My Own Experience of Grace

Q: What does the Bible say about grace?

The Bible shows that grace is the unmerited favor of God towards sinners, as demonstrated in Ephesians 2:8-9. Grace is a central theme throughout the Scriptures, revealing God's unconditional love and undeserved favor towards humanity. In Ephesians 2:8-9, we learn that it is by grace that we are saved through faith, and this is not from ourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. This emphasizes that salvation is entirely a work of God's grace and not something we can earn through our own efforts. The story of the demoniac in Mark 5 beautifully exemplifies this grace, as Jesus intervenes in a life of despair and sin, transforming him by His mercy and power.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

God's sovereignty is affirmed through countless scripture passages, including Romans 8:28-30, which depict His control over all events. The sovereignty of God is a foundational doctrine in Reformed theology, asserting that God is in complete control of all aspects of creation, including the salvation of His people. Romans 8:28-30 states that God orchestrates all things for the good of those who love Him, those called according to His purpose. This doctrine is evident in the narrative of the Gadarene demoniac, where Jesus intentionally sails through a storm to reach one lost soul, demonstrating His relentless pursuit of His chosen. God's sovereignty assures us that nothing happens outside of His divine plan, and He uses every circumstance, even including evil, to fulfill His ultimate purpose.

Q: Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

Election assures Christians that their salvation is a result of God's grace and not human merit, grounding them in humility and gratitude. The doctrine of election is vital for understanding the nature of salvation in the context of grace. Ephesians 1:4-5 states that believers were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, highlighting that our salvation is based solely on God's grace and not our works or worthiness. This truth instills humility in Christians, as we recognize that we bring nothing to the table in our salvation. Instead of fostering pride, the doctrine of election cultivates a heart of gratitude, leading us to respond to God's grace with worship and a desire to share the Gospel, much like the demoniac who went out to proclaim what Christ had done for him.

Q: What does Mark 5 teach about Jesus' power to save?

Mark 5 demonstrates Jesus' authority over evil and His ability to transform lives through divine intervention. In Mark 5, we encounter the powerful narrative of the demoniac of Gadara, illustrating Jesus' absolute authority over demonic forces. This account reveals that no condition is too dire for Jesus, as He commands the demons to leave and restores the man's right mind. The transformation of this man from a state of isolation and chaos to peace and purpose exemplifies the life-changing power of Christ. This serves as a reminder that Jesus is not only able to deliver from physical bondage but also spiritual bondage, offering salvation and restoration to those who are lost. The message is clear: Jesus came to seek and save the lost, no matter how far gone they may seem.

Q: How can I experience the grace of God?

Experiencing God's grace involves acknowledging your sin, repenting, and coming to Christ in faith for salvation. Experiencing God's grace begins with recognizing our sinful state and understanding that we, like the maniac of Gadara, are unable to rescue ourselves. It requires a heart that is willing to repent from sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who freely offers salvation. Romans 10:13 assures us that 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,' highlighting the necessity of faith. Grace is accessed through faith – it is not based on our righteousness but on Christ's finished work. This grace transforms our lives and equips us for service in God's kingdom, allowing us to share the testimony of what He has done for us, just as the healed demoniac did.

