I just want to read one verse
that pertains to the story we read in Mark 9, and I'll have
you turn over to Mark 9 in a moment. This is the same cry of that
father who brought his son to the Lord. Look at verse 15. Lord, have mercy on my son, for
he is a lunatic. and sore vests, and oft times
he falls in the fire and oft times in the water." Now one of the things that's
so frustrating about this thing of preaching is that you're attempting
to bring about two effects at the same time. You want to comfort those who
need comforting. And you want to warn those who
need warning. And so often those who need comforting
smartly feel the words of warning. And those who need warning only
hear the words of comfort. This is the reason sometimes
it's such a dilemma to know what message
to preach and when to preach it. You have a message and you
think, well, this will be more suited for Sunday night because
more of God's people will be there then. Well, who are God's
people? Who knows? But the Holy Spirit
is sovereign and he will take what word is necessary and apply
it accordingly to whom he sees fit. And I don't want to try to tell
anybody I don't want to try to tell anybody
that they're saved. I'm not trying to convince anybody
that they're saved. I want the Lord to do that. And I don't want to be guilty
of condemning somebody who may be, but may feel they're lost. I don't want to tell anybody
they're lost either. I just don't know. Sometimes
people give very good indications of one or the other. Very easy
to see a man or a woman out there in the world living the life
that they do. It's very easy to see that they
don't know God and don't love Christ and have no interest in
things of the gospel. That's easy to see. But sometimes
in the church, they're goats and sheep. And like Bill Clark's
illustration, sometimes you can't set them apart. And the Lord
said in the end time, that he himself will have to separate
the goat from the sheep. That's not the job of the under-shepherd. That's the job of the great shepherd. There's a good illustration of
what I'm trying to talk about here. Here's a man in this story. Turn over to Mark chapter 9 with
me. Here's a man who is possessed of a devil and acts like it.
And there are people in the world, maybe people in here, who are
possessed by a devil and act like it. And then, in a spiritual sense,
there are believers who feel themselves to be possessed of
a devil, and at times they do act like it. Yet they are the
true children of God. If you were to come across Oh,
Abraham, that time that he, no, David, it was that changed his
behavior before Abimelech. You ever come across David when
he was foaming at the mouth and acting like a madman? Do you
remember that story? David was scared. He was scared
of that heathen king, and it changed his behavior before that
man, so the man would think, well, this man's crazy. Get him
out of here. Now, David was a man after God's
own heart. If you'd have come across David
when he was in the arms of Bathsheba committing adultery, you'd have
thought, there's no way. No way that this man is a man after
God's own heart. If you'd have come across Abraham
when he was scared to death, when he was such a yellow-bellied
coward and told that king, said, no sir, my wife, that's my sister,
take her. You'd have thought, there's no
way, this is the father of the faithful. You to come across Jacob when
he was scheming and conniving how to get the birthright, you'd
have thought there's no way this man is the son of God. Well, here's the predicament.
I don't want to give any man or woman any excuse for the things
that you do and the way you act. Things that we do and the way
we act. I'll include myself in on this.
I don't want to give anybody any excuse for acting the way we do or doing
the things we do. There's no excuse for it. I don't want to make anybody
feel comfortable who doesn't need to feel comfortable, who
needs a strong reprimand and warning. I don't want to make
anybody comfortable and have a false refuge in their sins.
I'm just like David. I knew a man who left his wife
and children. He was a preacher. Left his wife
and children. She was a believer, too. As a
matter of fact, it turned out that she was the believer, not
him. She's still faithful to the gospel.
But that man left his wife and children, and later on, when
confronted by some other men, some preachers and all, telling
him, you can't do this. You just can't do this. He said,
well, I'll just get in line with David. You can't do that. If you're
going to get in line with David and do the things David did,
you're going to have to come repenting like David did later
on, too. David repented. I don't want to give anybody
any excuse to make anybody feel comfortable who doesn't need
to feel comfortable, and give anybody a false refuge in their
sinful ways. Yet I want to comfort the true
child of God, somebody who really needs comfort. I want to speak
words this morning. I want the Holy Spirit to speak
words of peace to somebody who is tormented and in turmoil and
who needs to hear it this moment. I once knew a man who was—and
many will remember this fellow—he was a true antinomian. That word means against the law. That is, somebody who says, well,
if you're saved by grace, you can just live like a devil. Doesn't
matter, God's going to save you, doesn't matter how you live.
This man was a true antinomian, a hardshell. He lived wickedly,
but he kept blaming it. I was just a young man at the
time, a young believer, and the Lord would just start dealing
with me. And we went over to his house, he and his wife. They
attended church where we did. And the man kept blaming the
things he did, adultery, drunkenness, and all that. He kept blaming
them on Romans 7, 17. He said, well, it's no more I
that do it. It's the sin that dwelleth in me. Do you remember?
