If you want to turn back in your
Bibles to the book of Mark, I'm going to be going over the second
part of last week's sermon. As it always seems to be when
I begin to study for the sermon for each week, I feel sometimes
like I'm starting from the beginning. And so I asked this question.
Last week's sermon title was, The Irrepressible Grace of God. The irrepressible is the best
word I could think of. It just means that God's grace
to us cannot be stopped. It can't be resisted. God will
save His people. Jesus said in John 10, 16, other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring."
And when the Lord Jesus Christ says something, it must be fulfilled.
He says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will
not pass away. So the Son of God speaks, he
speaks in our nature, he speaks as our Savior, and he says, I
must, I must bring them. And so I ask this question as
the title for this sermon. This is part two of Mark chapter
5 verses 1 through 20. And really this is a question
I ask because of the two chapters in Matthew that we're covering
now, Matthew chapter 8 and 9. And we haven't covered chapter
9 yet, but this is the title. What does it all mean? What does
it all mean? And maybe that's a bad title,
but that was the one that I gave to this sermon today. What does
it all mean? We see the Lord Jesus Christ
in Matthew chapter 8 cleansing a leper at his will. with his
touch and by his word. And then we see him healing the
centurion's servant whose nerves were damaged and disabled. He was paralyzed. He was impotent. He had no power to save himself
or to help himself and he was morally sick and Jesus healed
him by his word only, only by his word. And then the Lord raised
Peter's feverish mother-in-law with his hand. And then He cast
out devils of all who were brought to Him and healed all the sick
people brought to Him. And there was two who came to
Him, but He didn't seek honor from them. And He told them that
there's no earthly reward in serving Me, in serving the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's only a heavenly one.
grace from God, the gift of faith, receiving grace from the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus rests in His
Father's will as He and His disciples pass over the sea in the storm
that threatened them. And they were afraid, and it
was a real danger, but He spoke, because no one can pluck His
disciples, His sheep, out of His hand. And He and His Father
are one. And no matter what comes to us,
all will turn out according to God's perfect will. He arranges
things in our lives in order to bring us to that point where
we depend upon Him and to bring us to Himself. So He travels
across the sea to deliver one man. Well, actually two. In Matthew there are two, but
here in Mark chapter 5 we see one man featured. His name is
Legion. Legion means many. There were
many devils in him. And this man had an unclean spirit. Before God, he was unclean. He
was foul and filthy. He ran around naked and unclothed. He was fierce. He hurt others
and prevented others from going their way. He was exposed in
the filth of his sin, exposed in man's religion. They tried
to hold him down, tried to suppress him and restrain him and control
him, but he couldn't control himself and no one else could
control him. He lived in the tombs. Spiritually,
he was dead, and he preferred living among the dead. He cried
day and night. He hurt himself cutting himself
with stones. And he broke everything that
men tried to bind him with. Chains and fetters. Anything
that religion or mankind would try to do, he couldn't be held
down. They failed to control him. But
once the Lord Jesus came and delivered him, he sat at his
feet in his right mind and clothed. And this tells us what it's all
about. What does it all mean? What does
it all mean? When we read in the Gospels or
when we hear in the Gospels the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there are several things that come to mind that are drawn into
contrast of what it all means. And I think if you keep these
things in mind, if we hold these things, which God himself teaches
us, that will understand the message of the miracles. And
perhaps that's a better title for the sermon today, The Message
of the Miracles. First thing we see here is why,
the question is, why did Jesus work miracles? What was the message
that he was trying to bring in working these miracles? And there's
several points I want to make here. First one is, the first
thing, and I think this is maybe not the most important, but it's
the one that stands out. The first is that he did what
he did to fulfill Scripture. To fulfill Scripture. Now this
is throughout the Word of God, Him fulfilling the Scripture.
If you look up the word fulfilled in the New Testament, it occurs
57 times. Over 50 times it is said in the
New Testament that what was done was done that it might be fulfilled. And that teaches us something
very fundamental and very important. What God says must be fulfilled. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
about His own words, and I've already said this, "...heaven
and earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away."
