He mentioned to me how many children
and grandchildren that he had and how many friends that he
had. And you never know how much a
man touches your life or how much you touch another's until
you see a gathering such as this. We're here tonight because Terry
made a last request to me in his deathbed as he's laying there.
took my hand and he told me that he wanted me to declare the gospel
unto his friends and unto his family. I promised him I would
do that. During these times, we're often
many different times that I've been to funerals or I've been
to memorial services, celebration of life. I've seen people give
credit to the person that they are in remembering the life that
they lived, the things that they had done, and they're drawing
attention to that. But I know Terry would not want me to tell
you about Terry. He would not want me to give
Terry praise. He would want me to give praise
unto his Lord and Savior. And that's what we intend to
do here tonight. I had the wonderful privilege of being his pastor
for almost six months. That doesn't seem like a very
long time, and it certainly isn't. It went by very quickly. but
I fell in love with the man very dearly. He was dear to my heart,
and he was very kind to my family. I want to tell you that the most
precious thing to me that I seen in Terry was what his confession
was, what his hope was, what his righteousness was, and it
wasn't in Terry. It wasn't in himself. It wasn't
what he had done. It wasn't what he knew. He didn't
confess that he knew something that had made him right. He had
Christ, his wisdom, that was his confession. He had Christ's
righteousness, that was his confession. It wasn't that Terry was getting
better, better and better. Men say that they believe in
something called progressive sanctification, meaning that
if you're saved, you're gonna get better and better as time
goes on. That's not in the Bible. It's not true. Terry didn't believe
he was getting better and better. He would be the first one to
tell you he's getting worse and worse, wouldn't he? If you knew him, you knew
that to be true. Terry's confession was Christ
as his redemption. During these times, we look for
peace and we look for hope. There is no peace to the spirit
outside of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no
hope outside of his gospel. And I want us to look in 2 Corinthians
5. If you have a Bible close by
and you'd like to turn, 2 Corinthians 5. This is where we can find peace
to our soul. This is where we can find hope.
Second Corinthians chapter five. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with
our house which is from heaven. Terry had a clothing, and the
clothing was the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
verse three says, if so be that being clothed, we shall not be
found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up in life. Terry's mortality was swallowed
up in life. to a week this past Sunday. Now he that hath wrought us for
the self same thing as God, who also hath given unto us the earnest
of the spirit, therefore we are always confident. Terry was confident
in one thing, and it was the Lord Jesus Christ and what he
accomplished. We are confident always knowing
that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from
the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident,
I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to
be present with the Lord. When Terry took his last breath,
he awoke in the presence of the King, the presence of the sovereign
creator and sustainer of this universe. Terry had a great hope,
and that's what I hope, that we're able to find peace on this
hour. Let's pray. Father, we've come
into your presence, confessing only your righteousness, not
our own, confessing your blood alone. We are here to remember
the blessed hope that our brother Terry had. We ask that you would
send your spirit to this place and that you would be seen Lord,
you would calm our minds. You would still us for a moment
and let us see you. We ask these things in Christ's
name, amen. Let's take our hymnals and turn
to number 256. Number 256. I would typically have a stand
together, but I believe that might be difficult seeing the
capacities about reach. So, let's just remain seated. When peace like a river attendeth
my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot,
Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. ? It is well, it is well, my
soul ? ? Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come ? ? Let this blessed assurance control that
Christ hath regard ? my helpless estate and hath shed his own
blood for my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. ? My sin, oh the bliss of this
glorious thought ? ? My sin not in part but the whole ? ? Is nailed to the cross and I
bear it no more ? Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul, with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. ? And Lord haste the day when my
faith shall be sighed ? ? The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
? ? The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend ? ? Even
so it is right ? my soul. It is well with my soul, with
my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. ? How deep the Father's love for
us ? ? How vast beyond all measure ? ? That he should give his only
Son ? ? To make a wretch his treasure ? ? How great the pain
of searing loss ? The Father turns his face away, as wounds
which mar the chosen one bring his elect to glory. Behold the man upon a cross,
my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there
until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought
me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything. No gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His blood hath paid my ransom. I will not boast in anything.