And I was too young and too ignorant of the scriptures to know anything,
to know how to answer the man. But I knew, this is not right. It touched my, and offended my
poor little conscience. But I knew that wasn't right.
But nothing seemed to convince him that. He didn't seem to hear
a word that was said, not from the pulpit. He heard every message
that was preached from 13th Street pulpit. It didn't seem to change
him or convince him of anything. Then, on the other hand, now
that man was a, he was a deluded devil. That man was a devil.
Then on the other hand, I've known people whom I think to
be the finest people I've ever met. who are just tormented all
the time and plagued by their own sin and can never be comforted.
Oh, I don't know if I'm a child of God or not. I'm too sinful. And yet they're really not doing
anything outwardly, openly sinful, but they're just tormented. No
comfort, no peace. This reason I say it must be
up to God's Holy Spirit. It must be. The wind blows where
it lists it. So here's my message. The Lord
and a lunatic. This thing called lunacy. We
all bear the title of lunatic. I'm looking at a bunch of lunatics
this morning, and you are too. You're looking at the chief.
Lunacy. That's what this flesh is. That's
what this world is. It's lunacy. Lunacy. Now, I know there's a
lot of talk about the devil and about the works of the devil.
I know a lot of people talk about the devil. And you see these
silly little movies about the exorcist, you know, casting out
devils and all that. I know that. I've seen them.
And all the superstition that is around the devil, or the devil
made me do it, or this and that and the other. I know that. I
know all about that. The fact of the matter is, The devil is real. There is a
devil. And he has demons, evil spirits,
and they are everywhere. It's so. Christ cast out many
of them, many of them. One man, he kept, cast out seven,
how many? Seven, a legion, seven devils
out of Mary and a legion, this fellow, the demoniac, the Gadarene,
the fellow in the Gadarene. He said, we're legion because
we're many. Now, they're still around. I'm
not the one looking for them. I know a preacher one time who
started studying devils and he found them. I told my father this. He was sitting
in his study one day and he started hearing voices and seeing things.
He was studying and he found them. The book says Satan's alive and
well on planet Earth. Well, he is alive. It's true.
He's not well. He's died. He's doomed. He's
on a chain. He's not well, but he is alive.
He is real. So let's not make fun of that
as being old-fashioned and so forth. But you know what Christ
said of some religious people? Now, when we think about the
devil, what do we think about? When we think about the works of the
devil, we think about There's a fellow in the honky-tonk, you
know, he's going out on his wife and he's drinking it up and all
of this. And we think about down in the
middle of New York City, well, the devil is in on that. But Christ looked at some religious
fellows, all dressed up in their Sunday go-to-meeting clothes. And he looked right in those
fellows' eyes and he said, you're of your father the devil. Right? And the works of your
father, that's what you did. Wicked workers. And he said in
another place, Terry, that many people are going to come to him
someday and say, Lord, we did this, we did that in your name,
in the name of Jesus. And he's going to say, depart
from me, you iniquitous, you evil, wicked workers. Go back
down to your father where you belong. Religious folks. All sin is in some way connected
to the devil. He's the father of sin. He's
the father of lies. God's not the author of sin.
No, no. And I can't explain this, but
I just believe it's so from the scripture. But the devil is the
author of it. And all unconverted people, all
people who do not know God, who do not know and love Christ,
who have not been called and chosen and spoken to by the gospel
and changed, at least in their hearts and somewhat in their
outward lives. All people who are unconverted,
who have no interest in the gospel, are under the dominion of the
devil. And many people, many of God's
people, are beset behind and before by devils. Didn't he say
to Peter? Peter, Satan desires you. He's licking his chops at you,
boy. He wants at you. You know, Terry, he let him get
him for a little bit? He did. He let Satan go on him. He let him go on Job, a perfect
man, an upright man. God let him go on him. And many
of God's people are beset behind and before by devils. Now, I don't know which one you
are. I know we all act like one or the other at times. This is
the reason it's so hard to really tell who's God's people and who's
not. We all act like devils at times,
you know. I'm including myself, I say we.
