Read verses 16 and 17 with me. Matthew 8. When the evening was
come, they brought unto him many, many that were possessed with
devils. And he cast out the spirits, the demons, with his Word and
healed all that were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, himself. that took our
infirmities and bear our sicknesses. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ performed
many miracles. But the miracle He performed
more than any other was casting out devils. He did that more
than anything else. And here it says they brought
unto Him many possessed with devils. There were many, many
people possessed with devils. And it said he cast out with
his word the spirits. Do you know anyone possessed
with a devil? You say, I can't think. Well,
nothing's changed. It says many. There were many then and there
are many now. We don't rightly understand. We don't see. And because modern man has this
conception of what it means to be possessed with the devil,
Hollywood and all of that, we think... Now, I do not want to needlessly
offend anyone. I don't want to be insensitive
to real problems and issues that people have. But I know the Scriptures
do not label different disorders. It doesn't label anything. It
just says possessed with devil and spirit. And the only source
of help, the only one who could heal them, is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He's the only one now. The Lord Jesus Christ says they
brought to him those that were possessed with the devil, and
he cast them out. How? With his word. He and he alone has all power
all authority over angels, devils, men, elements, diseases, sicknesses,
no matter what or who it is, Jesus Christ has all authority
over them. Do we really believe that? He
and He alone. And the way Again, the way that
he cast out these devils then and now is one way, with his
word. The word is called the word of
his power. In the gospel, Peter said, there
is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. He pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Everything. Everything. So whatever it is
that someone is possessed with or overcome by, whatever sickness,
mental disorder, emotional disorder, whatever, it is the Lord Jesus
Christ that must deal with that person and heal them with His
Word. Is that right? I hear, like I said, I don't
want to offend anyone, but I hear of people going to various counselors
about different things. And I can understand the world
doing that. I can understand the world doing that. But a believer,
I think to myself, and a believer can do that. Brother
Todd and I have talked about this often. A believer that does
that has forgotten whose name is Wonderful Counselor. Jesus Christ's name. Call His
name Wonderful Counselor. Wonderful Counselor. And I think
of His word. Go with me to Jonah chapter 2. Now, you know, and I've quoted
this many times, wrote a fairly long article on it, and I keep
quoting it, and I'm going to keep quoting it until you believe
it, until I believe it, until we hear it and act upon it. Jonah chapter 2. You got it?
Obadiah, Jonah, Micah. Jonah chapter 2. Verse 9, that verse that says,
Salvation is of the Lord, don't you? Yeah, you do. The verse
right before it is the verse I'm talking about. Jonah 2.8
says, They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. In other words, if you observe
anything but the truth, what's true? Christ is true. His Word is true. Observe anything. Look to anything, anyone other
than Him. Forsake your own mercy. Lying
vanities. The wisdom of this world is a
lie. Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? I've told you before that the
leading profession in suicides is psychiatry. Now, is that who you want to
consult? The wisdom of this world is foolishness. The deceitfulness of riches. Everything that this world pretends
to offer for help is vanity. Vanity of vanity. We'll take
refuge in this. We'll find some help here and
find some help there. of vanities, saith the preacher,
all is vanity. And we observe these things,
look to these things, consult these things, without looking
to and consulting our God, we forsake our own mercy. We forsake our own mercy. The
verse following says salvation is of the Lord, doesn't it? Salvation from what? Salvation
from sin. But that's not it. That's not
the only thing. Salvation from self. Our biggest enemy is us. Salvation
from demon possession. Salvation from depression, fear. Salvation from mental and emotional
disorders. Salvation is of the Lord. I know the Lord uses me. You
see that. But we go to him first because he's the first cause
of all things. He's the first. He's called God our Savior from
every time. Every time. Go back to our text
now. And as I said, I wouldn't offend
anyone. There are real problems and all
that. I'm just saying that who we should
go to. That is the same. Nothing's changed. Back then, various possessions,
demons and troubles and disorders and all that are probably what
we label certain things now. Same thing. Who got rid of it? And how? With His Word. With His Word. He cast out spirits
and healed all that were sick. Christ did it. And He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Now, religion. I know false religion
is completely taken up with these this so-called deliverance from
this and that and the other and healing, and I know that. I know
that's what false religion talks about, deliverance from this
and that, when in fact, the majority of religion today, the people
that are in it, are themselves possessed with devils. The whole
thing, all of false religion is demon-possessed. It is. And I know because I've tried
the false preachers by God's Word, and they've been found
wanting. And I've heard and observed so
many who claim to be spirit-filled Christians, and they give clear
evidence of being devil-filled people. I'm a believer. And some of you
were in that. So you know from experience.
