Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 76. The tune is Eden
327. There is a period known to God
when all his sheep, redeemed by blood, shall leave the hateful
ways of sin, turn to the fold, and enter in. Hymn 76, tune Eden
327. you. Is the period not unto God? When all his sheep, redeem'd by battle,
Shall leave the hay, Always of sin Turn to the Father And enter
in ? And peace with heav'nly God adore
? ? In sin's dark place they wonder far ? ? Indulge in us and sing along
? ? As far from God as sheep can run ? A sea of heaven's indulgent care
Attempts their coverage here and there Still on that hill,
where e'er they strayed, Here they came close to catch their
way. ? And made the whole earth with
her bearing ? ? Judgment's no man's ? ? Sin's no man's fate
? ? By earning peace to His chosen ? ? Glory to God,
they ne'er shall drown ? We are all love, we're in this love
of His love. This, dear Jehovah's, shout the
praise, For us, the ever-loving Savior. The blinded time rolls on apace. The tip of feathers have broke
my grace. to change their hearts, renew
the way, and turn their features on. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to Mark and Chapter
5. Mark's Gospel, Chapter 5, and
we'll read the first 20 verses. And they came over unto the other
side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes, And when he
was come out of the ship, immediately they 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 his 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. But when he saw Jesus afar off,
he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and
said, what have I to do with thee? Jesus, thou son of the
most high God, I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me
not. For he had said unto him, Come
out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What
is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name
is Legion, for we are many. And he besought him much that
he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was
there nigh unto thee mountains, great herd of swine feed him
and all the devils besought him saying send us into the swine
that we may enter into them and forthwith Jesus gave them leave
and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine
and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea there
were about two thousand and were choked in the sea and they that
fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country
and they went out to see what it was that was done and they
come to Jesus and they see him that was possessed with the devil
and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind
and they were afraid And they that saw it told them how it
befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning
the swine. And they began to pray him to
depart out of their coasts. And when he was come into the
ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that
he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not,
but said 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 how great things Jesus had done for him.
And all men did marvel. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant to us the spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we desire to bow before thy great
and holy majesty, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We desire, O
Lord, a spirit of true worship, such as thou didst give to those
that came to thee when here upon earth. And we read of that dear
woman and she worshipped him saying, Lord help me. So we come,
oh Lord, to worship thee this afternoon. And we come like her,
Lord help me. Help us and deliver us from sin
and Satan's power. Deliver us from the temptations
of the enemy. Deliver us from the power and
dominion of sin. Deliver us from the allurements
of this vain world. Deliver us from the corrupt evil
of our own hearts, we do humbly beseech thee and bring us into
union with Jesus Christ. Wash us in his precious sinatonic
blood and clothe us in that glorious everlasting robe of his righteousness. I do grant that the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the
sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide upon
us. as we gather round thy word this
afternoon. And may it be, Lord, as we read
of in the Gospels, and it was noise that Jesus was in the house. Lord, so may it be among us here
that one and another that may have their hearts moved by the
divine spirit and brought into union with Jesus Christ and brought
to look out of self unto Jesus and brought to lay aside every
weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and that
we might run with patience the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame
thereof, and is now set down at the right hand of the majesty
on high. Gracious God, Help us to look
to him. Help us to cleave to him. Help
us to cast all our cares upon him. Help us continually to watch
unto prayer. We do humbly beseech thee. Make
us more spiritually minded. Set our affections on things
above and not on things of the earth. O Lord, we do beseech
of thee for thy great name's sake. Lord, we we pray that thou
would remember us as a church and as a congregation and that
thou would work mightily, powerfully and effectually amongst us to
the great glory of thy name and to the good of precious souls.
