Let us turn again to the Word
of God and we shall read a few verses from Matthew chapter 8.
From verse 28 to the end of the chapter, Matthew 8 verses 28
to 34. and when he was come to the other
side of the country of the Gergesenes that is of course the Lord Jesus
Christ when he was come to the other side into the country of
the Gergesenes there met him two possessed with devils coming
out of the tombs exceeding fierce so that no man might pass by
that way and behold they cried out saying what are we to do
with thee Jesus thou son of God art thou come hither to torment
us before the time? And there was a good way off
from them, and heard of many swine feeding. So the devils
besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go
away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And
when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine,
and behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep
place into the sea, and perished in the waters. and they that
kept them fled and went their ways into the city and told everything
and what was before them to the possessed of the devils and behold
the whole city came out to meet Jesus and when they saw him they
besought him that he would depart out of their coasts well here in these verses we
have the accounts of the deliverance of the Demoniacs two men possessed
with devils and as with the stilling of a tempest which we considered
two or three weeks ago when I was preaching here last time as with the stilling of the tempest
there are slight variations in the accounts that we have in
Matthew, Mark and Luke now there Again, I would state there are
no contradictions, but there are variations, and the most
obvious difference is that Matthew mentions two men, whereas Mark
and Luke mention only one man. Again, there are no contradictions
in these accounts. Matthew's account is more concise,
and It doesn't give, for example, the name of the devils, whereas
the accounts of both Mark and Luke are more detailed, and they
concentrate on just one of the two men. And the collective name
of the devils, Legion, is supplied by Mark and Luke, so their accounts
are more detailed, and they concentrate on just one of the men. Now although
I take from my text this morning the account that we have here
in Matthew, we shall not confine ourselves to Matthew's account,
but we shall also look, I trust with the Lord's help and blessing,
we shall look at some of the detail supplied by the other
two evangelists. And there are two things which
we shall consider this morning from the inspired testimony of
the Word of God. And that is first, Satan's possession
and then secondly, the Saviour's power. So these two things, these
should be our two headings this morning, Satan's possession and
the Saviour's power. Well, let us consider then in
the first place, Satan's possession. See the description of these
two men in verse 28. And when he was come to the other
side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two
possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce,
so that no man might pass by that way. Now described as being
possessed with devils, Mark speaks of a man with an unclean spirit. Luke speaks of a certain man
which had devils long time. And of course, both Mark and
Luke speak of one of these men at least as having many devils. We read there in Luke chapter
8 verse 30, and Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And
he said, Legion, because many devils were entered into him.
Now what is meant here by the word Legion? Well, a legion was
a regiment in the Roman army and at this time, at the time
of Christ a legion would have consisted of 6,000 men there
are clearly then a great number of devils or demons which possess
this man or these two men and just as a Roman legion operated
as a single unit So these devils were one in their aim and object,
and their aim and object was the ultimate destruction of these
two men. Now, all men, in a state of nature,
are in some measure under the power and influence of the devil. Oh, they may not believe in the
devil, but again, that is a delusion of the devil himself. Now I'm
not saying that all people are demon-possessed, or that all
are demoniacs. No, of course not. But the Scriptures
do teach us that all who are in Adam, all who are in a state
of nature, all who are lost and ruined in the fall, are in some
measure under the power and influence of the devil. that old serpent,
the devil, took possession of our first parents when he first
drew them into his net and tempted them to sin against their creator
and by ensnaring Adam and Eve he brought the whole race into
captivity the devil is the prince of the power of the air the spirit
that now works in the children of disobedience and concerning
those who do not believe the gospel Paul says, but if our
gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image
of God should shine unto them those who are in error and who
oppose the truth are in, as the Apostle says, the snare of the
devil who are taken captive by him at his will. The Puritan,
Arthur Dent says regarding the unregenerate that they are the
very apprentices and bond slaves of the devil which is a thousand
times worse than to be a galley slave the very apprentices and bond
slaves of the devil that's man in his natural condition see
the miserable condition of these two men is it not a picture of
the condition of men in their natural unregenerate state And
when he was come to the other side of the country of the Gergesenes,
there met him two possessed with devils. So much for the description of
these two men. Now, see the dwelling place of
these two men. We read of them coming out of
the tombs. In Mark we read, 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. It's where he lived.
