Turn with me to Mark chapter
5. Mark chapter 5. I want to read through these verses
quickly before we get into our study. And they came over unto the other
side of the sea, unto the country of the Gadarenes. When he was
come out of the ship, immediately there met him of the tombs, a
man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs,
and no man could bind him, no, not with chains, because that
he'd 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. And always, night and day, he
was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself
with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off,
he ran and worshipped 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 there were
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 into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them
leave. And the unclean spirits went
out and entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently down
a steep place into the sea. They were about 2,000 and were
choked in the sea. And they that had fed the swine
fled 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 they were afraid. And they that saw it 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 coast. 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 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. Mark chapter 5 verses 1 through
20 is the story of the Gadarene demoniac. Now the title of our
study this morning is Saved from a Legion. A legion is a military term, and
in the day when this Bible was written, and it had been for
thousands of years, this word legion meant an organized multitude
somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000 soldiers. Everybody that used the term
Legion knew what it meant. It was a military force. You
might even say a militant force. This was not just citizens. This was an organized multitude. What a name for a center. What a horrible picture is brought
to mind as we think on the awful condition of this man possessed
with so many demons. We're told he lived among the
tombs. That's where he made his home,
among the tombs, among the rotting corpses of men and women. Now back in that day, they didn't
just go out and bury them and cover them up. They were laid
in caves, catacombs I think sometimes they called them. They were in
caves and they were laid in hollowed out places all along inside that
thing. Wrapped in some kind of a cloth
and just laid there. I can't imagine the stench inside
that catacomb, that cave where this man made his dwelling. We're also told that he wore
no clothes. He was naked. He just was a wild
man. We're told he could not be bound.
They couldn't chain him up. They couldn't lock him up. They'd
put chains on him and he'd break them. They'd put ropes on him
and he'd tear them to pieces. Couldn't be bound. He couldn't
be tamed. How do you tame something? that's wild. Well, you treat
it as gentle and as kind and as nice as you can. But it didn't
work with him. Didn't work with him. Sometimes
you try to use force. It didn't work with him. He also tells us that he was
driven of the devil into the wilderness. Mark goes on to tell us that
he could be heard in the mountains as well as in the tombs crying
and cutting himself with stone. Sharp stone, probably flint. I think Paul's description of
this man fits him well when he describes the sinner over in
Romans chapter 3. Destruction and misery are in
his ways. That's the sinner. This is what
this demoniac is all about, is to teach us by picture what we
are by nature. This is the picture of the sinner.
Self-destruction, ignorance, at his wit's end, not knowing
what to do, not knowing how to remedy himself. And even after conversion, even
after they came and they found him dressed and in his right
mind and sitting there talking, they didn't even know he could
talk. And here he is, he's conversing with the Lord Jesus Christ and
he's sitting there beside him, probably on a rock or something,
and they're talking and he's in his right mind, he's being
asked questions and he's answering them. Even after his conversion, men
still referred to him as him that was possessed with the devil. That name would follow him. Now
listen to me, because he's a saved man now. This description is
gonna follow this man throughout all eternity. You remember in
the book of Revelations, and they said, who are these? Who
are these dressed in? These are they that come up out
of great trouble, great trouble, and wash their robes in the blood
of the Lamb. But what does such a one have
to do with us? Is this just another supernatural
act whereby God confirms His Son to be His Son? and to be
the Christ and to be the Savior. Well, yes, it was that, but it's
a whole lot more. It's a whole lot more. He's a
picture of the salvation of every sinner saved by grace. Mark introduces him to us as
a man with an unclean spirit. Now, what does the Bible teach
us about Satan? Where is his work? What is it
he's doing? Where is it that he works and manifests this deception? What
does he do? Well, his work is in religion.
It's in religion. The devil don't have to work
in you to cause you to commit adultery. Out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, adulteries. We're out of your heart. Satan
don't have to work in you to do that. Satan don't have to
work in you to lie. Satan works in you to deceive
you into believing that you're saved when you're not. That's
Satan's work. What do we know about Satan?
