Luke 8 and verse 26. And they
arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against
Galilee. And when he went forth to land,
that is, out of the ship, there met him out of the city a certain
man which had devils long time, and wear no clothes, neither
abode in any house but in the tomb. When he saw Jesus, he cried
out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What
have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God Most High? I beseech thee, torment me not. For he had commanded the unclean
spirit to come out of the man, for oftentimes it had caught
him. He was kept bound with chains
and in fetters, And he broke the bands and was driven off
the devil into the wilderness. And Jesus asked him, saying,
What is thy name? And he said, Legion, because
many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that
he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there
was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain, And
they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them,
and he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the
man, and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down
a steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they that
fed them saw what was done, they fled. And they went and told
it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what
was done. They came to Jesus. They found
the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the
feet of Jesus, clothed and in His right mind, and they were
afraid. They also which saw it told them,
by what means he was possessed of the devil and was healed. Now we'll put all three together
as we go along on our way. But I would like to begin with
a word of caution. And that is, I think that we
ought to be cautious in dealing with such a subject as we have
taken up this evening, lest we be carried away into wild and
vain speculation. Many have done so. We become
even more fascinated, some people do, when this is the subject
that is at hand. Many love to study demons and
to deal with them as they claim. And God forbid that we should
ever think ourselves sufficient to go against demons as others
have done and have sought to do. And it seems that there also
is another extreme for us to avoid, and that is, some who
have, with fantastic distortion and unbridled extravagances,
have gone beyond the rim of divine revelation, allowing their imaginations
to run wild. bringing in their opinions and
their thoughts on the matter, conjuring up extreme, leading
some off into wild speculation and unscriptural territory. It
has been a common thing to take the manifestation of depravity
and call that demon activity. Here is something that we need
to watch even in our day. You'll hear some talk about demons,
What they have done is taken the various manifestations of
depravity, called that demon activity, and sometimes even
given it a name. Now you hear people like this
talk about things like this, the demon of greed, the demon
of lust, the demon of pride, the demon of anger. The demon
of selfishness. The demon of hate. As if every
manifestation of our depravity indicated the presence of demonic
activity. We've even invented that little
phrase in our lifetime, the devil made me do it. Now, when we get
to here, it is but a small stretch then for someone who considers
himself greatly spiritual to say that various sicknesses imply
the presence of demonic activity. That when something is wrong,
or there is a sickness in the body, that it is the result of
a demon. Now, Methinks, if the devil died
today, and all of his cohorts and minions were locked away
in hell forever, there would still be greed, there would still
be pride, there would still be anger, there would still be selfishness,
yes, and sickness and death would still be a reality. For you see,
depravity is at work. in all. And if depravity and
demons are the same, then all are without exception demon-possessed,
are they not? Those that have the manifestation
of depravity, if these are demons, then all are possessed. Now, our text, as I said, is
also recorded in the two other synoptic Gospels, giving us a
total of three accounts that we might mesh and put together
in our study of this. It is something that occurred
during the ministry of our Lord while He was here upon the earth.
Here are those three places where you'll find an account of the
demons of Gadara. It is in Matthew's Gospel, the
first Gospel, chapter 8, 28-34. You'll find it in the Gospel
of Mark, chapter 5, verse 1-17, as well as here in Luke, chapter
26-39. Now, it's up to you if you want
to keep a finger or a marker in those places. As from time
to time, we'll be looking back and forth. One might tell us
something that another does not. But before we take up the matter
in these texts, let me say with a Puritan author, Thomas Goodwin,
that there is much mystery about this subject of the unclean spirit,
such as the question, are these the apostate angel? If not, how
did they come to be? How did they come into being?
