In verse 19 of chapter 5, the Lord here instructs his new
found sheep. This man had just been delivered
moments before our Lord spoke these words. Our Lord had sought
him, he'd found him, and he delivered him. And now he instructs him. In verse 19 he says to this man,
go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord
has done for thee and have had compassion on thee. Go tell your
family and your friends what God's done for your soul. You
remember when Andrew, Peter's brother, was at one time a disciple
of John the Baptist. John, the forerunner of Christ. But when Christ overtook John,
so to speak, that one for whom John was the forerunner appeared
on the scene, John said, behold the Lamb of God. And one day
when he said that, Andrew stood with him, with John. And upon
hearing those words and being directed to the Lamb of God,
Andrew followed the Lord Jesus Christ. This is recorded in John's
Gospel, Chapter 1. One of the disciples which heard
John speak followed him, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first
findeth his own brother Simon. Go home to thy friends and tell
them. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto
him, We have found the Messiah. Is there any better news you
could share with your brother or sister or husband or wife
or children or grandchildren or friends or neighbors than
this? He saith unto his brother Simon, We have found the Messiah,
which is being interpreted the Christ, the anointed one. And he brought him. to Jesus. What an honor, what a privilege,
what a blessing it would be if God Almighty would allow this
rebel to bring my brothers to Jesus. That's what our Lord tells
this delivered man to do. Go and tell all around. what
a dear Savior you have found. Our Lord in Acts 1, in response
to the disciples request, Lord, or question I
should say, Lord, will you at this time restore unto us the
kingdom, the Israel? And our Lord said, that's not
your business. That doesn't concern you. This
is what concerns you. This is what you should do. This
is what I'm telling you to do. You shall be witnesses unto me."
Just as he told this man. And notice again what he said
to this fellow. Go and tell your friends. Go
home and tell them how great things the Lord has done for
thee. Tell them what you experienced. Don't try to tell them somebody
else's experience. No, no. There's no story like
yours. Tell them what I've done for
you. Tell them this story of God's great compassion on you. Tell them. They know you. They know what you were. Now
tell them what's the reason for this marvelous transformation. Brother Henry, I've heard say,
and I know you have too. He said, you can't tell what
you haven't experienced any more than you can come back from a
place where you've never been. That's impossible. Oh, but once
you've tasted, tasted that the Lord is gracious, the moment,
just like this man, the very moment, He'd been delivered. He was qualified to tell about
it. He didn't have to go to seminary.
No, he could go tell what God had done for his soul. And notice
our Lord says, go and tell. He doesn't say, go and tell what
you did for me. Now, we read this passage together. What did this man do? What part
did he play in his own deliverance? What did he do? Now that's the trend today, isn't
it? Has been for some time. We hear
people supposedly, supposedly, testifying of God's work, God's
mercy, and they describe it like this. I opened my heart. I did that. I decided. I made a decision. I went forward. I gave Jesus a chance. No, no, no. That's too much I. Too much I. It's not about I. It's not about me. It's about
Him. The Lord Jesus Christ. You go
tell them what I did for you. Tell them what the Lord has done.
Can you imagine this man? Can you just imagine this man
going back to his family, home, that place where he was once
a terror, where they were fearful of him,
and rightfully so. But can you imagine him going
back now restored, in his right mind, to his friends and his
family, probably some of those were the
very ones that had chained him, tried to chain him, tried to
restrain him, and he just plucked them asunder. Some of them were
those who tried to put him in fetters. That didn't work. Some
of them, I don't know what it means, tried to tame him. Did
they sit down and try to reason with this maniac? I don't know.