What's the Bible teach us about Satan and his demonic spirits? Well, it tells us first that
they forfeited their place in glory. There's no salvation for
the fallen angels. They forfeited their place in
glory. They allied themselves with Satan
and fell into the blackness of darkness forever. You can read
about it in the book of Jude. Secondly, he tells us that there's
no salvation for them. No salvation for them. The angels
which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under
the judgment of that great day. Thirdly, we're told the nature,
the very nature of their work, false religion. In 2 Corinthians
11, 13 it says, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. Oh, I thought, I thought, I thought
he appeared in another way, you and about a billion others. He's deceived the whole world,
that's what the Bible says. The whole world. He's a master
of deception. But he transforms himself into
an angel of light, therefore it's no great thing if his ministers
also be transformed as ministers of righteousness, that is self-righteousness,
whose end shall be according to their works. In 2 Thessalonians
2, Paul speaks of the son of perdition, the man of sin being
revealed. And the son of perdition is that
which is born of him. That's Satan's son. Isn't that what our Lord told
the apostles? They said, God is our father.
He said, if God was your father, you'd love me. For I proceeded
forth and came from God. Satan's your father. Isn't that
what he told them? That's the son of perdition. Every man deceived of him. The son of perdition
is false religion, anti-Christ religion. Everything about him
is anti-Christ. It's contrary to Christ. You
don't believe what I'm telling you, you go to your friends at
school. I'm talking to you kids. You go to your friends in school
and tell them what I teach and see what they say. We don't believe
that yet. We don't believe that way. Here's
what we believe, the very opposite of what you believe. That's anti-Christ,
isn't it? Contrary to Christ. Everything about him is Antichrist. He exalteth himself above all
that's called God or that's worshipped, so that he is God, sitteth in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Anybody who stands
behind this pulpit and talks about a free will, talks about
his right to decide his destiny, has taken his seat as God. That's what he's telling you.
I'm God. I have the final say. Isn't that
what they do? Sure it is. They don't tell you that so you
can understand it, but that's what they pray. Isn't this the message of religion
today? Does not man preach so high that he has the power to
let God do this and let God do that? Can you imagine God knocking
at the door and can't open it because you won't let him? What
kind of God do you got? Subject to man's will? The living God, he that created
all things with a word and he waits outside the door? Is not he the man to master his
own destiny? And who can control that but
God? Not a sparrow can fall to the
ground without your father. Is he not the master of his own
free will? How can his will be free except
he be God? God's the only one who can say,
I will. do this, and I will do that and
does it. Only God is said to do all his
pleasure and work all things after the counsel of his own
will. And then listen to what the Spirit
sayeth to the churches. He said, I know the blasphemy
of them that say they are Jews and are not. That is, we are
the elect, but they're not, he says. Well, why would they say
that if they're not? Because they're deceived. I know the blasphemy of them
which say they are Jews and are not, but are of, now listen,
the synagogue of Satan. Satan works in churches. And this son of perdition is
after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders. Now listen, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish. The madman of Gadara is a picture
of every sinner. He's not aware that he's naked
before God, but he is. He is. God's Word by His Spirit uncovers
the hidden things of darkness. By His Word, we know the very thoughts and
intents of men's hearts. And the madman, he didn't think
twice about living in the tombs. I built the parsonage for the
church down in Ball, Louisiana years ago right beside the cemetery.
In fact, we shortened the cemetery up to make room to build the
parsonage. And people said, don't you feel
uneasy about living next to the cemetery? I said, no. I said, I ain't worried about
the dead. It's the living that causes me trouble. But he never thought twice about
sleeping with them in the catacombs. Is this world not filled with
men and women spiritually dead? Is that not where our abode is?
Among the dead? Is not much of false religion
entrusted by men who have been given strong delusion to believe
a lie and be damned? No man could bind this sinner.
The strong man armed, he sits upon the throne of men's hearts
until a stronger than he can take him down. You can't take
him down. This man couldn't take him down nor anybody around him
could take him down. Has to be one stronger than he
and there's only one stronger than he. Not false religion that
causes a man to torture himself hoping to relieve his guilt,
putting himself through all kinds of misery? Was it Martin Luther who crawled
on glass and done all kinds of things to try to make penance
for his sin? Trying to relieve his guilt and
accusing conscience? And then here is dreadful crying.
