Well, good morning. Our pastor this morning is in, well, I think he's still heading back from the beach. They've been down there for vacation with the girls. I think both he and Janet got sick on vacation, of course. So we'll pray that the Lord give them traveling mercies. I know they've been through some difficult times. And our brother Jonathan is preaching in Pikeville today. So we certainly want to keep him in our prayers for the folks down there. And this morning, Aaron Greenleaf is going to be preaching for us here in a little bit. You all are familiar with Aaron. He's a, I don't know, are you an official elder in Lexington? If not, yeah. You know, we don't have the official offices, but he fills the pulpit there for Todd when needed sometimes. He's come to preach for us before, and I know, at least for me, it's been a great blessing. So if not for anybody else, it was sent for me, and I'm thankful, Aaron, that you've come to preach to us again. So we'll hear from you in a little bit. I'd like to open our service this morning, reading Psalm 67. Psalm 67, it says, God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us. Selah. That thy way may be known upon earth by saving health among all nations. Let the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for thou shalt judge the people righteously. and govern the nations upon the earth. Selah. Let all the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. All right. If you'll turn in your bulletin now to our call to worship, Sean, come and lead us. Lamb of God, thou now art seated high upon thy Father's throne. All thy gracious work completed, all thy mighty victory won. Every knee in heaven is bending to the Lamb for sinners slain. Every voice and harp is swelling, worthy is the Lamb to reign. Thou for us art interceding, everlasting is Thy love, and a blessed rest preparing in our Father's house above. Soon Thy saints shall rise to meet Thee, with Thee in Thy kingdom reign. Okay, if you would now turn in your hymnals to song number 112. 112 and we'll sing Blessed Redeemer. Up Calvary's mountain, one dreadful morn, Walk Christ my Savior, weary and worn, Death on the cross, that He might save them from endless loss. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer, seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree. Wounded and bleeding, For sinners pleading, Blind and unheeding, Dying for me. Father forgive them, Thus did He pray, Meanwhile his lifeblood flowed fast away, Praying for sinners while in such woe, No one but Jesus ever loved so. Blessed, redeemed, Precious Redeemer Seems now I see Him On Calvary's tree Wounded and bleeding For sinners fleeing Blind and unheeding Dying for me O how I love Him, Savior and Friend! How can my praises ever find end? Through years unnumbered on heaven's shore, My tongue shall praise Him forevermore. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer, Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree, Wounded and bleeding, ? For sinners pleading ? Blind and unheeding ? Dying for me If you return this morning to Matthew 16, Matthew 16, I'd like to read the first 21 verses. The Pharisees, also with the Sadducees, came and tempted, desiring him that he would show them a sign from heaven. And he answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and lowering, O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto you but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them and departed. And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because you have brought no bread? Do you not understand, neither remember the five loaves of the 5,000 and how many baskets you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the 4,000 and how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I spake, spake it not to you concerning bread, that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees? Then understood they that he had bade them not to beware of the leaven of the bread, but the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea and Philippi, he asked the disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Just want to take a minute. I mean, that portion of scripture is so misused, but the foundation is that new birth. Simon, he's become Peter, and it's from God. God gave him that knowledge. He was taught of God. That's the foundation. And that's what binds us. Anyway. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. And then from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed. and raised again the third day. He revealed to them the sign of Jonas. Death, burial, resurrection. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning seeking thy mercy. God, we pray that we meet here not in vain, Lord, we need you to send your spirit to be among us, to anoint the words that you've given your under shepherd, to give us hearing ears, Lord, and receiving hearts, and to feed your sheep. Lord, we need thee. We need to see Christ. the key to the gospel, Christ our Lord, the lamb slain from the foundation of the earth, the one that redeemed us from our sin and gave us new life, righteous in him. Father, we pray that you would forgive us for our murmuring and complaining. Even this morning, Lord, when I mentioned Frank getting sick, I murmured. Forgive me for that. We know, Lord, that all these trials come from thee to accomplish thy will. And we say, thy will be done. I pray, Lord, that Frank and others going through difficult trials, Lord, that you would use them to accomplish your purpose and that right early. And selfishly, we ask that you would restore them to us, that we may worship together one body here on Earth. When one member of our body is hurting, our whole body hurts, Lord, and we we praise thee for all that you've given us and seek your mercy. Father, we pray that you would especially lead us and guide us. We pray for our young people, Lord, the children