What He said must come to pass. He spoke it, and He will fulfill
it. Not only that, but in Luke 4
he picked up the scroll and read from the scroll from Isaiah 61
verses 1-3. And he sat the scroll down and
he himself sat down and he said to the people there, he said,
this day is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing. He himself interpreted
the word. He not only spoke it, but he
interpreted it and he fulfilled it. And he revealed the meaning
of God's word. Because He's not only the source
of the Word of God, He's the one who fulfills it. But the
Word of God is about Him. So the first thing we learn is
that Scripture must be fulfilled. God's Word cannot fail. Heaven
and Earth may fail, and will. But God's Word cannot fail. In
Psalm 138. In Psalm 138. In verse... Well, let's just turn and I'll
find it, because I can't find where I've written it here. But
this is an important verse. Psalm 138. I think it's around
verse 2 or so. I'll tell you in just a second.
He says this. Fundamental teaching of Scripture.
In verse 2 of Psalm 138. I will worship toward thy holy
temple. In fact, let's read verse 1,
"...I will praise Thee with my whole heart. Before the gods
will I sing praise to Thee." And that word, gods, there means
the rulers of the people. They were called gods sometimes
in Scripture. "...I will worship toward Thy
holy temple." And praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and
for thy truth. For thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name." God's word cannot fail. He has exalted His
word above His name. He spoke to Abraham and He said
to Abraham, "...by myself have I sworn..." Because He could
swear by no higher, no greater than Himself. Men swear by the
greater, but God swore by Himself. Saying, Surely, blessing I will
bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And God did this
so that by two immutable things, His counsel, His word, and Him
swearing by Himself, He could not change. He staked himself
to fulfill what he said. If I do not do what I've said
God is saying, then I cease to be God. He's exalted his word
above his name. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God. He comes, fulfilling it, speaking
it, revealing the Father. interpreting it, and He is the
subject of it. In John 5, 39 it says this, Jesus
told the Pharisees and us, He says, "...you search the Scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they
which testify of Me, and you will not come to Me that you
might have life." The Scriptures testify of Christ. So the message
of the miracles, why Jesus did the miracles first and foremost,
is that the Scripture must be fulfilled. And He Himself is
the one who is the Word of God who also does it. He says in
Isaiah 46.10 or 11, He says, I have spoken it, I will also
do it. In Psalm 33.9, He says, that what he said stands fast,
it cannot change. I'm going to look at that because
I've forgotten exactly how it's put there. But Isaiah, I mean
Psalm 33, 9 and 11, he says this, he says, He spake and it was done. He
commanded and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of
the heathen to naught. He makes the devices of the people
of none effect. Verse 11 of Psalm 33. The counsel
of the Lord standeth forever. The thoughts of his heart to
all generations. Whatever God thinks, He does. And all that He thinks, He does.
Nothing stops Him. He is God. He rules over all.
And this God is our Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the first thing
we see here. Is that Scripture must be fulfilled. And then,
the second thing that we see in Scripture. Why did Jesus work
these miracles? Is that the Lord Jesus Christ
would prove by miracles. He would demonstrate with irrefutable
evidence. an undeniable certainty that
He is the Christ of God, the Son of God. John 20 and 31, it
says this, these things, John said, if everything were written
that Jesus had done, I suppose the world itself could not contain
the books. But these things, what John wrote
in his gospel, he says, these things were written that you
might believe. Believe what? That Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God. And here is the blessing that
comes from why God did this, and the gift of faith that God's
Spirit gives to us. And that, he says, that you might,
in believing, have everlasting life. That's the reason to prove
that He is the Son of God. In Acts chapter 2, look at Acts
chapter 2, just briefly. Acts chapter 2, Peter is preaching
after the Lord Jesus went back to heaven. And in verse 22 he
says, "...you men of Israel, hear these words." Acts 2.22,
"...Jesus of Nazareth, that man who lived, who grew up, and lived
in Nazareth, who was a carpenter's son, that Jesus, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
And then look at verse 30, a little bit further down in verse 32. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this which you now see
and hear. And so, and I'll read on through verse 36, "...for
David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself,
the Lord said to my Lord," that's Christ, "...sit on my right hand
until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ." That's the
second reason why Jesus did the miracles that He did. To prove
beyond a shadow of a doubt, to establish by His miracles before
men. that He is Jesus the Christ,
the Son of God. Now, He didn't need to prove
that He was God in order to be God. He didn't need to prove
these things in order to be what He was. But He proved it before
men to stop men with no excuse and to bring this message to