And Lord, remember this village, send out the glory and light
of the gospel into this village and in the surrounding villages
and hamlets and grant that many, many precious souls may be gathered
in and grant that we may see among us here the fulfilling
of those wonderful gospel promises. I will bring thy sons from far
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth. They shall come
from the north and from the south and from the east and from the
west. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel, O thou that dwellest
between the cherubim, shine forth. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the son of man. whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we go back from thee. O Lord, do hear
us, we pray, and do graciously bless us, and do remember all
thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls
of Zion today. Grant that they may dip their
foot in oil and be made acceptable unto the brethren, and that the
word preached may be in power in the Holy Ghost and with much
assurance. We pray that those of thy servants
that are now laid aside through old age and weakness and infirmity,
pray that thou would grant them thy divine support unto thy heavenly
kingdom. And we pray thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, to send true labourers into the harvest and
to build the walls of Jerusalem. Arise, arise, O God of grace. Into thy rest descend, thou and
the ark of thy strength, and let thy priests be clothed with
salvation, and thy saints shall shout aloud for joy. Lord, abundantly
bless the provision of thy house, and satisfy her poor with bread. We do humbly beseech of thee. Remember our brethren, the deacons,
and give them grace, wisdom, and help in all their responsibilities. and graciously remember each
one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. We lovingly
gather them all together and commend them to Thee. And remember,
Lord, we pray Thee that we may be favoured with the spirit of
real travail. For as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children. We long to see the bringing forth
of spiritual children. We long to see the building of
the walls of Jerusalem and in gathering. Lord, we pray for
the little ones and the children. We lovingly bring them to thee
and pray that thou would richly bless them. Hast thou not said
in thy word, suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them
not for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Oh, do hear us, Lord. humbly beseech thee, and richly
bless the dear children. Remember the young friends, each
one of them. Remember them with the favour
that thou bearest unto thy people, and visit them with thy great
salvation. Bring them to living, vital,
saving faith in Jesus Christ, that they may become true followers
of thee, and of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. And, O Lord God, we do pray that
thou wouldst remember them regarding a partner in life's journey,
as thou art that great God who brought a Ruth unto Boaz and
a Rebecca unto Isaac, and thou art able to do those same things
again. And we pray for them that thou
wouldst so do. Remember all in the midst of
the journey of life. Remember parents as they seek
to bring up their children, and give them wisdom and grace to
bring them up in the nurture and in the admonition of the
Lord. And, O Lord, we pray that thou would remember the prodigals
that have wandered away. We pray that thou would stretch
out thy almighty arm, that thou would cause them to be in one
and cause them to return, and that we may be given that rejoicing
over one sinner that repented. We do humbly beseech of thee.
And, O Lord God, we pray that thou wouldst remember those of
us that are now in the evening time of life's journey, and guide
us safely unto thy heavenly kingdom. Remember all in trouble or trial,
affliction, perplexity or sorrow, and undertake for each one. We
do humbly beseech of thee. And O Lord God, we do pray that
thou wouldst send out thy light and thy truth in the length and
breadth of our nation, that thou wouldst turn back the the tides
of iniquity that run down our streets and bring to naught the
counsels of the Antichrist. For Lord, Antichrist is so prevalent
in our societies and we pray that thou wouldst arise and send
out thy light and thy truth and pull down those strongholds of
Satan for thy great namesake. Lord, remember our government
and give wisdom and understanding to our leaders We do humbly pray
thee and remember and bless our king and the royal household. Bless them with those rich spiritual
blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ. We do humbly pray. Remember those
places upon the earth where there is war and conflict and thousands
being launched from time into eternity. Lord, bring to naught
the counsels of the ungodly and graciously remember thy people.
in those war-torn places. Remember thy people in those
places upon earth where the name of Christ is hated and where
they are persecuted and imprisoned even unto death. Send them help
from the sanctuary. Strengthen the Mount of Zion.
Remember thy servants that labour in word and doctrine among the
nations of the earth. We'll especially pray for Ian
Sadler and that great work that he does in so many countries.