that you've given us here on earth, that you would have mercy on their souls, that you would reveal yourself to them in a saving manner. Cause them to not just know in their heads, but to feel their need for Christ. cause them to run to Him, seeking mercy, knowing that He will in no wise cast them out. And what we pray for our children, we pray for all those who sit under the gospel, hearing but not hearing. Lord, give them ears to hear and hearts to believe. Pray for our friends and families who don't know the Lord, If thy will, you can save them. We pray that it might be your will. Once again, we pray that you would bless this service here this morning as Aaron comes to speak to us, that you would give him liberty, recall of his notes, and Lord, that you would walk among us and cause us to not meet in vain, but to worship our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, that's our desire. Pray that you might make it so that it might be your will. We ask all these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for his sake and for our good. We cling to him and claim him. Amen. Morning, everybody. If you would turn over to Mark, Chapter 5. Mark, Chapter 5. I'd say everyone's probably pretty familiar with this passage of scripture. This is commonly referred to, the man who is mentioned here as the Gadarene Demoniac, the unclean man possessed with the devil out of Decapolis, known by many names. Essentially, this man has an unclean spirit. He's possessed by a demon, and he is wild. He is naked. He is violent. And the Lord comes to him where he's at, and he casts out those demons, and he leaves him sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And there was a word in this story that, when I read it, It acted like a key. It unlocked everything for me. And maybe if you read it too, it'll help. It's over here in verse 18. We'll read the conclusion of the story, then go to the beginning. It says, when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not. He told him not. But saith unto him, go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. That word compassion stuck out to me, and that is the word that is commonly translated mercy. But in at least one place in scripture, it has this meaning, and I love this word. The word is pity. I am interested in being pitied by God. You know what you do when you pity someone? You look at them in their state. They're impoverished. They're desperate. They've made a mess of everything. They're inept. They can't get out of their own way. They've made an absolute mess of their circumstances, and they can't stop. They just keep on digging a worse hole and a worse hole and a worse hole. And it's so bad. They are such a dumpster fire that you're not even mad with them. You're not even disappointed. You just sorrow your heart. goes out to them and you're quick to help and you're quick to intervene. And I can't remember a time of recent when I've prayed where I haven't asked the Lord, Lord, be pitiful to me. Be pitiful to me. Look on my poverty. Look on these sinful circumstances. Look at the fact that I'm so inept, I can't get out of my own way. I can't stop pitying me. Be quick to help. Don't be wrathful. Don't be angry. Just sorrow for me and be quick to help and to do something and intervene on my behalf. And David said this, In Psalm 69 20, this is the words of David, but they are messianic. These are the words of the Lord from the cross. It says, reproach has broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I'll look for some to take pity, but there was none and for comforters, but I found them. That's our Lord from the cross talks about pity. He says, no one pitied him. Everybody forsook him. He went, and his countrymen, they all said, crucify him, crucify him. And his friends, the disciples, they deserted him. And the Romans couldn't care less about him. And there he was, hanging on that cross, the sin-bearing substitute, bearing the sins of his chosen people in his body and suffering the wrath of God. And none of that mattered. What mattered was his father forsook him. His father had completely and utterly turned his back on him. He had absolutely no pity on him whatsoever. Sin is something you and I are used to. We're very, very used to it. He didn't know anything about it until he was made the sins of his people. He was only used to his father's smile, being always pleasing to his father. But on that cross, bearing our sins, he had nothing but his frown. His father showed no pity. God is so just and so holy. When sin was found on his son, he killed him. No pity whatsoever. But because the Father did not pity him, for those of us in Christ, he shows full pity. The floodgates of pity are opened unto us, and it's a just pity. It's a mercy and a grace and acceptance that's absolutely just. The law says that's a good pity. That's a just pity before God. The title of this message is The Compassion, The Pity of the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's what this is all about. This man, this man with the unclean spirit, we're going to read about here in just a second. The way he is in this story, spiritually, this is what every one of God's people looks like. This is our experience. And if you're just like this man, and this is your story, please note, the Lord has had pity on you, full of compassion. Pick up in verse one of Mark 5. It says, and they came over unto the other side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes, that they being Christ and his disciples. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately. Now, I love that word immediately. That is the magnetism of his omnipotent character. You know, I waste so much time, and I'm not a very effective person, right? You walk around, you try to accomplish things, you can't really. I'm honestly just not very efficient, not very effective. When he showed up, When he stepped out of the boat, when he revealed himself, things happened, and they happened just like that, immediately. That is the magnetism of his omnipotent character. When he steps out, things happen. Immediately, there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, demon possessed. Listen to this guy, who had his dwelling among the tombs. He lived in graveyards. That's where he was comfortable, was among dead people. And no man could bind him, no, not with chains, because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, literally handcuffs. And the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him. Now, I want you to think about this for a second. See if you can visualize in your mind. Maybe you live in Decapolis, where he's at, and you're one of these Gadarenes. And you've got this guy rolling around in the mountains of where you live, in this very small community. And he's demon possessed. And we're going to find out how bad it was here in a second. He has an unclean spirit. And if there's a better phrase to describe the natural nature of man, an unclean spirit, I don't know if there's a better word to use. He's got an unclean spirit. He is absolutely demon possessed. This story is recorded in two other gospels. Let me give you what Matthew says. He says he was exceeding fierce. That means he was highly dangerous so that no man could pass by that way. Literally, if you came across this guy, he was likely to kill you. That's what he was like. Luke tells us he wore no clothes. He was naked. He was exposed. He had absolutely no covering. Can you imagine this man? Nobody could taint him. A dangerous man, a violent man, an aggressive man, full of evil spirits. And he's walking around naked, no protection for his skin. How many sores, cuts, Welts were all over his body. This guy was an absolute monster. I'll tell you what, what they did here, I can understand. They bound him. What did they do? They sent the law. That's what we would do nowadays, right? Take a guy who's violent and he's aggressive, he's acting crazy, what are you going to do? You can call the police. We're going to send the law. What's the law going to do? We're going to try to subdue him, right? Put on the handcuffs, put on the leg hobbles. We're going to bind him, right? But it didn't work, didn't it? The law doesn't work. That's man's religion. That's law. What do we do? People have a behavior problem, right? That's the way man's religion looks at it. It's a behavior problem. We got to clean up the outside of the cup. So we send the law, right? Put a man under the do's and the don'ts of the law. We're going to bind him. Stop doing this and start doing that. And sometimes, for a very brief period, It works on cleaning up the outside of the cup. Perhaps the behavior gets a little bit better, right? But it does nothing for the inside of the cup. It does nothing for the unclean spirit. It does nothing for the heart. So what you're left with is a man who is being forced to stop doing what he wants to do and forced to do what he doesn't want to do. And that only lasts so long. And then what happens? plucking the chains and fetters. I think it's interesting, that word plucked, it's a very violent word. It means dismemberment. That's literally what it means. How violent this reaction was. Get off me. And he plucks those chains and fetters. The law doesn't work, folks. You put a man under law, do this, do that. He can't. And he doesn't want to, which is even worse. He can't. Spiritually, I can identify with this man in this first sitting right here, in these first four verses, but it gets real personal in verse five, down to verse five. And always, this was perpetual, this was nonstop, night and day, he never slept, never had any peace, never had any rest. He was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. You ever been there? In the tombs? Now, I recognize when the Lord saves us, he gives us this new nature. That holy man, the man that believes the gospel, the man that has love for the Lord Jesus Christ, who has love for the brethren, that man that is brought to repentance. I recognize that. But even when that new man is implanted, we still have this old, wicked nature. How often do you feel in the tombs? Just a dead, cold heart. Love thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy strength. What is love? Is it even there? Is it even detectable? And you sit there, I can't stop. Sin. And we don't really know how bad it is. We know it mostly by faith what's actually written in the word here. We get just a little experience of it. But every once in a while you get a taste. scratch a little more than just the surface, and you find I just can't stop. In everything I think, and in everything I do, and in my best motivation, whatever it may be, in the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart, sin is just ever before me. It's always with anything, and I cannot stop. And what's worse about it is I don't feel worse about it. Blessed are they who mourn. They're going to be comforted. I can't even mourn appropriately. I can't even see this for what it is. And you sit there and you just cut yourself with the stone. I hate the way I am. I can't stand this. Can you identify with that? I can identify with that. Look at verse six, though. But for people just like that, wild, naked, dangerous. Oh, dangerous we are. We can deceive ourselves with the drop of a hat. Dangerous. violent, naked, people just like that, just cutting, crying, cutting themselves with a stone. But in spite of all that, look what happens. But, verse six, when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him and cried with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God, I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now if there is a Illustration of this natural heart, fallen human evil nature is this. He has one unclean spirit. And from that