That is exactly what Terry told me. He had nothing to boast in
except for Christ and Christ's righteousness alone as his own
righteousness. I preached a message several
years ago on the master and the maniac. And Terry heard that
message as he was laying there, unable to do very much else.
He told me that it just so happened it popped up on the TV. Don't
you love the just so happens that the Lord causes and purpose
and bringing to pass everything that he's designed, everything
that he's ordained. That's what happened. Popped
up on his TV and he listened to it. And he said, that is what
I want you to tell my family. That is what I want you to tell
my friends. The ones that I love. So our
text will be tonight in Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. And we're going to read just
a few verses. Starting with verse 1. Mark chapter 5 verse 1 says,
And they came over unto the other side of the sea into the country
of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the
ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an
unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no man could
bind him, not with chains, because he had been often bound with
fetters, and often 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 and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw
Jesus, but when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and he worshiped
him. This hour, my hope and my intention
And my plea unto the Lord is that we would see ourselves as
maniacs, and that we would see Christ as our only hope. We see
that the Lord, this begins the account, just any other account
where the Lord does something for someone, it takes God to
make the first step, God to do something. And he does, in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he travels from Capernaum to
the Gadarenes. Now, geographically speaking,
this is on the Sea of Galilee. He went from the highest point
of the North on the Sea of Galilee to the lowest point South to
get to Gadara. He immediately meets, or I should
say immediately a man met him who was possessed with devils.
He was naked. He was in chains often where
men were trying to fix him or help him or correct an action
that he was doing. He was out of his mind. Ironically,
last week we had a maniac come into our congregation, last Wednesday,
and he interrupted the service. And why is that relevant? Because
I've never really met a man that was literally out of his mind
before, but I met a man last Wednesday that was out of his
mind. Nothing he said made any sense. Everything he talked was
in circles and you couldn't reason with the man in any way. And
that's exactly what's going on right here, is this man was out
of his mind. He had an unclean spirit, the
scripture says. And if you look up that word
unclean, it's the same unclean that you'll find in the book
of Leviticus under the law. The things that were unclean
under the Lord, an abomination. It was an unclean spirit that
he had. So to try to fix his condition,
day and night, he would cut himself, wouldn't he? And he would cry
out. He would continually cut himself and cry, night and day. This man's only hope is that
God, that the Lord Jesus Christ would condescend to where he
was and put him in his right mind. And he did so. The Lord
had to intervene and he did so for one maniac. The Lord did
not save anybody else on this particular journey that he took.
On this particular passage, going from Capernaum to Gadara, he
saved one man. this maniac of Gadara. As soon
as the maniac saw Christ, he fell and worshiped him. Now,
as this parable goes on, this passage, this, a lot of times
we use the term story, but a story can be true and a story can be
false. And so therefore it has to be a passage, because this
is a true account that took place. As it continues on, we find that
this man is made to confess something. He's asked by the Lord Jesus
Christ, what is your name? What is your name? And you know
what his confession was? Legion, for we are many. Legion
is around 6,000 men in an army garrison. It's a number that's
given unto men of the military. So we can see the instance here
is he had a lot of demons inside of him. He had a lot of influences
going on there, didn't he? So we see his confession of what
he was. We see that he confesses that
he is legion and immediately he begins to beg. There was some
swine afar off, some hogs, some pigs. And he says, don't send
us away into the countryside, but send us into these swine.
Now I'll remind you, that this man had an unclean spirit named
Legion. And on top of that, he was begging
to go into unclean animals. Hogs are considered unclean under
the Levitical law. And he was given permission.
And I'd love that, that he had to ask permission from God before
he could do anything. Do you like that about God? I
love the fact that God reigneth. He's not asking permission for
anything, but yet everyone must ask him for permission, even
the devil of hell. Isn't that glorious? And he asked
him, he said, can we go into those hogs? And the Lord gave
him leave. He gave him permission. He says, yes, I will allow you
to do that. And he does so. Upon entering
into the hogs, they run headlong down a cliff into the ocean.
