, was plucked from the dregs of
his depravity, bondage, darkness, and he was made willing in the
day of God's power to look not to himself for any hope, but
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And after the Lord saved him,
this demoniac, the scripture declares in latter part of our
passage, which I'll deal with in the next passage. It says in verse 18, when he
was coming to the ship, the Lord, he's leaving now, he that had
been possessed with the devil prayed to him, asked him that
he might be with him. He wanted to go with the Lord. How be it, verse 19, Jesus suffered
him not, The Lord said, no, no, you can't
go. But 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. He said, I want you to go back.
No, you don't. It's not my will you go with
me, travel with me. I want you to go back to your
kinfolk, go to home, that's what it means. You go home, you go
to your kinfolk, you go to your friends, those that know you, those that know your reputation,
those that know where you've been brought from. You go back
home to your friends and you tell them what great things,
what extraordinary things The Lord hath done for thee and hath
had compassion on thee. I want you to go home. That's
going to be your mission field. I want you to go and tell them
what I did for you. And the scripture says, in verse
20, he was obedient. And that's what he did. He went
back to where he was from, where he was born, raised, brought
up, And he told them what the Lord, the great things that the
Lord had done. Now, this is the desire of a
believer. He wants to be an encouragement. He wants to be obedient to the
Lord and an encouragement to God's people. He wants to speak
only of those things that exalt Christ. That's what he wants
to do. That's what he wants to talk
about. But to tell his friends, to go home and tell his friends
what the Lord had done for him, the Lord was going to have to
teach him something first. Going to have to be taught, and
only the Lord can do that. Only the Lord can train up a
child. We looked at that a few weeks ago. Only the Lord could
teach, and the Lord is going to teach this demoniac. The great things that God does
for His people, faith cometh by hearing. Is it important to hear the Word
of God? It's essential. It's essential. Romans 10, 14, How then shall
they call on Him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? Years ago, when I was in Louisiana,
I had a man tell me, he said, you know, we really don't need
a preacher. He said, we can study together. We can read scriptures together. Well, I mean, it sounds good.
But the only problem is, it's not what God says. First Corinthians
121 says, for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom
knew not God. And here was the wisdom of God.
It pleased God by the foolishness, or what the world calls foolishness.
They said, that's what this man back years ago told me. That
was foolishness. He said, we don't need to have
a preacher, that's foolishness. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them which believe. There is something that is happening
right here that's very, very extraordinary. God is pleased
to meet with His people unto the sound of the preaching of
the gospel. Now that's just the way it is. Now I want us to consider
these great things that the Lord taught this demoniac. Here again,
you don't have anything to say unless God teaches you something.
I mean, we talk about nothing if it's not something that the
Lord has taught us. Now, in this first I'm going
to set forth the foundational truth of what God teaches. This is going to be the foundational
truth upon which all these other things in the next message are
built. Now here's what the Lord has taught every object of His
mercy. He taught this demoniac this,
and He teaches every one of God's sheep. And here's the foundational
truth that every believer is taught. That the Lord must first
have purposed salvation and then actually have come from heaven
and fetched, I'm using that from when David said, is there any
of the house of Saul that I might show mercy to for Jonathan's
sake? And one of them said, Ziba said, well, there's a boy named
Mephibosheth. That's Jonathan's son. And David had told Jonathan,
he said, I'm going to show mercy to your family for your sake,
only for your sake. Not your daddy's, but yours. You're going to have mercy on
Jonathan's family, and they said, there's one named Mephibosheth,
and he's lame on both his feet. He can't come, can't walk. And
David said, well, you go fetch him, and you bring him here to
me. He's going to sit at my table,
and he's going to spend the rest of his life. Here with me, so
here's the foundational truth that the Lord must purpose salvation
and actually in the accomplishment of it, He must first come from
heaven and rescue all that He's everlastingly loved. 1 Timothy
1.15, this is a fateful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to do what? To make salvation
possible? No. He came into the world to
save sinners, to save them. Whom I am chief, Paul says. Now this was a great thing right
here. This is a great truth. God was
made flesh. Here's a great truth. Salvation
is of the Lord. And then the scripture declares
now, and we'll start reading here in Mark 5. Well, let me tell you where they're
coming from. The Lord, it says, And they,
chapter 5 verse 1, and they came over. They who? They who? Well,
the scripture sets forth back in 4.35, it says, the same day
when the evening has come, he saith unto them. He's talking
to his disciples. Let us pass over unto the other
side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took
him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him
other little ships. And there arose a great storm,
wind. The waves beat into the ship
so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part
of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him, saying to