one unclean spirit, there is a legion of devils inside this man. Legions of fornications, legions of murders, legions of lies, legions of covetousness. One heart, one fallen sinful nature that resides in us, and a legion of sin that comes out and affects everything we do. But let me ask you an honest question. When we read that, this interaction between our Lord and whoever's talking, can you tell who's talking? We have a man, he has an unclean spirit, a demon, and we find out that in that demon are multiple demons, probably thousands of them, a whole legion. Who's speaking? Is it the man or is it the demon or is it one of the demons? Can you tell? I can't. I honestly can't tell who's speaking when. And folks, like I said, we don't see sin for what it really is. We don't see how evil we actually are. But this is by design that you can't tell because you stack a man next to a demon and you put them behind a curtain and they both start talking. According to this, you can't tell the difference between the two. That's how bad this flesh really is. And we just don't see it for what it is. Look down here, look at verse 11. Now there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding and all the devils besought him saying, send us into the swine that we may enter in to them. Now I am so thankful for how overt the scripture is here. Let me ask you this question. These devils, these demons that are residing in this man, are they laboring under any delusions about who their master is? Are they laboring under any delusions as to them being able to act outside of the purpose and the will and without the permission of God who is standing right in front of them at that very moment? No, they said, you have to give us permission. Let us go into the swine, but we can't make a move. You have to give us permission. We can't make a move outside your purpose and your will. Go back up here. Which verse is it? Luke, verse seven. Let's assume here the demon is speaking. And cried with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God? I adjure thee, I beg thee by God. He actually uses the name of God and brings the name of God into his speech, that thou torment me not. In another place it says, have you come to torment us before the time? They know there's a time. These demons, they don't like the fact that Christ is in absolute control, but they know it. They don't like the fact that they can't make a move without him giving permission. but they know it. He says before the time, have you come to torment me before the time? A time is coming that you have preset that we are going to be put in chains of darkness and you are going to torment us. We know that time. They're not laboring under any delusions as to whether Christ is the victor or not. He says you're already the victor. You're the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. All your people are secure. I know the story. I know how this ends. I'm not laboring under delusion that I'm on equal footing with God or I can change the will of God. And in that, you could almost argue that the demon is better than the man, because at least he's not laboring under delusion. Man saying, I've created this God who I'm on equal footing with. I can manipulate him. I can get him to do what I want him to do. I have a say in all this. He can accept things from me. He's like a genie in the bottle. I rub the bottle, I make the wishes, and he grants them, right? Those demons hate it. They hate it, but at least they know who is in control. They know that he can't be thwarted. They know that he's the victor. Man, he hates it when he's confronted with it, when he's confronted with the true and living God, but also he labors under delusion. Delusion that he can create his own God, he can worship him. Now, look at verse 13. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. He allowed them to do what they wanted to do. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. There were about 2,000 and were choked in the sea." Can you imagine what that would look like? I can't even fathom in my mind what it would look like to have 2,000 swine just grazing on the side of a hill. But imagine all of a sudden 2,000 pigs start going wild and they run headlong down into the sea and they're all choked into the sea. That had to be a sight, hadn't it? It was, look at verse 14. And they that fed the swine fled. I'm sure they did. And told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And listen to this. And they were afraid. Now that seems Incredibly absurd, doesn't it? They're afraid, and this is not the fear of God, right? That's not what it means. They're afraid. They have this man, he was such a scourge on their community. This violent man, this aggressive man, this demon-possessed man, and now he's clothed, he's sitting, he's in his right mind. This is all good things. This was good for them, but they're afraid. What's the issue? Well, there's more to the story here. Look at verse 16. And they that told, or they that sought, told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine, and they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. Now, to understand that, let me read you Luke's account of that exact same verse. This is Luke 8, 36. It says, they also which sought, told them by what means, means, that he was possessed of the devil. was healed. You see, they didn't have a problem with the end state. They didn't have a problem with this man being in his right mind and being clothed and sitting in peace. They didn't have a problem with that. That was actually good for them. What didn't they like? They didn't like the means. They didn't like the manner by which it was done because in that manner they thought they were the losers by it. They were pig farmers. And they had just lost 2,000 of their pigs. And it says, if these are the means, we're a loser by that. We want absolutely nothing to do with that. Depart from us. Depart from us. The Lord gave them what they wanted. Look at verse 18. And when he was coming to the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. It's beautiful. