So good to be here. Keep your
Bibles open to that Mark 5. I asked Paul to read that. That's
where our message will be from this morning. Mark 5, 1 through
20. I was thinking as we sang that
song, Christ Receiveth Sinful Men, one of the greatest compliments
paid to our Lord while He walked the earth was not meant for a
compliment. It was in Luke 15-2 when the
scribes and Pharisees said, this man receiveth sinners. They were being critical of what
good news that is for folks like us. This man receiveth sinners. Well, now that we're off of the video, I can relax a little. And just say it's such a joy
to be here. I'm so very grateful for the
invitation. My wife Pat and I have thoroughly
enjoyed the trip over and the good hospitality while we were
here. And the way too much to eat yesterday
afternoon over at Paul's house. I don't know what he had to do
with it, but I'll guarantee you, Paula did. But I don't know who else, but
it was such a blessing. And to be here today with you
dear folks to worship our Lord. Now, hopefully you feel like
you're not worthy. Well, guess what? You're right. But here's the point. He whom
we're here to worship is worthy. That's what I tell people about
preaching. I'm not worthy to try and open and preach God's
Word, but He is certainly worthy that it be preached. That's the
deal. All the worthiness is on His
part, and we praise Him for that. All right, now as you've heard,
Brother Paul has read us this passage, Mark 5, 1-20, and I
would title this message, grace at Gadara. Grace at Gadara. I'm sure all
of you have heard grace defined as God's unmerited favor. And that it is. But usually,
people are referring to non-discriminate favor. God's goodness to everyone. Reigns on the just and the unjust. That's mercy. Withholding judgment. It's not grace. Mercy is God withholding the
judgment we deserve. Grace is God's giving us what
we don't deserve. difference, the big difference.
And it's God's unmerited favor to some who deserve it no more
than any other. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, Genesis 6, 8. And that's the first occurrence
of the word grace in the Bible. And there in that text, Noah
found grace. You know, the rest of humanity,
except for Noah and his family, the rest of humanity perished
in the flood. And we're in a day and time when
people make no qualms about arguing with God about whether or not
he's right about stuff. Well, I want you to understand
that in that judgment, in that flood, God did no wrong. Because of sin, all humanity,
including Noah, deserved judgment. And grace was God giving Noah
what he didn't deserve. To be chosen of God, selected
from among the rest, not to perish. And that's what God's grace is
to you and I this morning. His having given us what we did
not deserve. People have the idea it's grace
we deserve and judgment we don't deserve. That's just backwards. It's judgment we deserve and
grace we don't deserve. And the story contained in this
passage to me is a very clear summary,
in a nutshell, of why Christ came into the world, what He
came to do. Now think of this, He got in
a boat, crossed over the sea, a great gulf, as it were, from
heaven to earth. He crossed over, He came into
the coast of the Gadarenes, and He came to change the heart and
life of one man. And in the summary I'm making,
that one man represents all of God's elect. Christ never made that journey
to change the hearts of everybody there. just one man. And instead of the people being
glad that he'd done it, glad that that wild man was tamed,
they asked him to leave. They didn't want him there. They would, as it were, crucify
him. And so he got back in the boat.
having done exactly what he came to do, and went back to the other
side. That's the story. That's the
story. And going into this fifth chapter
of Mark, we understand that the Lord came
with power. Came with power. He's not there to try to do something
he can't do. He's not there hoping to do something
he's not sure about. No, he's on a mission. It says
he got out of the ship and immediately there met him a man. He didn't have to wait 15 minutes
for the fellow to get there. And he didn't have to go this
way down the shoreline a half a mile. or up this way, up the
shoreline a half a mile. When he got there, there met
him a man. He was there. And it said immediately,
there met him a man out of the tombs. Now it's very important
to watch words when you're reading the scripture and watch the wording
of scripture. It's not that the Lord Jesus
met a man, but it said there met Him a man. Things are on the Lord's terms, not the man with the unclean
spirit. And of course we see a very real picture of sinful
depravity here. This man, verse 3, said that
had his dwelling among the tombs. This is a rough, rocky, steep,
seashore type. It wasn't a smooth, nice beach.