Luke says, neither abode in any house but in the tombs now under
the law of course this was an unclean place Numbers chapter
19 verse 16 and whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword
in the open fields or a dead body or a bone of a man or a
grave shall be unclean seven days and he's had their dwelling
among the tombs they lived in an unclean place the devils drive
these two men to dwell and to live in an unclean place and
so the devil often inclines the hearts of men, does he not? under
the influence of Satan men will frequent the most dark and evil
places places that are unclean in that they are openly sinful
we don't need to go into details here. They will frequent the
places of the spiritually dead and they will seek the company
of the spiritually dead. Now if you were to go into a
nightclub for example, and I don't suggest you do, but you will
see them there, the dead dancing with the dead and all to the
devil's tune. Oh, he makes them dance a very
merry dance that it is to their eternal destruction. except the
Lord himself intervene the devil will even drive men
to places of worship which are no better than tombs there are some places of so-called
worship of course that resemble more a nightclub than
they do a church places of entertainment instead of worship they are no better than tombs
under the devil's influence men will worship dead idols and pray
to dead saints as the Church of Rome does but even the atheists
and the irreligious do yet have their religion too They follow
the cult of the celebrity. Their scriptures are the glossy
magazines. Their pulpits are their television screens. Their
temples are the cinemas. Their icons are the spiritually
dead. And the disgraces of pride, lust,
greed and envy are deified in the personalities they worship.
All these men dwelt in an unclean place their dwelling was among
the tombs and so it is with the spiritually dead their dwelling
is amongst the spiritually dead and they love to have it so so much for the dwelling of these
two men now see the destructive nature of these two men they
were exceeding fierce we read that No man might pass by that
way. They were clearly a threat to
themselves and to others. Again, Mark gives us more detail,
certainly with regards to at least one of these two men. He
says, 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 oh what a picture we have here of fallen man just
as these men could not be bound with chains so men in their fallen
and rebellious condition will not be bound by God's law no,
God's commandments are willfully and willingly broken and men
will not be bound by them and neither will they submit
themselves whilst in this condition to the sweet and easy yoke of
the gospel the kings of the earth 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 Not only were chains and fetters
broken by these men, but it seems that any clothes that people
put upon them were torn off. Because Luke tells us concerning
one of them that he wears no clothes. And we see the devil's
influence, do we not, in the present day, in causing men and
women to publicly discard their clothing. It is a sure sign of
a country and a culture which is under the influence of the
devil. These men, as we have said, were
fierce. And is this not another mark
of the unregenerate that they are fierce? For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good. traitors, heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form
of godliness but denying the power thereof. All those who
have nothing but the form of godliness, they are often the
most fierce. Think of the chief priests who
falsely accused Christ before Pontius Pilate in Luke 23 verse
4 we read then Pilate said to the chief priests and to the
people I find no fault in this man and they were the more fierce
saying he's stirring up the people teaching throughout all Jewry
beginning from Galilee to this place oh they were more fierce
these priests and of course we see it in all
the bloody persecutions of the whore of Babylon against the
poor despised chief of Christ you only have to read the history
the history of the martyrs under Bloody Mary in this country we
can read of the Spanish Inquisition, we can read of the massacres
of the saints in the Alps, the Waldensians and so many more
how many have been slain by that Roman Antichrist or the fierceness
of Rome against those she deems heretics. Now what do you think
is the influence behind Islam? What sort of a religion is it
that endorses mass murder and suicide? What sort of a religion
is it that would behead anyone that turns from it? What sort
of a religion is it that would call for the rape of any woman
who was not of its own sect as a Sunni Muslim cleric has recently
done in Syria? Each and every month we receive
news of more atrocities committed by the followers of the false
prophet against the sheep of Christ. Islam, I believe, can
be described like these two men as exceeding fierce. If ever there was a religion
which is satanically inspired, it is Islam. Calvin, of course,
famously referred to Pope and Mohammed as the two horns of
Antichrist and I believe that's true in Mark's account we see one
of these two men crying, cutting himself with stones see how the
devil leads men to harm and to destroy themselves I'm reminded
of the prophets of Baal in Elijah's day you remember how those false