It's another spirit. It's not the Spirit of God. But
here in Matthew 8, verse 28, jump down there, is a story that
you're familiar with, and it's a clear picture of all of this. When verse 28, it came to the
other side, the country of the Gergitsyns, or Gadarenes, same
place. This story is recorded in Mark
and Luke also. They met him, too, possessed
with devils, coming out of the tombs exceeding fierce that no
man could pass by that way. It came, it says, to the other
side. Now, the other side of the Sea
of Galilee. The Lord Jesus Christ, the day
before then, and we're going to look at that story, maybe
Wednesday night, of how He told them to get into a ship, and
we're going to the other side. Alright? He was on the other
side of Galilee the day before, and He told His disciples to
get into a ship and to pass over to the other side. They didn't
know why. They never knew what He was doing. They didn't know
where he was going or what he was doing, just like we don't.
We don't know what tomorrow holds. He does, because he holds it.
He has determined all things. You understand? The Lord Jesus
Christ has purposed everything, ordered all things and should. Well, he said, let's go to the
other side, and they just obeyed him because he has all authority.
He said, go, and they said, we'll go. And they did. And they went
through a fierce storm. And we're going to look at that.
We've looked at it so many times. But they went through this fierce
storm. Why? That He might show them again
who this is. While they were scared to death
for their lives, what was He doing? Sleeping. He lived by
faith. He was a man totally dependent
on God. So he went to sleep in the roughest
storm they had ever faced in their life. And they thought,
it's over. But just one more time, they
got up and he rebuked them. He said, where is your faith?
Where do you have any faith whatsoever? Where is your faith? Is it in
things or is it in me? In another place, he said simply,
have faith in God. He said, have faith in God. He rebuked them. And then he
rebuked the wind. Stop blowing. Hurricane. You were built to see. Tent,
lie down. Ladies' feet. And they said, what manner of
man is this? Well, that's just it, Peter,
James, John. He's not a mere man. And it's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Any person who thinks that Jesus
can't do anything unless we let him doesn't know Jesus Christ. Any preacher that preaches that
is a false prophet. Any religion that that's what
they believe is false religion. And you and I don't much believe You and I just don't half believe
who He is. We just don't. The Lord Jesus
Christ is sovereign over all things, has sovereign control
over everything, does as He will, with whom He will, according
to His will. He told them to pass over to the other side,
and while they were doing that, He showed them who He was. And
He had a meeting with two men over there, two men that were
in the tomb. And whoever the Lord saves, He
purposed to save them. The time, the place, He purposed it. Whoever saved,
He chose them before the world began. He chose the time and
the place where He would reveal Himself to them, just like these
men. It says they were in the tombs. They were in the tombs,
exceeding fears that no man might pass that way. Exceeding fear. They were dead. and trespasses
in sin. Living in a dead place, living
on a dead thing, and nobody could tame them. And verse 29, look
at this, Behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment
us before the time? You know, the devils give more
honor to Jesus Christ than professing Christians today. The devils
acknowledge that he has more power than professing Christians
today. There was, in Mark's gospel,
another, a different story where he, there was a possessed man. The devils said this, listen.
The devils met him and said, are you come to destroy us? The devils knew that he had,
it's all him, it's his power. They couldn't move without Him.
They had to ask Him permission what to do. Jesus Christ the
same. Yesterday, today, and forever. I'm just telling you who we need
to consult and who we need to be crying out to and who we need
to be calling upon and who we need to believe and who we need
to get counsel from. Our only help. They brought them
to Him. and with his word be gone." This
is not a fable. Peter said, We have not followed
cunningly the divine's fable, when we have made known unto
you his power. We are in the hands of the Lord
Jesus Christ, us and everybody around us, to do with as he pleases. And this is exactly, right here,
these men go back to Now go to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter
5 is the same story, the one you're more familiar with. The
man in the tombs. Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter
5. The way these men acted are exactly
the way that unbelievers act, exactly the way that we acted
before the Lord dealt with us. It's where we were and what we
were doing and what we were saying before the Lord revealed himself
to us, dead and trespassing sin. What have we to do with thee? Be gone. We don't want you. That's
what the devil said. Leave us alone. What have we
to do with thee? What have you to do with me?
Everything. Here's the question. What am
I going to do with you? I remember being that way. I
remember not wanting anything to do with Christ. I'm sure glad. Salvation is my
sovereign election. Sovereign purpose. Sovereign
power. He purposed it and came and met
me. Mark chapter 5 is the same story,
but there's more given, more information. It says in verse
Two, when he came 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. They tried. Many people, you
see, tried to tame this man, and they couldn't. Well, that's
man, period. That's natural man. He's a devil. And that's this
old man in us, a devil. And there's nothing in no one.