Thirty years ago, I was a madman, running wild in the darkness
of my own depravity among the tombs of the dead. And it was nobody's fault but
my own. Every attempt was made to restrain
me, but every attempt was futile. Many tried to bind me, but none
could do so. Many tried to tame me, but no
one was successful. Though I didn't know it at the
time, I was hell-bent to my own destruction. And then something happened. God stepped in. The Son of God met me in my mad
rush to destruction and stopped me, revealed himself in me, and
saved me by his free grace. He cast Satan out, stepped into
my soul, took possession of my heart and my life, made me a
willing slave to him. Oh, I thank him for it. Now today I want to talk to you
about my own experience of grace. I do so in one way or another
at least once or twice every year about this time. I could
do so from many, many texts of scripture and many examples given
in scripture, but I think that no one person more clearly, more
fully, more truthfully exemplifies what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done for me than the maniac of Gadara that's described for us
in Mark chapter 5. So if you'll turn in your Bibles
to Mark chapter 5 and just hold them on your laps, we're going
to go through these 20 verses. And I want to show you what Christ
did for this demoniac, this madman, this maniac in Gadara. And in
doing so, I want to show you what He's done for me. And I
pray He will do the same for you. That which the Son of God
did for this demoniac of Gadara nearly 2,000 years ago, He did
for me 30 years ago, and He's still doing for sinners today.
Maybe, maybe, maybe He'll do it for you. I'm going to speak
specifically this morning to you who do not know our Redeemer.
Children of God, listen in. It'll remind you of what He's
done for you, and it'll cause your hearts to rejoice. First,
look at verse 1. And they came over to the other
side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes. You remember,
as we looked at chapter 4, our Lord Jesus said to His disciples,
let us go over to the other side of the sea. And they boarded
a ship and set sail with the full awareness. No one else knew,
but the master did. He set sail with the full awareness
that in going over to Gadara, he must sail through a terrible
storm. But our Lord Jesus was on a mission
of mercy. He was going over to Gadara because
there was a chosen sinner in Gadara for whom the time of love
had come. And that chosen sinner now must
be called. You see, there is an appointed
time, an appointed day, an appointed hour when every one of God's
elect must be called. And they shall be called at that
hour. Our Lord is never late and He's never early. So He went
by boat across the sea, through the storm, to the shores of Gadara,
so that He might fetch to Himself this demoniac. That's a pretty
good picture of what our Lord has done for us in redemption
altogether. The Son of God left heaven's
glory. He came into this world and he
deliberately, purposefully went through the storm of God's wrath,
suffering all the horrid wrath and justice of God Almighty,
to the full satisfaction of justice as our substitute, that he might
put away our sins. and bring us at last back with
him into heaven's glory. And when he had done so, when
he had finished his work for which he came into this world,
when he had put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, when he
had satisfied the justice of God in every detail as the substitute
for all his chosen people, the Lord Jesus then went back into
heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the majesty on
high, waiting until his enemies be made his footstool. Just as
when he'd finished calling this Gadarene, just when he'd finished
doing his work of gracing this Gadarene, he took the boat and
went right back across the sea where he came from. Our Lord
Jesus came here to seek and to save that which was lost. His
name is called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their
sins. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy
and says, this is a faithful saying. Worthy of all acceptation. Oh unto God all will accept it. But it's worthy of acceptation.
Whether you accept it or not. Whether you believe it or not.
Whether you ever come to experience it or not. Here's a faithful
saying. Worthy to be believed. Christ
Jesus came into the world for one reason. To save sinners.
Of whom I'm number one. He came here to save sinners.
Oh, I wonder if there are any here who meet that character. Centers. Centers. I mean really. One of the hymn
writers said a center is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made
him so. There are not many centers in this world. Most everybody
is pretty good. Just ask them. There are not many centers in
this world. There are not many centers sitting in this room.
Most everybody is pretty good. We think we're hot stuff. Everybody does by nature. Or
we look at our little things that we do. We look at our outward
transgressions and say, I know that's not right. I know I'm
not perfect. Nobody's perfect. And that's
a cop-out for us. That's an excuse. But nobody,
nobody, nobody acknowledges himself to be a sinner until God the
Holy Spirit makes you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner. And
this is the promise of the gospel. For every sinner, there's mercy. For every sinner, there's mercy. For every sinner, there's grace. For every sinner, there's salvation. Christ came to save sinners! And wherever he finds one, he
saves him. Wherever he finds one, he saves
him. No exceptions. Oh, may he this day find sinners
in this place. You know that he was manifested
to take away our sins, and that's exactly what he's done. God commends
his love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Not only did our Lord come to
save sinners, he came to the shores of Gadara to save the