They drowned into the Sea of Galilee and all of them drowned.
Now, the minute the city come, the farmers, seeing that their
hogs are all dead, But they also see something else. They see
this man who had been crazy. He'd been a lunatic. He'd been
out of his mind. He's been a maniac. How long? The scripture is not
clear. Either way, they found him clothed and seated and in
his right mind. And they were afraid. They weren't
afraid to worship the Lord. not the fear that repentance
gives where a man will worship God and acknowledge him as he
is. They were afraid because he was
a threat to their position. He was a threat to their power
too. They had no power over him. Do we see that? And so they said,
leave, get out of our country. We don't want you here. We would
much rather had this man be a maniac and had our hogs back, leave.
And so it is today with men. Men would rather have their hogs
than have the Lord Jesus Christ, wouldn't they? They'd rather
have their earthly possessions. They'd rather have their power than
have the Lord Jesus Christ. The maniac asked the Lord after
he was clothed, seated, and in his right mind, he asked him
a request. He says, can I go with you? He
wanted to go with Christ. He wanted to follow Christ. And
the Lord said, no. And I would bring your attention
to verse 19. How be it Jesus suffered him
not, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends, and tell them
how great things the Lord had done for thee and hath had, hath
had compassion on thee. I will probably upload this message
tonight, this sermon as being Terry's memorial. But if I was
to title it, it would have been just that, compassion on the
maniac, compassion on the maniac. So how is this Terry's hope?
Why did he say, this is my hope, tell my friends and family this
particular passage? Why do you do that? Because this
isn't just a humanitarian effort by the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is a gospel message. There is a spiritual message
all throughout the scripture. The scripture tells us clearly
that Christ is written, that the volume of the book is written
of him. He's on every page and yet chooses whether he reveals
himself or not to us. My heart's desire tonight is
he would be willing to reveal to us that we are maniacs by
nature, that we are maniacs and we need Christ to cause us to
be clothed and seated and in our right mind. This account starts with God
deciding something, doesn't it? Christ decided to get into the
ship. Christ decided to go south. Christ is sovereign as God over
all. The earth is the Lord, the fullness
thereof. He inhabits all things according
to His purpose. All things exist according to
His will. And He decided, He chose to condescend
unto this earth. He chose to become a man to save
His people from their sin. He's the one that made the decision
to do so. In the covenant of grace, before
time ever began, the father and the son entered into a covenant. The father elected a people,
Christ then condescended as a man and redeemed those people and
the spirit quickens them in time. This is the covenant of grace.
This is what Terry's hope was. This is what he wanted me to
declare to you this hour. I wanna show you that in 2 Timothy
chapter one and verse nine, we have this written. on our bulletins. This is one of my favorite passages
of scripture that clearly defines the Lord's sovereignty and salvation. Second Timothy chapter one in
verse nine says, God who had saved us and called us with the
holy calling, not according to our works, not according to our
works. but according to his own purpose
and grace." That's about as clear as you can get it. It's not according
to your works. It's according to God's purpose. It's according
to God's grace, which was given us in Christ before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death. See, that was Terry's
hope. It was the same as Paul's hope. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? Christ abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. When did this happen? He just
told us. Before the world began. I want to be very clear on something
right now. If the Lord loves you, If the
Lord loves you, He has always loved you. If you are in Christ,
if you are seen in Christ now, you will always be seen in Christ,
and you have always been seen in Christ. That's why Paul said,
nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus. See, we're talking about an eternal God, a sovereign
God, a God that does not change. He has not had a single new thought. He exists. We can't understand
that, but we believe it. And it's our hope that He is
sovereign in salvation, just as He is sovereign in everything
else. He saved us, notice that, He saved us and then called us. When were we saved? We were saved
in the covenant of grace before the foundation of the world.
