Would you turn with me to 2 Samuel
chapter 18. I've been looking forward to
this and it's just a great secret. 2 Samuel chapter 18.
It's going to take me a few minutes before I get there. I've entitled
this message, Am I a Witness? Now, notice I didn't say, do
I witness. Religious people confuse proselytizing
and witnessing. And they talk about how much
they witness. And somebody told me just this
week, I witness to about 100 people a week. I thought, poor
100 people. I felt sorry for them. Churches and religious organizations
train people to witness. And you know, that's corrupt
on the very surface. You train a witness? You know that's wrong. If you've got to train a witness,
there's something underhanded going on. There's some theatrics
or some acting. That's not what I want to talk
about. Am I a witness in the things
of God? What can I actually bear witness
to? What have I seen? What have I
experienced? What can I personally, truly
bear witness to? Now, there's a lot of things
I could say. I could talk about all kinds of things about my
experience, and it might not be so. A lot of claims people
make. What I want to know is, is what
can I personally bear witness to that I have seen for myself? Now the word witness, or testify
is the same word in the King James, is where we get the English
word martyr from. A witness is one who bears witness
by his death. Now, what can I bear witness
to? What we bear witness to is what
we, by grace, are willing to die for. Now, that's what we bear witness
to. What we, by grace, are willing to die for. Now, I believe 2
plus 2 equals 4. I believe that thoroughly. But
if somebody said, you'll be burned at the stake if you don't deny
it, I'd probably deny it. I know it's three. Three. I could back back on that. If
I saw you walking into a Kroger's store yesterday, I knew it was
you. And so you walk in and somebody says, if you say that, you'll
be burned at the stake. I'd say, well, I probably saw
somebody else. I was making a mistake. These are not things that rip
my soul. I believe them, I see them, I've witnessed them as
far as seeing the event, but what am I willing to die for
with regard to something I have seen, something I have experienced
myself? A witness is someone who has
seen something for himself. He's not passing along second-hand
information. He speaks of what he has seen
and what he himself has experienced. Here's a definition of a witness.
I'll give the definition and then try to explain it. A witness
is one who gives a subjective presentation of the objective
truth. Somebody says, what in the world
does that mean? Well, let me try to explain, but let me repeat it. A witness
is one who gives a subjective presentation of the objective
truth. Now, first, what do I mean by
the objective truth? Well, the objective truth is
the truth without any reference to my experience of it. It's
the truth whether I experience it or not. It's the gospel. It's the objective truth of the
gospel. You know, we read of the testimony
of our Lord in 2 Timothy 1 9. Paul said, Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. The Lord has a testimony.
I mean, this is his testimony. That he sealed with his own blood.
He wasn't a martyr, he was a sacrifice, but he did seal this testimony
with his own blood. These are the facts of the gospel.
He saved us. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God who has saved us and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now that's the facts of the gospel. That's the objective truth, whether
I believe it or not. It's just so. It's the facts
of the gospel. You know, I've seen these bumper
stickers. I'm sure you've seen them too,
where it says, God said it. I believe it. That settles it. No, no. God said it, that settles
it. Whether you and I believe or
not, that is the objective truth of the gospel. David said, forever,
O Lord, thy word is settled in the heavens. And let me repeat,
the objective truth is just the truth. Whether I experience it,
whether I believe it, whether I reject it, It's just the truth.
