In public worship, as in private,
certain things are just essential. Of course, faith in Christ is
essential to worship. But place must be given displaying
reverence for the Word of God. That's the reason in our public
assemblies we spend a goodly portion of every worship service
just reading the scriptures. You men who read, I encourage
you to read passages, just read them without comment. Read the
word and show reverence for the word in that regard. Certainly,
if we would worship God, we must give praise to him, whether it
be songs of praise, as we have just endeavored to sing, or whether
it be words of praise, thanksgiving, gratitude, offering praise to
our God. And in worship, there is certainly
this matter of prayer, supplication, intercession, calling upon God,
pouring out our hearts to him. Now I don't pretend to know a
great deal about prayer. God is my witness, I want to.
I want to learn to pray. Really pray. Maybe I'm learning something
about it. Just in the fact that I acknowledge I don't know much
about it. Prayer. But I certainly know this, prayer
has something to do with worship. True prayer has something to
do with seeking and bowing to the will of God. True prayer
has something to do with the glory of God, with concern, the
concern of our hearts for God's glory, the increase of his kingdom,
that is the salvation of his elect, the accomplishment of
his will in this world. Prayer has something to do with
worshiping God. And I know beyond a doubt that
most of what men call prayer, most of what men imagine as prayer,
most of what we describe as prayer has absolutely nothing to do
with prayer. We teach our children to say
poems, and we call them prayers. Don't ever tell them they're
praying. That's just not. That's just not. Prayer is something
taught of God in the heart. Thy servant found it in his heart
to pray this prayer unto thee, David said, and then he prayed.
Prayer is something that only God can produce, and something
that only God Almighty will enable a sinner to perform. to those
who think that prayer is simply asking God to give us what we
want and receiving it. You know, the idea that prayer
is somehow a blank check. God has given you a check on
the bank of heaven and all you have to do is fill in what you
want. So just ask God. Bombard heaven. Call on God and
get God in the notion. You know, you get letters. Now
you get them by email. These letters, let's join hands
now and bombard heaven. Let's pray together and maybe
God will do this. You're not going to twist God's
arm and get him to do something. It ain't going to happen. It
ain't going to happen. That has nothing to do with prayer. To
those who think that's the case, I say read Luke chapter 8. There
are multitudes, I've heard many, state as a matter of comfort,
a matter by which they gave evidence to themselves that they were
truly God's children. They say that I know I'm one
of the Lord's because God answers my prayers. Oh really? Read Luke chapter 8. Let's read
a portion of this chapter together. Luke chapter 8 verse 31. In this matter of prayer, now
you can mark this down, you can mark this down. In this matter
of prayer, as with all other aspects of worship, as with all
other aspects of spiritual exercise, in this matter of prayer, everything
you think by nature, I guarantee you, is dead wrong. And everything
the religious world thinks and promotes is dead wrong. Everything. I don't mean there's a shade
of truth to it. I mean everything you imagine by nature prayer
to be, it's dead wrong. And everything the religious
world around us promotes in their man-centered activity they call
worship is dead wrong. Now let's see what the scripture
teaches us here in three examples of prayer. Luke chapter 8 verse
31. And they, this legion of demons
that possessed the Gadarene, two to six thousand of them,
they with one voice besought him that he would not command
them to go out into the deep. And there was there a herd of
many swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought him, they prayed,
they pleaded with him that he would suffer them to enter into
them. And he suffered them. He said,
all right, go to the hogs. 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. Verse 37. Now, all this is reported. The
Gadarene had been healed. The hogs had been slaughtered. Then the whole multitude of the
country The whole multitude. The whole multitude of the country
of the Gadarenes round about besought him. They had a citywide
prayer meeting. They all besought him. Had a
city council meeting and they wound up praying. We the folk of Gadara have resolved
that we don't want to see your face anymore. Look at that. They besought him. to depart
from them, for they were taken with great fear. And he went
up into the ship and returned back again. He did exactly what
they asked him to do. Now, the man out of whom the
devils were departed, besought him. Same word. He begged him. He pleaded with him. He prayed
him. that he might be with him. Lord, let me always be at your
side. Lord, let me always walk right
here with you. But Jesus sent him away. What
a word! return to thine own house, and
show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his
way, and published throughout the whole city how great things
Jesus had done unto him. And it came to pass that when
Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they
were all waiting for him. Now here's a legion of demons
praying that the Lord Jesus Christ might Grant them the request
that they might be given over to a herd of swine rather than
cast into the bottomless pit of hell. And the Lord Jesus said,
all right, have it your way. Here's an entire city, an entire
city. The whole city represented by
these men who speak for them, pleading with the Son of God
to depart from their coast. And he said, goodbye. Goodbye. And here's a saved sinner. One out of whom the Lord Jesus
Christ had cast a legion of devils. One whose heart burned with love
for Christ. One whose soul was full of gratitude. One who was devoted to the Son
of God. Praying that the Lord might graciously
allow him ever to abide in his presence. The prayer of an earnest
soul. The request of a loving heart. And the Lord Jesus said no. No. No. What do we learn from these things?