But some of these same people he goes back to, all that they
had done was to no avail. And finally they said, we've
got to do something. He's going to injure himself
and others. Let's just put him out into the tombs. Put him out
into that cemetery. He can't hurt dead people. But
can you see this man now clothed and in his right mind rejoicing
to tell them something like this? I made a decision. I went to
an altar. I repeated the sinner's prayer. That just does not gel, does
it, Louie? That just does not mix. There
is no way that that can be the explanation of the great change
in this man. A decision won't get that done,
like Bobby just sang a moment ago. No other work but thine. This man's deliverance was the
result of what Christ did for him. I would find it harder to believe
that this man delivered himself or cooperated in his deliverance
or helped in his deliverance. I would find that easier, or
rather, harder to believe than some folks' explanation of the
creation. God's marvelous creation And
you ask the smart people, ask the intellectuals, ask the scientists,
what is your explanation for the wonder of creation? The Big Bang Theory. You got
to be kidding me. Really? That's your answer? The
Big Bang Theory? That's the best you can come
up with? There's no wonder in that. I noticed on the calendar the
other day that the 22nd of this month is Earth Day. Earth Day. I don't participate in Earth
Day. I don't know exactly what Earth
Day is. I think, do they hug trees, kiss frogs, recycle something? I don't know what happens on
Earth Day. But I imagine they do like Paul said in Romans 1.
They worship their creation rather than the creator. They give the
creation the credit for creating itself. Utter nonsense. A big bang? Oh no. Oh, no. Why? How? In the beginning, God. That's the reason. That's how. Oh, the heavens declare the glory
of God. They're the work of His fingers,
His doing. And what's true of creation is
also true of the new creation. If any man, if any man be in
Christ Jesus, he's a new creation. And he didn't create himself.
We are God's workmanship. This is the Lord's doing. You
look at this man, the before picture, the after picture, and
there can only be one explanation. This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. And you go tell your family and
your friends about it." And he did. Look at verse 20 again.
And he departed. He obeyed his Lord. He departed
and began to publish, begin to broadcast how great things, oh,
great things, My soul, what great things God had done for this
man. Great and marvelous things. Miraculous things. What great
things Jesus had done for him. And look what happened. All men
did marvel. Isn't the salvation of a sinner
an absolute marvel, John? And there is no more marvelous
example of that wondrous salvation by our great God and Savior than
yourself. You want to see proof of a miracle
child of God? Look in the mirror. My soul,
who would have ever imagined, would ever have imagined that
God in mercy of all places would come to you on purpose, just
like he did to this man. See our great God and Savior.
Look at verse 39 again of chapter 4. Oh, I love, as I said in the
reading, I love to see him work. I love to see our great shepherd
seeking his sheep. Verse 39, and he arose That is our Lord. And He rebuked
the wind and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the angry waves lie down
at His feet. They obey His voice. The same voice that said, In
the beginning, God created. The same voice that said, Light
be, and light is. the same voice, and they lie
down. This is what the psalmist said. Let me read it to you along this
line. Psalm 89, O Lord God of hosts,
who is a strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness
round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the
sea, when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. When he speaks with the same
authority as he did to the waves, the angry sea, when he speaks
with that same power to 2,000 demons, they must do the exact
same thing as the waves did. They must lie down before him. The same blessed calm is produced
This man, afterwards, we see in verse 15, he's sitting at
the feet of Jesus. He's not running around like
a madman anymore. He's not hurting himself anymore. He's not out of his mind anymore. He's sitting calmly, just as
calmly and serene as that once angry sea now is. When peace
like a river attendeth Noah, And he sits at the feet of his
master, who had just rescued him, clothed and in his right
mind. In John chapter 6, just before
our Lord fed the multitude, he asked Philip, as John pointed
out this morning, our Lord doesn't need to be informed. But we read
in John 6, he asks Philip, where are we going to buy bread for
all these people to eat? And I like what it says next.