prophets cut themselves in the service of their God their false
God 1 Kings 18 verse 28 and they cried aloud and cut themselves
after their manner with knives and lances till the blood gushed
out upon them all see the exceeding fierceness
of false religion and its destruction It's destructive power both to
the bodies and to the souls of men. There are other ways that we
can mention, of course, which men under Satan's power and dominion
use to harm or to destroy themselves. Drug and alcohol abuse, promiscuity
and so on. Well, having considered Satan's
possession, let us go on to consider a much sweeter theme. and that
is the Saviour's power the Saviour's power the demonstration
of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ in delivering these two
men commences from our perspective in verse 18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes
about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
He gave commandment to depart unto the other side. As we said
last time when we looked at the miracle of the stilling of the
tempest, the Lord had determined to cross to the other side of
the lake. And we read of no others whom
the Lord healed on the other side of the lake, but these two
possessed with devils. the Lord Jesus Christ came from
his Galilean home on the other side of the lake to a country
inhabited by Gentiles and apostate Jews and he came specifically
to heal and to deliver these two men and so the Lord has acted
towards all his dear elect he came from his home in glory And
he came to this sin-spoilt world specifically to save his people,
the objects of his choice. Though they were taken captive
by the devil at his will, the Lord was determined to save them.
He came from across the other side, as it were, from heaven
itself, to deliver and to redeem his elect. For this purpose the
Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of
the devil and he destroyed the devil and all his legion by means
of the cross. and you being dead in your sins,
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. he triumphed over principalities
and powers, that is, legion, he triumphed over legion and
how did he do it? By the cross and by his death
upon the cross he came as he himself declared
to preach deliverance to the captives the spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor
he has sent me to heal the broken hearted to preach deliverance
to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set
at liberty them that are bruised and how does he set at liberty
them that are bruised? by being bruised himself as was declared to the serpent
in the very beginning regarding the seed of the woman it shall
bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel and as it was declared by the
prophets yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when
thou shalt make an offering and when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin an offering for sin why was he bruised? again as
the prophet tells us for the transgression of my people was
he stricken the Lord came from heaven to
earth to save his church even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it it was ever in the mind to save
his elect even from all eternity and it was never in the mind
of God to save any but his elect and so we see here that the Lord
was determined to cross over to the other side of the lake
to save and to deliver none but these two men oh the mercy of
the Lord Jesus Christ oh and his power to deliver see
the beginning of their deliverance and when he was come to the other
side of the country of the Gergesenes they met him too possessed with
devils it seems from Mark's account they ran to the Lord Jesus as
soon as they saw him in Mark chapter 5 verse 6 but when he
saw Jesus afar off he ran and worshipped him nobody could subdue these two
men no one could subdue these two men but Christ merely by
his presence causes these men to submit to him and the devils know who he is
and they tremble before him the Lord Jesus commands the devil
to come out of them as we read in Mark for he said unto them
come out of the man thou unclean spirit and the devils tremble
before Christ they fear lest he has come to torment them before
the time as we see here in verse 29 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 we learn from this of course
that there is an appointed time when the devil and all his angels
shall be tormented and the angels which kept not their first estate
but left their own habitation he had reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day there
is to be the judgment of the great day and the devils are reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness unto that day the devils then after being made
to confess his name Legion they beseeched Christ that they might
enter the herd of swine and there was a good way off from them
and heard of many swine feeding so the devils besought him saying
if thou cast us out suffer us to go away into the herd of swine and the Lord gives them permission
and he said unto them go Mark says and forthwith Jesus gave
them leave and Luke says and he suffered them he gave them
permission now notice that the devils can't do anything without
Christ's permission we see it in the book of Job of course
Satan could do nothing against Job without God's permission the devil can do nothing against
us without God's leave or permission but isn't this a strange thing?