Why are they recorded in the book of God? Well, they're not
here just to fill up space. They're written here for our
learning and admonition by the work of God the Holy Spirit.
Now first in verses 31, 32, and 33, the Lord Jesus Christ immediately,
without hesitancy, without any word of explanation, He immediately
grants the request of a legion of demons. These demons besought
Him. They besought Him that He would
not command them. What language? Lord! Don't issue
your sovereign command and cast us into hell. Not yet. Not yet. There were there a herd of many
swine feeding on the mountain and they begged Him. They besought
Him. They prayed Him that He would
suffer them. Would it be alright? Would you
give us permission? Now remember, we're talking about
the demons of hell. Would you give us permission
to enter into this herd of swine rather than going to hell right
now? And the scripture says he suffered death. He said, alright,
you got permission. Then went the devils out of the man and
it entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a
steep place into the lake and were choked. And let me give you three things,
four things in those three verses. Number one, prayer on your lips is no indication
of grace in your heart. These demons of hell, even these
demons when terrified with judgment, when terrified with the justice
of God, when terrified with the prospect of eternal damnation,
cried out to God in prayer. But there wasn't the least speck
of grace in their souls. Many foolishly imagine that because
they spend so much time in prayer, because they go through the daily
ritual of daily devotion, because they spend a great deal of time
on their knees, because they have a prayer on their list,
because they talk religious, because when something happens
they say, well, praise Jesus. Because when something happens
they say, bless the Lord. Because something happens they say, oh,
thank God. They think that's evidence of
grace. Not at all. Not at all. Now there is no question
at all, believing men and women are men and women of prayer.
That is, they are men and women who walk before God seeking His
will and His glory and His grace earnestly. They walk before God
trusting Him. They walk before God calling
upon Him. They walk before God pouring
out their hearts to Him. They seek to hear from Him in
His Word. They seek to know Him. But merely
exercising religion is no indication of grace in the heart. None at
all. And the more men talk about it, the more dead sure I am they
don't know anything about it. The more men talk about what
they do in religion, the more confident I am, they know nothing
at all about God. Our Lord tells us plainly, with
regard to all things spiritual, with regard to all things, with
regard to your relationship with God, don't you try to show it
to anybody. Don't try to impress anybody
with what you read. How many chapters did you read today?
None of your business. None of yours at all. How much
time did you spend in prayer today? A whole lot less than
I ought to, but I ain't gonna talk to you about it. None. Well, I just been praying and had a
good morning. Oh, the Lord's been so good. Isn't Jesus good? Just hang it up. Don't know anything
about God. Read Matthew chapter 6. Our Lord
says if you fast, don't tell anybody. Just wash your face.
Don't tell anybody you're fasting. I can't eat that. I'm fasting. When you
pray, don't talk to folks about it. Go to your closet and pour
out your heart to God. Talk to God. When you give, don't tell
folks what to do, just do it! Just do it! Secondly, understand this. Knowledge, no
matter how accurate, no matter how precise, is not salvation. Now knowledge is necessary for
salvation. I talked to you about that the
other night preaching to your own faith. But doctrinal knowledge,
precise, orthodox doctrinal knowledge is not salvation. Doctrinal heresy
is certainly damnation, but doctrinal knowledge is not salvation. These
demons knew that Christ is Lord. They called him God the Son. They spoke of him as the Messiah.