This he said to prove him, for Jesus knew what he would do. How often I've said to myself,
I just don't know what I'm going to do. this situation, this trial, this
sudden storm, man, I don't know what I'm going to do. My comfort
is not found in what I'm going to do. My comfort is knowing
that Jesus knows what He will do. Jesus knows what he shall do. And Jesus knows what he had done
here. Does he not? Look at verse 19
again. Go home and tell them what I've
done for you. Great things. Great things. Salvation requires great grace. Great grace. It requires reigning
grace. Nothing less than that's going
to get the job done. Grace that abounds over all my
sin. Grace that can part and cleanse
within. Grace that can keep this sinner
from falling, which I'm apt to do every hour of every day because
I've got a heart that's prone to wonder and leave the God I
love and I'll do it in a New York minute unless His grace
upholds me. I'll join that crowd to whom
he referred when he said to his disciples, do you also want to
go away? Yes, I will, unless his grace
keeps me from falling. And that same marvelous, reigning
grace presents me faultless before the throne of his glory. Oh,
what a great thing that is. What a marvel, what a wonder.
Great grace, great mercy, great power. My, the power our Lord
demonstrated in calming this sea. And what greater power He
demonstrated in calming this demoniac. It required a miracle
in both cases, did it not? What a display of the omnipotence
of our great God and Savior. Because He's the Savior only,
are you listening? Perk up. He's a savior of only
great sinners. Only great sinners. He only saves
great sinners. He only rescues those who are
entirely helpless and hopeless and desperate cases. Those are
the only ones that he rescues. They're made to know that it's
so. God have mercy on me. I'm the sinner. Wait a minute, Mr. Publican,
that can't be right, because I'm the sinner. Everyone feels
that they're the sinner once God gets them lost, and they're
made to know. If they're saved, if their sins
are forgiven, it's going to be his work, not their work. He must deliver them if they're
delivered. Only he can perform this great
work. Abraham, we're told in Romans
4, gave glory to God. Now think about that. That's
a strong expression. He gave glory to God? How could
he do that? Because he believed God. He believed
God. He believed what God had promised
he was able to perform. This is what Elizabeth said in
her song of praise when Mary, her cousin, came to visit her.
carrying in her womb the Son of God Almighty. Great is the
mystery of godliness. And Elizabeth said, Oh, my soul
doth magnify the Lord. And she said, Mary, you're blessed. You're blessed. You're blessed
that you've believed because there'll be a performance of
everything God's told you concerning your son. And what was told her
concerning her son? He shall be great, Mary. He shall
be great. He shall sit upon the throne
of David. He shall rule forever of his kingdom. There shall be
no end. There'll be a performance of
all those things. Bless God what he's promised
he's able to perform. Till God, all wise, can make
mistakes, His power abate. His love forsake. His children
must not cease to sing. The Lord Omnipotent is King. Great things. This is a miracle
on the stormy sea. And in the demoniac, we're both
on purpose. Both on purpose. I mean, that's
why we began the reading where we did. Verse 35 of chapter 4,
let us pass over into the other side. That sounds deliberate
to me. Didn't sound like a new thought.