the Lord Jesus answers the prayer and the petition of these devils He gives them what they ask yet sometimes it seems to the
Lord's believing people that their prayers go unanswered you
perhaps wonder why doesn't the Lord answer my prayers? I've
been praying about this matter for a long time the Lord doesn't
seem to answer my prayers and yet here we see that the devils
have their petitions answered this could be a great trial of
faith especially when we see the desires of the wicked granted
but you know if our prayers seem to go unanswered even that is
of the Lord's goodness and mercy this was Paul's experience, he
says concerning his thorn in the flesh for this thing I besought
the Lord thrice that it might depart from me and he said unto
me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made
perfect in weakness the Lord would not grant him that request
the Lord would not answer that particular prayer of the Apostle
in the way that he wanted that thorn in the flesh you see was
for his spiritual good. When the Lord grants the desires
and the petitions of the wicked, however, it is in solemn judgment. Remember the mixed multitude
and those carnal Israelites who despised the manna and lusted
for flesh in the wilderness in Numbers 11 verse 4 and the mixed
multitude that was among them fell a lusting and the children
of Israel also wept again and said who shall give us flesh
to eat? and we read how God granted them
their request verse 19 ye shall not eat one day or two days nor
five days neither ten days nor twenty days but even a whole
month until it come out at your nostrils and it be loathsome
unto you in verse 31 and they went forth a wind from the Lord
and brought quails from the sea and let them fall by the camp
as it were a day's journey on this side and as it were a day's
journey on the other side round about the camp and as it were
two cubits high upon the face of the earth and the people stood
up all that day and all that night and all the next day and
they gathered the quails he that gathered least gathered ten homers
and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the
camp and while the flesh was yet between their teeth ere it
was chewed the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people
and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague and
he called the name of that place Kibra Keteva because there they
buried the people that lost it all their request was granted
the Lord granted them their request the psalmist says, so they did
eat and were well filled, he gave them their own desire they
were not estranged from their lust but while their meat was
yet in their mouths the wrath of God came upon them and slew
the fattest of them and smoked down the chosen men of Israel
again in another psalm we read, they soon forgot his works, they
waited not for his counsel but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness
and tempted God in the desert and he gave them their request
and he gave them their request but sent leanness into their
soul it is a great mercy to be denied something that we think
that we want that we might be prosperous in
our souls. If the prayers of the wicked
are answered at all, they are answered in solemn judgement. And so it is here, with these
devils, their petition is granted, but it is that they might be
destroyed. and he said unto them go and
when they would come out they went into the herd of swine and
behold the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place
into the sea and perished in the waters now see the reaction of the multitude
to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in casting out this legion
verse 33 and they that kept them fled and went their ways into
the city and told everything and what was befallen to the
possessed of the devils and behold the whole city came out to meet
Jesus and when they saw him they besought him that he would depart
out of their coasts they besought him that he would depart out
of their coasts are confronted as it were face
to face with the power and with the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ
and their languages as we have it in Job depart from us for
we desire not the knowledge of thy ways they would rather have
their peace than the pearl of great price they would rather
have their slime than the Saviour and so it is with the worldlings
J. C. Royal says, they had no heart
to feel for anything but the loss of their swine. They cared
not that two fellow creatures, two immortal souls, were freed
from Satan's bondage. They cared not that there stood
among them a greater than the devil, Jesus, the Son of God. They cared for nothing but that
their swine were drowned, and the hope of their gains was gone.