He's exceedingly fierce. I'll tell you who keeps him down.
There's only one that keeps him down. The same one. Jesus Christ. The same. Yesterday,
today, forever. The only one who has the demons
and the devils that kept not their first estate. Scripture
says he hath reserved an everlasting chains of darkness. Everything. And the Lord has under His absolute
control. Thank God. That old man. And, well, they
came, look at verse, let's see, they came out of the ship, and
verse 4, they'd often been bound with fetters and chains and had
been plucked asunder by him, the fetters broken in pieces.
You know, that's a picture of somebody getting religion. Here's what we'll do. We'll get
him down the aisle. We'll get him religious. That
won't do it. There's another scripture the
Lord talked about when the spirit has gone out of a man, not cast
out, but just gone out, and he sweeps it, sweeps it. It looks
clean. It looks like everything's just
fine. But afterward, he brings seven more worse than him, and
he's worse than he was to begin with. It's a fellow that just
gets religion. He's not possessed by Jesus Christ. See, that's the thing. We either
get possessed by Christ or we're possessed by someone else. And look at verse 4. Verse 5,
always night and day he was in the mountain, in the tomb, crying
and cutting himself with stone. You know, we are our worst enemy. In 2 Timothy, it says that maybe
God will, peradventure, give repentance to the acknowledgment
of the truth, but they may recover themselves out of the snare of
the devil. Those that oppose themselves,
that's the word. Those that oppose themselves.
We oppose ourselves. We're going to destroy ourselves
unless our children are going to destroy
themselves, unless God does something for them. So who are we going
to consult? Look at verse 5. Always cutting
himself to stones, not realizing that he was a mess. In verse
6, when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him. You
know, every knee will bow. Our Lord said that. Every knee
is going to bow to Him. Every tongue is going to confess.
You know, you are Lord, aren't you? Salvation is to do it now. Salvation is for the Lord to
show us that now. To bow our knee now, willingly,
not forcibly. Why not bow the knee now? Confess. Well, keep reading. He cried with a loud voice. Verse
7. What have I to do with thee,
Jesus, our Son of the Most High? You're going to see what He has
to do with you and you with Him. I adjure thee by God, thou torment
me not. Torment. I used to think preaching was
torment. You know that? I used to think,
come and sit, listen to preachers. There was a time when I thought
it was torment. Anybody in here think that? Man, would I be glad when this
is over. This is torment. Torment is salvation. Thank God one day it turned from
torment to my life, to words of life. Only one person can do that,
to take an obstinate, hard-hearted, hard rebel and say, bend, bow,
break, worship, shut up. You listen. This is what you
are. I am, aren't I? I am who you
need. You are, aren't you? Now ask
me. Lord, help me. Not go away. Don't leave. Help me. This is
a real story. And nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. Look at verses 10 through 13.
Where the Lord said, Verse 8, Come out of the man, thou unclean
spirit, with a word. He asked him, What is his name?
He answered, Say, My name is Legion. We are many. Any vice known to man, you and
I have got it in us. Anything that any human being
is susceptible to and liable to do, we've got it in us. A
legion. If you don't know that, you don't
know yourself. Right? That's this old man. This old
man. Sin. Totally depraved. In verse 10, He besought him
much that he would not send them away out of the country. And
there was nigh unto the mountain 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 Christ gave them leave. They
had to ask permission. He had to give them leave. And
the unclean spirits went out, entered into the swine, and the
herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. About 2,000
swine were choked in the sea. What's this all about? Well,
swine are unclean animals to the Jews. Remember when the Lord
said in Matthew, He said, cast not your pearls Before swine? He's talking about people. There are swine that the Lord
calls people. There are people whom the Lord
calls swine. Swine. And this was a great herd,
2,000. Swine are unbelievers. Swine, he said, don't cast your
pearl before swine. Give not that which is holy unto
dogs. Need to know the difference. Swine will trample pearls under
their feet, trample the truth under their feet, will scoff
and mock at this. The vast majority of the world,
especially religion, are like these swine. It's devil-filled
and are running around, violently carrying on, acting crazy under Satan's dominion. That's
what this is all about. The Lord is showing us that.
That the vast majority of what goes on today in religion is
really a bunch of swine filled with devils. The Lord, in great mercy, delivered
this man from destruction and sent these demons away Now
go with me to 2 Timothy. I just quoted it to you. 2 Timothy.