And I don't know which you are, unconverted, The sheep on the
right hand, or the goats on the left? I don't know. God does. Now, here's the story. Mark chapter
9. Here's a desperate case, and
that's our predicament. A desperate case. This was a
man beyond his own control. A man beyond his own control. Now, see if this is not you,
maybe. Look at Mark chapter 9, look at verse 17, beginning of
17. And one of the multitude answered
and said, Master, I brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb
spirit. And this spirit, wherever my
son goes, he takes him. He takes him wherever he wants
to take him, and tears him. And he foams at
the mouth, and gnashes with his teeth, and pines away. He was a deaf spirit, our Lord
said later on. He couldn't hear, this man couldn't
speak, said he was torn apart, said he foamed at the mouth,
said he gnashed his teeth, said he pined away, and other places
said he was cast into the fire and then one day be in the water. He was a man beyond his own control. Now, nobody in here can understand
what this is talking about unless maybe you've gone through are
going through it. To feel possessed and out of
control. This is not going to be a clever
little sermon now. I want somebody to hear this
who needs to hear this. I'm telling you, I've got some
good words for you. I've got some help. Help is on
the way, all right? It's not going to just be a clever
little sermon. These are the heart and soul
feelings of somebody in here. Me. Maybe you. This man was torn apart. It said
this devil took him and tore him. He was torn apart by sin. It says wherever he takes him,
he tears him. Have you ever heard John Newton's
poem? He said, If I pray or hear or read, sin is mixed with all
I do. You that love the Lord, tell
me, is it this way with you? Sin, torn apart by it. Do you ever feel that way, as
if you're being torn apart by sin? That's like that publican
in the temple. If you could get it out of your
chest, you'd do it, wouldn't you? Get out of here. If you
could drive this demon of sin out of yourself, you'd do it,
wouldn't you? Anybody in here? That Gadarene, Demoniac, that
fellow in the Gadarenes, when the Lord came up across the shore,
and there was this fellow who came running naked, says he was
cutting himself. Cutting himself. The passage
says that wherever the devil took this man, it tore him. And
he frowned and gnashed him and tore him and cast him down. That
Demoniac said Scripture says he cut himself all over. Do you ever hurt yourself? Do we ever not? Isn't every predicament
we're in a predicament we got ourselves in? Huh? Isn't every
pit we fall in a pit we dug ourselves? Huh? We try our best to dig our own
graves, and sometimes we fall in them. Don't we get ourselves
in a mess of trouble, and then Nowhere else to look but up. Look at verse 22. It says, "...ofttimes
it cast him in the fire and into the water." This man was hot
and cold. Hot and cold. Fire and the water.
He wasn't going through menopause here. This was a man. He couldn't
blame it on PMS. I think we ought to change that
anyway to DMS. The devil ministering strife
in the life of a woman. Think about it. Didn't he say
that a woman will greatly multiply your sorrows in childbirth? I'm
going to make you appear at times, once a month, like a devil. Make
you feel like it and act like it. Right? Ladies? But this man wasn't going through
that. Sometimes in the fire, sometimes
in the water. One day on fire, one day cold
as ice. Anybody in here? One day greatly
interested in the gospel, the next day he could care less about
it. One day sensitive to the gospel,
crying his eyes out, hear his or her eyes out. Cry all over
the place like this overheard preacher, next Sunday let him
marry. lunacy, lunatic, right? Hot and cold, moodiness. I tell
you this thing of moodiness, and folks, I've got a problem
with it. I do. I'm trying to work on it. But
this thing of moodiness, it's going to extremes. Some of you
have it. Moodiness. Some of us are more
fickle than the weather. I mean, I'll be raining one day,
I'll be shining the next. Who knows? Nice as can be one
day, the next day is mean and it's night. I know people that
I'm afraid to call on the phone. There's no excuse for this. I
know people that I'm afraid to call on the phone, afraid of
how they're going to answer it. Oh, it's he or she, are they going
to be nice today? Hello? Yes, how are you? I'm fine. How are you? Next time it might be, what do
you mean calling me? lunacy, hot and cold, moodiness,
up and down, hot and cold, in and out, in and out of fellowship,
you know, one day all is faithful, the next day, what is so, I haven't
seen him so long. Only Christ can handle these
kind. I can't, I've tried, and I go
through them all the time, Lord, I can't, I can't do anything.
I guess they seem to say a word to help these people. Can't.
Not this kind. I'm not condemning anybody here
now. I've got some words to help you out here. This man was deaf. He was deaf. He couldn't hear.
There was no reasoning with him at all. No reasoning with this
man at all. He couldn't hear. Others would
hear what he was saying, but not this man. Others would hear
what he was saying, but not this fella. He wasn't listening at
all. Or this woman. No word, no matter how gentle
or how hard. You remember when Christ said
one time, he said, we pipes? You ain't make it. Well, then
we'll play a funeral march. And you don't cry. Hup! Shouting. You don't move. Don't
cry. Same, same effect. Somebody that's in a state like
this is deaf. They're not hearing. They're
not hearing. There's only one person that
can open an ear. This is one who made it. Saved or lost. Saved or lost. I don't know what you are. I
don't know. But the most impassioned pleas, the most powerful warnings,
will not pierce the impenetrable ear until Christ's Spirit comes
and says, Hear! Won't do it. Before the Lord
spoke to me. I hate to even talk like that,
but he did. You know, if you're a saved human
being, it's because the Lord spoke to you. He called you out.