His people so that they would believe on Him. That's what John
says, that you might believe that He's the Christ, the Son
of God. And then the third thing I see here, why Jesus did His
miracles. And you'll see these miracles
throughout the New Testament. And this, I think, is perhaps
the most endearing thing to sinners. That in the miracles that Jesus
did, what you see here, is you see demonstrated through The
healing through casting out devils, through raising the dead, through
His compassion, through all the different instances of miracles. You see a woman coming up behind
Him to touch the hem of His garment. Or a father pleading for his
son who is troubled with the devil. Or a father pleading for
his daughter who is 12 years old and has died already. Or
a mother whose son is being carried through the city in the coffin. All these things show us so many
things about Him. But what it shows us most of
all is the grace of God. in the Lord Jesus Christ coming
to sinners, and the grace of God in sinners bringing them
to Christ. You see these two things coming
together because in the Gospel, the sinner, in all the nakedness
of his need, and the Savior, in all the plenitude of his grace,
are brought into direct embrace with no one in between. That
is what the miracles in the Gospels teach. They teach about the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ coming to save sinners and drawing sinners
to Himself irresistibly. We see sinners who have been
sick a long time. We see the severity of their
sin. We see the sicknesses and the devil possessions. We see
the helplessness of sinners in the miracles. We see their misery. We see all other ways have been
exhausted in the miracles. And we see things that He did
that only God can do. All these things teach us, these
different cases are shown to us so that we would be convinced
that in spite of who we are, in spite of me, in spite of all
the helplessness and misery of my need, and in spite of my own
opposition to my own salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ saves His
people. This is the grace of God. This
is the other thing that God teaches us in the miracles. And so I call this the third
thing. And then there's one more thing,
there's two more things actually, and I don't want you to miss
these things. Because it's important, when you read the Gospel, or
when you read the whole Bible, how do you understand it? How
do you interpret it? Where is that Rosetta Stone that
unlocks the mysteries of the Scripture? That's what I'm trying
to tell you. The message of the miracles is
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this next thing, the fourth
thing I would like to tell you about why Jesus did these miracles,
and don't miss this. All these things are embedded
in the gospel account here. This is perhaps the most significant
thing. It's hard to put a priority or
an importance, a relative importance on these things. But it seems
to me, each one when I consider it, it seems like that's the
most significant. But this one is very significant. And that
is this, to make all men see. Especially God's people and even
heaven itself. To see the ground, the foundation,
the basis of how. How could the Lord Jesus Christ
command sickness to go away? How could he command devils to
be cast out? How could he raise the dead?
How could he do all these things? Well, you would say it's because
He's God. Well then how can God just forgive sins? How can He
do that? The ground and the foundation
of it all rests in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
gave answer to God in His justice, satisfying Him and bringing in
Himself the fulfillment of every requirement of God. by answering
to God's law, Himself taking the death and all the consequences
of our sin before God and before men, accepting the despising
and the rejecting of men against Himself, because He Himself had
become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. The miracles are only possible
on the ground of justice satisfied. The miracles can only take place. God gave this power to Christ
because Christ fulfilled His will. His eternal will. And so
that's the fourth thing. Or fifth thing. I don't know
how many I've given you so far. But the last one. No, that's
not the last one. I'm sorry. I'm going to give you two more
and then I'll quit. The last thing I see in the miracles is
that the Lord Jesus Christ did these to overcome, to bind, to
spoil, to defeat, humiliate, and eventually eternally torment
all his people's enemies in hell. And this you see even in this
miracle of casting the devils out of the man named Legion.
He comes in the power and the authority of who He is and on
the ground of what He's done as Savior. He hasn't done it
yet, but God has received it even in eternity. Before the
foundation of the world, He was the Lamb slain. And because of
that he comes and he disarms and binds and takes away from
the strong man, Satan, all of his goods in which he trusted.
And he defeats him and he humiliates him. And then he's going to parade
him and torment him throughout eternity with all those who also
reject the Lord Jesus Christ to rule over them. And then the last thing I would
say about these miracles, and this I would have to say is the
overarching, the greatest thing of all. The Lord Jesus Christ
did what He did that the Father might be glorified in the Son.
In order that the Father might be glorified in the Son. Who
was it that sent Jesus into the world? It was God the Father.