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not and saith unto him, go home to thy friends. and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men did marvel. You notice what he said? He said, you go home, you tell them how the Lord hath done great things for thee, and had compassion on thee. He went and told them how Jesus had done great things for him. Jesus Christ is God. That was his conclusion on the matter. I said, the key, at least in my mind, to unlocking all this and taking this very graphic and vivid and deep story and distilling it down to where we can just see a little bit of it for a little while, is that word compassion, the compassion of Jesus Christ. And here's my first point. His compassion is according to eternal purpose. His compassion for people, just like this unclean spirit-filled man, That compassion is according to eternal purpose. Now, I would ask you this question. Where does the story begin? Does it begin with a man with the unclean spirit and him seeking the Lord and him begging for mercy or anything like that? No, in fact, he doesn't beg for mercy at all in this story. The closest he gets is he tells the Lord, don't torment me, or at least ask for it. And that's either him speaking or the demon, whichever one you're inclined to see it. He never wants to ask for mercy. He's not seeking the Lord. It begins with one person, Christ. It begins with Him coming to Decapolis. It begins Him stepping into a ship and coming to this place where this man with this unclean spirit would be. Everything begins with Jesus Christ. All of salvation from beginning to end and everything in between is found in Jesus Christ. The eternal purpose of God, and God does have an eternal purpose, make no mistake about it, the eternal purpose of God is Jesus Christ. What do I mean by that? The eternal purpose of God that has been hid in Christ from the ages is this, to glorify the Godhead. Now we just need to get that line down. Salvation doesn't really have much to do with you and me. Now, the Lord loves his people. He will have his bride. Salvation has to do with the glory of God. It is about God glorifying the Godhead in the person of Jesus Christ. The purpose of God has always been Jesus Christ. All of salvation has always been found in Jesus Christ. The Father has always had this purpose. You, my son, are going to glorify us in what you will do. You're going to go and you're going to save your people. a particular people, a people you share an eternal union with. These things I don't understand. I don't understand eternal union. I just know this. He loved us with an everlasting love. That means he loved us always. He loved us eternally. Every member of the elect, we have always been loved, and the love of God is only in one place, in Jesus Christ. That's it. That means we've been eternally united to Jesus Christ. He said, this is my purpose, to glorify the Godhead through you single-handedly saving these people who I've chosen in you and given back to you, to do everything for them. Let's look at that. Turn over to John chapter six. When I read Mark five, if you go through and you read all of John six, which we won't today, it's an overlay. Everything the Lord says here in John chapter 6, it's illustrated here in Mark chapter 5. But this is what the Lord said. He goes to Decapolis. Why? He has a purpose to glorify the Godhead through the salvation of his people. And the Lord's going to make no bones about that. He's going to say it very plainly here in John 6. Look at verse 38. Christ says, for I came down from heaven. And he did, thank God he did. God incarnate in human flesh. For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. The Father had sent him. This is purpose, the eternal purpose of God. And this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, not a one of them, but raise, look at that word, it up again, at the last day. It says, I have a purpose. This is the eternal purpose of my father, the glorification of the Godhead through this. He gave me a people, and this is the charge. You go, you redeem them. You make them acceptable unto me. You make them righteous and holy and unblameable and unapprovable. You do every bit of it. You do everything that is necessary to make them acceptable. That is your charge, and there's only one statement of success. It has to be 100 percent. This test is 100 percent. You lose even one, you're a failure. I've sent you for this purpose 100 percent success rate. Every one I gave you, you have to deliver them back to me without a scratch on them, and you have to do every bit of the work. He says that's the will of he who sent me. What great glory he got from that. What great glory he got from bearing the sins of his people in his body. What a hero. What great glory he got from establishing a righteousness. We can't establish our own righteousness. We can't establish a righteousness for anyone else. But in him, he did both. Walking the paths of righteousness, establishing a righteousness, his righteousness for his people. But look at the language here. He says, but should raise it up again at that last day. You know, it's talking about the very last day. where all of us will be raised in Christ. Every member of the elect raised in him. That's also talking about when he was physically resurrected. He raised himself from the dead. Why? Because he accomplished the work that his father sent him to do. He was successful. He put away all the sins of everybody he died for. So the father raised him from the dead. The justice of God demanded that. But notice he says, I'll raise it up at the last day. Somebody else was there too. all his people. We've always been in him. He says, I'll raise it up. We were raised in Christ. I love that he uses the word it. What do you call it? What is this blessed union of Christ and his people that's eternal? Best word our Lord could come up, he said, it. I will raise it up at the last day. But he doesn't stop there. Look at verse 40. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone would seeth the sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day." He said, yes, I'm going to live for them, I'm going to die for them, I'm going to put away their sins, and I'm going to reveal myself unto them. Everyone who seeth the son, he reveals himself to his people through the preaching of the gospel. Everybody who seeth the son and believeth on him, he causes everyone, every member of his elect, everyone he died for, to see him in the preaching of his word and to believe on him and to trust him. And everything our Lord said right here, it's all illustrated in our story. He went to Decapolis. Why? On another errand? Did he come across this man as an ancillary thing, as a side note, by chance? No, absolutely not. He went to Decapolis because one of his sheep was there. The Son of Man had come to seek and to save that which was lost. And Luke, this is how he starts the story in his account. He says, and they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city, a certain man, a certain man, which had devils a long time. He was a certain man. That's why the Lord was there. Because it was purposed from the foundation of the world that he would come and seek and to save this one that was lost because he belonged to him. And he wasn't just a certain man. He was a sinful man. We read that description of him. Dangerous. Unclean. You know, we say dangerous, what do we mean by that? Dangerous to ourselves. So easily deceiving ourselves. So easily deceiving others. Running around wild. natural, untamed, cutting himself with stones, hating everything he is. You identify with that? I absolutely do. But that vivid picture of what it means to be a sinner, got nothing, don't even control over this, can't bring anything to the table, just filthy, naked all the way around. That vivid picture makes this scripture so much sweeter. 1 Timothy 1.15, and this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, Everybody should believe this. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. People just like this. People just that bad. So bad you stack them next to a demon, you can't tell which one you're talking to. That bad. These are the people he came to save. And he saved exactly them, all of them. All of his people identified just like this. And what did he do for this man? Because he did something for him and he did something in him. And here's the first thing. His work of compassion on him in taking away what vexed him so much. For all the Lord's people, all these people, sinners, he does this thing. He went to that man and he took the demons out of that man. That thing that vexed him so much, that controlled him so much, had such dominion over him, his sin, that thing that made him such a scourge to his community, he took it out of him and he put it in a substitute, into the swine. And the swine ran down the hill to their own death and they were choked in the sea and legion, legion, the demon, he is never mentioned again in the scripture. If that's not justification, I don't know what is. This is his chief compassion to his people, his chief pity to his people. He bore our sins in his body on the tree. It wasn't swine. It wasn't another substitute. He bore the sins of his chosen people on the cross, putting them away. As far as from the east from the west is, that's how far our sins are from us. You never hear of legion again in this scripture. You never hear the sins of the elect ever again either because they are gone. You think about this compassion. You know, it's one thing for me to see someone who's in need and, you know, drop them a couple bucks or something like that. He knew the cost. He knew the cost of this compassion. A holy man, he never sinned, never had a sinful thought, never had a sinful action, being made sin. Think about how that molested his holy character. It doesn't bother us a whole lot. We really don't see it for what it is, right? If we talk it in deep terms, it's really hyperbolic. There's really, there's two people who know something of it. Number one, Adam. Adam wasn't holy, but he was upright and he was innocent and he was pure. And then he sinned and he fell. He would have known a difference, but nothing like what Christ knew. Being holy, being made the sins of his people, knowing that, knowing what it would be like for his father to show him no pity, to completely and utterly abandon him and forsake him and just feel his father's fiery wrath coming down upon him. He knew all that. Every bit of it. And yet, who shall we send? And who will go for us? Here I. Send me the voluntary substitute for his people. That is his chief compassion, right there. That's justification. Not only that, though. Everything he says in John 6 is actually pointed out, is illustrated in this story. John 6, 40, he says, and this is the will of him that sent me. that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. He says, not only am I going to live for these people and die for these people and make them justified before you, he says, I'm gonna reveal myself to these same people, to my people, and I'm gonna cause them to believe on you. He did exactly that for this man. Look at this, look at verse two. And when he was come out of the ship, There's that word again. Immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. He came to the other side, he stepped out of the ship, and he made his presence known to this man. He revealed himself to this man, and what did he do? Immediately, immediately he came running just to him. This is the