in the distribution of thy word, and the exposition of it, and
the orphanages that he runs. Lord, supply all his many returning
needs. And remember, Lord, the Mombasa
mission, and thy servant there, and grant good success to his
labors, that there may be precious souls gathered unto Christ. And
remember the Savannah Education Trust, and that great work that
they're doing in Ghana, Lord, do supply all their many returning
needs, and do richly build up thy church in that nation we
do humbly beseech thee. And, O Lord, we desire to thank
thee. We thank thee for every mercy
of thy kind providence. We thank thee for the open Bible,
for our house of prayer, for the liberties that we enjoy in
being able to freely meet together around thy Word. But above all,
O Lord, we thank thee for Jesus Christ, for the glory and fullness
of his grace, for the incarnation of the Son of God, that profound
mystery of godliness. We thank thee for the holy life
he lived as a man and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness
through that holy life. We thank thee for Calvary, where
the Lamb was slain, where his precious blood was shed, that
sin-atoning sacrifice. Oh, we do thank thee that sin
has been put away, and divine justice has been satisfied, and
God and sinners are reconciled, and peace is made between God
and man. We thank thee that he rose again
for our justification, that he bodily ascended into heaven,
and that we have a great high priest. Lord, what wonders what
glories dwell in our Lord Jesus Christ. and he has promised to
come again and receive us under himself, that where he is there
we may be also. Lord, do hear us, do be with
us now as we turn to the word of God. Do make up in giving
where we do so fail in asking. Do come and touch one's lips
with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus
Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 356, and the tune is Southbridge, 518. Does the gospel word proclaim,
rest for those who weary be, then my soul put in thy claim,
sure that promise speaks to thee. Marks of grace I cannot show,
All polluted is my breast, Yet I weary am I now, And the weary
long for rest. O say can you see By the dawn's
early light What so proudly we hailed At the twilight's last gleaming ? God's love is my passion ? ?
God's love is my passion ? ? God's love is my passion ? Heav'nly King, to Thee we'll
all sing, Heaven's King, to Thee we'll all sing, ? Alleluia, alleluia ? ? Alleluia,
alleluia ? ? Alleluia, alleluia ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ? Christ was born in Bethlehem
? ? Christ was born in Bethlehem ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention again to the Gospel
according to Matthew chapter 8 and verse 27. Matthew chapter 8, verse 27. But the men marveled, saying,
What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea Obey
Him. We looked mainly at the context
here in this chapter this morning. We also noted that this chapter
is so full of the wonderful acts of grace, of kindness and of
love of our Lord Jesus Christ of poor sinners. And we also
noticed that this chapter 8 follows 5, 6 and 7 which is the most
wonderful sermon that was ever preached on earth. The sermon
of our Lord Jesus Christ, commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount.
And then when we closed this morning, we said we wanted to
look particularly at the last part of the chapter of the Mad
Gadarene. And I want to do so from the
chapter we read. The reason being that in Mark
chapter 5 we have a far more comprehensive and detailed account
of the conversion of the mad gadarim and we see the wonderful
power. See no man spake like this man
and as we have in our text what manner of man is this that even
the winds and the sea obey him. We notice that we see, especially
in their crossing of the Sea of Galilee, when the disciples
said, Master, save us or we perish in that great storm. And in that
narrative there, we see the humanity of Christ. When he was laying
down asleep, he was tired. He had a real true human nature.
And he was wearied, and he was laying asleep. And this great
storm came. And when the disciples said to
him, Master, save us or we perish. He stood and he rebuked the winds
and the sea. What manner of man is this? That
even the winds and the sea obey him. The omnipotent Lord Jehovah. That is who our Lord Jesus Christ
is. The omnipotent Lord Jehovah.
So let us look in Mark chapter 5 at the detailed account we
have of the mad Gadarene. We notice that he said my name
is Legion for we are many. He was possessed by devils. It's
become the thing in the day in which we live to deny devil possession. yet in the days of Christ it
was very clear there were many that were possessed with devils
and it says even the winds and the sea obey him but here in
this account of the Mad Gadarene we see the devil obeys him. We notice the thing that is outstanding
in this narrative is that the devils could only do what Jesus
Christ allowed them to do. And we must ever remember that,
that we have a bound foe and the Lord Jesus alone is able
to do that. And we notice here in verse 2,
immediately they 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. So he was completely, as it were,
possessed with these devils because he had often been 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, day and night, he
was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself
with stones. You see, my beloved friends,
what a terrible condition this poor man was found in. What does it teach us concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ? There is none beyond his power.