It was God the Father. Why did He do it? Out of the
mercy and grace and love of His heart for His people. It seemed
good to Him, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through suffering. Hebrews 2.10 This
is why he did it. To save many people alive. Why did God send Joseph at the
hand of his envious brothers into the bondage of Egypt? To
save much people alive. Why did God send his only begotten
son for those who in their hearts and minds and by their practice
were his enemies? in order that he might reconcile
them to himself, to put away his own wrath against them on
the basis of justice. To glorify himself, Jesus did
what he did to glorify his father. He says in John 17, Father, glorify
thy name. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. That's what he did, what he did.
And so we see that in this man who we see here in Mark chapter
5. And then I want to read Mark
chapter 5 with you so that you have the context again. Let's
look back at this in Mark chapter 5. Because what I've said so
far is really by way of introduction, although it's a long introduction,
I want you to hold these things in your mind as we go through
these miracles, these different things. Fulfilling Scripture,
making Himself known to men as Christ, the Son of God, that
they might believe on Him. And then showing how he comes
to sinners and sinners are brought to him. And then how on the ground
of his own finished work he saves us from our sins and saves us
from our sickness and casts out devils and raises from the dead.
And then to silence his enemies and glorify his father. These
are all the reasons he does these miracles to demonstrate these
things. and great compassion and mercy. But look at Mark chapter
5 here. We're actually studying Matthew,
but it's more expansive in this account here. Remember as you
read this, here's a man in a faraway country from where Jesus was. He goes to the other side of
the sea for this one man. And this man is uncontrollable. He cannot be restrained by himself
or by others. And he's a wild man. He's fierce.
He runs around debauched. He's naked, unclean before God
and men. People are afraid of him. And
he lives among the tombs. And he's been this way a long
time. And he has many devils. He's possessed by devils. And
so Jesus comes, and he commands the devils to depart. And you'll
see the whole account here. Let's read it. And as they came
over to the other side of the sea, into the country of the
Gadarenes, And they came over there, 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." Religion tries
to hold down what we naturally are. It tries to make us do what
we don't want to do, or it keeps us from doing what we really
want to do. But it doesn't change on the inside. It doesn't change
us on the inside. That's what religion does. Only
Christ can do that. He only can make us a new man. Verse 4. Because he had been
often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been
plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broke in pieces, neither
could any man tame him. We try to tame animals. The best
men can do is to tame a man by religion. But taming an animal
doesn't change him, does it? They still strike out and kill.
Verse 5, And always, night and day, he was in the mountains
and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.
God and His mercy had not prevented it. This man would have destroyed
himself just like the devils destroyed the pigs shortly hereafter. But when he saw Jesus afar off,
and it's seeing Christ, it's seeing Christ that causes us
to do this. He ran and worshipped Him. When you see who Jesus is, when
God reveals His Son to you in the Gospel, that He's the Lord
of glory, that He has all power and all authority, and that in
His mercy, by His sovereign will alone, He saves sinners such
as you are, it will bring you to His feet, and you will bow
before Him, and like the leper, you will say, Lord, if you will.
If you will, you can make me clean. And if he wills, then
nothing can stop it. And so he says here, he came
and worshipped him. And then he cried out, it says
in verse 7, 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. Here's a man pleading with
the Lord. What do I have to do with you?
There's nothing that corresponds. Nothing about me that corresponds
to you. We're complete opposites. There's
no reason you should come to me or that I should be able to
come to you. And the Lord Jesus Christ will
not be stopped. He's going to deliver this man
from his devils and he's going to save him by his grace. And
that's the way grace works. But here you see devils having
more wisdom and faith than men. The devils say, you are the son
of God. And the men in this country,
think about it. These men, what was their occupation
in the country of the Gadarenes? They were pig shepherds. They
took care of pigs. They were pig keepers. And here's
a man who was controlled by devils. They couldn't control him. But
what were they doing? They were complacently, they
were just casually and comfortably going about raising their pigs. And this man was desperately
under the control of Satan. But they had given up on him.
And so they were content to just raise their pigs. The pig shepherds
couldn't actually deliver a man from the devils. But as long
as they had their livelihood, as long as they were with the
little pigs, they were content. This is the way it was. In fact,
when Jesus delivers this man from the devils, what happens?
When the man is delivered from devils, the pig shepherds are
all upset. Because their livelihood, their
pigs are destroyed by the devils. There's a great lesson in this. We'll get to this shortly. And
so you see that. I just bring that out for you.