Nothing more convinces a sinner of false conversion than his
own tears. Tears are the most dangerous
thing in the world. Don't you ever believe tears. From time to time, the Spirit
works in my heart while I'm trying to preach, and I shed tears.
But don't you believe these tears. You believe what I'm telling
you. And you check it out in the Word of God. You confirm
it in the Word of God. You believe that. This is the sinner. The scripture
said, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil and madness
is in his heart while he lives. And after that, they go to the
dead. They go to the dead. All right,
here's the second thing. Mark chapter five, verse two.
And when he, that is Jesus Christ, came out of the ship, immediately
there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. There was a meeting that took
place, a meeting ordained of God, arranged by God, carried
out by the Son of God. And there was there keepers of
the swine, but none of them came to Christ but the demoniac. There was a whole city nearby,
but none of them came but the madman. In verse six of our text, it
said, but when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him. Oh, what an odd worship service
this was. Have you got a good picture of
this demoniac in your mind? He's naked. He's been cutting
himself with stone, so he has dried blood all over him. He's
got the filth of the dust of a cave that he sleeps up in the
catacombs. He smells like the tombs. What an odd worship service this
was. I've known preachers who've run
men off for wearing earrings. Give them time to hear. The earring
will take care of itself. I've known preachers who run
men off for wearing overalls. Swaying with the music. Lambashed them in public until
they leave. But this was the Son of God.
This was not just a preacher, this was THE preacher. And this man came to him as he
was, and he said nothing. Oh, I tell you, I've been in
a place where I didn't want to come through that door because
I knew what I was. And I just thought everybody
in the place would know it too. And they wouldn't even want me
there. They'd just kind of turn their
back. They'd go change seats and go to another seat. This was the Son of God. And
He was looking on the most pitiful sinner you've ever seen. And
He didn't say a word. Huh? This man was naked. He didn't even have on overalls. He was naked, he was stark naked. And you may not know this, but
the only way you can worship God is in nakedness. I hope I've taught you enough
to where you know that. You can't hide yourself from
God. You can't hide your thoughts.
You can't hide your intents. You can't hide anything from
God. Now, I ain't suggesting that
you come in next week naked in the nude. I'm not suggesting
that. But I'm talking about taking off your fig leaf aprons. I'm
talking about taking off those things that you wear when you
try to cover yourself, your self-righteousness. Just take off those ugly rags
and throw them down. That's what Paul said he did
with his. Threw them on a dunghill. Oh,
that I might be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness. Removing that pretense of righteousness
and coming before the Lord of glory and spirit and truth, bearing
yourself before Him as you are. And this man was 50. Oh, he was
50. That's the only way you can come,
worship God. Did you know that? Come as you
are. You're a sinner. When he told
those Pharisees, they said, boy, if he knew who that woman was,
if he knew what I know, oh, he knew a lot more than that.
He said, think not that I come to call the righteous. I've come
to call sinners to repentance. I know what she is. And here
he was, blood all over him. You may not know it, but the
blood of the crucified Christ is all over your hands. All over
your hands. Stinking and filthy inside and
out. And this man came in his ignorance.
We always want to wait. And Satan's the one who does
that. Do you know that this is such an odd thing and yet there's
so much truth in it. It's impossible. Even Spurgeon
preached five times on this passage. Five times. There's so much truth
here. But here's what Satan always
tells the seeking sinner. Get rid of him. Get rid of him.
Get rid of him. We don't want to get rid of anything
else. But the one thing good, the one thing necessary, the
one thing you have to have, He don't want you to have it. Here's all these people, they
saw what the Lord had done. They saw this man that they couldn't
touch. And here he is, and he's clothed,
and he's in his right mind, and no doubt he's had a bath, and
he's clean, and he's sitting there in his right mind, talking
to the Lord of glory. And here they come, and they
said, get out of our coast. Isn't that Satan that does that?