Then in the fullness of time, Christ came and redeemed us back
to the Father. And then in the fullness of time,
He calls every one of His sheep that He died for. He calls them
by His grace, irresistibly. What are we saved from? We're
saved from sin. We're saved from ourself. I was
talking to my daughter the other day, and she made a very good
observation. She said that a dog is a dog,
not when it barks, but it barks because it's a dog. I'm going
to say that again. A dog barks because it's a dog,
not to become a dog. Terry would tell you that he
was a sinner, not because of what he did. Now, certainly he
sinned. Terry was a sinner because he
was born in sin and shaped into iniquity. And he had a blessed
hope in a savior that saved him. And he had no part of it. That
was his hope. Because if you have any part in salvation, if
I have any part, if Terry would have had any part in his salvation,
he would have told you he had no hope. He would have messed
it up. I would mess it up and you would mess it up. But God
did the saving, didn't he? One man's disobedience, all were
made sinners. All were made sinners. So by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Under this
Levitical law, we are pronounced unclean. We are pronounced maniacal. We are pronounced a dead dog
sinner. The scripture likens us as human
beings being born as a maggot, a worm. And if you look up the
definition of worm, it's a maggot. That's how the Lord views a human
being by themselves. That's how detestable we are
just by being born. We don't even have to do anything.
It's the blood that flows through our vein from our father, Adam.
That's what we inherited in him. But by the obedience of one,
the Lord Jesus Christ, choosing to condescend, become a man and
die for his people, he hath redeemed us back into God. And now we
are presented as perfectly righteous unto him. When the fullness of
time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. And
the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph, said, call his name
Jesus. Did he say he's going to try
to save his people from their sin? No. Call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. And he did. We
have the declaration from God himself hanging upon the cross
saying, it is finished. We have the affirmation of the
heavenly father accepting that sacrifice by resurrecting his
son. We have the confirmation, the assurance, the full assurance
that whosoever the Lord shed his precious blood for has been
made perfectly righteous. He didn't try. He saved his people. When the Lord entered into the
covenant, he knew that in becoming a man, his time would come to
where he had to taste death. He had to drink of the cup of
damnation. He who knew no sin had to become sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. And he did. He drank
the cup dry. And whosoever's sin he was bearing
was put away. It's substitution. Do we see
that? He stood in our stead. He took our sin and gave us his
righteousness. He took our guilt and our shame,
and he gave us nothing but peace, nothing but hope, nothing but
eternal joy. Terry's experiencing that eternal
joy right now, isn't he? That's our hope. His confession
is what I'm communicating with you right now. This is what Terry's
confession was. This is what his hope was. all
those given to him of his father. In time, the Lord reveals that
they are sinners, that they are maniacs, that they are out of
their mind and they need the Lord to do something for them,
that he would put away their sin. And he did for his people. And my question this evening
to us is, are you a maniac? Are you a maniac? Now, certainly
that would be insulting if you were to ask somebody that, especially
meeting one the other day, I wouldn't want to be called that. But when
I'm talking about spiritual things, we are born in sin and shapen
into iniquity. The scripture says, and when
David was speaking, he said, in sin hath my mother conceived
me. So to ask someone, are you a
maniac? The only way Terry would have confessed that is if the
Lord revealed that to him. And do you know what he told
me? He said, tell them I was a maniac. That's what he told
me to tell you. Tell them I was a maniac before the Lord called
me, before the Lord revealed to me who he was and who I am,
who he is and who I am. I was a maniac. I'll remind us of the definition
of a maniac. I didn't know what the definition was, so I looked
it up. It's exhibiting extreme symptoms of wild behavior, dangerous
to yourself or to others, dangerous. Now, men and brethren, there
is nothing more dangerous or damning to the soul than to try
to dethrone God, to try to take him off of his throne. And one
might say, well, we don't do that. That's exactly what Eve
did in the Garden of Eden. She tried to become God. Remember
what Satan said to her? The day that you eat of this
fruit, you shall not surely die. He changed one word from what
God said. God said, if you eat of this tree, ye shall surely
die. And what did he tell Eve? You shall not surely die. He
gave one word, one word changed it into a lie, didn't it? That's
all you have to add to the gospel to change it into a lie. Satan tempts her by saying, but
in the day that you eat of it, you'll be like God. That's the
same word as using the verse before the word God. He told
her you're going to be God if you eat that fruit. And boy,
that sounded really good to Eve in so much that she did it. She
saw that it was pleasing to the eye. It was good to eat. It was
going to be good for popularity. It was going to be good for pleasure.