They declared plainly that there was a set time when he would
meet them in judgment. They declared plainly, they understood
that there was a time to come when they would be cast into
the bottomless pit because justice demanded it. These demons of
hell acknowledged that Christ the Lord ruled them absolutely. But they were still demons. They
were still demons. I meet a bunch of them, real
regular. Thirdly, learn this and rejoice. Jesus Christ our God rules everything
and everywhere absolutely. The demons of hell can't wiggle
their tails without permission. That's exactly right. Lord, will
you give us permission to go over here and visit these hogs
a while? Lord, would you give us permission to stay here a
little while longer? Would you suffer? Would you allow
us? Would you give the nod and let
us go over here and visit these hogs? They acknowledged that
Jesus Christ was in absolute control of them. Satan. He's accused of our brethren,
but he can't accuse unless God gives him permission. Satan's
the tempter, but he can't tempt unless he gets permission from
God. Satan would go about as a roaring lion seeking whom he
may devour. He can't devour any of God's own. He can't even roar
unless God says roar. Go look at the book of Job. The
Lord said to Job, or said to Satan, have you considered my
servant Job? The book does not say Satan said
to the Lord, can I go visit Job? The Lord took the initiative.
He said, black dog of hell, come here. I've got a task for you. I want you to go visit my servant
Job. And the black dog of hell just jumps up and down at chance.
He says, this is what you can do. And this is what you can
say. And this is where you can go.
And you can't do anything else. And he calls him up again. He
said, black dog of hell, come here. I want you to come visit
my servant Job again. I want to use you for His good. Do you understand that? Our God
and Savior rules even in hell exactly as He will for the good
of His people. And fourthly, as this herd of swine was plunged to destruction by
the influence of hell, which was once in this maniac of Gadara. By Baestas, if the Lord God had
left us as we were the willing servants of Satan in our lust,
they would have plunged us to hell. All right, let's move on. In
verse 37, we see an entire city pleading with the Son of God
to leave them. And he did. Then the whole multitude of the
country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart
from them, for they were taken with great fear. And he went
up into the ship and returned back again. The Pharisees on one occasion
said, we know that God doesn't hear the prayers of a sinner.
Oh, doesn't he? God hears not the prayers of
sinners. Looks to me like he heard them and answered them.
Gave them exactly what they wanted. But what an awesome, frightful
sight this is. At the request of these men,
the Son of God, the Lord of glory, the Savior of the world, Went
up into the ship and returned back where he came from. What possessed these men to make
such a request? They knew exactly what the Lord
had done had been reported. They saw his pout. They saw the
evidence of His goodness and His grace in saving mercy sitting
right in front of them. They all knew that man. They
were well acquainted with him. They knew his family. They knew
where he came from. They knew how long he'd been possessed.
They knew how long he'd been in the cage. They had all learned
from him, every last one of them. And there he sat. And yet they
asked the Lord, would you please leave here? Here's the Holy Lamb of God. come across the sea to visit
Gadara in sovereign mercy. Here's the Lord of glory come
down from heaven to visit men headed to hell. Here's the man who has power
as the God-man mediator over the very demons of hell who with
his word dispossesses them and takes possession of the house
where they dwell. Here is the one man who is the
healer of men's souls, here is the king of glory, the savior
of the world, and they say, Lord, please leave us. Why? Why? What possessed them? Would the Gadarenes prefer to
have a wild, demon-possessed man? roaming the streets, subjecting
their sons and daughters, their wives and children and grandchildren
to such a man, rather than have the Son of God in their midst? The answer is obvious. They would. They would. A pastor, how can
you account for that? One sentence. One sentence. They love the world. That's all. For the love of the
world, they're willing to subject their sons and daughters, their
wives, their children, their grandchildren, their neighbors,
and themselves to the influence of hell. These men were convinced in their