Are these the minions of Satan who serve at his bidding? And then the one you're most
interested in Are there demons today in our experience? That one I'm not going to touch. Now, let's try to get a handle
on the event here and understand the location and the sequence
of events as they unfold. For it does seem that the Lord,
with His disciples, got in a boat, sailed across the sea, then turned
around and came back across again. But in so short a time in our
Lord's life, the disciples were privileged to see two mighty
works of the God of Heaven through the Son of God, which no doubt
were the purpose of the trip in the very beginning. The Lord
said to His disciples in Luke 8 and 22, let us go over unto
the other side of the lake. Also in Mark 4, And verse 35,
no doubt he had a secret purpose in his mind, just as he did in
John 11, 15 when he said concerning Lazarus, let us go unto him. Or when it is written in John
4 that he must needs go through Samaria, There he met and revealed
himself to a sinful woman of Samaria. All that the Lord did,
all the things that he accomplished, all the places that he went,
were according to a divine purpose and a divine plan. But as mentioned,
the disciples were privileged to witness two great wonders
at the hand of the Lord. The first one I'll mention only
briefly, and it was the Lord stilling the mighty storm that
came upon them as they crossed across the sea. As they sailed
across, the Lord laid down upon a pillow, the Scripture said,
and was asleep. When all of a sudden the storm
swept out and upon the waters and began to shake and toss the
boat so greatly that they feared that they might lose their lives.
And they expressed concern unto the Lord Jesus. Don't you care
that we perish? And here our Lord arose from
off of the pillar and rebuked the wind, and He commanded the
sea to cease all of its raging. Whereupon the wind ceased to
blow, and the sea became as calm as glass. The Lord gave them
in that a display of His glory, and caused them to exclaim in
great wonder, What manner of man is this that even the wind
and the waves obey Him, that He but speaks, and an angry sea
lays down, and the wind goes and comes according to His command? Yes, indeed. What manner of man
is this Is this not the God-man who can say to the sea, be calm? And it is so. But that's not
our text today. The second great incident that
they saw is our area of study. And that is the great wonder
occurred not at sea, not in the boat, but upon dry land where
the Lord faces here, not an angry storm, and blasting wind, but
a raging devil, a man full of devils. And as He had done with
the storm, the Lord expels the evil spirit. He calms the man's
mind and calms the man's soul. And should the disciples again
wonder, what manner of man is this that even the devils obey
and are subject unto Him? Now, the Scriptures tell us that
the demon-possessed man in our text met Jesus as they arrived
on the way. Matthew 8 and verse 22 tells
us there were two men that came out to meet our Lord. Two men
there were in Matthew's account that were possessed with devil.
And then Matthew tells us something else. that Mark and Luke do not
explicitly say or include. Matthew 8 and verse 28. They
came out of the tomb and they were so fierce, so violent, so
dangerous, that none could pass that way where they are without
danger of being injured. All who knew them, all who knew
about them, avoided going through the place where they were. They
were known to frequent a certain place, and that was among the
tombs. Because of the demons in them,
they terrorized the whole area and everyone that passed that
way. Now let's notice something else
amazing about the event, and that is all three Gospels that
include this happening tell it alike that as the Lord and those
who landed The men with demons met them, came into their presence,
came right up where they were, and as Spurgeon wondered, did
they do so to confront and oppose the Lord, as if to drive Him
from their shore? Were they intentioned to drive
Jesus out of their region? For it is clear that the demons
in the man recognized Him. Be that as it may, it is almost
certain that they had not come to be cleansed, that they were
impelled by the demonic, unclean spirits within them, and by a
secret impulse of God's providence did they come to Him. They met
him not purposely or with design, but it was accidentally unto
them, he said. For from the Lord's standpoint,
it was an act of divine, sovereign providence, even as the Samaritan
woman at the wheel. Well, now Mark and Luke concentrate
more on the one man. And putting all three gospel
accounts together in a summary or in a harmony, We see the connection
of the man as a result of the unclean spirit dwelling within