God Almighty doesn't have a new thought. I remember seeing either
on a television commercial or on the side of a truck, we call
us because we correct what your husband fixed. And sometimes
that's the case because we make mistakes. God Almighty doesn't. He doesn't have to have a backup
plan. No, he's perfect in all of his
doings, always. He never has a second thought. You and I do, because our first
one is wrong. But God never does. Yesterday
I played in Pat's tournament, golf, and it was best ball. That means me and my two partners,
three of us, we all hit a golf ball, and we would pick the best
shot and play from there. And more often than not, well,
yeah, probably more often than not, even the best one we picked
wasn't that good, Randy. We had to do something. Oh, but the Son of God is always
perfect, always right, always purposeful. always accomplishes,
never attempts, never attempts, never tries. He always does his
will. He always has his way. And when
he says, let us pass over into the other side, it's no surprise
to read, and they came over into the other side. Let us, he said. Not let me pass over to the other
side. Oh, no. Let us pass over unto
the other side together with you. I'm with you always, he
said. I'll never leave you nor forsake
you. Just as the prophet said, when
thou passest through the waters, It doesn't say if you pass through
the waters, does it? It says when, when. You will,
child of God, you will. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shall not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior." I'm with you. You're not alone. Oh, immediately
we see one blessed benefit of our Lord bringing them through
the storm, because after they come out on the other side, they
said, man, they have a view of him. an appreciation of him they
didn't have before. It could only be produced by
the storm, or by means of the storm. And they said, man, man,
did you see that? Peter, John, did you see what
he did? What kind of man is this? They're
ready to bow down now and say, Oh, Lord, my God, how great thou
art. I'm so glad we went through that
storm. And so it is. When you pass through, they'll
not overflow you. Let us pass over. I don't send
you out alone. You're never alone. We're members
of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. How could they
drown? How could they drown with their
head, their glorious head, their Lord Jesus Christ so high above
the water? A couple of months ago, Brother
John, in his lesson, made mention of John the Baptist and being
beheaded. And as John was referring to
that, I thought to myself, picturing the followers of John taking
up his headless body and taking it to be buried, entombed, I
thought, well, John's head was still secure, still intact, because
his head, the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of his church, can never
can never, no member of his body can ever be severed from their
glorious head. It cannot happen. It cannot happen. Christ would have to drown. Now
I'm not speaking in hyperbole. Christ would have to have drowned
before his disciples had drowned. The head would have to go down
before the body. He said, let us pass over, and
bless his name, they passed over. He said, because I live, you
shall live also. Man, that's a meaty verse. That's
a meaty verse. Every child of God has in them
the same life that's in the Son of God. The life in the head
flows to every member of his body. It's eternal. It's everlasting. Because I live,
ye shall live also, my soul with that being so. No wonder he asked
the question, why are you so fearful? Why are you so fearful?
What reason do you have for being in such a panic? Why are you
so fearful? And you noticed they didn't have
an answer. They didn't have an answer. And
Larry Criss doesn't have an answer. When I'm fearful and doubtful
and panic, and I read such words as this, and my master asks me,
why are you so fearful? I don't have an answer. There's
no excuse for it. You notice they seem to answer
his question with the question. What manner of man is this? Then
why are you so fearful? The God-man, glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises, doing wonders, then why are you so fearful?
He that called you by his grace, if you've tasted grace, you'll
taste glory, then why are you so fearful? If the master of
the sea says, let us pass over, it makes no difference what transpires
between the launching and the arriving. We shall pass over. Why are we so fearful? No matter what comes between,
no child of God will ever perish. What great things the Lord did
for this man. What grace and power and mercy.
This man was a helpless, hopeless, his was a helpless, hopeless
condition. And where he now was, sitting
at the feet of the master, was a result of what Christ did for
him. As we said earlier, all the efforts
of man, the binding, the taming, proved fruitless. All to no avail. You know why? Because the flesh
profits nothing. Because with men, this is impossible. All men but the God-man. This
man needed and every law center needs. It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking to see multitudes
being deceived in our day by being told a flat-out lie. trying to be persuaded that salvation,
God's marvelous work, amounts to no more than walking an aisle. That God's done all he can. You've
heard this. How despicable. How dishonoring
to God. For someone to tell a sinner,
God's done all he can do, now it's up to you. Do you hear that,
Lazarus? Isn't that good news? Would it
have been good news of this poor demoniac? I've done all I can. The rest is up to you. Thank
God that that's not so. This man needed more than what
had been done previously by men. And sinners without Christ need
more than some religion. They need more than their will
or anyone else's will can produce. They need a miracle. They need
a miracle. Our Lord addressed the issue.
