Turn back to Mark, Chapter 5. The title of the message this morning is Something to Tell Your Friends. Something to Tell Your Friends. Let's begin reading back in Mark
chapter 4. Let's begin with verse 35. In the same day when the even
was come, he said unto them, the Lord Jesus Christ said to
them, let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had
sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the
ship, and there were also with him other little ships. And there
arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship
so that it was now full. And he was in the hindered part
of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him. And they
say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose and rebuked the
wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there
was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are
ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly,
and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even
the wind and the sea obey him? And just a couple of things before
we move on to our text. First, our Lord said, let us
pass over to the other side. He said to his disciples, let's
pass over to the other side. Now over on the other side of
the sea was this country of the Gadarenes. And it's there. It's there that one of God's
sheep dwells. But during this time in that
boat, His disciples, while our Lord was sleeping, and this storm
was raging, they grew fearful. And they woke Him. And they said
to him, carest thou not, carest thou not that we perish? And our Lord in His sovereignty, He said unto the sea, to the wind, peace, peace be
still. And we read that there was a
great calm. Great calm. Through his word, through what
he said, there was a great, a great calm. And I pray that he might
be pleased to do the same for us here this morning. That through
his word, he might be pleased to calm our troubled hearts. And he said, he said, let's go
to the other side. Let us pass over to the other
side. You see that, you see that there
in verse 35, the same day when he even was
come, he saith unto them, let us pass over unto the other side. We'll look at Mark chapter five,
verse one. What happened? Despite the storm,
despite their fears, what happened? They came over onto the other
side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes. Almighty God
declares the end from the beginning. From ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand. He's going to accomplish his
purpose, isn't he? And we do, don't we? How could
we ever doubt him? How could we ever? Now, as long
as we're in this flesh, we will. When he said, let's go over to
the other side, they're going, right? Remember back there in
Acts 27, Paul was on that ship, and he told the people on that
ship, he said, don't be afraid. He said, there stood by me this
night, the angel of God, whose I am and whose I serve. And he
said, he's going to deliver the everlasting one of us. We read
at the end of Acts 27, it says, they all. All of them, all of
them escaped to dry land. The Lord of hosts has purposed
it. And who? Who will inhale it?
His hand is stretched out. Who's going to turn it back?
None. None can. Truly, we could say
this just as His disciples. What manner of man is this? He's more than a man, isn't he?
He's God. God in human flesh. And here
in Mark 5, our Lord comes to save one of His sheep. Nothing, nothing is going to
keep Him from His sheep. So let's look at this passage
together here this morning. And these first five verses,
I believe we see something of our sinful condition, our condition
by nature, as an unclean spirit. He had an unclean spirit. This
is how we're described in Scripture. We're all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousness is All of them, wrap them up in
a ball, put them all together, they are as filthy rags in the
sight of Almighty God. Unclean. Unclean. Listen, all of it together, we'd
have nothing. All was an unclean thing. In
Isaiah, we read this, from the sole of the foot, even unto the
head, There is no soundness in it. Nothing but wounds, bruises,
and putrefying sores. They've not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment. That's us. And in verse 3, we read this
man had his dwelling among the tombs, where we live. What borders our
house is a cemetery. There's not a sound. Dead men dwell in tombs. And
how appropriate. How appropriate. That's a good description, isn't
it? Dwelling among the tombs. Dead men dwell in the tombs.
And that's our condition. That's where He found us, dead
in trespasses and sin. Oh, but we read this, God who
is rich in mercy, for His great love, wherewith He loved us even,
even when we were dead in sins. Like that infant we read about
there in Ezekiel, cast out in the open field, polluted We're
polluted in our own blood. Yet the Lord in mercy is pleased
to pass by and speak life. You hath he quickened. You hath he given life, who were
dead in trespasses and sin. And next we read that no man,
no man could bind him. They'd tried, hadn't they? Read on there in verse 4. 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. You know, men use religion to
bind. Isn't that the truth? They use
the law to bind. But you know what it doesn't
change? It doesn't change the heart. It doesn't change our
nature. Outwardly, outwardly a man can
keep the law. Most of the time, right? Outwardly. But my friends, inwardly, it's
just not there, is it? They can keep certain days, they
can do certain things, but listen, that same old man still dwells
there. It's like a lion, kind of like
a lion in a cage. Ain't no problem walking by that
cage when the lion's in there. We don't want to go by him when
he gets out, do we? This Gatorade man, he couldn't do anything for himself,
and there wasn't anything that could be done for him. Listen to our text. He wore,
in Luke's account, it goes on to say that he wore no clothes. He was naked. He had no covering. Isn't this a good description
of us by nature? Adam and Eve, they tried to knit
some aprons together out of some fig leaves and cover themselves,
but it wouldn't do, would it? The Lord God had to make coats
of skins and cover them. So in this passage, first we
see our natural condition. Sinners, unclean, dead in trespasses
and sin. And second, we see Christ revealed. Look at chapter 5, look at verse
6. It says here, When he saw Jesus
afar off, he ran and he worshiped him. When he saw him. Back in Proverbs 20 verse 12,
it says, the hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord had
made both of them. He must open our eyes. He must
reveal Christ to us. Job said, I've heard thee by
the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. And when
he saw him, he ran and he worshipped him. You know, nothing indicates
a word had even been spoken. Yet this one that dwelled among
the This one who couldn't be bound with chains, he runs to
the Lord Jesus Christ and he worships Him. He makes haste. Why do we delay? This is urgent
matter, isn't it? He made haste and he falls at
His feet. Third, we see God's sovereignty. Look at verses 7 and 8. It says, He 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 said unto him, Come out
of the man, thou unclean spirit. Now there's much. There's much
written about this unclean spirit. I'll tell you there's much I
don't understand. But I know this. I know this. Back in chapter 4, our Lord displayed
His sovereign power over His creation. Remember when that
storm was raging and He stood up and He said to the wind and
the rain, He declared, Peace be still. And remember His disciples,
they said, What manner of man is this? that even the winds
and the sea obey Him. He's sovereign, right? We looked
at that this morning. He's sovereign in all things.