him. Luke 8.27 uses the plural, devils. Devils in the plural. And said,
it had been so a long time with that man. For a long time he
had been in that condition. It was not a recent affliction
or possession. Not something that had come upon
him just recently. For a long time it had been the
case with this man that he had demons and unclean spirit. And
Gil again observed, this is to be understood of great possession
of Satan for the man. Let us reckon up the damage done
to the man by this possession. Look what we read about this
man because of his demonic oppression and possession. Matthew tells
us of his violence in chapter 8. Mark gives us a fuller account
in chapter 5, speaking of his abnormal strength that no man
could bind him with fetters or with chain. He had been bound
with fetters and chains at one time or another, and He'd break
their bands like He had been a mighty Samson. He was so violent
and so strong that no man was able to tame Him or to subdue
Him. What's more, in verse 5, in night
and day He cried out in the mountains, His voice moaning and screaming
and screeching. Then Mark says also, he would
cut himself with stones and mutilate his body. Like a madman, this
man went out among the tomb. Luke tells us, chapter 8 and
verse 27, that he wore no clothes, and that he did not live or reside
or dwell in any settled place or house. Then, all three of
the gospels that write up this incident include the fact that
this man dwelled among the tombs. This man lived among the cemeteries. He roamed among the tombs where
the dead were buried, preferring to abide in the graveyard and
among the dead than to be in a house. Luke 8.29 gives us something
omitted by Matthew and by Mark, that he was driven by the devil
or demons in him, quote, into the wilderness, unquote. Out
of the city, out of the town, out into solitary places, out
to the burying ground, out from away from the common society,
away from living and abiding among living, but there among
the dead, away from civility, to become, as it were, an outcast. How damaged was this man by this
affliction! What a pitiful soul! Here is
one under the power of Satan, doing the bidding of the unclean
spirits that were within him. But now let's take leave of these
passages for a very short time. And since the New Testament treats
demons as a reality, and that in very fact they dwelt in people
in the time of our Lord's ministry, let's expand upon the subject
a bit to consider other effects that we read about of demon possession
found in the Scripture. All of these are nearly in the
Gospel. Matthew 17, 15, Mark 9, 17 and
18. There is a certain man who brings
his son to the Lord saying, Lord, my son is a lunatic and is moonstruck. He has seizures and he is sore-backed
and at times he falls in the fire and other times he falls
into the water. This is Matthew's account. Mark
9, 17 and 18, the distraught father says, My son has a dumb spirit. He foams and he gnashes with
his teeth and he pines away or wastes away. And when Jesus said,
bring him unto Me, when he came before the Holy Lord, the spirit,
the unclean spirit in that young boy saw the Lord Jesus. He threw
that young boy down on the ground in convulsions flopping about
and foaming violently while he was writhing upon the ground.
Jesus asked the father of the boy, how long has it been thus
with him? The father says, from childhood
when he was but young. Jesus exercised that foul spirit
and it caused a loud cry. The ASV said, has it shrieked
This demon shrieked and caused a violent combustion. And the
boy fell down as if he were dead for a time before then. But here
in the case of Gadara, the one in the present text was the worst
of the worst when it comes to this sort of affliction or possession. This is the worst case of demon
possession that Jesus dealt with, at least It is the worst one
that we have written up anywhere in the inspired scripture. And
I take it that this was on a purpose in order that the power of the
Lord, His dominion over the power of the devil and the power of
darkness, that our Lord is able to bind the strong man and then
spoil his good. And for the demonstration of
that, He chose the hardest case that He met with in His ministry. And He made quick and easy work
of it, and He spoiled Satan's house, and one of his prized
trophies was taken away that day. So that is a fascinating
thing here that we ought not to miss in considering it. and
what we might not have expected, in that all three of the evangelists,
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all three of them mention that the
man with the demon acknowledged the Lord to be Jesus, Son of
the Most High God. All three of them write up that
fact. Mark 5, 6 said, he worshiped,