You know, the Lord said in John chapter 18, verse 37, I came
to bear witness to the truth. And by his death, he bore witness
to the true character of God Almighty. The only way I can
know the character of God is by seeing the Lord bear witness
to the truth by his death. Every attribute of God is manifest
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see His holiness,
how He will punish all sin. He must punish all sin. He can't
let sin go unpunished. I see His absolute justice. I
see His righteousness. I see His grace. I see His wisdom
in making a way to be just and yet justify the ungodly. All
of God's glorious attributes are manifest in the cross. Christ
said, I came to bear witness to the truth. He did so by his
death and the truth is the truth whether I experience it or not. But witnessing or testifying
of the truth is me giving my personal subjective experience
of the objective truth. You see, the truth does something
to me. The gospel does something to
me. And if I'm witnessing, I'm bearing
witness, I'm testifying. This is not necessarily talking
about trying to talk you into believing. People think when
you're a witness, that means you're out talking, trying to gain cross-lights and
so on. I'm not talking about that at all. I'm saying, what
have I borne witness to in this thing of the gospel? Now, you
know how you can tell whether or not I'm a true witness or
a false witness? If what I say lines up with the word of God,
you see, you can test what I'm saying and know if I'm a true
witness or a false witness to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, it's because there's no light in them. Now I'm bearing witness. to what
God has taught me, and you can tell if I'm a false witness or
a true witness by measuring to see if what I say lines up with
this book we call the Bible. Now, we have a beautiful illustration
of this in 2 Samuel chapter 18, and then after we look at this
passage of scripture, I want to talk about what every believer,
without exception, can actually bear witness to. that which they've
experienced, that which God has shown them, that which God has
taught them. And they can say this by personal
testimony, give testimony regarding these things. But let me give
you the setting of 2 Samuel 18. First go to 2 Samuel 15. Now,
this is when Absalom went against David. Now, what I think is very interesting
is after the issue with Bathsheba, God said this was going to take
place. I'm going to raise up people in your own home and they're
going to fight against you. And David didn't know that this
was what was going on at this time, but this was when Absalom
first went against David. Look in verse one, it came to
pass after this that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses
and 50 men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early, and
stood beside the way of the gate, and was so that when any man
that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom
called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said,
Thy servant is one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto
him, See, thy manners are good and right, but there is no man
deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said, Moreover, O, that
I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any
suit or cause might come unto me, and I do him justice." Well,
he's really buttering him up, isn't he? And it was so that
when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth
his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom
do all Israel that came to the king for judgment. So Absalom
stole the hearts of the men of Israel." Now, for the next four
or five chapters, we have David running from his son. And Israel,
for the most part, was against David. Their hearts had been
stolen. It's tragic. Can you imagine
the grief? He loved Absalom dearly. He didn't
want to see anything happen to him, but he was running for his
life from this man. Let me read a couple of scriptures that show
the attitude of David during this time. Verse 25 of chapter
15. And the king said unto Zadok, Zadok, the high priest, had one
of the ark to go with David as he flew, tried to get away from
the presence of Absalom. And the king said unto Zadok,
carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favor
in the eyes of the Lord, he'll bring me again and show me both
it and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no
delight in me, behold, here I am. Let him do to me as seemeth good
unto him. Isn't that beautiful? That attitude
of David at this time. Well, at any rate, as you go
on reading, you're going to find out that Absalom's rebels were
defeated. And David loved Absalom so much
that he asked Joab not to hurt him, not to punish him, not to
kill him, to be easy with him. He loved his son, even though
his son was such a rebel and caused him such trouble. He loved
his son and he didn't want anything to take place with his son. So
we read beginning in Chapter 18, verse 9, ìAnd Absalom met the servants
of David, and Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under
the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the
oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth, and
the mule that was under him went away.î Now picture there he is
hanging by the hair of his head, totally helpless, hanging by
the hair of his head. And a certain man saw it, and
told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
And Joab said unto the man that told him, And behold, thou saw'st
him, why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? I would
have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle. And the
man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of
silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against
the king's son. For in our hearing," you heard
this too, The king charged thee at Abishai and Ittai, saying,
Beware that none touch the young man Absalom, otherwise I should
have wrought falsehood against mine own life. But there is no
manner hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldst have set
thyself against me.' Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with
thee. And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through
the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of
the oak. And ten young men that bared Joab's armor compassed
about and smote Absalom and slew And Joab blew the trumpet, and
the people returned from pursuing after Israel. For Joab held back
the people. The war was now over. And they
took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and
laid a great heap of stones upon him. And all Israel fled, every
one to his tent." Now David did not yet know about this. He loved
his son. Now we're going to find out something
about what a witness is. Let's pick up reading in verse
19. the son of Zadok, let me now
run and bear the king's tidings, how that the Lord hath avenged
him of his enemies." Now, on the very surface, there's something
wrong with someone volunteering to be a witness. He was volunteering,
but as we're going to see, he hadn't really seen anything.
He wanted to be a witness, but he didn't have anything to say.
Verse 20, And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings
this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day. But this
day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead."