And just as He displayed His sovereignty over creation, He
displays that same power again when He speaks to this Spirit.
When the Lord speaks, He speaks in power. He makes the command. And just as he spoke to Lazarus
in the grave, when he said, Lazarus, come forth, and he that was in
the grave, Lazarus had laid in the grave long enough that he
stank. He that was dead came forth. He speaks in power. And he declares,
come out of this man. that unclean spirit. He commands
it to come out, and guess what's happening? It's coming out. Huh? And the evil spirit, listen,
can do nothing until God Almighty gives it leave, until the Lord
Jesus Christ gives it leave. Turn over to Job, Job chapter
1. Look at Job 1 beginning with
verse 8. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like
him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God and escheweth evil? And Satan answered the Lord and
said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made a hedge about
him? And about his house, and about all that he has on every
side, thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance
is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch all that he hath, and he'll curse thee to thy face.
And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in
thy power. Only upon himself put not forth
thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord. Nothing done without God's consent. Listen, not even an evil spirit
going into a herd of pigs. Nothing. Nothing done without
His command. Now back to Mark chapter 5. Look
beginning with verse 9. And He asks, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name
is Legion, for we are many. And he besought him much that
he should not send them away out of the country. Now there
were nine to them, a mountain of great herd, or a great herd
of swine feeding. 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 they entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently
down a steep place into the sea. And there were about two thousand. They were choked in the sea and
they that fed the swine fled and they told it in the city
and in the country and they went out to see what was done. Now look at verse 15, my fourth
point. And they came to Jesus and see him that was possessed
with the devil and had the legion sitting clothed and in his right
mind, and they were afraid. It's a new man, isn't it? This isn't the old man they knew.
Listen, this is a new man here. When they came to Jesus and see
him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion, look
what they found. There he is sitting, clothed
in his right mind. And the people, they were afraid. They were afraid when they saw
this. Sitting at the feet of our Savior. No chains. He's not bound anymore. He's
clothed. He's in his right mind. Turn
over to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. as a bridegroom decked himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."
Clothed. He clothed me with garments of
salvation. He covered me with a robe of
righteousness. Back in Ezekiel, that infant
that was cast out in the open field, that one polluted in her
own blood. that one unto whom the Lord spoke
life. He said this, he said, when I
passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, this time was a
time of love. And he said, I spread my skirt
over thee and I covered. Who did it? He did. He said,
I covered thy nakedness. And I swear unto thee, and I
entered into a covenant with thee, sayeth the Lord God, and
thou becamest mine." Clothed him. Made him his. Clothed in his righteousness.
Now listen, back to our text. And it says here, he was in his
right mind. He wasn't before, was he? Turn
to 1 Corinthians 6. Look beginning with verse 9. that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God, be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revelers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God." That's quite a list there, isn't it? Those are some awful
people spoken of there, aren't they? Look what he says, and such were some of you. But ye are washed, ye are sanctified,
ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God. Oh, this man, this man that dwelled
among the tombs, this man that had an unclean spirit, this man
that could not be bound, now, he now sits at the feet of the
Master. The place of submission, the
place of worship delivered. Delivered from the from the power
of sin and Satan And now he sits at the feet of our Lord a new
man With a with a new desire, huh? No longer No longer desire
to dwell in those in those tombs, huh? This this desire is much
different listen Than the rest of the folks in that town as
well. You you see that, huh? His desire is to be with the
Lord. I read that earlier. One thing
have I desired, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Listen, sadly, and we know this,
that's not everyone's response, is it? Look at Mark, back in Mark
chapter 5 verse 16. It says in verse 16, they that
saw it told them how it befell him that was possessed of the
devil and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray
him to depart out of their coasts instead of marveling. at the
great work that had been done. How could they not? They had
to be able to see that. You would think even a blind
man could see that, right? Instead of marveling at the work
that had been done for this man, instead of praising the Lord
Jesus Christ and begging Him to stay, save us. Think of the terrible condition
this Gadarene man was in and the work that had been done in
Him and for Him. We can identify with that, can't
we? All His people can. But listen,
their desire was that Christ depart. Listen, they were more concerned
about a bunch of swine than they were about Him. Is that not a picture of being
taken up with the things of this world? Taken up with the things of this
world rather than the Savior, rather than Him. Oh Lord, don't
leave me. Don't leave me to my own will. Don't leave me to my What's the
scripture say? There's a way, seems right unto
man, and there of the ways, death. In this land of the Gadarenes,
they would have, listen, they'd have chose a bunch of pigs. They