Before the Lord began speaking to me through his word, God doesn't
speak audibly. He doesn't do that. He speaks
through the words of the gospel, just like through this right
here, preaching the gospel, the word. Before the Lord spoke to
me, I didn't hear a word. I sat under sermon after sermon,
John. Sermon after sermon. There's
one he grew up the same way. Sermon after sermon after sermon.
Same sermons. I didn't hear one of them. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah,
zip-a-dee-day, you know. Oh my, oh my. It's a wonderful
day. Can't wait to get out of here.
Didn't hear a thing. Deaf. But then after the Lord spake
to me, there were times when I still heard sermon after sermon. Even after he opened one day,
I heard the same message, but I heard it, and it touched me,
moved me, turned me, looked to Christ. Trust Christ, believe
Him, a new person. Yet, John, yet, I heard sermon
after sermon after sermon, but I didn't hear a thing. Let us
see, isn't it? Both take the power of the Master's
voice. Both. The lost man, God's got
to open his ears to hear it for the first time. The saved woman,
he's got to open her ears so she'll hear it again, or else
her ears are stopped. Right, Sheriff? This man was
a dumb spirit. He was deaf and he was dumb.
He couldn't speak. You know why? You know why he
couldn't speak? He couldn't hear. Now listen
to this. It's going to hit you. The speech is directly connected
to the hearing. Hearing and speech are directly
connected. Most non-hearers, if you go down there to Sylacauga,
where there's several people who cannot hear in a congregation,
they also cannot speak articulately. They cannot speak very well.
Some you can understand well enough, but they can't speak
very well. You know why? You know why? They
can't hear themselves. They don't know if what they're
saying is right or wrong. You understand where I'm coming
from here? A man who has never heard the
true gospel, he's a vain babbler. He'd love to say anything. What's
your hope of eternal life? I've been a good boy all my life,
you know. Mama raised me a Baptist, and just spewing out all sorts
of ridiculous notions. Man, what kind of church got
to do with your relationship with a holy, sovereign spirit? God. What's that got to do with
the fact that you were in Sunday school as a kid? What's that
got to do with your relationship with a holy God? He can't hear
himself. He can't. He doesn't understand
what he's saying. He's unable to articulate the
gospel. You go up to these free willers, fundamentalists, all
of this, people who really don't know the gospel, really don't
know how God truly is, who God is, or who Christ is, or how
God saved. They don't know what happened
in the garden, what happened on the cross, what happens in the heart of
a man when God saves. They're allowed to spew out anything.
What's your hope of eternal life, man? Mr. Free Will Baptist? God does, man. Jesus died for
me, and I accept him as my personal Savior. Show me that in the scriptures. Well, I did John 3, 16, you know. That's about all I can quote.
And you hear these fellas on TV, turn your TV and your radio
on all the time, you'll hear these vain babblers. Try it sometime. Turn the TV on early in the morning
about 6.30 or 7 o'clock and watch that speckled-haired fella start
going, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. Vexed with the devil. You can
see it in his eyes, can't you? You can hear it in his mouth. They don't hear themselves out.
And some of God's people, now listen, this is going to hit
home with you, some of God's people get in such a state, in
such a bad state, that they don't hear themselves talking either.
Verse 18 says, he's foaming, he's foaming at the mouth. I
better wipe my mouth. I've seen preachers get to foaming,
and I think, man, wipe your mouth. But people start speaking and
start foaming at the mouth. Say any and all manner of things
come out of this, spew out of this. Christ called it an open
sepulcher. And if you want to know why he
said that, go up and talk to yourself in the mirror as soon
as you wake up in the morning. Go right up real close to the
mirror and start carrying on a conversation with yourself. You won't be able to stand yourself.
Throats and open septum. They're dead things. You see,
all that food is rotting and corrupting. Oh. And this is the
way we get spiritually at times. We open these mouths and spew
forth all manner of malice and hatred and wickedness, don't
we? Huh? Come on, don't weep now. Everybody hear it. I'm not picking
on anybody in particular. And we don't hear ourselves,
right? We spew out quantity and we don't hear what we're saying.
We're deaf and dumb, vexed by this deaf and dumb spirit at
times. Don't realize what we're saying
and no matter how you try to console this person, they can't
hear you. Why? They're too busy speaking.
That's the problem. That's our hearing problem. Our
mouth's open. Right? We'd hear and learn some
things and shut our mouths. This is the first thing God does
to somebody when he saves them—shuts their mouth and opens their ears.
And like David, though, we'd get in a shape—we'd get in a
shape when David said, I would not be comforted. I just couldn't.