Now, Joab knew that he hadn't really seen anything, because
look what he says to Cushie, just now. Then said Joab to Cushie,
or Cushi, however you say it, go tell the king what thou hast
seen. Now, there's a witness. You go
tell the king. What you have seen. That's what a witness is. He's
someone who's seen something that can bear witness to it. That can testify of it. He says
to this other runner, you go tell the king what you have seen. He didn't tell him how to do
it or how to dress it up. He just said, you go tell the king
what you have seen. Then Cushy bowed himself unto
Joab and ran. He was a runner to bring this
message to the king. Then said Ahabaz, the son of
Zadok, yet again to Joab. He still wanted to be a witness.
But howsoever let me, I pray thee also run after Cushah. And
Joab said, wherefore would I run? My son sing. You've got no tidings
ready. You have nothing to say. You
haven't been taught anything. You haven't seen anything. But
howsoever said he, let me run, and he said unto him, Run, if
that's what you want to do. Then Ahimez ran by the way of
the plane, and overran Cushai, who had seen something. And David
said between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof,
over the gate into the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked,
and behold, a man running And the watchman cried and told the
king, and the king said, If he be alone, there's tidings in
his mouth. And he come apace and drew near. And when the watchman
saw another man running, and the watchman called unto the
porter and said, Behold, another man running alone. And the king
said, He also bringeth tidings. And the watchman said to me,
Think of the running of the foremost as the running of Ahimaaz, the
son of Zadok. And the king said, He's a good
man, and cometh with good tidings. And Ahimaaz called and said unto
the king, All is well. Now that's true, isn't it? His
enemies were defeated. He gives a general message. All
is well. And he fell down to the earth
upon his face before the king and said, Blessed be the Lord
thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their
hand against my lord, the king. And the king said, there's one
thing the king was interested in. He was interested in the
news concerning his son. That's all he was interested
in. And the king said, Is the young
man Absalom safe? And the Hymaz answered, When
Joab sent the king's servant, and me, thy servant, I saw a
great tumult, but I do not know what it was. I do not know. I do not know what happened to
him. And the king said unto him, Turn
aside and stand here. Just get out of the way. And
he turned aside and stood still, and behold, Cushah came. And
Cushah said, Tidings, my lord the king. For the Lord hath avenged
thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. And the
king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? That's
all he was concerned with. You know, when God hears the
testifying of His people, there's one thing He's listening for.
One thing only. And Cushi answered, The enemies
of my Lord the King and all that rise against thee to do thee
hurt, be as that young man is. And that broke his heart, and
the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the
gate, and wept. And he went thus his way, and
said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would God I died
for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son. It wasn't what he wanted to hear,
but he heard the truth. He heard the truth from someone
who had seen something. Someone who was a witness. Now when we are bearing witness,
we're really not trying to convince somebody or win them over to
our way of thinking. Now that doesn't mean we're indifferent
in any way. No, I want everybody who hears
me preach to believe what I'm saying. I'm not saying that I'm
indifferent about that. I'm not. I desire to see people bow the
knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I desire to see God save
many sinners. But in bearing witness, it's
not about trying to convince anybody of anything. It's about telling what you have
seen. Am I a witness? Have I seen We're not arguing
doctrine. We're not trying to change people.
What can I give testimony to? You know, the Lord said, we speak
that which we know, and we testify what we have seen. And the Lord speaks as the spokesman
for every believer. And we know. When we speak the
gospel, We speak that which we know. And we know. Somebody says, well, I don't
know that. Paul says, I do. I do. We know. And we give testimony to that
which we have seen. And the Lord said to his disciples
before his ascension, you shall be witnesses. I witnesses. unto me. And if I bear witness unto him,
it's because I've seen him. Now, I haven't seen him physically. Anytime someone makes a reference
to seeing the Lord physically or the Lord spoke to them and
they heard audible voices, they're liars. Hasn't happened. I've not seen
the Lord physically, but by faith, I bear witness. I have seen him. What do you mean? Well, the Lord
said, this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which
he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth on him,
might have everlasting life." Now somebody says, I haven't
seen Christ. Well, you haven't looked then. Because if you look,
you will see. Anyone who looks, sees. And you see that he is God. You see that all that God is,
is in His person. You see that and you believe
in Him. Jesus Christ is God. He's the only Savior of sinners.