least likely of these Gadarenes. If we were going around in the
shores of Gadara and looking for someone that we might take
into our home, someone that we might want to bring home for
dinner, someone we might want to have to be a close associate. If we were looking for someone
to do a job for us, the very last person we'd look for is
this fellow here. Very last one. That's always
the way with God's elect in grace. He always chooses the least likely. He always chooses those whom
others would pass by. He always chooses those who are
the offscouring of the earth, the nothings to bring to naught
those things that are. He always does so that no flesh
should glory in His presence. The Lord God came here on the
shores of Gadara looking for a man, a man whom he would save,
a man to whom he would be merciful, a man whose sins he would put
away, and a man whom we shall see in a little while he was
determined to use to bring others to the knowledge of himself.
Well, now, that's another story. You're not only looking for someone
to show mercy to, but looking for someone whom you will use
by whom others will experience your mercy. Now, surely, surely
you'll look for someone who's brave and intelligent, well-educated,
well-defined, raised in the right atmosphere. No, he goes out among
the tombs and finds a madman, naked, depraved, bent on destruction,
a man of whom everyone else is scared to death. And the Lord
Jesus said, I'll take care. not they kill. For you see your calling brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. Just doesn't often happen, does it? I preach literally the length
and breadth of this country every year. I go to places, most of
them Just small places, sometimes large places, small churches,
sometimes large churches, but usually just a small band of
believers here and there. In this country and other countries,
in the city, in the country, it doesn't matter. And wherever
I look, I don't see anybody that looks too impressive. I don't
see anybody that looks like they're anybody. The places where I preach
are full of, the congregation is full of people just exactly
like us, just nobodies. Not many, by the way, not many
noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,
and base things of the world, and things which are despised
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught
the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. No wonder the Apostle Paul wrote,
Unto me, who am less than the least of all the saints, is this
grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ. This poor Gadarene was the object
of the Lord's electing love and the object of his choice to be
a servant by whom he would declare the gospel to many others as
well. The Apostle Paul understood something
about the wondrous mystery of God putting the treasure of the
gospel in these earthen vessels, these broken pieces of clay. And he does it that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. I had a, I won't call
his name, nationally renowned theologian. Someone gave him
One of my tapes recently, and he was listening to it, was chatting
with a friend, and he said, he said, that was a good message. But he paid me the highest compliment.
Highest compliment. He said, of course, he's just
a preacher. He's not a theologian. He's just a preacher. That's
exactly right. That's exactly right. Just a
preacher. Just somebody here to tell you. what God Almighty
has done for this sinner in his almighty grace, and what he may
do for you. God give me your attention. The
Son of God came to Gadara to dispossess Satan of one of his
captives, to bind the strong man, to take his house, to spoil
him of his goods, and he didn't leave until he did that which
he had come to do. Now look at verse 2. And when he was come out of the
ship, as soon as the Lord Jesus stepped ashore, immediately there
met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. Now mark
what the scripture says here about him. He was a man with
an unclean spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs. What a place to live. And no
man could bind him, not with chains. because that he had 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, howling, bemoaning,
and cutting himself with stones. Now in Matthew's account, Matthew
tells us that there were two of these men in the tombs of
Gadara, and so some wise acres jump on that and say, now there
you see, the Bible's full of contradictions. Matthew says
there's two, this account in Mark just speaks about one. Now
I fail to see the brilliance of that reasoning. I suspect
if there was two, there was one. Does that make good sense to
you? If there were two over Matthew's
account, there was at least one as well. And Mark is not talking
about two, he's talking about one. And why should he mention
the other if he's just talking about the one? Matthew was inspired
of God to write about the two of them. Mark was inspired of
God to give a more detailed description about one man. Perhaps because
this man was the man who was the more obviously obscene of
the two. Perhaps because this man was
the one who was more known of the two, we're not told. But
God has certainly written the word in such a manner as to give
unbelievers a rock of offense over which they may stumble and
go to hell if they're determined to do so. Now that's a word of
warning to you. When you read the word of God,
if you're looking for an excuse not to believe God, he's given
you plenty. He's given you plenty. If you're
looking for some way in which you can justify your rebellion
and unbelief and you say, well now there, there, this thing
just can't be figured out. God's given you plenty. You've
got two choices. You will either bow to God and
believe God or you'll perish under his wrath. One of the two.
One of the two. I'm not here trying to persuade
you and coddle you and get you somehow to come to reconcile