Those prior to this only dealt with the outwards. Our Lord dealt
with the problem. He said, come out. Come out of
the man. The problem's inside. The problem's
inside. Come out of the man, thou unclean
spirit. They had chained him, but he
was still possessed. They had bound him, but he was
still possessed. They had attempted to tame him,
but he was still possessed. The less you make of this man's
condition, the more you rob God by the glorious cure that our
Lord gave him. The less need he's in, the less
is needed to cure him. Sinner, all you need to do is
take the first step. What a sorry piece of news that
is. Can you imagine? I hope you can't. Christ telling his disciples,
well, we crossed the sea. I came on purpose to the other
side to find this man, and I found him. But I can't help him. I can't do anything for him.
He won't cooperate. He won't take the first step.
He won't let me do anything for him. Does that sound like what
happened? My soul, no. The master said,
come out. The problem's within. Sinners
don't need reformation. They need regeneration. They
don't need to turn over a new leaf. They need God Almighty
to create in them a new heart. Now, where's the preacher, the
priest, the soul winner that can do that? Where are they? Let them come to the tomb of
dead Lazarus again. Let them speak. Speak, reverend. Speak, Mr. Pope. Speak. Speak. Tell Lazarus to get up and live.
And they'll stand there till they speak. With no voice left, Lazarus is
dead. Oh, but my soul, who is this?
Who is this coming to the tomb with Mary and Martha? Who is
this? He's that one who said, I'm the
resurrection and the life. Whosoever believeth in me shall
never die. What's he going to do? Well,
let's watch and see. Is he going to make a stab at
it? Is he going to take an attempt? Oh, no. Martha, I told you once,
your brother's going to rise again. Oh, my soul, look at him. Look at him. What manner of man
is this? Father, I know that you hear
me. You always hear me. It's for
the sake of those who stand by that I say this. And when he
had thus prayed, he spoke with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And the very next word is, he
that was dead, come forth. That's what happened to you,
child of God. That's what happened to you. That's what happened
to me. Jesus Christ sought me. He found
me. He gave me life. He washed me. He made me whiter than snow.
He's kept me right up to this very day and will not let me
go. My soul, what a marvel. To God
be the glory. Not to Larry. To God be the glory. Great things He hath done. This miracle will wrap this up.
This miracle glorifies the great shepherd of the sheep. Does it
not? Does it not? Is it not obvious that it does?
Who else should get the credit? Christ went to where this man
was. He went to where he was. That man wouldn't have come to
Christ. He couldn't. No man can come to me. No man
will come to me, he said, unless the Father which has sent me
draw him. Christ went to him, let us pass over. Christ found
him, and Christ saved him. He said, for the Son of Man has
come to seek and to save that which was lost. And all that
he seeks, he finds. And all that he finds, he saves. I love the parable that teaches
that very thing. Our Lord said, which of you,
having a hundred sheep, if he loses one, doesn't leave the
ninety and the nine and go in search of the one that's lost?
And if he finds him, it's not how it reads, is it? No, no,
no, no. There's no ifs in it. There's
no ifs in it. You read it. Luke 15. And when he finds him,
glory to his name, when he finds him, he puts him up on his shoulders
and he carries him home. And if he gets home, no if again. When he gets home, he says, rejoice
with me. I found my sheep. That was dead. When he cometh home, He puts
us up on the shoulders of His omnipotence, His grace, His all-sufficient
grace and mercy, and bless His glorious name, He's going to
carry His children all the way to the Father's house. And He's
going to say as only He can, Father, I am the children that
You entrusted to me, that You gave to me, Before the foundation
of the world, Father, they're all here. I lost none. And out of that multitude, multitudes
that no man can number, every crowd's gonna come off the heads
of each, and they're gonna cast them at his feet, and they're
gonna say, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. And until
that day comes, until that day comes, go home, child of God,
and tell your friends, family, what great things God has done
for you. Soon I shall pass this veil of
death, and in his arms shall lose my breath. Yet then my happy
soul shall tell My Jesus hath done all things well. God
forgive me for asking the very things they asked that night
or that day on the stormy sea. Lord, don't you care. And when to that bright world
I rise and join the anthems in the skies, among the rest this
note shall swell. My Jesus hath done all things
well. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless you.