Sure it is. And men and women, they come
in here. Most of them run out the door as soon as the service
is over, long before the last hymn's ever sung. They're out
the door in the car and gone. Why? Why? They have to get rid
of it. They can't stand to hear the
truth. They can't stand to hear it. He was covered with the effects
of all these demons, but the drawing power of the Father was
too great for even a legion to resist. And one glance at the
Savior, and He come running. Can you imagine? Oh, that's all
it takes. That's why I preach Christ. If
you don't see him, you're not gonna come running. When you
see him as he is, you can't resist him. You'll come in your nakedness
and your filth and your blood and your sinnerhood and your
demon possession, you'll come before him and fall down on your
face when you see him. And that's what happened. He
saw him afar off. Some of us been looking to him
a long time, we see him a little clearly than this demoniac did,
but he didn't have to see him all that clearly, he just had
to see him. Then what happened? The Savior
said, what's your name? Our great high priest will hear
your confession. What's your name? He knows our
name. He was sent as our representative
and substitute to live and die in our room instead. He knows
exactly what we are. He knows our nature as well as
our name and He needed not that any should testify of man what
was in Him. He already knew. But He'll still have you to confess
it. And He answered the Lord. These demons are still in this
man. But it didn't say the demons answered him, it said he did.
And he said, my name is Legion. Multitudes of demons, more than
I can count. I'm just a mass of demonic indwelling. And from our youth up, we're
taught by those under the influence of Satan, Satan's ministers,
if you will. Jesus loves everybody. God wants
to save everybody. You can be saved anytime you
want to. God's good, and you're good. Self-righteousness, self-reform,
self-holiness, self-taught, self-will, on and on it goes. Multitudes
of demons gather together within, all working together to make
me the madman that I am. got a carry-over of luggage in
my nature that I can't get rid of because it's been packed in
me since I was five or six years old. What else could it be other than
demon-possessed madness that could ever dream of making themselves
acceptable to God? My name is Legion, he said. And
then notice this. This demon-possessed sinner said,
What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High
God? What have I got to do? How could
I ever hope to be connected with you? Huh? It is the universal effect of
the work of Satan in men that they do not want any contact
with the Christ of God. Nor can they understand any connection
between them and this Christ of God, this sovereign Christ. We had some ladies come to visit
here from Benton, Louisiana one time. Came up front. They cut
my wife's hair for years. And they go around to different
churches and my wife said, well, one Sunday won't you come visit
with us? So they did. They didn't get all the way through
the message. One of them left one outside and the other two,
as soon as I closed and sat down, they were out the door. The man or woman under the influence
of false religion cannot tolerate Christ Jesus. Why? Because his nature is so contrary.
So contrary. Because his mission has a horrible
end for Satan. And for this, it says, for this
purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil, and the devil knows it. Satan always wants to be
left alone because his work is unhindered by man. Satan knows he has no power over
the Son of God. Satan also wants to be left alone
because he knows the doom that awaits him. And he don't want
to be reminded of it. But now watch this, Mark 5 verse
8. Come out of the man. Is that the man talking to himself?
That's the Son of God talking to the man. Come out of the man, thou unclean
spirit, And they did. And were subject to obey His
voice and go where He sent them. They didn't just go out and take
off running. This was the Lord of Lords and
King of Kings of blessed and only potency. And they were in
his presence and subject to his voice. And he said, come out.
And then they bid him, we don't want to just go out into nowhere. Here's some swine. Can we go
there? They were asking permission where to go. And when men came and saw the
results of the work of Christ in this man, it says, They were
afraid. They were afraid. What they saw
in religion was pretense. What they saw on that rock was
reality. And so the Lord tells this sinner,
saved by grace, go home to thy friends and tell them how great
things the Lord hath done for thee. And as he did, it said
all men did marvel. Now this man had no training,
he had no formal background, he had no seminary background
whatsoever. He didn't go home and start teaching
doctrine. He went home and told them what
the Lord did for him. You know what you know? You know
what the Lord has done for you. That's what you know. And I tell you, every sinner
I've ever met converted. That's the first thing he does. First thing he does, he tells
them what great things the Lord has done for them. All right,
thank you.