in your mind things in the Bible that you just simply could not
reconcile before. I'm here as God's servant, God's
ambassador with terms of peace. And here's his terms of peace.
Bow down! Bow down! You've got no other
options. No other options. God Almighty
demands that sinners bow to Him. And you will either bow to Him
in His Word, in His revelation, in His sovereignty, as He's revealed
in His Son, or you'll perish under His wrath. You see, that's
the real issue between God and man. The real issue between you
who are yet under the wrath of God and God Almighty is not what
you've done or don't do. It's not what you say or don't
say. It's not what you think or don't think. It's what's wrong.
At heart, an enemy to God Almighty. An enemy to God Almighty. A rebel
determined to live with your faith fist in God's face until
at last you shove him from his throne. And that just ain't gonna
happen. Just ain't gonna happen. And
notice what it's told us here about this gathering. There are
five things specifically mentioned in this passage. First, he had
an unclean spirit. That's the condition I was in
and still am by nature, and that's the condition you're in. There's no way on this earth
that I can, in words, describe the corruption of your wicked
heart and mine. If I could describe it, The language
necessary would not be fit for use in public assemblies such
as this. There's no way to describe how vile and base you and I are. Out of the heart of man proceed
all the evil, vileness, and wickedness that exist in this world. That's
in your heart and mine. Your two daughters sitting there
and mine over Lexington. That's in our hearts. Your wife
and mine. All the violence, all the wickedness,
all the evil there is in this world is in us by nature, and
you're no exception. The heart is deceitful above
all things. That's some statement. Now, I
have run across some things that were deceitful. I mean cunning,
sly, crafty, cricket, tricky, deceitful things. I've run across
some things, man just took me by surprise, like put real nothing
underneath me. But there's nothing to compare
with Merle Hart's heart. Deceitful above everything. And Don Fortner's just like it.
Yours too. Who can know it? Nobody. Nobody
but God. I said, well, if I know my heart,
you bank on this one thing you don't know. That's the one thing
you don't know. You do not know your heart. The
heart's deceitful. It's unclean. It's vile. It is
the dead of all iniquity, the dead of all corruption. Isaiah
declares that we are all as an unclean thing. Our hearts are
so deceitful above all things and desperately wicked that even
what we think is righteousness is an abomination of filthy rags
before God. Out of our hearts come forth
every abominable evil that has ever existed. I'll tell you what, if we only had an inkling of
an idea how base, vile, and corrupt these hearts are. Bill, we would
never again look at any man and say, how could he do that? You read your newspaper, read
about a father molesting his own children. You read about
a woman abusing the fruit of her womb. You read about the
barbarities and cruelties that men commit one against another.
You read about the perversion, the corruption, the moral decadence,
just everything, everything, just constantly. It's so common,
so very common, that these are the very things that form the
entertainment by which many women sit and entertain themselves
for hours. And you read about it in the
paper and you say, well, I don't know. How can a man do that?
How could a woman do that? How could that child do that?
It's easy. The heart is desperately wicked. And you who are out of Christ
are many women who oppose yourselves and who are taken captive by
Satan at his will. This poor, mad, depraved soul.
Not only unclean, he had his dwelling among the tombs. He
lived among the dead. That's where the Lord found him,
and that's where you are. I know it. I hope you've learned
it. You who live without Christ,
live among the dead. For you are dead. This man was
not physically dead, but spiritually he was. And so living among the
tombs was a comfortable place for him. He was most comfortable
among the dead. He was most comfortable outside
the city. He was most comfortable in darkness. He was most comfortable where
things were filthy and vile and unclean. That's what dead is.
That which is separated from God, vile and unclean. To touch
a dead thing, under the laws of the Jews, made a man unclean.
This Gadarene lived out there. He said, bring me some more.
Bring me some more. And he drank iniquity like water. This Gatorade, like you and I,
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in time past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just exactly like everybody else. But God, O but God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, hath quickened us
together with Christ. And then this poor wild man could
not be bound with fetters and chains that bind other men. Most men are pretty well bound.
Most men are pretty well controlled. Our prisons are getting fuller,
but they still don't make up the bulk of society. Most people,
you know, they have social fetters, chains that bind them, keep them
from behaving like they would otherwise. They have families
that bind them and keep them from behaving like they would
otherwise. They have social fears. They don't want to wind up with
no friends. They don't want to wind up with
no associates. They don't want to wind up with
no reputation. They have social things that kind of hold them
in check, keep them from behaving like madmen. Most people do. But then there are some of us.
No chain of fetters could bind, no matter who tried to put them
on. break them asunder, and have our way. Have no regard for family. Have no regard for name. Have
no regard for reputation. Have no regard for what anybody
thinks. To hell with the rest of the