that is, he fell down before the Lord, Could it be upon His
knees in the presence of the Holy One? And we ask then, is
this only mocking worship? Are they only mocking our Lord
as the soldiers mocked Him when they plaited the crown of thorns
and placed it upon the head saying, this is the King, behold, your
King? There are good reasons for believing
that the demons did indeed know the Lord Jesus to be the Son
of God Most High. For they called Him so. And as
Gil said, they had apprehension that He had power, that He had
authority to judge and to punish them. For they asked Him, Have
You come to torment us before the time? And they knew that
He had power to cast them out of the man. For they said to
Him, If You cast us out, allow us to go yonder in the herd of
swine. Do not cast us into the far side,
into the deep, or into the great abyss. But let's return to the
thought that the demons recognize Jesus of Nazareth to be the Son
of God Most High. Again, I'll say all three Gospels
take note of that fact. For we see this on several other
occasions as well that demons recognize, acknowledge the Lord
Jesus Christ. In Mark 1, 21-27, on a Sabbath
day in a synagogue there in the city of Capernaum, the Lord was
standing and teaching and instructing the people, and there was a man
in that audience or congregation that day who had an unclean spirit. And in verse 24, that man with
the unclean spirit, or else the unclean spirit itself, cried
out in the service loudly, lifted up his voice and said this, What
have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy
One of God." You have in Luke 4, 31-36, A second telling of this great
work of Christ in the synagogue. And we read, first, the people
were astonished. They were astounded. They were
amazed at His teaching. It had an air of authority that
the scribes did not have. They never heard another teach
with such authority. And again, in Mark 1 and 27,
they were so amazed when they saw that even unclean spirits
obey the voice. of the Lord. But there's another
occasion in Mark 3, this time verse 11. Some unclean spirit
in persons who had not seen Jesus before, but when the unclean
spirit saw the Lord, we read this, they saw Him, fell down
before Him, and said, You are the Son of God. Now note something
here. Do you find it amazing that the
demons who will be banished into hell hold a higher theological
opinion of the Lord than many of the big fancy-pants preachers
in our day? They hold a higher opinion of
Christ than do many preachers today. Let's quickly mention
that Paul had an experience somewhat similar with unclean spirit,
that it occurred to him when he was in the city of Philippi
in Acts 16, and verse 16 through verse 18 of that chapter, where
there was a damsel, that is, a young maid or a young woman
or a girl, who had in her a spirit of divination, and made her handlers
a lot of money, telling fortunes and predicting the future and
things like that. And Paul and his friends would
go by every day, going to the place of prayer. And every day
as they would pass by, she would cry out unto them, these are
the men of the Most High God that show unto us the way of
salvation. These are they that tell us how
to be saved. These are they that come. who
could say, Luke 10, 17, even the devils are subject unto us
in your name, as the Lord sent out His people. But let's go
back to the demon-possessed man of Gadara, and the Lord's dealing
with him. And the question, what's your
name? Legion, answers the man. Now, legion means many. Legion. While the Roman military
term. It was a division of thousands
of soldiers in the Roman army. It signified many. Again in Luke
8 and 30 it said, many devils were entered into him, but the
Lord cast them out. And the demons made two requests
of the Lord upon this occasion. Number one, Luke 8 and 31, they
implored the Lord not to send them out into the deep or literally
into the abyss. Well, this is the same word that
appears five times in the book of Revelation translated, bottomless
pit. That they would not be sent to
the bottomless pit. Which indicates they knew this
would be their ultimate destiny and their ultimate plight. But
not before time. Mark 5 and verse 10 said, They
besought him much that he would not send them out of the country,
that is, out of that region, out of that area where they dwell. Why such a request, I cannot
tell you. Gil thinks that they had rather
be anywhere than in hell. They make a second request of
our Lord, as there was near unto them while this was occurring. a big herd of hogs, of pigs,
of swine close by. And they had rather be in a pig
than to be disembodied or to be cast into hell. Send us into
that herd of swine if you cast us out. And Jesus granted it.