That's what really led me to our first hymn, There is a period
known to God when all his sheep, redeemed with blood, shall leave
the hateful ways of sin, turn to the fold and enter in. But when he saw Jesus afar off,
he ran and worshipped him. You see, the Lord Jesus had commanded,
and who was speaking here was the devils, the devils within
him. cried with a loud voice and said
What have I to do with thee? Jesus our son of the Most High
God. There is a scripture in the epistle
of James The devils believe and tremble You know friends there
are no unbelievers in hell none at all Under the solemn judgment
of the Eternal God and the devils believe not they do not believe
savingly But they knew exactly who this man was, that this was
the Holy God man. And they addressed him as such,
what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High
God? I adjure thee by God, that thou
torment me not. So they knew who he was, and
they addressed him as such. They didn't have saving faith, The devils believe and tremble.
They know who God is. They know who the Son of God
is. They believe and tremble. What a solemn thing if that's
as far as our faith goes and what you might say our natural
faith. They believe and tremble. And it doesn't go beyond that. We need a living faith wrought
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. that believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ and receives mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ and receives
peace and salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ. A living,
vital, saving faith. We read in the epistles of the
Hebrews that without faith, and what he's speaking of there is
true living faith, without faith it is impossible to please God.
For he that cometh unto God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. I adjure
thee by God that thou torment me not. For he had said unto
him, Come out of the man thou unclean spirit. We still get
people today that have unclean spirits. We do. We read of them in our court
systems. The devil working in them. I should never forget that terrible
case of the Yorkshire Ripper. And in the court case it came
out that he had voices speaking to him. Telling him to do those
evil and wicked things that he was doing. That's the voice of
Satan. Of course we're told by psychologists
and psychiatrists that There's no such thing as Satan, there's
no such thing as evil spirits, but they're exactly what it is.
It's an evil spirit. And this evil spirit, in this
man, were trying to destroy him. They were trying to destroy him. When I was under the law, I worked
in London, and I was brought into, while I was there, brought
into deep conviction of sin. And I had many severe temptations
of Satan. And because of that terrible
state that I felt to be in inwardly, I remember standing on the underground
station at Stepney. I worked in the hospital nearby
there. And it was as if a little voice said to me, a train was
coming down the tunnel, just jump. just finish everything
that'll be it that'll be the finish of everything and it was
a very powerful temptation but I remember so distinctly turning
my eyes towards the tunnel and it was blackness and darkness
and it was as if a voice said to me and that is where you will
be if you jump now you're going to blackness and darkness forever
and you know this is what the devil was trying to do with this
poor man one of the names given to satan in the book of the revelation
is apollyon which means the destroyer and that is what he's about he
tries to destroy and that is what he was trying to do with
this man he was trying to destroy destroy him And he asked him, that is Jesus
asked him, what is thy name? And he answered saying, my name
is Legion, for we are many. There were legions of devils
that possessed this poor man and controlled this poor man. And now the devils, what is so
remarkable about this narrative is we have the devil speaking
with God There's a conversation revealed
between Jesus, the Son of God, and these devils that were in
this man. And he besought him much that
he would not send them away out of the country. Notice this,
friends, and we must notice these things. They couldn't do anything
except what Jesus permitted them to do. That's the same today. The devil would love you to think
that he's in control, but he isn't. He never has been, and
he never will be. But he would like you to think
that, that the devil is in control. When you see what's going on
in society, and the wickedness, and the evil, the immorality,
and the unrighteousness, and the devil would love you to think
that he's in control. He's not. This man, possessed
with devils, we don't know how long he'd been like that. He was controlled by the devil,
but he was preserved by grace. I love that hymn, Preserved in
Jesus When. My feet made haste to heaven,
and such there had I been were not salvation free. The time
had come. And that is what so led me to
our first hymn. There is a period known to God
when all his sheep redeemed by blood. This man had been chosen
by the Father in eternity past. This man was given to the Lord
Jesus Christ to redeem. That is why the devil couldn't
destroy him. He was a chosen vessel of mercy.