He's the sufficient Savior of sinners. You see who He is and
you believe. That's what happens when folks
see Him. The evidence that somebody's seeing is they believe on Him.
They rely upon Him. I'm relying on Jesus Christ right
now as my personal righteousness before God. I'm not looking anywhere
else. I'm not looking to a thing I've
done. Believe me, I'm not. I'm scared to death. The only
thing I look to, only one I look to, is Him. Here's my hope, that
all God requires of me, He looks to His Son for. That's my hope. And you know, I'm looking the
same place God's looking. I'm looking to Him for all that
God requires of me. He that seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, hath everlasting life. And somebody says, well, I don't
believe you've seen Him. Well, that doesn't change the fact. I have.
I have. I'm speaking as a witness. Now you can tell if I'm telling
the truth by if what I say lines up with the Word of God. Now let's look at a few scriptures
together. First turn to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. That which was from the beginning. Now there's the objective truth. That which was. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. The same was eternally, infinitely
was in the beginning of God. The uncreated Son of God. He always says, I am. Not I was, would be, want to
be, will be, could be, or should be. I am that I am. What he is, he was. And what
he was, he always shall be. There's the objective truth of
the gospel. That which was from the beginning.
Now, John speaks of his experience, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes. which we have looked upon and
our hands have handled of the word of life for the life. I love the way that he talks.
He calls the Lord the life. I am the way, the truth and the
life. That's my life before God. His
life. If you want to have the real skinny on me. That's my
life. His life is my life before God.
I love thinking about that, don't you? That's why I'm not afraid
of Judgment Day, because I know his life is perfect. And his
life is my life before God. Now, the life was manifested
and we have seen and bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that
which we have seen and heard. declare we unto you." Now that's
witnessing, isn't it? That which we have seen, that
which we have heard. You know, many times in the New
Testament, believers are said to be witnesses of His resurrection. Now, did I see the Lord walking
out of the tomb? Well, not physically, but by faith I have. I surely
have. I'm a witness of the resurrection.
I love it when Festus was speaking to Agrippa and he said of Paul,
he said, he spake of one Jesus who was dead, but Paul affirmed
to be alive. I am too. He liveth. I serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. Acts
chapter 4, verse 33 says, with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection, and great grace was upon them. And we bear witness to his resurrection. I know the Lord. He knows me. I know the risen Christ. He knows
my name. He knows my name. How do you
know? Faith. That's the only answer I can
give. Faith. Let me show you a couple of scriptures, three
or four more that I think are very powerful. Look in Luke 24. These are the words of the Lord
before he send it back to the Father. He says to his disciples
in verse 44, and he said unto them, these are the words which
I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things
must be fulfilled. Which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. Now, if God has ever
opened your understanding, you know that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the law and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning him. You know that, don't you?
You know that. It's not something you hope it's that way. You know.
Now let's go and read it. And he said to them, thus it's
written, and thus it behooved. Now that word behooved is necessary. It was necessary for Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. It was absolutely
necessary. Now if you know who God is, You
know it's necessary. He had to suffer because the
sins of God's elect became his sins. It was necessary for him
to suffer. He was guilty on the cross. It
was necessary for him to be raised from the dead the third day because
he made full satisfaction and full payment for sin. He put
it away. It was necessary. You know that.
You know that because you know who he is. You see, what we believe
is determined by who we believe. You believe him, you believe
everything he has to say. And that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in his name. By experience, my mind's
been changed. I used to believe things I don't
believe anymore. My mind's been changed. I've repented. By the
grace of God, I've been brought to repentance, a change of mind.
He said the repentance and remission of sins should be preached in
his name. Your repentance is more than
anything else. Repentance is a change of mind concerning the
remission of sins. You know, everybody believes
that if I do this, this, that, and that, I'll have the forgiveness
of sins. Beloved, when you repent, you
know that salvation doesn't end with the forgiveness of sins.
You know that salvation begins with the full, free, complete
forgiveness of sins. That's wonderful, isn't it? God
doesn't forgive me in response to something I've done or asked
Him to do. His forgiveness is in response to his blessed son. And look what the Lord says in
verse 48. And you are witnesses. Of these things. You bear witness. To the truth of this, you see,
if God has taught you, he's taught you this and you're bearing witness
to what he has taught you. Turn to Acts chapter 22. You see, when we preach the gospel,
we're not trying to use an arsenal of facts to try to convince anybody
of anything. We're not trying to win people over by arguments. We're bearing witness to what
God has taught us. That's the only way you can preach.