own consciences that if they would have the Son of God in
their midst, it was going to cost them a lot. It will. I promise you. And so they counted the cost. And they said, give us the world, give us the
demons and give us hell if you must, but you leave us alone. You leave us alone. Nothing has changed. All men by nature are exactly
like these Gadarenes. We all prefer the raging, unbridled,
uncontrolled lust of our hearts, the horrid demons of hell, the
dominion of Satan, the dark, dark influence of the abyss,
the pursuit of our lust and our follies, to the sweet dominion
of the Son of God, His grace, His mercy, His goodness. There is a day of grace. I don't
know how to explain it. There is a time of salvation,
a time when God visits men. If I read this book correctly,
and I know I am, which if it is despised will
become a day of wrath and a visitation of vengeance and the execution
of justice. This book teaches us plainly
that light despised is likely to be turned into darkness. Mercy
spurned will ultimately end in eternal misery. Let us take heed that we do not
sin the sin of the Gadarenes. Let us not be like those described
in Job 20. Or Job 21 rather, who say to
God, depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. Let us rather make this our constant
prayer. Lord God, oh Lord God, don't
leave me to myself. Lord, don't leave us. Don't leave
us. The fact is, he that being often
reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall be suddenly destroyed,
and that without remedy. And yet, when I read of the hardness
of these men, their obstinate rebellion, and I see the Lord
Jesus turning from them, granting them their request, I'm reminded
once more of his grace. You see, there was a time, not
so long ago, when I said to the Son of God, you leave here. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. When my conscience was pricked,
I'd stick my fingers in my ears so as not to hear his voice and
I'd say, leave me alone. I'd cover my eyes so as not to
see his face, and I'd say, leave me alone. I'd run fast as I could
to hell so as not to be caught by him, and I said, leave me
alone. But oh, blessed be God. He had set his heart on me from
eternity, and he said, how shall I give thee up? And he pursued
me still, and stopped me in my mad rush to hell, and calls me. to see what I would not see,
and hear what I would not hear, and rejoice in what once I despised. What is it? What will it take to cause you to quit hating God? What will it take to cause you
to quit fighting God? What will it take to cause you
to quit trying to shut Christ out of your life? The tears of mom and daddy won't
do it. The terror of hell won't do it.
The frightful sight of a man like this gathering won't do
it. Terrible embarrassment won't
do it. Imprisonment won't do it. I'll tell you what will do
it. God, step in. And if God steps in, you'll be
tickled to death to have him. Step in. Oh, step into the lives
of rebels. Step into the unclean. Step in
where you're not wanted. Step in where you're despised.
And make yourself welcome, son of God. That's called grace. Grace. All right, thirdly. Here's a saved sinner, verses
38 and 39. Praying such a simple request. He's praying for permission to
ever be in the Lord's presence. And the Lord Jesus said no. Now you figure that one out. There are a lot of things to
be learned here. Without question, this was a
passionate, fervent, excited prayer of a
newborn child. The passionate, untempered zeal
of a heart just conquered by love. But nothing wrong with that.
Nothing wrong with that. This prayer has nothing self-serving,
nothing selfish in it. But the Lord Jesus said to him,
he sent him away in verse 39, he said, return to your own house
and show how great things God has done for you. How come? Did you ever notice how strikingly
different our Lord deals with men? In churches we sit down
and draw up rule books and we say, now if Brother Lindsay does
this, or if this gal does that, now this is what we're going
to do. If he says this, this is what we're going to do. And
we draw up rule books, we all sign them, and now we got to
abide by them because we don't put us out. Son of God deals
with men, every one of them, exactly according to what was
needed by his infinite wisdom and goodness. So this man, he
sent him away. He said, no, you go back home.
The rich young ruler came to him, he said, you go sell everything
you have. Take up your cross and follow
me. The leper whom he healed was
strictly forbidden to say anything to anybody. He said, don't you
say a word to anybody. Don't you tell anybody what I've done.