Nobody could help me. Until the Comforter comes. Until
the Comforter comes. He alone can open the ear and
stop the mouth. I know people who think, now
listen folks, you got some unsaved relatives, listen to what I'm
saying right now. We know some people who seem
to be impervious to the gospel. It doesn't matter what we say,
how we say it, cry. Laugh, show them the planet,
give them the greatest messages ever heard. There's seeming purpose
to it. And will not hear a thing you
or anybody else says. Don't despair. Don't despair. Bring them to the master. Right now. Right now. You got one in here right now,
maybe? Right now, in your heart, bring
them to the Master. Now, bring them. Say, Lord, if you could do anything
If you will. Can you do that? Huh? If you
desire their salvation, you will. Right now. I don't talk about
waiting later on. Might not be a later on. Right
now. Look at verse 18. Well, the devil tore him, and
he pwned, and he mashed with his teeth, and he says he's pining
away. Pining away. How could it be
otherwise with a man like this, huh? With somebody that's in
this condition. How could it be otherwise? You're
going through all these emotions, up and down. How could it be
otherwise than to feel rotten and just torn and just in such
a, oh, melancholy all the time. How could it be otherwise? A mind and a heart tossed up
and down with every wave of trouble, despairs and doubts and fears
and unbelief, never resting for long at all. You might hear a
message that touches you, but then the very next day you're
all torn up again. And you're pining away all the
time, pining away. Look at verse 21. The Lord said
to this man, he asked the father, how long ago is it since this
came on him? And the man said, a long time. It's been going on for years. It's been going on for years. But some people, sometimes God
permits people to go through deep distress and despair for
many years. Sometimes people have had to
battle with anxiety and terrible trials of sin and misery and
sorrow and depression all of their lives. Give you a case
in point. Listen to the words of this man. How tedious and tasteless the
hours when Jesus no longer I said. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers, have all lost their sweetness to me. The midsummer
sun shines but dim, and the fields strive in vain to look gay. Although when I'm happy in hymn,
December's as pleasant as May. Dear Lord, if indeed I am thine,
if thou art my sun and my song, why do I languish and pine? Why are my winters so long? O, drive these dark clouds from
my sky, thy soul-cheering presence restore. Take me unto thee on
high," just chill me, if you will, but take me home, where
winter and clouds are no more. That man that wrote that, named
William Cowper, he spent most of his days in an insane asylum. Do you know that he also wrote
this song? There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunge beneath
that flood, lose all of those guilty. Well, look at verse 18. There
was a man who could not be helped, not by men, anyway. Verse 18,
this man said, Lord, I spoke to your disciples. I came to these men, these mighty
men, these preachers of the gospel. I brought him, I brought my husband,
my son, and my daughter to hear the gospel, but they couldn't
do anything for him." Would you hear what I'm
about to say? They couldn't cast him out. The disciples could not. I tell
you, it's so sad and so desperate when I look out there in the
faces of people, sons and daughters and husbands and wives that have
no interest in the gospel. This is why, you know, a crying
preacher, my soul, wouldn't the God still cry over your own soul instead of somebody else having
to do it for you? It's a sad and desperate case
when you see people where they are and what they're doing, what
they're going through, and you know the answers. You know the answers!
And you try your best to tell them it. And you end up coming to the
Lord like little apostles and say, Lord, we can't do a thing. The plainest speech, the most
sensitive song, doesn't move. The greatest sermon that touches
other people doesn't move, do you? And you say, Lord, why? Why can't I get through to them?
Why do they remain unmoved and unfeeling and unhearing? Troubled and tried. Why do God's
people stay this way? Why don't they just see the promises? I've tried everything. But maybe not. Maybe you tried
everything but the first thing. Huh? Come on. Look at it. Look at verse 19. The first course
of action should be this. Verse 19. He answered and said,
O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long? Let me ask you all, the other
center of my voice right now. How long shall the gospel be
here? We don't know. He thought it
was leaving at one time when the former pastor left. Should
it have? According to the way we treated
the gospel in that man or whatever, should the gospel have remained
in this place? No. No. No, we're not worthy of the
gospel. It shouldn't have stayed here.
According to our faithfulness and our interest and our commitment
and our diligence and our zealousness and all that, the doors of this
building should have been shut. How long? Now, I don't talk about
me here. The Lord said, How long shall
I be with you? How long shall the gospel be here? And let's
go without our hearing it. I don't know. The Lord thou knowest.
How long shall I suffer you, put up with you, the Lord says. Lord, I tell you, if I'm one
of your own, you're going to have to put up with me all my
life." Thank God he does, Henry. How
long he been putting up with you? A long time. If you live a long time more,
he's going to have to put up with you, Lord. How long shall I suffer you?
How long, O faithless generation? I've given you some answers.
I've given you the gospel. I've given you the means. I've
given you the means of grace. You hear the gospel time and
time again, how long? Bring him to me! Here's the answer. It's not the
final one, it's the first one. This is where we ought to begin.