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? He arose, rebuked
the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. The wind ceased
and there was a great calm. He said unto them, why are you
so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and
said unto one another, what manner of man is this that even the
wind and the sea obey him? Now, he's coming, he's just stilled
the sea. He told him, he said, we've got
to go to the other side. We've got to go to the other
side. Why? There was a man over there. There was somebody over
there that he was going to get. And so here they are, verse 1,
they came over onto the other side of the sea into the country
of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the
ship immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an
unclean spirit. Now here was an eternally ordained
meeting. There was a particular man in
Gadara. There was a particular man that
the Lord had everlastingly loved. Now that's, you know, that's
scripture. Jeremiah 31.3, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. There was a man there that God
purposed to love. to not leave to himself to die
in his sins. A man that Christ had betrothed
to Himself. This was a member. Now you know
the story. You know that God's going to
save him. You know that. Let's just see how, what he did,
what he taught him. How he taught him some things
to go back and tell these people. You go tell them what I did for
you. Well here's what he's doing now. Here's how he's going to
do it. Here was a man He's a demoniac. We're going to see the dregs
of lost in trespasses and sins. But this was a man that Christ
betrothed. This is part of his bride right
here. He was ruined by the fall, held
captive by Satan. He had an unclean spirit about
him. Now I've got a question here. Since this sinner that we know,
because we've read the story before, is going to be converted. How was he going to cross paths
with the Lord? Either the Lord was going to
have to come from heaven to where this sinner was and give him
life, regenerate him, deliver him from the bondage of sin,
give him life, make him willing in the day of God's power to
come to Christ, either that was going to have to happen or somehow
this spiritually dead sinner was going to have to rise above
his natural dead state by an act of his own will and go where
Christ was in glory having met all the demands for justice and
righteousness and be accepted of God eternally on His own merit. Now it's only one of two. Either
God is going to have to come and rescue and deliver or man
is going to have to go where God is and show Himself to be worthy. Now the first truth concerning
the Lord coming specifically for His own, living, dying for
His elect, actually giving them life, saving them apart from
any work on their part, that is the truth of what happens
when God saves a sinner. Christ must come Save his people. And the second option, which
is an impossible lie that's being told throughout the world of
false religion, if salvation is to be established by man's
ability, man's will, and man must take the first step, then
I can tell you this, man is going to perish. He's not going, he's
not going, he's dead, he's dead. Boy, I tell you what, if I could
ever get that in my head, I know it here. Man can't do anything. Here was a sinner. One that set
forth the very character of every son of Adam. Yes, even God's
elect. But he was a sheep. He wanted
God's sheep. And the Lord was here in Gadara
to get him. And let me tell you what's going
to happen. You know this. After he saves that one sheep,
he leaves. He leaves. He doesn't stay. The
Lord left. That one man. And what did He
tell that man to do? He said, I want you to go back
where you're from. Didn't He let him stay there? Go back where
you're from and you go tell them. Almighty God saves whomsoever
He will. Salvation, I'm telling you, is
by God's will and God's purpose. Well, the scripture says in verse
3 and 4, here's where the Lord found him. He 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." Now, here's
where God finds everyone. Now, not just this man. This
man's a picture. He's a type. But let me tell
you where God finds every one of his elect. Some of us say,
well, you never found me in a place like this. This is a picture.
This is a type. This is a shadow. He was dwelling
among spiritual darkness, tombs of his own depravity, death,
evil. He was lost and he was possessing
the same mind and attitude of every human being found to have
come forth from the loins of Adam. And listen to this, he
was satisfied. Didn't mind being there at all.
John 3, 19 says, this is the condemnation, that light is coming
to the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil. He was one, like all of us, born
in Adam. This is the way all of us thought.
He thought himself and appeared to others to be strong and totally
free. He had been often bound with
fetters and chains and chains had been plucked asunder by him
and broken off. No man could bind him. What did
man think by nature? I can do what I want to do. He can't bind me. You can't put me under bondage."
And all the while, like all men, he was blind to the fact that
his soul was held captive in the bondage of Satan and his
own trespasses and sins. He was in bondage. He would act
like, I can do what I will, when I will, With whom I will. Nobody can put me. All he did
was exhibit the natural man's desire to have nothing to do
with the God of all grace. Now here's how I know that's
so. Psalm 2, verses 2 and 3. The kings of the earth set themselves. What does that mean? I mean they
plant their feet well, you know. They're gonna get a good footing
right here. They set themselves. And the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, let us
break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.