It was a rough, rocky area. And those tombs in those rocks,
caves in those rocks, was the graveyard. That's where this
fella lived. He had his dwelling among the
tombs. And no man could bind him, no, not with chains. They had tried. Verse four, 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. These demons that
was in this fellow controlled him, possessed him. And day and night, he'd cry out
blood-curdling screams, cutting himself with rocks. He had no
control of himself. He was helpless in himself. as
are all sinners without Christ. Now when Romans 3 said, and we
referred to it a while ago, there is none that understandeth. There
is none that seeketh after God. You say, well, I seek after God.
Well, how blessed that is if you do. But you seek Him only
because He first sought you. We love him because he first
loved us. Left to ourselves in our natural
state, fallen, sinful, depravity. We have no interest in God or
the things of God. No interest in the word of God.
No interest in the church of God, the people of God, and the
worship of God. No. By nature we're spiritually
dead. Not physically dead, but spiritually
dead. That's what Paul meant in Ephesians
2.1, and you had to quicken who were dead in trespasses and in
sins. Had a fellow say to me one time,
said, I don't believe anybody's so dead they can't come to Christ.
Well, how dead is dead? Dead is dead. This man was out of it, and apart
from Christ we all are, fallen, depraved, with no interest in
seeking God. And the Lord never sent this
man a message from the other side. He never sent him a message to save up his money and rent
a boat and come out and meet him halfway. You're right. You take that first
step down the aisle, and the Lord will meet you. Dead men
don't take steps. That's exactly right. When our Lord raised Lazarus, why didn't He say, now Lazarus,
you kick the lid off that box and come on out. No, no, no,
no. He's dead. Exactly. Dead. The Lord quickened
him and brought him forth. So now, Christ came all the way
across the sea. All the way. Now in verse 6, we see a picture of effectual
calling. But when he saw Jesus afar off,
he ran and worshipped Him. He came because he couldn't help
but come. That's why you came. That's why
I came. It was not up to this man whether
the Lord made the trip in vain. Now that's what religion today
will tell you. But don't let the Lord have him
go into all this trouble for nothing. And you're going to
go to hell anyhow when he's doing his best not to let you. No,
no. He'll have to rescue you or you
won't be rescued. This was an effectual call. They didn't stand in the boat
and sing 17 verses of an invitation. trying to get this man to come
to Jesus. No, no, rather, rather, Christ said, my sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Talk about power. He saw Jesus afar off, and he
ran and worshiped him. It wasn't the demons that made
him come to Christ. made him come to Christ. When the man came to Christ,
the demons in him started speaking. Verse seven, cried with a loud
voice, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the
most high God? The demons knew who Jesus was. and they pleaded with Jesus,
torment me not. When the Lord spake with authority,
come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. The demons didn't come
out willingly, but they were no match for the power of Christ. The Lord asked, what is thy name? By the way, the Lord Jesus asked
questions, lots of questions, not because he didn't know the
answers. That's right. But he asked questions to make
people answer. Amen. Demons answer. And the demons answered, my name
is Legion, for we are many. A legion is believed to be about
6,000 Roman soldiers. When the Lord rebuked Peter in
Gethsemane, remember he said to him, don't you know that I
could presently call more than 12 legions of angels to my rescue,
if that's the way it was supposed to be? More than 72,000. So this legion here is strong,
but he's no match. He's no match for the Son of
God. And today, if your God is trying
to do a lot of things he can't seem to get done, you're worshiping
a false God. If your God is trying to save
a lot of people he can't get to cooperate, you're worshiping
a false God. Because His call is effectual.
The God of the Bible, the Living God, He's a God of power. And
Paul the Apostle said in Ephesians 1.11, that He worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. God does what He wants
to about everything. You say, I don't like that. A lot of people don't. If you
don't like it, you're in the majority. But a few of us like
it. We have a God that does as he
wills. Nebuchadnezzar had it right.
You talk about a character, you talk about a mean man until God
changed him. But here's what he said. He said,
God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? He had it right, didn't he? Isaiah the prophet, he said this.
