Turn with me to Luke chapter
8. I want to thank this congregation
and your pastor for giving me this gracious invitation
to come and minister the gospel to you. It's my prayer and sincere
desire that the Lord will enable me to do that very thing. let's read here in Luke chapter
8 beginning with verse 26 and they arrived at the country
of the Gadarenes which is over against Galilee when he went forth to land they
met him out of the city a certain man which had devils long time
and wear no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the
tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out
and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What
have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God, most high? I beseech thee, torment me not,
where he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.
Oftentimes it had caught him and he was kept bound with chains
and fetters and he broke the bands and was driven of the devil
into the wilderness. And Jesus asked him saying, what
is thy name? And he said, Legion, because
many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he
would not command them to go out into the deep. And there
was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain. And
they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them.
And he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the
man and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down
a steep place into the lake and were choked. When then that fed
them saw what was done, they fled and went and told it in
the city and in the country, and they went out to see what
was done, and came to Jesus, and bound the man out of whom
the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed
and in his right mind, and they were afraid. They also which saw it told him
by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. Then
the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about
sought him to depart from them, but they were taken with great
fear. he went up into the ship and
returned back again. Now the man out of whom the devils
were departed besought him that he would be with him. He wanted
to go with him. But Jesus sent him away saying
return to thine own house and show how great things God hath
done unto thee. And he went his way published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto
him. Luke chapter 8 and Mark chapter
5, if you're taking notes tonight, tell the story of the demoniac
of Gadar. It tells us where the Lord found
him, living among the dead. He always does. He always does. It tells us what was around him,
swine. There always is. It tells us about his condition.
He was a madman, a man whose thoughts and actions were dictated
by devils. It tells us something about his
activities. He ran in amongst the tombs and
up on the mountains and cried and cut himself with stones.
It tells us how men treated him. They tried to bind him. Tried
to bind him with fetters and tried to bind him with chain. And it tells us about his appearance.
He was naked. Now there's two reasons I believe
that these miracles of Christ are recorded in the scriptures. I believe there's two reasons.
There could be many, but two that I know of. First of all,
they're there to confirm His person, His offices, and His
message, His work, who He was. This is the Son of God. This
is the Christ. And then secondly, these miracles
are given to show how God saves sinners. How God saves sinners. The disciples
asked the Lord over in John chapter nine, when he healed this blind
man, they said, who did sin, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind? That sound like something I'd
ask. And Jesus said, neither hath
this man sin, nor his parents, but that the works of God should
be manifest in him. This man was born blind, Larry,
for the sole purpose. for the sole purpose of manifesting
the glory of God to us who are gathered here tonight. Do you
think about that? Tells us in a picture. I tell you, close
your eyes and look at these pictures that the Lord Jesus Christ gives
us in the scriptures, and it'll preach to you clearer than a
pastor could get up and preach for six months. Just a simple
picture that the Lord gives you. If we can get a hold of the picture,
the message will come with you. No one miracle can tell the story
of the sinner. Not this madman, not the blind
man, not the man who's haught, not the man with the withered
hand, not Lazarus laying dead in the tomb. But all together,
all together, they tell the story of the sinner. The sinner's a leper. He's a
dead man. He's a man possessed of the devil.
He is by nature damp and dumb and blind and crippled, paralyzed
and full of the palsy. Can you take your place tonight
with this madman?" I was talking to Don before the service and
I said, I'm going to try to preach tonight on the Gadarene demoniac. He said, I know him. I said, I do too. I do too. Do you know it? Can you read
his story and say this is my story? This is where the Lord
found me. God said the heart of the sons
of men is full of evil and madness is in his heart while he lives.
And after that he goes to be with the dead. With mad men. This is where God always finds
His elect, living in the tombs of a world dead in trespasses
and sin. Living among the dead. Living
out His days with men trying to bind Him. Trying to bind Him
by their wills. Trying to force their wills upon
Him. Trying to bind Him with their
legal chains and ceremonial fetters. Trying to get him to live like
they live. Trying to get him to talk like
they talk, and dress like they dress, and act like they act.
Trying to do something on the outside to bind what's on the
inside. Listen to him crying as he cuts
himself with stones high on the mountain and deep in the tombs.
Trying to cure himself by punishing himself. trying to better himself
by inflicting himself. Isn't that your story? Oh, that's
mine. That's mine. And that's where he would have
stayed. And that's where he would have continued, except the Lord
purposed to save his worthless soul. He said, he's mine. He's mine. And in an act of divine
mercy and grace, he sought out this sinner, this hollow shell
of a man, this stinking, naked, slobbering wretch of a man. Wore
no clothes, his hair grown long and knotted and matted and smelly,
and you could smell him before you ever seen him. You can smell
this man. Chains hanging from his wrist
and fetters. Oh, in an act of divine mercy
and grace, the Lord sought out this sinner and he did something
for him that he could never have done for himself. He took down the strong man.