world. I'll do what I want to. That's the attitude. That's the
attitude. I'll live the way I want to.
I don't care what people think. I don't care what people do.
You can live with a fist in God's face. The terrors of religion and law,
oh, they terrify for a while. And they will cause a fellow
every now and then to kind of back off and say, what on this
earth am I doing? What on this earth am I doing?
But after a while, we'll see that. Unless I'm gravely mistaken,
it seems to me that God Almighty tormented my soul with the terrors
of his law. day and night for months on end
at times, for months on end. I never went to bed without horrible,
horrible fear of everlasting destruction. And I'd wake up
in the morning, shake off the feathers, go about my business. You see, I was of the opinion
that this world existed for Don Ford. I was of the opinion that
everything else, everything else was just a doormat for Don Fortner.
Everything else was meaningless except Don Fortner. This man had some other fetters
that couldn't bind him. All those thoughts and dreams
and aspirations that cause a man to diligently give himself to
education. Indiligently give himself to
a work ethic so that he could have something and be somebody. Stand tall and make everybody
look at him. He didn't have any regard for
that. All he had regard for was the lust of his flesh and he
would not be bound. No man could tame him either. We have come to that in our society.
People find out that Chains and fetters can't bind a man and
make him any better, so they try to refine him, re-educate
him, re-train him. Our prisons spend millions of
dollars every year, millions, hundreds of millions of dollars
every year, trying to take rapists and murderers and abusers and
molesters and re-educate them. The problem is they don't know
enough. No, that's not the problem. Their hearts are wicked. And
you can't tame a madman. Now, this man would not be tamed. He was determined to have his
own way. Gentle persuasion may calm some
into respectability, but not this fellow. And certainly not
the one preaching to you. But the Lord Jesus doesn't come
to bind. He doesn't come to tame. If the
Son of God takes hold of you, He's not going to bind you with
more feathers. People think that the grace of God and religion
and Christianity is binding. Well, religion without Christ
is binding. A religious profession without
Christ is binding. Oh, my soul. There's not any
binding like that. But our Lord doesn't come to
bind. No, no, no. He doesn't even come
to tame. I'll tell you what He does. He comes to regenerate. He comes to make a new creature.
And he comes to break. I recall when Bob Blitz lived
here in town, I'd go out there and he'd talk to me about taking
those horses. And he said, what you do out
west, he said, those fellas throw a saddle on the horse and you
ride it and break it. He said, these show horses, you don't
want to break their spirits. You want to gentle them. And
so you gentle them down and you get them where you can sort of
control them. You get them so they're sort
of tame. Our Lord does it the way through our ways. He throws
a saddle on you and rides you until he breaks you. He's determined to
break your spirit. He's not here to gentle you.
He's not here to tame you. He's not here to bind you. He's
come to soothe and to save! And when He does, He does it
right. The broken are glad when He's finished breaking them.
The broken are most delighted to say, he must increase, I must
decrease, for now he's broken me by his grace. And this poor
maniac, like me, like many of you, was hell-bent to the destruction
of his own soul. The text here says he was always,
night and day, in the mountains, in the tombs, crying and cutting
himself with stones. I don't know whether any of you
have ever seen anyone who's insane. Insane people do crazy things,
we call them insane. They do things deliberately to
hurt themselves, deliberately to destroy themselves. They're
given to such terrible fits of self-hatred, anger, that they just constantly
seek to destroy themselves. And yet they're scared to. So
they don't really destroy themselves usually, they just hurt themselves.
This man here, I can picture him out in the mountains, outside
the city, in the cemeteries, walking around in his nakedness,
just cutting himself, crying, bemoaning himself Wait a minute. If you saw it, if you saw it
walking in your neighborhood, first day you saw it, you'd go
out and get somebody to build you some iron bars, put it around
your windows and doors. And you'd get your kids in and
say, stay with me. If you passed him on the street,
you'd nod and smile at him and hope he's not going to cut your
throat. You'd be scared to death of him. Because he looked like
a madman, acted like a madman, because he was a madman. But
as horrible as it was. would be to live by him, reckon how it'd be to live as
him. I know exactly how it'd be. I've been there. Playing with death. You young people especially listen
to me. I don't know what demonology is, don't know much about it.
This man was possessed of demons. But it's real. And you'll be
smart to stay away from it. You'll be smart to leave it alone.
So I won't study that. You're stupid to try to study
it. Folks write books about it, they're nuts to fool with it.
Nuts to fool with it. Stay away from it. Run from it
like the plague. Don't watch the movies about it. Don't listen
to the music about it. Stay away from it. It'll get hold of you.
It'll get hold of you. Don't play with destruction. I spent my life living as close
to the edge as I could live. Flirting with death and flirting
with hell all the time. And yet all the while scared
to death of it. That's where this madman was. Nobody wanted to be around him.
And the fact was he didn't want to be around himself. Nobody
cared for him. The fact was he didn't care for
himself. He made life miserable for everybody