But the devils cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ, I adjure thee
by God that thou torment me not. All the devils knew that the
Son of God has power and He Himself will torment them forever and
ever in the lake of fire. They will be tormented before
the angels and before God forever, it says in scripture. Forever. God is going to do that, the
Son of God. And they knew that, and they
said, don't do it yet. Don't do it yet. For he had said
to them, said to him, come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And then Jesus asked him, what
is thy name? What is thy name? Now this is
the Lord Jesus asking this man, what's your name? This man had
a name. He said, my name is Legion, for
we are many. You can't separate the two, the
devils and the man. They seem to be inexplicably
inseparable here. What's your name, Legion? What's
your name, sinner? What's your name? Scoundrel,
deceitful, unbelieving, helpless, sinner, a leper, unclean, an
adulterer. I'm all these things. A self-righteous
hypocrite. God will have a confession from
those he saves. You see that here. He gets a
confession from him. He bows, he worships, and now
he confesses. Remember what it says in scripture?
Look at Isaiah 43 with me. Get you looking at your Bible. Look at Isaiah 43. I'm sorry,
45. It's 45, 23. That's why I was confused. He says in Isaiah
45, 22, look unto me. In fact, let me back up to verse
20. Assemble yourselves together
and come. Draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations
that have no knowledge, that set up the wood of their graven
images, and pray unto a God that cannot save. He says, all you
idolaters, and he's speaking about all men, come here, come
here, listen to this. Tell me, tell ye, and bring them
near. Let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient
time? What I'm about to say. Who has
declared what I'm about to say from ancient time? Who has told
it from that time? I'm the only one. Have not I
the Lord, and there is no God else beside me, a just God and
a Savior? What has God been saying from
the foundation of the world? I'm a just God. I cannot pass
over sin, cannot clear the guilty, but I'm a Savior. When the devil
tempted Eve in order to bring the human race under sin. All
of the angels who sinned had already fallen, and God had mercy
on none of them. But God had preserved some angels
and kept them from falling. And so I can expect that the
reasoning of the devil was something like this. God could keep angels
from sinning, But those who sinned are eternally damned. If I can
just get man to sin, he'll be eternally damned by God and I'll
murder the race. But here the Lord says, ah, I'm
a just God and a Savior. Savior, a Savior of sinners. This is a faithful saying and
it's worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners. Look at verse 22. Look unto me
and what? Be ye saved all the ends of the
earth. What a blessed What a blessing
that is. You and me. Look unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. Who's speaking here? We'll find
out in a second. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. For
I am God and there is none else. I have sworn by myself. This
is where I was going to get you. In verse 23, "...I have sworn
by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness
and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, and
every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say, In the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men
come to the Lord. And all, on the other hand, all
that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory."
Some look to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, in the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. And others are incensed against
him and they're brought to shame. Because Jesus said, all will
come to me, all will bow and confess. And what this man did
in confessing his name as Legion and worshipping, that's what
he's doing. He's coming, he's worshipping, and he's agreeing
with his God, with the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is Legion. He's full of devils. And he besought
him much, the devils besought him much, that he, actually it
says he besought him, Christ, much, that he, Christ, would
not send them, the devils, out of the country. Back in Mark
5, 10. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd
of swine feeding and all the devils begged him saying send
us into the swine that we may enter into them and forthwith
immediately Jesus gave them leave. So the devils now are in the
man And they know that Christ is going to send them out of
the man. So they say, don't send us into
the abyss. Don't send us to hell. Let us
go into the swine. The swine. Now, you could look
at that and say, wouldn't the Lord Jesus be concerned about
the swine? Because what's going to happen
to the pigs if the devils enter the pigs? He knew what was going
to happen, didn't he? They're going to be destroyed.
But he says to the devils, you want to go to the pigs? You have
my permission. You have my leave. Go. And immediately
the devils went into the swine. And what happened then was that
the swine, the pigs, were possessed with the devils. And the devils
drove the pigs off the cliff into the water. And they all,
2,000 of the pigs, perished. It says here, And verse 13, "...and
forthwith Jesus gave them leave. 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." Notice the reaction of the people. They that fed
the swine, the pig herders, fled and told it in the city and in
the country. And they went out to see what
it was that was done. All the people in the country
came out to see what happened to the pigs. And they come to Jesus and they
see Him. Now what are these people in this country? Are they worshippers
of God? Are they Gentiles? Were they
Jews? We don't know for sure. If they were Jews and they were
taking care of pigs, that's a problem. Because God said in the Old Testament
that a pig is unclean. So they obviously were disobedient
to the Law of God. And if they were Jews, and Christ
sends the devils into the pigs and destroys their livelihood,
then that's a consequence He's bringing on these Jews who are
unbelieving. Or if they were Gentiles, what does it mean for
the Gentiles? It means they were idolaters.