You're concerned about yourself, about your loved one? Bring him to me. Not me. Christ. Right now. Right now! If someone is lost, I don't know
if I'm saved or not. Don't come to me. Don't come
to church. Oh, come here, where the church
is, to hear the gospel. Come to Christ. If someone is guilty, oh, this
guilt, don't look at me. Go to the judge, the one who's
got the keys. of hell and death, who decides?
Go to him! Please your case with him! Somebody who's sick. Oh, I'm
sick of my sin. Go to the healer of souls. The
great physician. Never lost a case. Never. Healed
everyone. You know, everybody that came
in contact with Christ that was sick got healed. You know that?
You know, everybody that was dead, every funeral he came along,
they lived. Somebody's sorrowful, just cannot
be comforted. Go give him comforter. Say how? Don't ask me. Ask him. Somebody who's thirsty. Come
to the fountain. This water will leave you thirsty.
I've already taken two or three drinks already. It's not getting
the job done. Well, this old, weary, dusty
road that I'm traveling through this world leaves me thirsty and tired and hot and thirsty. I've got to find a cool place
to reside. I've got to find a shade tree,
a cleft of a rock, maybe, a cool cave. You ever been in a cave
in the summertime? Cool. Constant temperature. Mammoth
Cave in Kentucky, constant temperature year-round. Christ is the eternal,
everlasting Savior. You're right. Eternity right
now. You reside and rest in Him. You
know why we get out of shape? We're poking our head out of
the cave to see what else is out there, right? Tireless sitting
in here. Then we come scrambling back.
Got hot out there. Hungry, sinful. You go to the only one who's
got the righteousness you need before this holy God. Are you
sinful? Oh, am I though. I'm full of
it. There's only one person who can
get rid of it. Hungry? Come to the table. Burdened?
Go to the one who can bear it. I can feel him maybe, but these
other people can understand a little bit. He can bear on that. You
should cast them on him. He cares for you. Do it!" Like
the commercial said, just do it. Why ask why? Huh? Just do it. Did you ever talk
about it and say, you know, when my mother said, come to the table,
I never stopped and thought, well, do I have the ability? Do I have permission? Well, if
I come, she won't feed me." He said, no, I won't stop and ask
those questions. He said, I'll just head to the
table. Why? I was hungry. Every time I got
there, I had a big meal ready to eat. Christ said, come. How? Just do it. That's what God said,
don't move a muscle. Come to Christ, but don't get
up out of his chair. He's not flesh. He's a spirit.
Right now, in your heart and mind, Jesus, I come. And it ain't that Jesus is weakling
that's going to try, now, if you'll let it. No, it's the one
who can do something about it, who will do something about it.
You know what this text tells me? This text tells me Christ
is alive right now. He's alive right now. This story
was recorded three times in the Scripture. Three times. It means
it's pretty important. Once is important. But three
times he's telling us, we better get a load of this. Three times
he said, here's a lunatic. Nothing, nobody can seem to help
him. Bring him to me. To me. This tells me that Christ
is alive right now. This is the reason I despise
these altar calls and mourner's benches and these soul winners
and all these dudes, spiritual counseling and all that. People
just need to come to Christ, not to the front of a church.
This is where all the false refuges and all are made. This is the
one they end up trusting, this man. And then he falls out with
his secretary, and so do they, you know. Come to Christ. You come to Christ,
it doesn't matter a hell of a millions where I go and what I do, Christ
remains faithful forever. He never changes. Never. He's alive. People need to come
to Christ right now, just like this man did to you, right now. Desperately. Their case, your
case, my case is just as desperate as this man. Did I describe the
very feelings of your heart there? Torn, deaf, dumb, gnashing your
teeth, pining away, throbbing at the mouth, hot and cold. Is that you? I don't know if
there's anybody else in here, but it's me. And I'm right now
coming to Christ. Right now. I'm trying to say
in my heart, Lord, God, I sure need you like this man did. If
you can do anything, You don't have to, but would you do something
for this old fellow? Huh? Would you please? Lord,
I believe. I just don't. It's oh, it's so
fickle and finite and fallible and failing. I'm up and down
when I, but I do believe. Tell him of my unbelief, please. Show him that it doesn't have
anything to do with my faith, that it all has to do with you. This is eternal life. that they
might know, be acquainted with, come to. Oh, Maurice, you're
going to hear Brother Maurice Montgomery. You're going to hear
a voice. And he's always going to say, I guarantee you, in the
course of one of his messages, he's going to say this. He's
going to say, hug up to Christ. That's exactly how he'll say
it, to come to him and just hug up to him. With your heart and your soul,
right now. He's alive. I'm not talking about
religious rhetoric here and stories and theory and a little cleverness. Let's say it's not a clever little
sermon here. This is real. This is not real. So that's Eastern
mysticism. Well, this is not real. The flesh is dying. You're going
to die. I'm going to die. Then what? That's real. Where's those souls
of? I don't know. He's somewhere. His body's in
the grave. But he is somewhere. And this Bible says a whole lot
about that. Says a whole lot about it. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee." Now, I'm trying to describe, trying to declare
this one to you this morning. The only true God and Jesus Christ
who he sent, the sent one, and it's still true. Men and women
don't need to get religion. They need to get to Christ. They need Christ. They need to
hear his voice. And don't bring, don't come to
me for counseling. I mean, I want you to, but you
ought to don't. Does that make sense? I don't have the answers. Go
to Christ, the Great Counselor. He's called the Great Counselor.