did, didn't they? Over the Savior. And we shouldn't
be surprised though, should we? Listen, at the cross, There at
Calvary, what did they say? Give us Barabbas. Release unto
us Barabbas. And of our Lord, they said, away
with him. Crucify him. Oh, marvel not,
my brethren, if the world hates you. It hated our Lord. And they cry out. And left to
ourselves, we cry out. We'll not have this man to reign
over us. In Luke 8, we read that the whole,
listen, it wasn't just a few folks, the whole multitude of
the country asked him to part, to go away, but not this gathering
man. Look at verse 18 of Mark. It says, when he was come into
the ship, he that had been possessed of the devil prayed him. He prayed
the Lord that he might be with him. To be, to be with Christ. David said this, he said, when
my mother and my father forsake me, when those whom we would
the nearest and dearest to us on this earth. When my mother
and father forsake me, then the Lord shall take me up." The Lord,
listen, He's my shelter. That's how He's described in
Scripture, my shelter, my strong tower, my shepherd, my deliverer,
my salvation. He said, I want to be with Him. In Philippians 1 verse 23, Paul
said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you. To be with Him, to have His presence,
to be near Him, to have fellowship with Him, to know Him as not
just the Savior, But my Savior, the Lord my Savior. Turn with
me to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3, beginning with
verse 8. Philippians 3 verse 8, Yea, doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ,
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings,
and being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I
might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Back in our text,
look at Mark 5, verse 19. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not. But saith unto him, Go home,
go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord
hath done for thee, and hath had compassion, compassion on
thee. He said, go home. He said, go
back to your family. Go back to your mom, your dad,
your sister, your brother, your wife, your children. Go back
to your friends and you tell them. You tell them. Now, listen. If you're anything
like me, I'll offer up advice on everything. We've got an opinion
about everything, right? Where to eat, where to shop,
where to travel, what somebody should do and what somebody shouldn't
do. What did our Lord say? He said,
you go tell them something. What did He say? He said, go
tell what great things the Lord hath done for you. I was thinking
about that scripture. Be ready to give an answer. What has the Lord done for me? As a beggar, you go tell another
beggar where you got your bread from, right? Back in John 6,
our Lord, there was that woman at the well, that Samaritan woman,
and our Lord told her, He said, Whosoever drinketh of the water
that I give shall never thirst. But the water I give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." And
she said, give me that water so I don't have to come to the
cistern and draw water no more. And our Lord said, go call your
husband. She said, I don't have one. And
he said, you've answered right because you have five. And the one you're with right
now is not your husband. Remember the account of that
woman? And later, listen, she made mention of the Messiah.
And our Lord revealed Himself to her. He said, I that speak
to thee am He. And she left her water pot and
she ran to town. And she said to everybody else
that she ran into, she said, come see a man that told me all
things I ever did. Is not this the Christ? Turn to John chapter 4. John
chapter 4 verse 39. And many of the Samaritans of
that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which
testified, he told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans
were come unto him, they besought him that he would, their desire
was that he would tarry with them. And he abode there two
days, and many more believed because of his own word, and
they said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy
saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this
is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." Oh, that God might use us to
tell others of Christ. Now in closing, let me ask you
this. He told the man, he said, you go tell what great things
the Lord has done for you. And here in Mark 5, that listen,
that which he did for this man, he's done for all of his sheep. Can't we say the same thing?
Truly great things the Lord has done. Listen, he's cast out all
evil. He did that for me. He came to
me. Listen, every time in Scripture,
either He comes to the sinner or He brings the sinner to Him. He took away my sin and my shame. He suffered and died on the cross.
He shed His own blood. He alone bore my sin and His
body on the tree. He bore the wrath. He bore God's
wrath alone. He walked the winepress of God's
wrath alone. What did he do for this man?
We read he clothed him, right? What's he done for his people?
He's clothed us, huh? Listen, in a robe of righteousness. Not our own, his robe of righteousness. He accomplished salvation. My friends, we are safe and secure
in Him. That's our rest. That's our comfort. That's our hope. It's in Him. Truly, truly great things the
Lord hath done. And listen, it's personal. What
did He say? For thee. You go tell what great
things the Lord hath done For you. For me. All great things
He hath done for thee. And He hath had compassion. Huh? He had mercy on me. Look at verse 20. And He departed
and He began to publish in Decapolis. Remember what was said about
this? This was that fellow running in the tombs. This was that man
that no man could tame. Running around naked in the tombs.
Couldn't be bound with chains. And what's it say here? He departed
and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done
for him. And all men did marvel. Boy, that's something to truly
marvel at, isn't it? Huh? Listen, praise the Lord. Praise him for what he has done
for his people. And may he give us opportunity
and a desire to tell others what he has done.