magnetism of his omnipotent character. When he comes near his people, One, he will say, when he reveals himself unto a man, they come just like that. Salvation's not a process. It's not a process at all. As soon as he calls, we come running, and we believe on him. And this man did, too. And his statement of faith, I think, is beautiful, and it's profound. It's very, very deep, and we'll see that. But look over at verse 18. This is what this man said at the end of all of it. I'm sorry, verse 18 of your text, Mark 5, 18. It says, and when he was coming to the ship, He that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him." Now, I'm sure that this man wanted the Lord to stay with him and he wanted to be with him. I have no doubt. I want the Lord to be with me. I want him to lead and guide me every step of the way. I want his physical presence with me at all times. I want to be separated from him. But this is so much deeper than that. He says, I just want to be with you. I just want to be found in Christ. When the Lord reveals himself unto a man, this is all he wants. This is all his hope of salvation, to be found in Christ. What does that sound like? And what does that look like? It's an Old Testament story that I think will help us some. Turn over to 1 Kings chapter 13. In this story, the king is Jeroboam. Are you familiar with Jeroboam? You could call him the king of idolatry if you wanted to, because that's what he instituted. There was one place of worship. There was one place where God was to be worshiped. It was Jerusalem at the temple. And Jeroboam said, nah, that's inconvenient. I don't want the people going to Judah. They'll probably turn against me. So he made counterfeits. In Bethel and Dan, he made calves of gold. He says, these are your gods. He made fake altars. He brought in fake priests, men that were not Levites. He held a fake Passover, a counterfeit. Everything was fake and everything was phony. And the Lord sent a man of God, that's how he's referred to in this text right here, a man of God to prophesy against Jeroboam. And he goes down there and he said this, he said, Jeroboam, a man named Josiah is coming. Now, Josiah wouldn't come on scene to 360 years after this. He would be king 360 years after. He said, Josiah's coming, and here's what he's going to do. He's going to destroy everything you've set up here. And before he breaks these altars right here, he's going to go up to the sepulchers, and he's going to dig up the bones of those false priests, and he's going to burn them on these altars for a curse. That's what he tells Jeroboam. And at the end of this story, that man of God, he is killed. Another man, an old prophet, goes to recover his body. Let's see what he says. Look at verse 30, 1 Kings 13. And he laid his carcass in his own grave. This is the old prophet. He had come to get the man of God's body, and he buried it in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother, And it came to pass after he had buried him that he spake to his son saying, when I am dead, then bury me in the sepulcher where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass. The old prophet says, I'm going to bury this man of God in my tomb, and when I die, You put my body right next to his in the same tomb. Put my bones right next to his bones. The idea there being intermingling so you can't tell whose are whose. Now let's fast forward 360 years. Second Kings chapter 23. Verse 16. Josiah goes on a rampage. He spies the sepulchers where the priest's bones are. And just according to prophecy, he's going to burn them on those fake altars. Verse 16, and as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were in the mount and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchers and burned them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of the Lord. which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words, just according to prophecy, just like the man of God said. He went up there, he said, get all the bones of those priests, I'm gonna burn them all in these altars as a curse unto them. 360 years later, exactly what the man of God said would happen, it happened. Listen to this, verse 17. Then he said, what title is that that I see? He's walking through these sepulchers, he's opening graves, he's taking the bones out, and all of a sudden he stops. He stops at one particular grave, one particular sepulcher, and he says, there's a title there. There's a placard there. What title do I see? Verse 17, then he said, what title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, it is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah and proclaim these things that thou has done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, let him alone. let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. Josiah goes, I'm burning all of them. I'm going through, we're going to burn all the bones. And he stops at this one sepulcher. He says, there's an inscription here. There's a title written whose name is on there. The man of God. He says, no, you leave him alone. And he passed by, and when he passed by him, who else was he passing by? That old prophet said, just mix my bones with his bones. My hope is this. This is the hope of every believer, that I am in Christ so much so that all the Father sees is him. He just sees his title. He just sees his placard. He can't tell the difference between his bones and my bones. We are all one in Christ, dressed in his righteousness and his merits, having his righteousness, his sanctification, his redemption, nothing of myself. I simply want to be found in Christ. Is that what you want? That is all my hope of salvation. And that's what this man meant. He said, I just want to be with you. This is what he meant. I just want to be in you. When the Father looks at me, all I want him to see is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. Now, folks, if