Another one was not even allowed to go home and bury his dead
father. You see, our Savior knew what was in the hearts of all. He knew precisely what each case
required. And he dealt with each one according
to each one's needs. But why did the Lord Jesus refuse
this man's request? I'll give you four reasons. Number one, our master knows better than
we do where we can serve the interest of his kingdom best. He knows better than we do where
we need to be. Number two, the Lord Jesus refused this request as a great act of mercy both
to this man and to the Gadarenes. The Lord Jesus had some Gadarenes
there besides this one who were the objects of his everlasting
love and he sent this man back to those Gadarenes So that by
the word of the gospel coming from this man's lips, those men
might too be dispossessed of hell and brought into the kingdom
of God. And this man, it was good for
him that the Lord Jesus would not allow him to always be in
his presence. How on earth can that be? How
on earth can that be? Have you not often experienced
the same thing? How often, Merle, have we been
with him as Peter, James, and John on the mountain and said,
oh, it's good to be here. Lord, let's build us some houses
and stay right here. The Lord says, no. We would. We would, I have no
question about it if we're his, we would if we could walk in
the light of the smile of his manifest presence all the time. But it ain't gonna happen while
we're walking in this flesh. Ain't gonna happen. Because he
would have us constantly be reminded that we're nothing but sin. And
our only acceptance with God is in him. Thirdly, by sending this man back to his
family, the Lord Jesus demonstrated marvelous condescending grace
to his family. Wonder how long it had been since
he had been home. Wonder how long it had been since his mom
had hugged his neck. Wonder how long it had been since any of
his family even acknowledged he belonged to them. But the
Lord Jesus sent him back to his house to testify to his house
what great things God had done. In a word, the Son of God refused
to grant the request of this man's lips so that he might grant
him the request of his heart. Did you get it? He refused to
give him the request of his lips, so that he might give him the
request of his heart. What do you mean preacher? Our
Lord taught his disciples to pray like this, Our Father, which
art in heaven, hallowed be your name. That's the request of them.
Is that your request to your heart? God honor yourself. Thy kingdom come. Lord, save
your people. Everywhere. Thy will be done. God, accomplish your purpose.
Is that what you want? Is that what you want? Lord, lead me not into temptation,
but deliver me from evil for the glory of your name. The man
said, oh, that I might abide with you. But by refusing to
allow him to go with him, the Lord Jesus secured his best place
and circumstance in which to glorify God. The Son of God graciously
ordered his steps to walk in the will of God. We sometimes think, well, this
is Lord's will. I'll go here. And doesn't matter
how earnest, how zealous, doesn't matter how sincere we are, doesn't
matter how much we pray, doesn't matter how much we thought about
it. This is what God had me to do. And you run smack dab into
a concrete wall with steel reinforcement and nothing, no way to tunnel
under it, no way to climb over it, no way to get around it.
And you say, well, this must not have been it. Well. Finally
woke up, that wasn't his will. What do you mean? God Almighty
does not leave it to us to determine his will. He graciously molds all the affairs
of our lives for the accomplishment of his will. Lord, I want to go with you. No, you stay right here and you
go back over yonder. The master graciously used this
man. By refusing his request, he used
him to build up his kingdom, to save his people. And the Lord
Jesus led him not into temptation. but delivered him from evil. Now, as we observe the Lord's
table, let's remember Him who stepped in to our lives in time,
called us by His grace, revealed Himself to us, made us to know
the saving merit and power and efficacy of His blood, and gave
us life and faith in Him. And then I want to send you home.
my brothers and sisters send you home just as our master sent
this gathering home return unto thine own house go home now and
show them how great things God has done to you oh in this age of imaginary theologians. Man, the woods are full of them.
Everybody thinks they've, oh, we've got God all boxed up. He
is. I don't have any idea what it
meant. One of the churches I wrote here last week, Sheldon, I saw
a sign two or three days, God in a box. I don't have any idea
what they meant, but that's what we think about it. We got God
in our box. We got him in our Calvinistic
box. We got him in our Arminian box. We got him in our Baptist
box. We got him in our premillennial box. We got him in our amillennial
box. Let me tell you something. All the
argument and fussing and strife and debate in the world over
election and predestination And over prophecy, our millennial,
our post-millennial, over church creeds, over baptism. Now, it
doesn't matter how important those things are. All the fussing
in the world is nothing on this earth but the exercise of the
lust of the flesh. Amen, that's right. It's exactly
right. It's exactly right. Well, how
do you witness to folks? Not by beating them to death
with predestination. Nobody in this world ever got
saved by believing in predestination. Nobody. How do you witness to
folks? Tell them what great things the
Lord's done for you. Remember, the demons of hell
ruled me. They set me free. Remember, I was naked. He robed me with the garments
of salvation. Remember, I was so filthy you
wouldn't even own I belonged to you. He washed me and His
blood made me white. Remember, I was the terror of
the neighborhood. He's given me peace and made
me a peacemaker. Show them what great things God
in Christ has done for you. Amen. All right, we'll sing a
hymn and at the Lord's table together.