And don't come to church. You know what I'm saying. I want
you here because this is where you're going to hear the gospel,
but don't come to the church and think, hey, I'm going to
get religion and get all fixed up and I'm going to be able to
come to Christ. This is just a building. It's
just a bill. Men's converts. Don't come to
a man. Men's converts revert. This is why there's such a high
ratio of people in and out, you know, with Billy Graham crusades
and all that. Houses of people go for, and they do a follow-up
later on, there's about 30% still going to church. I bet if you
went on down the road, you'd maybe find 5% years down the
road. Spurgeon, one time, was walking
along through the streets of London, and he heard a voice
in the alley. A fellow said, Charlie! He turned around. They all called
him Charlie. Well, Charles hadn't. Charlie.
It was just Charlie. Charles Spurgeon wasn't. He was
just a man. This fellow said, Charlie! He turned around, and
the fellow stepped out of the shadows with a bottle in his
hand, He said, Charlie, remember me?
Spurgeon said, no, my dear sir, good sir, I don't believe I remember
you. He said, you ought to. He said, I'm one of your converts. Drunk as a skunk, Charlie said,
well, you must be, because you're not one of the Lords. Man asked Binder, he said, And
I say, you think I'm saved by the barn. He said, I don't know. He used to see me in thirty years.
So I said, bring him to me. Bring him to me. Right? And that's what I said
last Sunday. I'll tell you the way to approach
people about hearing the gospel or whatever. Don't come down
to church. We like to come to church. So
everybody says, say, I sure wish you could hear about the one
I'm hearing about. I sure wish you could hear the
gospel I'm hearing. You know, there's another gospel
out there. Won't you come hear about him whom we're hearing
about? If they ever meet Christ, the
end is certain. But the troubles may not be.
I wish everybody was here to hear this, the troubles may not
be, the troubles may have just started. Look at verse 20 with
me, verse 20. So they brought him to Christ,
and when he saw Christ, straight away the spirit tore him and
threw him on the ground. You see that? He fell on the ground
wallowing, foaming. See, you get what they're saying.
They brought him to Christ, but his troubles were over. He was
going to be healthy and wealthy and wise from here on out. No, they tore
him. The Spirit tore him, wrestled with him, threw him on the ground,
and the man, all sorts of things—evil thoughts, jealousies, envies,
covetousness, hatred, malice—started spilling out of his mind and
brain. He's coming to Christ. But then all the wickedness of
hell started filling out of that old boy. You understand, John,
where we're coming from? You know what I'm saying? You
come to Christ, your troubles are not over. Your troubles with
God are over. That's the real trouble you need
taken care of anyway. That's why Christ came. He said,
I didn't come to bring peace on the earth. He said, you're
going to go through tribulation and trials and troubles and sorrows
and all this sort of thing. I didn't come for that. I came
to bring peace between you and God. Because God is angry with
the wicked every day, and that's you. I came to take that anger
out on myself. I came to make you reconciled
to God, friendly, to join you to. The daveman betwixt us lay
a hand on God and a hand on you, and bring you together. Because
you would have never come to God if God hadn't sent me you. But when you come to Christ the
devil, Spurgeon said, it's his last, it's his last stand. Like Custer. Did Custer make
it out? No. It's his last stand. He's saying, oh no, she's coming
to Christ. The power of God is in the gospel. The power of God is in the gospel. I don't want them to hear the
gospel. I'll bring a spirit of slumber over their eyes. I'll
cause them to think about the roast beef in the oven, and they
won't hear the gospel that way. I'll cause them to think about
the baseball game, so they won't hear the gospel that way. I'll
cause them to think about what dress so-and-so is wearing in
front of them, so they won't hear the gospel. Last stand. I'll cause them to make them
think they're so wicked and so evil that there's no way God
could save them. That's a lie from the devil himself. He said he's able to save to
the uttermost them that come. I don't care where you've been,
what you've done, how you live. I don't care what you do now. That's a lie from Satan who says
you can't. You're too wicked. You're just
the kind he's looking for. And you're just the kind Christ
is looking for. Sinners. Any good people in here? Christ didn't come for you. didn't come to call the righteous,
and the righteous won't hear. I'm all fixed up. I've heard
this before. Praise God's sinners hear his
voice. You mean to tell me? Like David
said, I think it was Psalm 126, he said, when we heard this,
it's just too good to be true. Those Christ called, they're
called. Look at this. Look down here,
verse 25. Verse 25, When Jesus saw the
people come running together, here we are together, folks,
all together, but there's one foul spirit in here. And Christ rebuked that foul
spirit, and he said unto him, You dumb and you deaf spirit,
you come out. Look what he says, and you don't
go back and enter him no more. Do you remember that fellow one
time that Christ talked about who the devil's Took up their
boat in his house, and then the fellow just got religion You
know or something and start cleaning up his act and his life and all
that and they went away they got him You know false refuge.