They worshiped idols. And what does it mean to worship
an idol? It means to worship devils. In
1 Corinthians chapter 10, look at this with me. We've got to
get to this because it's important. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Because
here, the Son of God is sending devils into pigs. And he says
here, in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 10. But I say, that the things
which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice... to devils and
not to God, and I would not that you should have fellowship with
devils." What were the Gentiles sacrificing? They were sacrificing
to idols, just whatever they made. In their minds, they were
worshipping the creation of their own hands. In their minds, they
were worshipping the works of their own hands. And someone
could say, it's just a stone. It's just a piece of wood. It's
really nothing. But here, God reveals, no, it's
worse than that. They're worshipping and sacrificing
to devils. Because what a man thinks in
his heart, what he believes about God, that's his God. And the
devil has blinded the minds of them which believe not, so that
they don't believe the truth, but instead they believe a lie.
And in believing a lie, they worship the lie. They worship
what Satan has influenced their minds to believe, which is false.
They're worshiping devils. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. This is deadly serious, isn't
it? Here's a man who's completely out of control and these devils
destroy the swine. They would have destroyed the
man had God not prevented it before Christ came to the man.
But in 2 Corinthians 4 we see this in verse 3. If our gospel
be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. When we're lost, the
gospel is hid to us, isn't it? We can't see it. I grew up in
a church hearing the Bible being read, even reading the Bible.
But I didn't see the gospel. My eyes were blind. I lived to
the time when God made clear to me what the gospel was and
caused me to rejoice and believe it. And that time I was in darkness,
in blindness, and in misery, in bondage. But here he says,
"...if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in
whom the God of this world," that's Satan, "...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 to
them." As long as we're under the blindness of Satan, we can't
see the light. And then, this is the way the
light comes, verse 5. Paul says, "...for we preach
not ourselves, But we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves,
your servants, for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, in the same way has shined in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. And look at Acts 26. Same thing. Acts 26, verse 18. Jesus tells Paul from heaven,
He says, to open the eyes, to open their eyes, those to whom
He would send Him, in Acts 26, 18. He says, I'm sending you
to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light from
the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them, which are sanctified by
what? By faith that is in me, the Lord
Jesus Christ." So this is how we're delivered. But until we're
delivered, we're under the bondage and the darkness and the service
of Satan. We're doing his will. We're worshipping
idols. We're sacrificing to devils.
And these people of this place, whether Jews or Gentiles, were
idol worshippers. And so, the Lord Jesus Christ
sends the devils into the idols they worship, the pigs. They
took care of the pigs, their livelihood was pigs, they worshipped
idols. And he turns the devils against them, who were idol worshippers,
devil worshippers. And he destroyed their livelihood. Are people possessed with devils
today? Well, we'll get to that in a second. But look here at
verse 14 of of Mark chapter 5. 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 see
Him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion. And notice in verse 15, clothed, and in his right mind,
and they were afraid." The people who took care of the pigs in
all the country around, when they saw Mr. Legion sitting,
clothed, and in his right mind, they were afraid. That is so
strange to me. They were afraid. They were afraid. When God saved a sinner, these
men became afraid. They were okay taking care of
the pigs and at peace, as long as the pigs were feeding quietly
and a man was possessed. But when the man is delivered,
and he's sitting, submissive, looking at Christ, and clothed
in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's in his
right mind because he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, these
men are afraid. Because their livelihood is lost. Everything that they trusted
in is gone. Like the devils, they understand
that the Lord Jesus Christ has power over them. And He has power
over this man. And here they are looking at
a man saved by grace. And they have no control over
it. And they're afraid. And so it says in verse 17, "...they
began to pray Him, beg Him to depart out of their coasts..."
Now Jesus had commanded devils to depart, and here men are begging
Jesus to depart, and he answers their request. He says, "...when
he was come into the ship to leave, he that had been possessed
with the devil prayed him, that he might be with him. Here's
a man saved by grace, and all he wants is to be with the Lord
Jesus Christ. I just want to be with you. He's
getting in the ship, going away, and here's Mr. Legion, sitting
with him, like Mary, sitting and hearing his words, and he
just says, I just want to be with you. Don't let me, don't
leave me. And verse 19, how be it Jesus
suffered him not. He wouldn't allow him to go with
him. He said this, go home to your friends, notice very carefully,
and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee. and hath had compassion on thee."