else because he was miserable himself. Now, it's excuseless. It can't be tolerated. It can't be left alone. You have
such folks in society, you lock them away, you put them away,
myself included, because they'll destroy you if you don't. But
the man, oh, what a pitiful, pitiful, pitiful man. Look at
verse six. And when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him. He 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. This is the confession of a demon
spirit. Here the devil pretends to be
a worshipper of Christ. He doesn't hesitate to assume
that character whenever it serves his purpose. He comes often as
an angel of light whenever it will serve his purpose to destroy
yourself. I've seen him come here. I've
seen him come back through those doors and walk out of them again.
I've seen him in many places. He makes men and women think
they've become worshipers of God when there's no worship in
their hearts. Oh, what a cunning, crafty adversary
he is. Many serve the devil best when
they pretend to be worshipers of Christ. You see, worship from
the teeth outward is easy stuff. That's easy business. Jesus,
thou son of the most high God. What have I to do with it? Oh,
that sounds impressive. And yet worship from the teeth
outward is only blasphemy. Many there are on the road to
hell who have nothing but faith, the faith of devils. They know
that the Lord Jesus is the son of the most high God and that
he is the most high God. that there's no commitment of
heart to Jesus Christ as God. And that's what faith's all about.
That's what it's all about. It's not about going to heaven.
It's not about staying out of hell. Oh, no, no, no, no, no,
no. If that's the case, everybody'd
have faith. Faith is about commitment to Jesus Christ as God my Lord. That's what it's all about. And yet these two verses also
show us a picture of a poor lost sinner coming to Christ. I can't
pass by this without pointing out the fact that our great Savior
sovereignly and graciously used the very devils who were trying
to destroy this man to save this man. You see the text? He came, the devils came with
him. He came, the devils seemed to
bring him. And yet, he comes to the Savior.
So that the very devils who were possessing him, the very devils
who controlled him, the very devils who would destroy him,
were sovereignly used by the silent Son of God in his sovereign
omnipotence to bring this chosen sinner to the feet of the Savior. That's a sermon in itself. Look
at his place. He saw Jesus afar off. That's our place by nature. He
was afar off from Christ and Christ was far off from him.
In character, his holiness, his corruption, his is death. Far off. Far off. He was far off insofar
as knowledge is concerned. The demoniac knew who Christ
was as such. He knew that Jesus Christ was
one who is himself God. But he didn't know him. Knowing
about him and knowing him is as different as heaven and hell. As different as light and dark.
He was far off in possessions as well. This man had nothing
to offer Christ. No good feelings, no repentance,
no good thoughts, no holy desires, no holy aspirations, no great
ambitions, no preparatory works whatsoever. He cried, what have
I to do with thee? Here I am, a demon-possessed
madman. There you are, God Almighty in
human flesh, holiness and sin. I've got nothing in common with
you. And yet he had a great privilege. He saw the Lord Jesus. Though
he was far off, the Lord Jesus came to him. And he saw him coming. Oh, how I pray that he comes
to you today. How he knew, I don't know. But
this poor sinner knew some things about the one coming to him.
I suspect he knew. Because whenever the Lord Jesus
comes to a sinner in saving mercy, He makes Himself known as the
God of mercy and the Savior through whom mercy comes. This man saw
that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. He saw that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. He saw that this man standing
in front of Him is Himself God, able to save to the uttermost
all who come to God by Him. We see his prostration here.
He ran and worshipped. He ran and worshipped. That's the thing for you to do. Fall down at his feet and worship
him. That's what it means to call
on the name of the Lord, you know. It's to worship Him. Brother Greg Young was called
yesterday and read a letter to me by a lady, been raised in
a preacher's home, attended his church down there for a while.
They came out and started this new work called the Gospel. She
and her husband came out with him and got a little upset, about
to leave. But Greg just preached the Gospel
to her. After we left down there, she started listening to tapes. She wouldn't come to the service
while Maurice and I were down there preaching. She was upset. But she started
listening to the tapes, and she listened, and she listened, and
she listened. She said she listened to one tape for numerous times. And she wrote Greg a letter.
She said, the Lord has regenerated me by his grace. I found myself,
at last, just prostrate before him. I didn't ask Him to save me.
I didn't pray for Him to save me. I didn't call on Him to do
something. I just simply rejoice in the
fact that He saved me. Fall down before Him. Fall down
before Him. Worship Him. Worship Him. If this text looks like it's
full of confusion, that's because this poor soul is full of confusion.
sinners usually are when first they come to the Savior. We ought
to be gentle with them, gracious to them. You see, he was torn by powerful
influences. He was a terrible mess. He is
possessed of a legion of demons. And his heart, by nature, is
in league with hell. And yet, he is being drawn to
the Son of God by the power of His grace. Drawn to Him because
Christ has come to draw him to Him. And so at one time he seems
to speak as a devil and at one time seems to speak as a man.
Because he did. He seems to be in confusion because