What does man by nature say? Now listen, let's just go ahead
and be honest. Now this is what all of us by
nature say. We're all like this. And here's
the sad thing, that though in a believer, That heart of dominion,
that stony heart has been removed and doesn't have dominion over
a believer. That old man is still inside. There's still an old man, an
old wretched man that I am. That's what Paul says. There's
an old man there. And that old man still thinks like this. Here's
what he says. I'm really my own God. I want to just rid myself of
any restraint that God would have upon me. I want to rebel
against God's authority, God's word, God's preachers, God's
gospel, because I have the ability to do something right. I can
do it. I can exercise it. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. What does that mean? It resists
God. It resists God's right to rule
over God's dominion. It resists that which is declared
to be in God's scriptures, I am the Lord. I am God and there's
none other than me. Man, according to that scripture,
hates God and longs to be loosed from any dwelling, any dealings
with Him. This demoniac, he was like a
raven bull in an enclosed corral, just pawing in the dirt, snorting
at the air, thinking himself to be free because of his own
strength and all the while in absolute bondage. Back in Mark
5 verse 5, And always night and day he was in the mountains and
in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. Now here it is. Here is just
a glimpse of what actually being in hell is going to be. Here
is the natural man in his state, night and day. In the darkness
of unbelief, no freedom, no comfort, no joy, crying, but not unto
God. Crying because of his misery,
cutting himself, desiring self-destruction. This is what man by nature, this
is what all of us want. When we desire to be separated
from God, our sins have separated us. This is what we want. I want
to die in my sins. Somebody would say, oh, I don't
believe. Yes, that's what we think. I mean, we're all like
that. I'm not pointing fingers. I'm
just telling you, we're all like this. We all desire, I want to
be found under the judgment of God. That's what I want. Here's
this man now. But oh, the mercy of the Lord
coming to Gadara. He was coming to get him. He
was coming to rescue him. This man didn't have sense enough,
and none of us do, didn't have sense enough to know what state
he was in. He was blind. He lost, rebellious. But oh, listen, this great cry
that goes out from the Lord through Job, Job 33, 24, deliver him. Rescue him. Deliver him from
going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. It was
for such a man as this, all of us, that God Almighty has eternally
loved that this is the type for which he came into this world.
The Lord was going to show him soon what he is by nature. The Lord is going to show him
that next message. We'll look at it. He's going to show him
the resistance that he has against God. He's going to show him his
constant desire not to be bound by the Lord. He's going to show
him that he needed deliverance from Satan and from himself. This is what the Lord read as
I close. In Luke 4, verse 17-19, there
was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when
he had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he, that is the father,
that sent him. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord. and nothing has changed. Since the fall of man, nothing
has changed. This is where every one born
in Adam finds himself. This is it. If you want to know
what we're like, this is us, right here now. This is where
the Lord finds all of His elect. This is where they are by nature.
Now, as I close, and we'll go into the next in just a second,
let me ask you this. Could it be? Could it be? that there's one among us who's
been made to behold by faith, this is really me. This is the
way I am. If that's the case, then I'm
telling you something, the Lord taught you something. Because
man by nature, he doesn't see that. Man by nature says, I'm
not that bad. Well, scripture says we are.
Yes, we are. And the Lord has to make us behold
that heartily. In our heart, we've got to realize
that truly, from the sole of our foot even to our head, there's
no soundness, there's no stability. There's no stableness in it.
It's just wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. But if
the Lord has been made to show us that we truly do have in ourselves
an unclean spirit, It has to be removed only by
the power of Almighty God on the merit of the shed blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. If that's the case, and I got
some good news. Christ came into this world to save sinners just
like that. Sinners it's been made to see.
His last verse for this morning's message in Matthew chapter 9. Matthew 9, I was reading this
and I thought, oh, what a blessing. Matthew 9, verse 9 to 13. Matthew
9, 9 to 13. The Lord's walking and it says,
as Jesus passed forth from Thames, he saw a man named Matthew. Now let me tell you who's writing
this scripture right here. Matthew. Matthew's writing this
scripture. And he rode under the inspiration
of God's Spirit. And Jesus passed forth, and thence
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. And
he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
Where did he go? He went to Matthew's house. That's
what happens right here. It came to pass that Jesus sat
at meat in the house. Behold, many publicans and sinners
came and sat down with him and his disciples. And the Pharisees
saw it. And they said unto his disciples,
why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard
that, he heard what they said. He knew what they said. Why are
you eating with those, you know, demoniacs? I mean, here we are. They're the ones that said, you
know, don't come near me. I'm holier than you are. But
when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole,
or think they're whole, need not a physician, but they that
are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I'm not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This foundational
truth that was taught this demoniac was this. If the Lord doesn't
come get me and deliver me from myself, I'm going to die just
like this under the judgment of God. And in these next few
verses, we're going to see just some amazing thing that God teaches
every object of His mercy. I pray God bless this message
to our hearts for His glory and our good. Amen.