In closing, 2 Timothy. And I'm going to ask a difficult
question here in a minute after this. But I want you to see the
truth of what is being taught here. And I just quoted it to
you. 2 Timothy 2. And verse 24. Serving the Lord,
that's the preacher, must not strive, but be gentle unto all. But as I said, I don't want to
offend anyone. The truth is offensive. The truth
will offend us, our natural way of thinking, our wisdom. It will just knock it out from
under us. Whatever men say, the truth will deal with them. It must not strive
to be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient in meekness, verse
25, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God,
peradventure. See who it starts with. You see
who salvation is from. You see where it's going to come
from. If God, peradventure, that is, according to His will, if
He will, we don't know, peradventure, perhaps He will. He might not. We'll give them repentance. You
see, it's the goodness of God that leads somebody to repent.
That's change. To turn somebody. To change somebody. To turn them. That comes from
God. So who do we call upon? Him. Lord, turn us and we'll
be turned. Turn my spouse. Turn my parent, my son, my daughter.
Turn them and they'll be turned to the acknowledging of the truth.
See that? This is the truth. Everything
else is a lie. That they may recover themselves. How do you
recover yourself? Keep yourselves in the love of
God. Keep yourselves under the Word of God. Keep yourselves.
Take yourself not out from under your only hope. Out of the snare
of whom? The devil. Who are taken captive
by him at his will. You see that? Everybody. If we're
not under the dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we're under
the dominion of the God of this world. Is that right? Now, let
me ask you a question. Can a believer be possessed with
a demon? That's a good question. Possessed, owned, absolutely
controlled, indwelt? No. Yes. Ask Simon Peter. Simon Peter. Our Lord said, Satan. Our Lord said, Simon. You know,
Simon was getting a little puffed up. And he said, Simon, Satan
has desired you to sift you like wheat. Oh, no, everybody leave you but
me. They may do it, these fellows, self-righteous, not me. Okay,
son. Satan, take him. You remember one time the Lord
saying and telling what He was going to do. He was going to
the cross and all that. And Peter spoke up and began
to rebuke Him. What did the Lord say? You remember?
Get thee behind Me, Satan. The Lord let Satan have him.
Can a believer be possessed? The Lord can allow and does even
a believer to be assaulted and even used. Why would He do that? The humblest. The humblest. He that is lifted up, he that
exalted himself, the Lord knows how. He will. You can count on it. If it's
a believer like Simon, God's going to bring you down. He's
going to make you think you're a devil. That's what he's going to make
you think. Humble him. and to teach. The Lord doesn't
do anything to His people that doesn't teach them something.
Whom the Lord loves, He chastens. Chastening means to instruct. And it's a painful lesson. It's
got to be a painful lesson. We won't learn it. My parents
used to... They don't remember it. Boy,
do I remember it. Used to, with a rod, chasten
me and buddy. That was a painful lesson. And
I didn't forget it for long. It's to teach us. And what he
teaches us is, you need me every hour for the rest of your life. And you better be calling on
me. You need to pray without ceasing.
This world is filled with devils. And Satan hath desired you, to
sift you like wheat. But, what he said to Peter, listen
to me, what he said to Peter, I have prayed for you, that thy
faith fail not. Listen, this is the key here,
that your faith fail not. Now, the Lord was on the earth
then. When he said that to Peter, I pray for you that your faith
fail not. Faith. We live by faith. We live by faith. Our Lord went
back and He gave Peter a faith that
was just overcoming of everything. He still lived by faith. He was
walking by sight. Then, he didn't need faith. The Lord was right there. He
was right there. If he didn't have any, the Lord
would take care of it anyway. But then he left. He's going to have
to live by faith. Where did that faith come from?
What is faith? Trust in God. Trust in Christ.
Believe in His Word. And then things happened to Peter. More trials and troubles and
afflictions and horrors and terrors and all that happened to Peter
until finally he's crucified upside down. The most horrific,
horrible, painful death you can imagine. Peter endured it. How? By faith. Where does faith
come from? We've got to have this faith. We've got to have
this faith to get through these things. No. It's God-given. Where
does it come from? Faith comes with how? It's work. We get possessed. We get used. We get assaulted.
What's our hope? That the Lord, with His Word,
will cast it out and be gone. Don't you find yourself coming
in here feeling like a devil, or assaulted, or whatever? Or
like Peter, you think you're lost, you're undone, you've gone
back to the world, you haven't changed, you've gone back to
the world, you're worse than you ever was, the dog returned to
his vomit? Anybody? But then you hear, go tell my
disciples, and Peter, And you come back, crawling back, and
you hear this gospel. It soothes your soul. It gives
you peace. Maybe I'm not lost after all.
Maybe I'm not possessed after all. I do see who my help is. I do see who my hope is. You
know, I've observed lying vanities. I've not forsaken my mercy. What's
His mercy? Jesus Christ. Now, the next message. Goes right along with it. In
light of just what happened here recently. Who did that? Okay. Dismissed for a little
bit.