he was. But this he did. He saw the Savior. And he ran and fell down and
worshipped Him. made this statement, he said, a needle will move towards a
magnet when once the magnet is moved near to it. And our hearts
manifest a sweet willingness towards salvation and holiness
when the great and glorious good of the Lord operates upon it.
It is ours to run to Jesus as if all the runnings were ours.
But the secret truth is that our Lord runs toward us and this
is the very heart of the business. How can I speak to your hearts? Run, run away now into the arms
of Christ. Oh sinner, if you would have
forgiveness, peace, pardon, and eternal life, you must run to
Christ. With nothing but sin within you.
With time fleeing from you. With eternity pressing upon you. With judgment before you. With
hell gaping beneath you. With heaven opened above you.
Only a madman wouldn't run to get it. Only a madman. And this I know. If you will run to Christ, you'll
find God your Father running to you to meet you in mercy. I've told you many times about
the prodigal son. He comes back to his father. The only time
in the whole Bible you ever see God Almighty even pictured as
getting in a hurry is when he saw his son coming. He saw the
great way off. And when he saw it, he saw who
he was, And he saw what he'd done, he saw what he'd did. Between me and my son, I said
shut the gate, I don't want to see it for what's next. I've had enough of it. I put
up with it long enough. And that prodigal kind of checked
it. But he read, and the father got
up and read. ran to meet that boy and fell
on his neck. Have you ever been so long absent
from someone you love, so delighted to see them again, that when
you see them you just almost collapse on your neck embracing
them? That's how God Almighty embraces
sinners. coming to Him through Christ,
and kissed Him, and kissed Him, and kissed Him, and kissed Him,
and kissed Him, and kissed Him. That's forgiveness. What a picture. And then in verses 8 through
13, I'll skip over this, but you can read it at your leisure.
Our Lord Jesus demonstrates himself to be the absolute monarch of
the universe. These demons, a legion of them,
a legion of them, were compelled to Christ's feet like a whipped
pair bows before the feet of its master. And they prayed for
permission to enter into a herd of hogs. You don't ever, ever, ever question
the total dominion of the Son of God. Our Savior has such power
and dominion that the demons of hell must get permission from
Him to breathe. Did you hear me? The demons of
hell must get permission from the Son of God to breathe! There's not some kind of a rival
competition between God and Satan in this world. Satan is his whip
carer. He does his bidding. And when
he gets done with him, he'll throw him in hell. When Satan
would bring pain to Job, God gives him permission. And then
he says, now this is what you can do, this is what you can't
do. This is how far you can go, this is how far you can't go.
And Satan did exactly what God gave him permission to do and
no more. And the same is true of us. Our Lord Jesus Christ is an absolute
sovereign. Now I don't know why he let these
demons go over and take possession of
this herd of swine. I don't have any idea, but I
think two good reasons. I think two good reasons. First,
he wanted this poor Gadarene to know and remember what these
demons of hell would have done to him. had it not been for His divine
intervention. As they ran headlong over the
cliff into the water. So you would have run headlong
over the cliff into eternal destruction. But God stepped in. That's all. And our Lord Jesus wanted to
get the attention of some folks standing around there, as I'll
show you in just a minute. Our Lord's purpose of grace was
not done when he saved this gathering. There were others in the region
of Decapolis who must also be saved by his grace. Look at verses
14 and 15. And when 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 that was done. And they came to Jesus. And they saw him that was possessed
with the devil. And had the legion sitting, clothed,
and in his right mind. And they were afraid. These fellows come around and
they see this gallery. Everybody knew who he was. And there he sits, resting, for the first time in his life,
at peace. Oh, what would you give for that?
I mean, be at peace, in your soul, with yourself. After 30 years, it's better than
it's ever been. He's sitting closed. Before he
was naked apparently. I don't know whether that's an
implication that he just ran around naked like some idiots
do or whether he just got mostly naked. Either way, he was naked. Now he's sitting there closed.
I was naked before God, unclean, filthy. And here I am now, clothed
with the very righteousness of the Son of God. Not only that, but he who was
uncontrollably wild and wicked is now in his right mind. Somebody said every man is a
mad man and out of his mind until he is brought to be God's man
and given the mind of Christ. That's where this man was. This man was before possessed
of the devil, now he's possessed of God. And those who saw what had happened,
this is a strange thing, I looked at this I looked at this for
the longest time yesterday. I kept coming back to it since
about noon yesterday till three o'clock this morning. I looked
at it last time. They were afraid. Here's this fella who they were
terrified of before. Now he's sitting, he's clothed,
he's in his right mind. Nobody would be afraid of him,
but they're terrified. I thought, what on earth is that
written there for? Why is that there? Spirit of
God, why did you put that there? I think I know why. Listen carefully. When God saves a sinner, others
who thought they were saved, others who thought everything
was all right, are terrified by it. Especially if the saved
man was once one of them. Especially so. I can't tell you
how many times I've had this thing happen. Somebody say to