For the Lord of hosts hath purposed. Somebody said, well, God has
a wonderful plan for your life. I'm getting technical now. I'm
not trying to be critical or mean. But this Bible says nothing
about God having a plan. You and I have plans. They fail. They change. They don't work. This Bible says that our God
has a purpose. And it's an eternal purpose.
Hadn't changed. Everything He's doing, He's always
been going to do it. He's not like the news media,
they sometimes say, we joined the following story, already
in progress. He's never joined anything already
in progress. If he didn't start it, he ain't
in it. You see? He has a purpose. He has a purpose. Isaiah said, for the Lord of
hosts hath purpose, and who shall disannul it? Who's gonna cancel
it? and his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? Wow, it's a God of power. Psalm 135, six, whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas,
and all deep places. He don't have to ask anyone's
permission. He don't need anyone's assistance,
and he needs not our approval. Psalm 115.3, our God is in the
heavens. The critics ask, where is God?
Where is God? That's what they're asking now.
And the answer is Psalm 115.3. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. When he's ready to change
a person's heart, he does it. And if he's never changed your
heart, and if he don't change your heart, you'll perish in
your sins. End of story. How vain it is then to speak
of fallen man who's in bondage to sin and to Satan as we all
were. How vain to speak of such a thing as free
will. able in ourselves to control
what God can and cannot do in our lives. That would make you
God, not him. He's calling the shots. So here
in this story, Satan is not cooperating here. He's being overpowered. He won't cooperate when God works
affectionately in you. But if it's God working, he'll
be overpowered. Not if you get a little dose
of religion, he'll knock that out of you pretty quick. But if God's working, it's effectual. It's effectual. When a sinner
is regenerated, it's by God's power. It's not that you just
say no to the devil. And yes, to God, it was all up
to you. No, you can't say no to the devil. Only God can. It's God's power
that broke this man away from Satan's hold on him. And Christ affectionately calls
him. And he came. Now, no doubt religious
folk, and this is never ending, Paul. Got you to read all this. Just go on and on with this.
No doubt religious folk had tried to get this man to change. Why
don't you take a bath? Put on some clothes. And live
respectable like the rest of us. He not only couldn't change,
He couldn't desire to change. He couldn't make himself will
to change. His will wasn't free. You see, but the Bible says,
whosoever will may come. You may be persuaded to come
to church. You may be persuaded to become religious. And desire
to go to heaven, we all do. And desire to escape hell, we
all do. But all that fleshly religion
can do is worthless. It is whosoever will may come,
the question is who will? Only those whom God makes willing.
John 6.65, therefore said unto you, no man can come unto thee. Accepted were given him of my
father. So there's the general call the
preaching of the gospel Goes out of the pulpit on the radio
on the TV Printed material. It's a general call to all men
everywhere to repent of their sins and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and yes, God uses it to Question is, who will? Who will? The natural man never wills to
come to Christ and never can. Never can. But this effectual
call, this power of God applied to a sinner's heart, opening
one's eyes to the corruption within, and the fearful thoughts
of perishing without Christ, When this happens, it's not the
exercise of man's supposed free will. Supposed free will never made
you scared to death you was going to hell. No. Supposed free will
said the ball's in my court. I can call the shots when I'm
ready. No, the ball's never been in your court. Never. It's the exercise of God's free
will. While the general call says,
whosoever will may come, the effectual call says, all that
the Father giveth me shall come. And everyone does. So this effectual
call of God in the gospel is powerful. Powerful. Jesus got there and there the
man was. He had him there. He had him there. He's been drawn
to Christ by the power of God. And it was the day of Christ's
power. Psalm 110 verse three, the father said to the son, thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. That's the
only time anybody's willing. It's the day of God's power.