He was loved with an everlasting love. and he besought him much that
he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was
there, nigh unto the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding
and we're told here there was about 2,000 swine. And we read that Jesus gave them
leave. He couldn't do anything until
he said they could. He gave them leave and they went
straight into those 2,000 swine and those 2,000 swine immediately
ran headlong into the sea and they were all destroyed. That's
exactly what the devil had been trying to do with that man. But
he couldn't, why? Because he was loved with an
everlasting love. And the Lord Jesus had now come
to deliver him from sin and Satan's power. Oh my beloved friends,
what a wonderful thing that Jesus has power to save, that Jesus
has power to deliver. And we read that they that fed
the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country and
they went out to see what it was that was done. Wonderful
thing the other wonderful thing is this that We read in one place
there was a need to be for him to go through Samaria There was a need to be to me
with that woman by the well Look at this man here a man possessed
with wickedness and evil The Lord, as far as we can see, the
only person the Lord dealt with when he went over the sea was
this one man. And he went across the sea to
deal with this one man and to deliver him from Satan's power.
And when he went to Samaria, there's that woman by the whale,
a wicked woman. She'd had seven husbands. She
was a vessel of mercy. She was loved with an everlasting
love. She was. And that is why Jesus
went there. He went to meet with this man. We read the Pharisees said it
in a derogatory way, but it's so full of precious truth. This
man, which man? The man Christ Jesus, the Holy
God man. This man receiveth sinners and
eateth with them. And he still does. People who
perhaps feel they're more holy, more righteous, and they say,
well, why? And the Pharisees were just the
same. Why does he have to do with this wicked man? If he'd
have been a truly godly man, he wouldn't have had anything
to do with them. Jesus wasn't a Pharisee. No. Jesus came to seek and to save
that which was lost. It's sinners can say, and none
but they. How precious is the Saviour. Yeah, we may not like it in our
tidy little minds that here was a woman that had had seven men,
and yet she was loved with an everlasting love. My beloved
friends, never forget that. She was loved with an everlasting
love. She went into the city and she
said, come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? You see,
what wonderful grace. And it's wonderful grace to the
vilest and the most wretched of sinners. It is. That is what is so wonderful
about it, is to the most vile and the most wretched of sinners. Now, we read here, and forthwith
Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went
out. 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 And those that kept them
fled alarmed no doubt that these swine had run into the sea and
they they come to Jesus and See him that was possessed with the
devil and had the legion. Now this
is such a wonderful portion sitting and clothed and in his right
mind and they were afraid. The wonderful power of God's
grace. This man that couldn't be tamed
was now completely healed. Now he was now sitting at the
feet of Jesus That is where faith brings a poor sinner. It does. Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind. The wonderful power of the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know how telling that is
in our text, isn't it? What manner of man is this that
even the winds and the sea and devils Obey Him, they do, they
do. We have a wonderful promise in
the prophecy of Isaiah, when the enemy, the enemy is Satan,
when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord
will lift up a standard against him. That standard, you know,
a standard is what is carried before an army when it goes to
battle. They fly the standard, you have a standard bearer that
carries that standard. Now the standard of the gospel
is the cross of Christ, the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the glorious sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious
sin atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, the precious
sin atoning blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And let us think
of that glorious everlasting righteousness of our Lord Jesus
Christ. How attractive these things are
to the vilest and most wretched of sinners Because here is a
righteousness a righteousness that is divine that is eternal
that is given to the church The name given to Christ in Jeremiah
23 Jehovah said Kenya the Lord our righteousness You see when
when When the Son of God became a man, he came under the law. I think we quoted it this morning
in Galatians 4, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might
redeem them that are under the law. Christ was. So he lived as a man here upon
earth, under the law. And we're clearly told in holy
scripture that he did no sin. Now we're instructed in the first
epistle of John, that sin is any transgression
of the law of God. He never transgressed God's holy
law. He lived a life that was perfect
and holy and pure and righteous. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. Now that perfect life, of Christ. That perfect obedience of Christ
is called the righteousness of Christ. Jehovah said, can you,
the Lord, our righteousness. And in the Gospel plan, our Eternal
Father laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. He took our sin, He
took the sin of the whole church and He laid it on His Son, Jesus
Christ. He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. And he took that perfect obedience,
the righteousness of Christ, and he lays that on the church.