me, well, if she's lost, I am. If he's lost, it doesn't mean
I am. And they can't stand it. They'll persecute the fellow
who was saved because it implies to them that they're lost. And
they're exactly right. These folks saw what happened
this Saturday. And they said, I don't know anything
about that. I don't know what? I don't know
anything about that. And some of you sitting out there
this morning, perhaps been members of this church for years, you've
been listening to this preacher preach, and you hear it over
and over again, and you sit there and you think to yourself, my
God, I don't know anything about that. It terrifies you. And it ought to. It ought to. Now look at verse 6 to 8. 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. Friends, I cannot imagine sadder
words coming from the mouths of men. These fellows have seen the power
of God's grace, and the power of God's judgment, and they start
counting their money, and they look at these pigs, and the cost,
and they have prayer meeting. With the strangest prayer, they
ask God Almighty to leave them alone. And you know what he did? He left them alone. Oh, God don't leave you alone. Years ago I heard Rolf Barnard
preaching a message on tape. I've never heard him in person.
He told about a young lady at a meeting who was preaching in
Detroit many, many years ago. And he said, After service was
over, back in those days, I guess everybody gave altar calls and
invitations such as that, and Ralph was preaching, and they
sung a song, and they'd give an invitation for folks to come
and confess Christ. Ralph saw this one young teenage
girl sitting about four or five feet back, and just seemed to
be terribly distressed by the message, terribly upset, terribly
under conviction. Ralph said, I walked back to
her, and I said, young lady, And he said, that time I spoke
to her, she let out a blood-curdling scream, everybody in that auditorium
could hear it. She said, my God, preacher, for Christ's sake,
leave me alone. And he said, alright, for Christ's
sake, I'll leave you alone. So she was deadly silent. She left there, got in her car,
headed down the road one mile, head on collision. She was left
alone forever. Departed out of our coast. Departed
out of our coast. Now look at verse 18. And when he was come into the
ship, he that had been possessed of the devil prayed him that
he might be with him. He said, let me go be a preacher
too. That's the first thing every young convert wants to do. A
young man saved by God's grace says, I'll go be a preacher.
I remember when God first saved me, man, I was so anxious to
do whatever I could. whatever I could for the glory
of God, whatever I could to serve His kingdom, but youth used me.
No, I shouldn't say used me. Let's back up. Youth is always,
always, always, always mistaken about what's best. Always. I
know you young people, mamas and daddies, somebody said to
me a while back, said, our parents trust us. Your parents are fools.
They're fools. Absolutely so. They're fools. Because it's not in the heart
of a child to know what's best. Not in the heart of a child.
That's the reason we are parents. That's our responsibility. To give you direction. And young
converts are no different. They need direction. I was determined
to go to school. They preached it. I couldn't
get in, so I had to go back to high school, finish high school before I could
get in college. It's best. It's best. The Lord said, not
now. Not now. No, you can't go with
me now. You mean the Lord won't take everybody that volunteers?
No. Conversion is not a calling to preach. A desire to preach
is not a calling to preach. Being anxious to preach is not
a calling to preach. Wait. Our Lord told the young man,
look at the next line. 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. Let's try it this way. You go
home and tell folks who know you and folks who see you every
day what great things the Lord's done for you and how He's had
compassion on you. Don't go talk about what you've
done for Him, what you've found, what you've experienced. Go talk
about what He's done for you and had compassion on you. And
if it's real, they'll know it. They're the ones who live with
you. They're the ones who are beside you every day. They're
the ones who know you for what you are. Our Lord sent him home with a
message. And this sinner, saved by grace, did exactly what the
Lord told him to do. He departed and began to publish
in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all
men did marvel. They heard his message and they
said, And if you'll turn over to Acts chapter 7 when you get
home, we won't do it now, but you read the beginning of verse
31 and go through the first 8 or 10 verses of the 8th chapter,
and you'll find out this fellow was successful too. God used
him. God used him. The next time the
Lord came into that region, man, there were thrones wanting to
see him. Multitudes wanting to hear him.
Folks came and brought deaf people to him. He healed them. They
came and listened to his word all day long. And when night
time came, they sat right there hanging on every word. And the
Lord Jesus fed them. Fed them with just a few loaves
and small fishes. Thousands of them. They experienced
his power and his grace, just as did Miss Catherine. May God
be pleased to bless his word now to your heart for Christ's
sake. Amen.

My Own Experience of Grace

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

What does Mark 5 teach about Jesus' power to save?

How can I experience the grace of God?

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My Own Experience of Grace

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

What does Mark 5 teach about Jesus' power to save?

How can I experience the grace of God?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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