It's preaching what you've experienced. You can't preach what you haven't
experienced any more than you come back from a place you've
never been. You can't believe what you haven't experienced
any more than you come back from a place where you've never been.
It won't happen. Now, look here in Acts, Chapter
22. This is after the Lord sent Ananias to Paul on the road to
Damascus. Verse 12, And one Ananias, a
devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the
Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said
unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour
I looked up upon him, and he said, The God of our fathers
hath chosen The first thing he heard about was
election. The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that just one,
and shouldst hear the voice of his mouth, for thou shalt be
his witness unto all men of what you see and heard. Now I am a witness to God's will. I know what the will of God is.
Now some people think, well that's a presumptuous thing. Now as
far as providentially what's going on now, I don't have any
idea what the Lord's doing. People come up and say, what's
the Lord doing in your life? I don't know. I don't know. I'd
probably rather not know in some respects. But I know what He's
done. I know what He's done. And I know His will. This is
the will of Him that sent me. We don't have to guess about
it. The Lord put this in His Word. We believe it. This is
the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He hath given
me, I should lose nothing. but raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone
that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have everlasting
life. And I will raise him up on the
last day. Now, I know God's will. And I've
seen that just once. Not just once, just once. Just
once. And I've seen how God can be
just. and justify an evil person like
me through the Lord Jesus Christ. I have seen that just one, and
I've heard the voice of His mouth. The hour is coming, yea, now
is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear shall live. Every believer has heard His
voice in His Word, in the preaching of His Word. My sheep know my
voice. Every one of them. And so, yes,
I know his will. Yes, I've seen that just one.
Yes, I've heard the voice of his mouth. Turn to Acts chapter
20. Paul says in verse 22, And now,
behold, I go bound in the spirit into Jerusalem. Not knowing the
things that shall befall me there, say that the Holy Ghost witnesses
in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. Paul
knew every... What if I knew that after this
sermon I was going to be carried out, tied to a pole and beat
with a cat and nine tails? Do you know where Paul went?
He knew that was waiting on him. How does he respond to it? But
none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy." Now
this is a side note. The quickest way to be miserable
is to try to be happy. You can just write that down.
If what you're wanting is to be happy, that's a guarantee
for misery. He didn't say anything about,
I'm trying to be happy. How could he finish his course
with joy? By not counting his life dear unto himself. and the
ministry which I have received through the Lord Jesus to testify
the gospel of the grace of God. Now, with regard to the grace of God,
the doctrine of grace, call it too little. Total depravity,
unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace,
the perseverance of the saints, the gospel of God's grace. I can bear witness that total
depravity is true. It's one thing to believe the
doctrine of total depravity. It's an altogether different
thing to believe that you yourself are totally depraved. Now, I can bear witness from
my own personal experience, yes, from the Word of God. It comes
from the Word of God. But I can bear witness to the
truth of total, complete depravity and inability. I know that in
my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I'm bearing witness to that.
I'm telling you what I know. And I can bear witness to the
fact that the only hope this sinner has is for God to choose
me. I can bear witness to the fact
that the only hope that I have is that Christ actually put away
my sin. Not that He just made it possible.
Not that He just made it available to me if I do something to make
it work. But that He actually put away my sin before I even
had any existence. Here's my hope. That when He
said, It is finished, my salvation all together. Now what a hope
that is. Who is he to condemn it? It is
Christ that died. Now I can bear testimony, I can
bear testimony to the fact that God's grace is irresistible and
invincible. I can, that's the only way I
can say it, is if God overcame my wickedness and caused me to
live. I bear witness to that And I'm
bearing witness right now to perseverance. The only reason
I persevered is because He's preserved me. You see, when we're
talking about the doctrines of grace, we're not trying to argue
somebody, trying to turn somebody from an Arminian to Calvinist.
Who cares? Don't even care about that stuff.