And when the spirits entered into the hogs, Mark 5 and verse
13 fixes the number at 2,000, the whole herd went mad. And they ran violently
down into the sea, stampeded themselves down into the sea. They were choked and they drowned
in the sea. Think of this. Where is there
another place in the Scripture where demons were cast out and
then entered into another being? I couldn't think of one where
they were cast out. Many were, but that they entered
into another creature I read not. The demons of Gadara were
extremely violent, as seen in the behavior of the man, and
then the reaction of the hogs when they were in them. When
they that kept the swine saw it, they ran into town. They
spread the word all around. Soon others came out to see,
and there was a great crowd gathered in that place. Mark 5, 15 and
16. Luke 8 and verse 35, they saw
the man who had been so possessed of demons and who had been so
violent and such a threat unto all of them, they saw that man
clothed, sitting calmly at the feet of Jesus and in his right
mind. Completely changed. A new man. Having his senses restored. Some would render as self-control. This man no longer was a raging
maniac or demoniac. No longer a raging madman and
violent and with superhuman strength. Oh, we can say, oh, the power
of our Lord to change poor, wretched souls for the better. The power
of our Lord demonstrated here in this particular man. The power
of Christ to cast out the demons and make this man to be in his
senses again that he might wonder, or not wonder about in the tombs,
but had a desire to follow Jesus. Or when Jesus got in the boat
to leave, the man said, let me go with you. The Lord said, no,
you stay here and tell folks what great thing the Lord has
done for you. But now let's shift our focus
to the reaction of the other people around about that saw
it. Those that came out from the
town. Those that had lost their good
herd of swine. What was their reaction when
they saw this man with clothes on neat, calm, sitting at the
feet of Jesus in his right mind? I ask you, were they glad? Did
they rejoice that a soul had been delivered? Did they praise
God? No. The Scripture said they were
afraid. They became frightened. Fear
gripped them. And again in Luke 8, verse 31,
they were taken with great fear. They were literally overcome
with fear of what had happened and what they saw. What so frightened
them? What is it that so frightened
these people? Was it the loss of their pigs?
Did they fear other losses by the power of this man Jesus? Would they rather have a madman
in their midst than a peaceful Jesus and a number one? Would
they rather have their swine herd than the Son of God who
could be very useful to them in many other things as well?
My friend, this is a picture of whirlings who love their carnal
things rather than the spiritual blessings that come from God
through Christ, who are afraid, yes, in our day, afraid of the
work of God in the soul, who know not what to make of it when
God works mightily and spiritually in the soul of one who has formerly
been in a bad state. Anyways, all three Gospels tell
us something. And that is, they urge the Lord
to leave their country. All three Gospels tell it. They
urge the Lord to pack up and go, to depart. Go back where
you came from. Leave our coast. Go away. How pitiful those who want nothing
to do. We're the only one that can help
them. The only one that can calm their demons and drive the devil
out of their heart. These say, depart from us. We desire not the knowledge of
thy way, as we read in the book of Job 21 and 14. This is what
men say. Depart from us. We don't want
to know the knowledge of your way. Hosea went to Felix to Paul
on a certain occasion. Acts 24, 25. Paul, go thy way
for this time. When I have a more convenient
season, I will hear you. That is, when it's convenient,
I'll call you. And that season may never have
come. We might also remember that Paul,
in Acts 16 and verse 39, was urged to leave the city of Philippi. He'd stirred up a hornet's nest.
He'd cast the demons out of that little maiden by which some made
a lot of money, telling fortunes and predicting the future and
that kind of thing. And they saw the hope of their
gain was gone. And in 1639, he was urged to
leave the city of Philippi for all of the uproar that his presence
had caused them. And when the owners of the girl
with the spirit of Python saw that the hope of their gain was
gone, they wanted him out of the city. There is hatred of
Christianity when it threatens to restrict the world or the
wicked. There is anger and hatred at
Christianity at the restraints that it would place upon men
who hear it. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the great changer. He is the one and the only one
that can change us from our awful estate by depravity, to bring
us to sit at His feet, to be calmly before Him, submit unto
Him and His teaching, and rejoice, rejoice in the name of Christ
and in the gospel and the worship of our Lord. The worst case of
demon possession, the Lord made quick and easy work of it, showing
His power, showing His great dominion over the power even
of darkness. Thank God for Jesus, the great
changer. All right, let's bow our heads
together, please, for a closing word of prayer.