Do you know anything about that? That strong man. He took him
down. He took down his seed of power
and influence. He took over the house, the whole
house. The whole house and everything
in the house, the mind, the heart, the affections, he's bought his
goods to Scripture's end. He took for himself that which
once belonged to the rulers of the darkness of this world, and
this man became an heir of salvation. Is there anybody in this place
tonight who knows what I'm talking about? Over in Luke chapter 11, verse
21, our Lord said, when a strong man arm keepeth his palace, his
goods are at peace. But when a stronger than he shall
come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all the armor
wherein he trusted and divided his foes. Therefore, our Lord
said, he that's not with me is against me. And he that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad. When God does a work in a man,
that's what I want to talk to you about tonight. I titled the
message tonight, Something to Show. Something to Show. And when God saves a sinner,
he does a work in him. He does a work from the inside
out. The closest thing I can get to
it is a little bit of brushing on the outside, a little bit
of washing on the outside. But God, when he saves a man,
he saves him from the inside out. And when God saved this demoniac,
oh, how he wanted to go with the Lord. He didn't want to go
back to the tombs, and he didn't want to go back to the mountains,
and he didn't want to go back to those who would bind him. He wanted to go with the Lord.
And the Lord told him, no. No. Rather he said, return to thine
own house, now listen, and show how great things the Lord hath
done unto thee. Something to show. My friend,
a man in whom God does a work has something to show. He's got
something to show. His life is a testimony of the
power and grace of God. He himself is the evidence He
himself is the evidence of this divine intervention. As the old
creation stands in evidence of God's eternal power and his Godhead,
so this new creation stands in evidence of God's mercy and grace. Return to thine own house, our
Lord said, and show how great things God hath done unto thee. this is not talking about you
praying out loud in restaurants. That's not what our Lord was
telling them to do. People pray out loud in restaurants.
I asked somebody one time why they did that and they said well
so folks will know why I'm saying it. Henry said they'll know that
when they see your tip. This is not talking about learning
how to talk religious and act all pious. This is not talking
about making sure everybody sees your alms and gifts when you
give to the poor and give to the church. What this is talking
about is showing what God has done in you, in you. What He did that you couldn't
do. What He did that no other man
could do. Evidently there was some herdsmen
around when the Lord cast out this man's demons and they ran
back to the city and the whole multitude came out to see what
this man Jesus had done to this madman. And when they got there
they saw three things. Three things. Three things that
men always see when they witness a work of grace in a man's heart. What did they see when they finally
got there? Here they came. They came at
a full run. He got people from the country
and people from the city and he told them about the madman
and they told him about this man named Jesus that came and
cast out these demons. And they went into those huge
herds of swine and they ran violently down and cast themselves into
the lake and died. And they wanted to come and see,
come and see, come and see. He'd never seen anything like
it. And so here they come. And when
they got there, they saw three things. And I'm telling you this,
every time God saves a sinner, you see the same three things.
The first thing they saw when they came to see this man, they
saw this wild man, this demoniac, who couldn't be tamed, sitting
at the feet of Jesus. That's where they found Him. You want to show your loved ones
what God's done for you? Would you have them to see something
of this divine work of grace? Show them that. Sit at His feet. Sit at His feet. Somebody told me A few years
back, they were thinking about moving somewhere where there's
a gospel church, but they didn't want to leave their grandchildren
and friends and neighbors a place where they were raised. They
wanted to stay there and be a witness for them. They wanted to stay
there and tell them something about this work of divine grace.
Let me tell you something. The best thing you can show your
family is you sitting at the feet of Jesus. And you'll do
that when you move somewhere where there's a gospel preacher
and he can feed your soul. Where two or more are gathered
in my name, he said, there will I be in the midst. That's where
I'm gonna be. Sitting at the feet of Jesus.
What does a man's posture have to do with manifesting the work
of God's grace? Well, sitting suggests three
things to me. The first thing it suggests to
me is rest. When you find this man, here's
this man who spent his life running, fighting, resisting, cutting
himself, full of activities, going about, doing what those
devils dictated that was in his heart and in his mind. That's
all he did. He busied himself about doing
this and doing that and doing something else. And when they
come to see him, that's what they expected him to be doing,
but he wasn't doing that. He was sitting at the feet of
Jesus. And those who sit at the feet
of Jesus have entered in to his rest. They rest at his feet. A fella I know heard four or
five gospel messages by a man and he couldn't take any more.