It was going to be good for power. And that's the three things that
men struggle with, with sin. It's the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eye, and the pride of life. We're going to struggle
with that until the day we die. And she took of the forbidden
fruit, thinking that she would be made like God, trying to take
him off of his throne. That's what she would do. And
that's exactly what Satan did in the beginning, was that I will ascend above
heaven. I will become as the most high. Men do this today by devaluing
the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ, devaluing
it. How do they devalue it? Well, they say things like, let
Jesus into your heart. You can't let Jesus do anything.
He's God. God is on his throne. We don't
let him. God lets us, doesn't he? God
controls us. We don't control ourself. We
don't, now certainly according to the flesh, we are guilty every
time that we sin, but understand something. The lot falls in the
lap, but the whole disposing is of the Lord. We are guilty
before God for everything that we do. Man has devised works
religion to try to please God, to try to do something, to maybe
sit higher than their peers. Men do that in order to be seen
of other men as being righteous, as having their own righteousness,
which is of the law. It is to say that Christ's blood
is not sufficient, that you have to do something in order for
Christ to be made effectual, for his blood to be made effectual,
for God to save you, you have to do something. It's not true.
When Christ said it is finished, all those for whom he died were
declared as perfectly righteous because their sin was put away
instantly. To think otherwise is maniacal. What do we contribute to salvation?
What can we do that would please God? Terry knew the answer to
that. Nothing, nothing. You cannot
do anything to please God. The scripture says clearly, they
that are in the flesh cannot please God. The Lord said, you
did not choose me, I chose you. When you were dead and trespassed
and in sin, when you were polluted in your own blood, when you were
dead, I passed by you. I had mercy upon you. I said
to you, live, live. And you became alive. What did
Ezekiel and the Lord have a conversation about? Can these dead bones live?
Lord, thou knowest, if they're gonna live, you're gonna have
to do it. And the Lord caused them to become alive, didn't
he? Tells us in Romans chapter nine, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy and whom I will, I will hardeneth. I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. That was Terry's
hope, is that the Lord had compassion upon him. That's our hope, is
that the Lord would have compassion upon us, that he would do something
to save us, because we cannot save ourself, we're out of our
mind. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but it's of God that showeth mercy. Scripture tells us clearly that
it's not works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy hath he saved us. Not works of righteousness, which
we have done, but according to his mercy. Is that your hope?
Is that he would show you mercy? If this is your hope, you have
the same hope as Terry. You have the same confession
as Terry, that Christ is all in salvation. That was Terry's
hope. Terry hoped in God's will. Terry
did not hope in Terry's will. Terry hoped in God's will. He
hoped in what God did in saving his people, not in what he did
to save himself. He hoped that whenever Christ
did not save himself on the cross, men was mocking Christ. Men were
mocking him, saying, if you be the Christ, come down from there,
save yourself. But he could not save himself. They said that,
didn't they? Others he saved himself, he cannot save. Not
a truer statement has ever been said, because if he would have
saved himself, you and I would have been damned forever. Damned
forever. But he did not save himself.
He submitted himself unto the father, bearing the sin of his
people in his own body. And God poured out his wrath
upon his son, bearing our sin in his body. Justice was satisfied,
eternal justice. So what do we see now? We see
a seated savior at the right hand of God. No more work to
be done. The high priest of the Old Testament continually offered
sacrifice, but the Lord Jesus Christ, when he had offered his
blood one time, sat down on the right hand of the father. He
successfully redeemed his people. Much like this maniac, men try
to take religion into their hands when they see their self as sinners.
They try to take chains and they'll bring bondage upon themselves. They'll taste not, touch not,
handle not. They'll cut themselves as in cutting the flesh away.