You see what I mean about the message of the miracle here?
Tell what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has
had compassion. Who? The Lord. No, no, look at
verse 20. And he departed and he began
to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men did marvel. He went
home and what did he tell everyone? Let me tell you what God's doing
in my life. This week I was driving along and had this experience.
No, it wasn't like that at all, was it? He went home and told
them what Jesus had done. God has done this for me. What
is he telling them? He's telling them the message
of the miracles, isn't he? He's telling them what the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's preaching the gospel to them. This is what
Christ has done. When we go home and tell our
friends, we're telling them the great things the Lord Jesus Christ
has done for me. What has He done for me? When
I was an enemy, God reconciled me to Himself by the death of
His Son. That's what He's done for me. The one who was adored
became despised. The judge became the condemned. The physician became diseased
with my sin. The shepherd was offered for
the sheep. The slave sinned, but the son
has suffered. How could this be? Why would
God do this? To glorify himself in the salvation
of sinners who are tormented by their sin and the consequences
of it. Look at Romans chapter 5. Oh, what great things the Lord
has done for us, hasn't he? The Lord has done this for us.
He saved us from our sins. Look at Romans chapter 5, verse
18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, by Adam's offense, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the Lord Jesus Christ, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life." Not all men without exception,
but all those on whom the gift of righteousness came, it came
just giving them justification before God and life. Do all men
live before God? Are all given eternal life? No.
Therefore, this gift of righteousness and justification and life from
it is upon all those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ, all
who are represented by him, all who were in the army when David
slew Goliath were the victors. Our champion has won. We all
have won. All the army of Israel won when
David won. All the elect of God won when
Christ won. And then look at this in verse
19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. It's not going
to not happen. They will be made righteous by
his obedience. And we know that only His people
are made righteous. So all in Adam died. 1 Corinthians 15, 20. Even so,
in Christ, all live. All are raised up. And then look
on. He says, Moreover, the law entered
that the offense might abound. When the law entered and found
us as sinners, all we did was sin more. And that's what happens
when we're given rules and constraints like the man who was bound with
fetters and chains. It just makes us worse. But where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Look at verse 21. That as sin hath reigned like
a tyrant, An evil master. Sin reigned unto death. Sin is
the master. We're the servants. We work in
sin's employment. The fruit of our work is iniquity. And the wages that our master
pays is death. But now look, there's another
master. He says, even so, in the same way, might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace, not sin, reigns. Who is
our Master? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. What
does He pay? Well, He doesn't compensate us
for what we've done. He compensates us and rewards
us for what He has done. He gives His gift of righteousness
by His grace. And through the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, grace now reigns. Look at chapter 6,
verse 14. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Why? Because you're not under
the law, but under grace. How do you know sin won't reign
over you? Because you're under grace. Look at verse 17. But
God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you
have obeyed from the heart. Why? Because God is to be thanked
for that you obeyed in believing from the heart you've been delivered.
You believe the doctrine and you've been delivered just like
this man. And I don't have time to get into this demon possession,
but maybe sometime we'll get to that, Lord willing. Let's
pray. Father, we thank you that you save by your almighty grace,
it's sovereign and free. You find us in the misery and
the bondage and enslavement of our sin to Satan and to the world,
to their philosophies, and all that we have trusted in our own
self-righteousness. We were running naked and unclothed
in our self-righteousness and in the debauchery of our sin,
fierce, blocking the way of our own selves and others from entering
the kingdom of God. And you've come and you've freed
us by your almighty grace on the basis of what you've done
in Christ. And you've set us free, you've commanded us, commanded
our salvation and we've been delivered. And now we sit before
you submitting to you in faith, trusting only in your righteousness,
depending on your goodness and your grace, and happy to tell
what you've done for us, because the Lord Jesus Christ is our
Master. What a Savior, that He could
deliver us so, from so many So many devils, so many bonds of
sin and iniquity. Lord, we pray, save us from our
sin. Save us to yourself. Cause us,
dear Lord, to see you and your grace as everything for us. In
Jesus' name we pray, amen.