So Christ became the sin bearer of the church. And his righteousness
becomes the righteousness of the church. a pure, holy righteousness. And it's called in scripture,
the robe of righteousness. It's a royal robe to cover his
people, to be clothed in that glorious, everlasting righteousness
of Christ. One hymn writer says, righteousness
within thee rooted, he's speaking now of self-righteousness, righteousness
within thee rooted may appear to take thy path, but Let righteousness
imputed be the breastplate of thy heart. The imputed righteousness
of Christ. That doctrine of imputation is
so fundamental and central to the whole of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. So that his obedience becomes
the church's. And our disobedience becomes
his. What an exchange, isn't it? He
was made sin for us. He was wounded for our transgressions. This is the gospel, my beloved
friends. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. We read in that
same chapter, Isaiah 53, he was numbered among the transgressors,
for he bared the sin of many. Our Lord Jesus Christ. What an
exchange! May the Lord, by His Spirit,
open your eyes. We read in scripture, don't we?
Then open to the eyes of their understanding. May the Lord open
your eyes to see this wonderful exchange. And to see it personally
for yourself. Not just to see that this is
the gospel plan, but to know it personally in your own heart,
in your own soul. What manner of man is this? You know, whatever aspect we
look at Jesus Christ, we can say, what manner of man is this?
When we see what his actions were, what he did, when we see
his love to poor, lost, ruined, wretched, hell-deserving sinners,
to the vilest, one hymn writer says, doesn't he, a Manasseh
or a Mary sings. A Manasseh or a Mary sings. Manasseh caused the streets of
Jerusalem run with blood of the Lord's people. And yet he found
mercy. He found mercy. The woman by
the well was a serial adulteress, yet she found mercy. She found
mercy. And you know friends, I was only
speaking with somebody who I thought better of not too long ago. And
something came up in conversation. and a person of four. It's very
sad when the Lord's people fall. But in this man's mind, that
was it. That was it, they're no good,
they're finished. What an awful thing, my beloved friends, if
that was the case. Because we all fall, and we all
sin. And I said to him, I said, in
your religion, Is there no room for repentance and godly sorrow
for sin and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ? Oh yes, he said,
of course. I said, yeah, but you're denying
it in this case. In your opinion, that person has sinned beyond
the mercy and grace of God. Friends, you can never sin beyond
the mercy and grace of God. No. That's not to encourage sin
in any way. But the vilest sinner out of
hell, Gadsby writes in one of his hymns, who lives to fill
his need, is welcome to the throne of grace, the Saviour's blood
to plead. And the wonderful effect here,
and they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the
devil and had the legion sitting, no longer agitated, no longer
running around cutting himself, sitting, resting. You know, friends, the rest of
faith, the apostle speaks of it in the Hebrews, doesn't he?
The rest of faith is Christ. And when we're brought by faith
to Christ, there's a resting, resting in the blood of Christ,
resting in the righteousness of Christ, resting in the love
of Christ, resting in the power of Christ. That's what the rest
of faith is. to come again and clothed before
he was naked and he wouldn't keep his clothes on but now he
was clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid in
his right mind. I remember a time of great affliction
and I came home from hospital it very weakened through that
affliction and I went straight to bed And as I was laying on
my bed, the devil came so powerfully, so assaulted, and my mind was
weak, and I was very sick. And it was as if I was on a knife
edge that I could tip into the abyss of insanity. That's how
I felt. It was an awful place to be.
And I felt I was going to literally fall into that place of insanity. And you know, the Lord dropped
those words into my heart with such a sweetness, savour and
power. He hath given us the spirit of
love and of a sound mind and all the peace. And about half
an hour later, as I lay quietly on my bed, I had such a view
of our Lord Jesus Christ in Gethsemane for me, suffering for me. You see, He's able to deliver
us from temptation. Maybe somebody else here has
been in that place where you feel you're going to drop into
insanity. He hath given us the spirit of
love and of a sound mind. A legion sitting and clothed
and in his right mind and they were afraid. They were afraid
of him. And they that saw it told them
how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil and
also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to
depart out of their curse. What a sad reaction that was.
They feared. They saw this tremendous thing.
But then we have here how this man, the Mad Gadarene, He wanted
to follow Jesus. He wanted to go with him. Albeit Jesus suffered him not,
but saith unto him, and I believe this was a divine commission
to preach, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things
the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee.