And the power that drew this man was irresistible. Contrary to religious today,
it's irresistible. If it is resistible, it's not
God. His call is effectual. And then
we read that the man ran to Jesus and worshipped Him. He'd never
done that before. The Lord will cause you to do
things you never did before, never dreamed you would. This
fella always ran from men, not to them. But he finds himself
at the feet of the Lord Jesus. He's doing it and he cannot help
himself. Can't help but do it. It's an
effectual call, a productive call of grace. Now the demons
are talking. They know this is Jesus. They said, Jesus, Son of the
Most High. And they said, I adjure thee
by God that thou torment us not. And the Lord speaks back to the
demon in verse 8. Come out of a man, thou unclean
spirit. Only he could do it. All these false prophets of the
day that knows how to order the devil around, I run from them
like rattlesnakes. You don't order the devil around.
You're no match for him. But the Son of God is. If you're
free in Christ this morning, it wasn't your doing. It wasn't
some preacher's doing. It was God's doing. And he asked
him, what is thy name? And he answered saying, my name
is Legion, for we are many. The demons know they're outranked. And they asked him, they sought
him in verse 10, that he would not send them away out of the
country. They asked to be sent into a
herd of swine. Paul read about 2,000 of them.
And these demons knew what was coming, They're going to be cast
out of the man. They didn't want to be. They weren't actually cooperating
with the Lord. They just couldn't help it. They
couldn't help themselves. They just knew His Word is final.
Do we know that? His Word is final. So the demons
went into the hogs, verse 13. with Christ's permission. And what these demons did, they
caused the hogs to go crazy. That's what demons do to people. And they ran over a cliff into
the sea. They committed hogicide. And when the townsfolk came out,
verse 15, says they saw this man sitting. That was a first. And they saw him clothed. That
was a first. And they saw him in his right
mind. That was definitely a first. I want to tell you where our
society is today without Christ. They're running, running, running,
not sitting. They're naked and don't know
it. And they're not in their right mind and don't know it. So this call was effectual. This
is a new man. This is grace at Gadara. He's a changed person. I remember
someone once saying, well, I know if I had a friend who got saved
and never seemed to change him at all. No, he never got saved.
He made a profession. That's all. Because the effectual
call of grace is just that, effectual. Change is a person. Well, the
city folk, they asked Christ to leave. Instead of rejoicing
in what he had done, They're mad about their hogs. They had pork chop religion. So they asked the Lord to leave. And now for how many years this
fella had been in this shape, we don't know. But on down in verse 18, he asked
the Lord to let him go with him. There was a desire to be with
Christ. And he looks behind him into rocks and caves and all
that, and he says, I'm through here. Don't want no more of that. I want to go with you. And the
Lord said, no, you stay here. Actually, I'm staying here in
your heart. I'm going back to the other side
bodily, but I'm staying here in your heart. And you go and
tell your friends what I've done for you. What friends? This fellow didn't
have any friends. Yes, he did. He just didn't know
it. Go tell them how I had compassion
on you. What I've done for you, that's
what a witness is. And see, the religious world's
all messed up on this witnessing business. A witness is what you've
seen, what you've heard, what you know. If you're called into
a court of law to be a witness in a traffic accident, They don't
want you to get up on the stand and say, now, boy, I like that
red car. I like that one. Boy, it came. I like this. No, no, no. They want to know
what you saw. That's right. What you heard. Yes, sir. That's what a witness
is. And so Jesus tells this fella,
don't you bother telling them how they ought to straighten
up. And don't go telling them how
right your church is and how wrong they are, how superior
you are and how inferior they are. Don't fool with all that. Just go tell them what great
things the Lord has done for you. If He hasn't done anything for
you, keep your mouth shut. I can't witness to what it looks
like on the surface of the moon. I hadn't been there. You can't come from somewhere
you hadn't been. Just tell them what I've done.
So the man went, verse 20, and he did it. What marvelous grace,
what amazing grace of all people, this man. Of all places, Godera, grace
at Godera. This man had been the worst fella
in the country and everybody knew it. And now he's the only one in
the country testifying to the grace of God. You might be the worst person
a lot of people know. But if grace lives in you, if
Christ lives in you, you can be telling the right message.
And what a blessing it'll be. Grace at Gadara. All right, thank
you very much. I'm so honored to have spoken
to you today.