We're bearing witness to the truth of grace. That's what Paul
said. I testify the gospel of the grace of God. Turn with me
to Revelation 22. I'm sorry, Revelation 12. Verse 9, And the great dragon
was cast out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out within him. And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, Now has come salvation and strength and
the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. For the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night. Now, let me talk for a moment
about the accuser of the brethren. The word devil means accuser. Now, what all could he accuse
you of? Would any accusation he made
about you be untrue? You think of all the things that
he could accuse you of, and they'd all be true. That's a wretched thought, isn't
it? Let's go on reading. And they
overcame him. How? by the blood of the Lamb. Now that's my testimony. That's
my victory. The blood of the Lamb. The only
way I can be accepted by God is if Christ
died for my sins and every accusation is answered. It's Christ that
died. Well, he did this. It's Christ that died. But he
did that. It's Christ that died. No other answer is needed. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb. And look what it says next. It
says, and by the word of their testimony. That's my testimony. That's my
testimony. Preacher, let me hear your testimony.
The blood of Christ is everything in my salvation. answers everything. And then look what it says next.
And they loved not their lives unto the dead. That's the martyr
part. They were willing to die for
this. This was their salvation. This was their testimony. And
they were willing to die for this. Now, one final scripture. Would you turn to Mark chapter
5? Verse 1, And they came over unto
the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him
out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling
among the tombs, death. And no man could bind him, no,
not with chains. Because he'd been often bound
with fetters and chains. That's what religion does. And
the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the fetters broken
in pieces. Neither could any man tame him. They tried to tame
him. They tried to lock him up. But it didn't work. When sin
would call, he'd come running. He couldn't be bound. Not even
chained. And always, night and day, he
was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself
with stones. You see, his problems were all
his fault. He was cutting himself. He was hurting himself. I think
of what the Lord said to Hosea, O Israel, thou hast destroyed
thyself. He destroyed himself. Is your
sin all your fault? Or can you blame anybody else?
Is it all your fault? It was his fans. When he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him. Now, I think it's interesting.
He didn't ask for mercy. He didn't even suspect he would
be given mercy. He just said, don't start tormenting
me now. But he did. what all people who
see Jesus do. He worshiped Him. Is Christ worthy of worship if
He sends you to hell? Is He? Yes, He is. He didn't even know if the Lord
was going to heal him that day. And he cried with a loud voice,
verse 7, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou
Son of the Most High God? What connection is there between
us? You're holy, I'm evil. You're light, I'm darkness. You're
good, I'm bad. What connection is there between
us? I adjure thee by God that thou
torment me not. For he had said unto him, Come
out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What's
thy name? And he answered, saying, My name
is Legion, for we are many. Who's speaking? The man or the
demons? You can't tell, can you? Same voice. And he besought him much that
he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was
there nigh unto the mountain a great herd of swine feeding,
and all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine,
that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them
leave. You know, a devil can't make
a move without the permission of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love
that, Jesus gave them leave. You're allowed to do it now.
And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine
and the herd ran violently down a steep place in the sea. There
were about 2,000 who were choked in the sea and they that fed
the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country.
And they went out to see what it was done. And they came to
Jesus and saw him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion
sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed
in the very righteousness of Christ and in his right mind. You see, a lost man is crazy. Somebody doesn't believe grace.
They're insane. But now he's in his right mind. And they were afraid. They liked
him better before. And David saw told him how to
fill him that was possessed with the devil and also concerning
the swine, and they began to pray him to depart out of their
coast, leave. We don't like this. And 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,
but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how
great things the Lord hath done to thee, and hath had compassion
on thee. I can tell you the great things
the Lord's done for me. He elected me. Well, that's great, isn't
it? He came to this world and kept
the law for me and worked out a perfect righteousness for me.
And He died on the cross and put away all my sins. And when
He was raised from the dead, I was justified. And in time,
He called me by His grace and gave the dead sinner life. The
faith I had, He gave it to me. The repentance I have, He gave
it to me. The love I have for Him, He gave it to me. You know
that, don't you? You can bear witness to that.
This is your experience. You go home to your friends and
family and tell them the great things the Lord has done for
thee and has 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 Markle. He spake as a witness. May you and I, by the grace of
God, be able to speak as a witness. Let's pray together. Lord, we confess that we will
not witness anything except that You make Yourself known to us. Lord, we ask that You would show
Yourself, that You would reveal Yourself. Lord, give us grace
to be Thy witnesses. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.