They ignorantly regarded Jesus as one who stood between them
and their prophets. and they only wished to be rid
of him. There are only too many like
these Gergesenes. There are thousands who cannot
one jot for Christ or Satan so long as they can make a little
more money and have a little more of the good things of this
world. From such a spirit may we be delivered. Against this
spirit may we ever watch and pray. It is very common. It is awfully infectious. let
us recollect every morning that we have souls to be saved and
that we shall one day die and after that be judged let us beware
of loving the world more than Christ well Matthew tells us nothing
more regarding this incident he simply says and he entered
into a ship and passed over and came into his own city. For further
detail we must turn again to Mark and Luke. Now Mark and Luke
tell us of only one of these two men but we see in their accounts
the difference which free and sovereign grace makes. And I say free and sovereign
grace because it is clear that no offers of salvation were made
to these men they were not asked to make a decision they were
not persuaded by reasoned arguments the Lord simply saved them because
it was His sovereign will and prerogative to do so and so it
is with all the elect for by grace ye are saved through faith
and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God now see the difference which
grace makes and see him that was possessed with the devil
and had the lesion sitting and clothed and in his right mind
as Mark says grace cast the devil out and sits a man at the feet
of Jesus sitting at the feet of Jesus
Luke says clothed and in his right mind it clothes him in
a righteousness not his own it puts him in his right mind, a
Christian is a man in his right mind he is a new creature therefore
if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are
passed away or things are become new Luke tells us now the man
out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be
with him Where there is real grace, there will be holy desires
after Christ. There will be those longings
for Him. Draw me and we will run after Thee. The psalmist
expresses it in Psalm 63, Because Thou hast been my help, therefore
in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth
hard after Thee. the Apostle Paul writes of having
a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better
and so it is with this man he prayed him that he might be with
him oh how different he was to those others in that place who
desired that Christ might depart from them how be it Jesus suffered him
not we read in Mark you see the Lord had a work for him to do
and so it is with all the Lord's people for we are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works the Lord has a work
for us to do if we are saved by His grace we are not to be
taken immediately to heaven to be with Him which is far better
but the Lord has a work for us to do What was the work that
the Lord would have this man to do? Well we're told again
in Mark's Gospel, Mark 5 verse 19, Howbeit Jesus suffered him
not, 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 is to declare what God has
done for him for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation the Lord's people are to declare
what he has done for their souls as the psalmist says let the
redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath redeemed from the hand
of the enemy and is not the spiritual man's spiritual home the gospel
church go home to thy friends the gospel church is the spiritual
man's spiritual home and his friends are those who know and
who love and who fear the Lord they are his brothers and sisters
in Christ the hymn writer says, we sang it at the opening of
our service this morning for there my friends and kindreds
dwell who are your friends? Who do you like to seek company
with? The spiritually dead or those who are spiritually alive?
Who are your friends? Who are your kindred? The Christian,
the man in his right mind will go and declare to the church
the Lord's gracious dealings with him. Come and hear all ye
that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
of course the believer is not only to say but he is also to
show that the Lord has been gracious to him in Luke we read that Christ
said to the man return to thine own house and show how great
things God have done unto thee show how great things God have
done unto thee the grace of God is to be shown out of a good
conversation that is a good manner of living, the way we live, the
way we conduct ourselves in the world and in the church and in
our families the salvation worked in must be worked out no big
words of ready talkers, no big dry doctrine will suffice broken
hearts and humble walkers these are dear in Jesus eyes When we
see this man or these men walking in obedience to Christ.
Here we have an example of the obedience of faith. Again in
Mark 5 verse 20. And he departed and began to
publish in the capitalists how great things Jesus had done for
him and all men did marvel. Now concerning this telling how
great things the Lord has done. Dr. Gill says, many are backward
to this part of the service of faith, through fears, through
unbelief, and Satan's temptations. But this man, though to have
continued with Christ was greatly desirable by him, yet he submits
to his will and pleasure, and is obedient to his orders. and
that at once immediately dropping his suit unto him, no longer
insisting on his being with him, for he was sensible of the great
obligations he was laid under to him. He was sensible of the
great obligations he was laid under to him, and saw it to be
his duty to observe whatever he commanded him. Now this is
the great difference between being under the law and being
under the gospel. knowing something of the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts knowing the great things
that the Lord has done for us we are sensible of the great
obligations that we are laid under to Him only fear the Lord and serve
Him in truth with all your heart for consider how great things
he has done for you says Samuel the prophet and we note in conclusion that
the Holy Spirit through the inspired word teaches us who Jesus Christ
really is look at Luke's account Luke chapter 8 and verse 39 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 who is Jesus Christ? He is God He is God incarnate
and none but God manifest in the flesh could work such a deliverance
from the power of the devil none but Emmanuel which being interpreted
is God with us could save his people from their sins none but
Jesus can do helpless sinners good none can save us we cannot
save ourselves but he is the Almighty permission to do it he does it
all of his free Christ well to him then alone be the glory Amen