that's what you want, that's what you have. That's what you have. You are a saved man or woman. Now, the conclusion of this matter, this great salvation that the Lord did for this Gadarene demoniac, he is sitting, he is clothed, and he is in his right mind. And that's the conclusion of salvation. I love the fact that he's sitting. On a battlefield, warriors take many stances. Soldiers take many stances. Sometimes they lay flat prone on the ground so they don't get shot. And sometimes they kneel behind cover so they don't get shot. And sometimes they run. And sometimes they dive. What you will never see on the battlefield is someone sitting. It's not a position you will find yourself in. This man is sitting. You want to know why? He has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this great salvation the Lord accomplished for his people, we have real peace with God, everlasting peace, eternal peace, a peace that we can't mess up. We can't do it. Solidified in the ages, all based on what Christ has done. He's clothed, well clothed with the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. Just like the placard, who is that? What title is that? The man of God. Passed by him. Who is that? That's Jesus Christ. That's all I see. He's in his right mind. He's not looking to himself for anything. He has no confidence in this flesh whatsoever. He is looking to one place, Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's all his hope of salvation. That is the end state of salvation for everybody, the Lord says, just like that. Now, I'll leave you with this last thought. Why is it a man would reject this, this great salvation? This is the call of the gospel. Isaiah 45, 22 says, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. Humanity, you are at the ends of the earth. You couldn't get it further from God if you tried. You can't take one step towards him and his righteousness and holiness. He can accept absolutely nothing from you. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Why would a man reject that? Why did the Gadarenes reject it? You remember? They didn't like the means. The means. The means of salvation. The Father, in loving the people in Christ, choosing a people, electing them in Christ unto salvation. Christ, entering in that covenant of grace, agreeing to be surety for those people. to redeem them, to justify them, bring them back to the Father, the Holy Spirit in giving them life, revealing Christ in His word, causing them to believe upon Him, causing them to come to Him, preserving them all the way to the end. They don't like the means. Why? Because the means give all the glory to Christ and none go to man. That's the answer right there. We don't like these means. They thought they'd be the loser by it. They said, we saw the means, and we lost 2,000 swine out of this. That's what the natural man thinks. I'm the loser by that. I don't get any glory in all this? My works don't count for anything? All this time, I was not doing what I wanted to do, and I was doing what I didn't want to do. You're going to tell me it counts for absolutely nothing? Absolutely nothing. I will have nothing to do with that. I don't like the means. The issue will always be who gets the glory. And I'm going to leave you with this question. This final question, I think it's an easy one to answer if you're a believer. Right now, if your hope is in Christ, that means he gets every speck of the glory in your salvation. I'm talking all of it, 100%. And you get absolutely none. Your purpose is to be a worshiper of God. Your purpose is to sing his praises. Your purpose is to tell the story of what he did for you. That's it, that's your purpose, to sing him. He gets all the glory. How do you feel about that? I love it that way. I truly do. And I'll say this, my pastor said this a couple years ago, and it was the most honest statement I've heard from a pulpit. He said, I love the fact that Christ gets all the glory. And I do too. He deserves it. His person and character is so wonderful. But I love it even more for this reason. If any glory is due me, that means there's something I have to do. If there's something I have to do, that means I won't be saved. But thank God, the means is Christ, the Godhead. They are the means. And that means all glory goes to the means. There's nothing left for us to do. Can you identify with this man? I sure can't. I'll leave you there. Well, I believe we were blessed. Thank you, Aaron. Thank you for coming. Let's look to the Lord in prayer one more time. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your compassion in our Lord Jesus Christ, that you've sent a man to proclaim the gospel for his glory. Pray, Lord, that you would continue to watch over us. Pray for those that are traveling today, that you would give them traveling mercies, return them to their loved ones. And as we go out from this place, Lord, pray that people would see a difference and that we might glorify Christ and tell what he's done for us. We ask all these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for his glory. Amen. Shawn. Okay, if you would turn in your hymnals to song number 359 and stand as we sing, my faith looks up to thee. My faith looks up to thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine. Now hear me when I pray, take all my sin away, O let me from this day be wholly Thine. May Thy rich grace impart strength my fainting heart, my zeal inspire. As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee, pure, warm, and changeless be, a living fire. While life's dark maze I tread, And griefs around me spread, Be Thou my guide. Bid darkness turn to day, Wipe sorrows, tears away, Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside. When in life's transient dream, When death's cold, solemn stream, Savior, then in love, fear, and distrust remove. O bear me safe above a ransomed soul.