Five was his limit. And he stood up there in the
service and he said, hold on, hold on, hold on. He said, we
get it, we get it. Now let's move on. You don't get it. If you got
it, you wouldn't want to move on. You'd be content to sit at
the feet of Jesus. Those who get it, that's where
they go. That's what they do. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, root it and build
up in Him, established in the faith, and be wise, lest any
man spoil you through philosophy. and vain deceit. Oh, after the
traditions of men and after the rudiments, that natural reasoning
of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in him. You can rest
in him. It's all in him. Christ is all. You have Christ, you have everything
God has for the sinner. Can you picture one of these
modern day soul winners running after this madman through the
tombs and up over the mountains, trying to get him to turn over
a new leaf? You know you're not living the
way you ought to live. You know you don't give enough,
you don't pray enough. Running behind him, running behind
him everywhere he go. Trying to get him to walk down
an aisle or accept Jesus as his personal Savior. That man or
woman in whom God does the work rests in Christ, and he's happy
to sit at his feet. And then secondly, sitting suggests
a learning posture. It said Mary, Martha got mad
at Mary. What'd she get mad about? Well,
Martha was busyin' about the house, cookin' the meals, doin'
all this stuff, tryin' to get ready. Mary was sitting at the
feet of Jesus. And when she complained to the
Lord about Mary sitting there, you know what the Lord told her?
Mary chose the good thing, the good thing. Oh, that's the learning
posture, sitting there at His feet. We'll never learn anything
from anybody until we learn to be content sitting at His feet.
Christ is our wisdom. Christ is the revelation of God. I remember the study Don did
on Revelation in his very first message. He said, you need, you
want, there's so many people confused when they read the book
of Revelation. If they just read the first few
verses and stop and think about it, this is the revelation of
Jesus Christ. He's our revelation. He's the
way, He's the truth. And when God does the work, men
always, you always find them sitting at the feet of Jesus.
And then thirdly, sitting suggests eating to me. I come home at
the end of the day and I'm hungry. I'm ready to eat. You know, the
Lord gathered his disciples around at the place he had chosen. And
he had them all to sit down. And then he broke the bread.
And he said, take and eat. This is my body which was broken
for you. We sit at his feet, we eat. He's
our necessary bread. So here's the first thing men
find when they go out to see a man in whom God's done the
work. They find him sitting at the feet of Jesus. And then secondly,
they find him clothed. They find him clothed. When God
saves a sinner, He clothes him. Puts his garments on him. He looks upon poor sinners and
all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom
we have to do. And our fig leaf aprons can no
more hide our nakedness than it could for Adam and Eve. But God comes to the sinner as
He did to our first parents, and He clothes us with the covering
of the Lamb slain, and He hides our nakedness. He covers us with
the spotless righteousness of Christ, and He covers us with
the sanctified dress of a royal priesthood. We're clothed who
once lived naked in the tombs. Now we're clothed. My friend, God's saints are clothed
also with a new man. Paul said, put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Put him on. Do you worry about
your children and grandchildren? Do you want them to know what
Christ has done for you? Show them this. Show them this. Let them find you sitting at
the feet of Jesus and clothed. in that new man, a gracious man,
a kind man, a man patient and long-suffering, a loving man,
an uncompromising man. Let them see that new man. I tell you, before they're gonna
hear what you have to say, you're gonna have to show them what
God's done in you. Let them see that hidden man
of the heart, Paul said. And then thirdly, when they got
there, they found this man in his right mind, in his right
mind. Natural man walks in the vanity
of his mind, the scripture said, a mind of darkness, a mind of
deceit, a mind of imagination and tradition, a mind hostile
to God. He's not in his right mind. At
his best state, he's altogether vanity, but when God comes in
and takes down the strong man, he gives to the sinner the mind
of Christ. Now he's in his right mind. Now
he can judge all things, but he can't be understood by anybody.
There's only one right mind, and that's the mind of Christ.
That's how we live, isn't it? That's how we serve, that's how
we reason. We have the mind of Christ. And when they came and saw this
madman sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right
mind, it says they were afraid. The fear of God fell upon that
crowd. They saw the real thing. The
real thing. Now you can't show what you don't
have. You can't show a work that God hadn't done. It's an impossibility. You're looking at somebody who
tried. You can't show men what God hasn't done in you. He must
do the work first. But when he does, boy, you got
something to show now. My soul, the grace of God, how
it conquered the madman. How it's conquered the madman.
This man who was wanting to just fly off the handle at anything.
He just wouldn't pay his bills, he wouldn't work, he wouldn't
do this, he wouldn't do that. I don't do a lot of counseling
at home. I don't do a lot of that type
of thing from the pulpit. And I told a fellow one time,
his wife got mad at me because I wouldn't come over there and
counsel him. And I told her, I said, if I can't counsel you, with the Lord Jesus Christ crucified
on a cross, if I can't counsel you and motivate you with the
Son of God dying in the stead of hopeless, helpless sinners,
if I can't reach you through Him, what good's it gonna do
me standing there and do this? I'll do it if you insist, but
it ain't gonna do no good. I might as well just wave a little
wand or something and stand there and point my finger at it. You're gonna have to see Him.
But I tell you, when you see Him, there was only one man in
all of Gadara with the right mind, and he was sitting at the
feet of Jesus. And you know, when that man got
done showing all that the Lord did for him, when the Lord came
back, it said everybody came out to see the Lord. and welcomed
him. Isn't that something? The work
that God does in a man. When he does, we've got something
to show. May he be pleased to do such
a work in me and you tonight.