Go home to thy friends. and tell them how great things
the Lord had done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
He got something to tell them, hadn't he? He got quite a story
to speak of his experience, this terrible experience of being
possessed with all those devils. And then the Lord Jesus coming
and delivering him from Satan's power, and Christ revealed unto
him, and how that he was then sitting clothed and in his right
mind through the sovereign grace of God. Do you know, friends,
we don't know how many of those Girgashins were called by divine
grace through the ministry of this one man. Go home to thy
friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for
thee and hath had compassion on thee. Not only do I believe
it's a divine commission for him to go and preach, But we
could think of it in a lesser way, in that it was to be baptized. Tell them how great things the
Lord had done for them. To go, those lepers that were at the
walls of the city, and they said that the city was besieged and
the Syrians were there, If we stay here we're going to die.
If we go to the Syrians they may kill us or they may not.
And they went to the Syrians and they found all the hosts
of the Syrians had fled. So they went among the tents
and they were stealing the wealth of the Syrians and they suddenly
said, we do not well. We do not well. This day is a
day of good tidings. Let us go and tell the king's
household. Maybe there's one and another
here and that may be a word in season to you. Let us go and
tell the king's household. We know who the king's household
is. It's the church. Then shall I tell to sinners
round what a dear saviour I have found. I'll point to thy redeeming
blood and say behold the way to God, have you got something
to tell? Have you got something to speak of? Go home to thy friends
and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and
hath had compassion on thee. And we said this morning in the
chapter eight of Matthew, how it shines through the love, the
compassion, the kindness, the grace, of our Lord Jesus Christ
to the most vile, to the most wretched of sinners. And he departed
and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done
for him, what Jesus has done. And that is the great thing,
my beloved friends, to put the crown on the head of Jesus Christ. is to crown Him as being your
only Saviour, your only Redeemer. I was lost, I was ruined, I was
undone, I was unworthy. It's like you feel similar to
the centurion. He said, I'm not worthy that thou shouldest come under
my roof, but speak the word only. and my servants shall be healed.
See, my beloved friends, faith. A little faith. The little that
a righteous man hath. Not great things, but a little
faith. The little that a righteous man
hath is better than the riches of many wicked. And the men marveled,
saying, what manner of man is this, that even the winds and
the sea obey him? And you know, friends, whatever
it is that you may come into, whatever trials, whatever perplexities,
whatever difficulties, whatever troubles, this glorious man, the man Christ
Jesus can deliver. He is able to save to the uttermost,
completely, all that come unto God by him. May you be enabled
to come. May you be enabled to look. You
think of those words, they are the words of Christ in Isaiah
45, look unto me, all ye ends of the earth. Maybe that's what
you feel to be in your own feelings. You're at the ends of the earth.
He says, look unto me, O ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved,
for I am God, and there is none else. What manner of man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey him? With heaven and earth
at his command, he waits to answer prayer. May the Lord add his
blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 385. The tune is Blessedness 301. May it be a whirling season in
the hymn unto you. Hear gracious God a sinner's
cry, for I have nowhere else to fly. My hope, my only hope's
in thee. O God, be merciful to me. Hymn 385, Tune Blessedness 301.
? Through the ages of old ? ? I
see heaven's light ? ? O'er the land of the free ? ? And the
home of the brave ? ? And the home he has given to
me ? ? To thee I come, O Christ my God ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? In Him, my power and power to
be, How could it possible to be? Tell thee, I come a-sweeping
away, And as the flow'ring rain goes away, From death and illness shall
we pray, Our God, with us in the water, Tell me I've come a sinner's
path, A longing for a Savior's love, The Savior of America King, How
lowly and simple to be! Dearly I come, and sin appraise,
and forever ? Yet on the heav'nly stage we'll
be ? ? And glory vouchsafed for all to see ? The day I come and sin amassed,
The hour I hope and yearn to trust, And when I'm gone, what am I
to be? Alone in the ocean of the sea. ? To glory bring me, O God, at
last ? ? And heaven, O mighty, in the past ? With all thy strength, a man
of faith, God bless thee, bless thee, bless thee. Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each both now and
for evermore. Amen.