He's religious man. We got him right where you want.
He thinks he's saved He's not he's he's sure he's secure for
hell now They went out swept and garnished you know in church
quit his drinking Like the he didn't know what was going on
He didn't know what was going on But then they came back in full
force. But Christ said to his people, said, nothing and nobody
can harm one of my little ones. Nothing and nobody. I give unto
them eternal life and they'll never perish. Never. And no man
will pluck them out of my hand, my father's hand. So he cried
to tell that spirit to come out of there and get out of there
and enter no more. And the spirit cried. Look at
verse 26. He cried. Why? The one who has
authority, all authority is given to me on heaven and on earth.
The one who is Lord over the demons in hell as well as men
on earth. He said, come out. And he's coming
out. You see why we need to come to
him? Hmm? You see why nobody else can handle
this? And it happened, look at verse 26 again. And he came out
of him and he was like a dead man. He was as one dead, insomuch
as many say, well, he's dead. He's dead. And this was the reaction
of all of God's people, prophets and apostles. Isaiah, when he
saw the Lord, woe is me. Job, oh, I hate myself. Didn't I? Paul fell off his high
horse. Peter, apart from me, Lord, I'm
a sinful man. Right? John on the Isle of Patmos,
he felt like a dead man worshiping him. This is the first evidence
of a true work of God in somebody. He makes them fall as a dead
man. See, I'm a dead sinner. It's not like Kenneth Copeland
said, that you don't have to ask God for mercy, you just have
to ask Jesus in your heart. That's a lie. It's the devil
speaking through that man. It is this way. You come as a
dead man, like John. Fall on your face as a dead sinner
and say, Lord of life, give life to me. And God's people will appear
dead to the world. Think about it. This man, everybody
says, well, he's dead. And somebody says, it's about
you. Where's old so-and-so? I ain't seen him bellied up to
the bar lately. Where's old so-and-so? I don't
know where he is. I haven't seen him in a while. Must be dead. Yeah, he is. He is. But I tell
you where he is. Look at verse 27. Please look.
Jesus took him by the hand. He's walking with somebody now.
It ain't you. It ain't the world. Like I've
said so many times, I just like it, Joe. I'm not down at Joe's
bar anymore. I'm at Joe's church. Joe and
I are walking hand in hand, worshiping the same God. There may be a
time, Joe, when you and I are down at the bar together when
we're better. And we might be there someday. Don't put it past
us. But where is it? Jesus took him
by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose to walk in newness
of life. Where is he? I'll tell you where
he is. Look at verse 28. He's in the house. He ain't outside
anymore. He's in the house. We were coming
to the house. Can Bill come out and play? The
world says, can Bill come out and play? No, not now. He's in the house. Let's go play on St. Noah, and
go on to worship in the house of God." He's seated, that demoniac was
seated and clothed in his right mind, resting in Christ. clothed
with his righteousness, in his right mind, like Bob preached
about. You know, a man is out of his
mind who doesn't know Christ and doesn't know God? A man is
out of his brain, Ed, who doesn't worship God? I mean, here he
is hanging over hell by a cobweb, and he's not crying out? That
man's insane, isn't he? He's not in his right mind. But
let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
worshiped God. And I say this, and I'll quit.
Turn in your hymnals to number 347. 347. To the struggling soul
out there, I kept you too long, but I sure hope somebody heard
something. One person, one person. To the struggling soul who doesn't
know where you are or what you need or where you're going, to
the struggling person who doesn't have any idea of what you need. Let me say it one more time,
okay? Maybe you'll hear it this time. One more time. You need Christ. You need Jesus Christ. You don't know your problem.
That doesn't matter. You need Christ. So go home and ask God to save
you for Christ's sake. And to the struggling believer,
whoever he or she may be, who doesn't know their own problem,
who's a lunatic, it doesn't matter. You still need Christ. Peter said, to whom? Keep coming. Keep looking. Trouble
is, we get our eyes out. Keep coming. Paul said,