They'll try to discipline themselves in order to please God. God is
only pleased with one and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. God
is only pleased with his son. You must be found in Christ or
you do not have a righteousness and you cannot put yourself in
Christ. He had to do that before the foundation of the world was
ever laid. Men try to fix it when they see their self as sin,
and this is called iniquity. What we do to try to fix our
sin is called iniquity before the Lord. But in the flesh, we
cannot please God. This maniac, all he had to do
was come to Christ, didn't he? All he had to do was leave Gadara
and go to Capernaum, where Christ was. He didn't even know where
Christ was, did he? Didn't even know who God was. Soon as he
seen him, Legion recognized him. But the reason that this maniac
worshiped is because of God revealed himself as he was. Do we see
that? And as soon as he revealed who
he was, what was the confession? The maniac confessed what he
was, what was in his heart, what was going on inside of him. And
the Lord got rid of it, didn't he? And that's what he does for
his people. He seats us. He seats his people clothed in
his righteousness and in the right mind. This is what Terry's
hope was. See, it's not what we believe
in. You can believe in Santa Claus
if you want to, that doesn't make him real. It's not what we believe
in, it's who we believe on. We believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, don't we? It's not what we know. It's not
a head knowledge that we've come to because we've studied and
attained to it. Terry talked to me several times
about how often he would spend times in books and learning different
doctrines, learning different things that he thought would
bring salvation. And he confessed, he said, I
was a maniac. That was my problem. I didn't
know who God was. It's not what we know, it's who
we know. It's not what we preach, it's who we preach. I'm declaring
unto you a who. the Lord Jesus Christ, the way.
Christ did not make a way. Christ is the way, the truth
and the life. Anything else is a lie. Paul
said, I know whom I believe that I am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. If your hope is in your knowledge,
you're a maniac. If your hope is in your decision
that you've made, then you're a maniac. If your hope is in
your self-righteousness, then you're a maniac. Terry told me
that he was a maniac before the Lord came and revealed himself
into him. Men believe that they prayed
a prayer and the Lord was pleased with that prayer. Did you know
that you can't produce anything that pleases God? We don't produce
the faith to please God. Christ did, and he bestows that
faith upon us. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Christ bestows it upon his people. Terry told me that he kept...
Studying he kept working. He kept trying and he said all
I was doing just cutting myself and crying day and night day
and night I was just cutting myself thought that I was pleasing
God thought that I was sitting a little higher than everybody
else and Because I didn't do this and I did this God would
be pleased with me We can't please the Lord because we are in the
flesh This is what Terry confessed to me We are shown by the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that we have a legion of self-righteousness
in us. That's what this legion represents.
Certainly represents demonic influence, certainly represents
being out of our mind, but it's a legion of self-righteousness.
It's everything that we have, that we hold on to, that we do
not come to Christ because of. It's a legion of self-righteousness. I want you to notice in verse
six, it takes revelation. It takes the revelation of Christ.
But when he saw Jesus afar off, if he would have never seen Jesus
Christ, he would have never been put in his right mind. God had
to come to where he was. He had no hope of coming to God.
He was out of his mind. He didn't know which way was
up, but when he saw Jesus, he ran to him. That is the same
for every single child of God. As soon as we see Christ, we
run to him. The good news of the gospel,
the good news of this blessed hope, is that Christ did not
come to call the self-righteous. Christ did not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. He come to call those who are
out of their mind. He come to call those who are
holding onto something that they have done as their hope of their
salvation. He come to put that out of their
mind. He come to put them in their right mind, confessing
that Christ is all. And that's what he does. He shows
us that we're a sinner. He shows us that everything that
we've done is because we've been demonically possessed, that we're
maniacs by nature. And he reveals Christ. Only sinners
need a savior, brethren. Only blind men, only blind men
need sight. Only the lame need strength to
be able to walk. And only the maniac, only the
maniac needs to be put in his right mind. The Lord does this
by giving repentance towards God and faith to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He changes your mind about who God is and about who
you are, and then reveals Christ as the center substitute. The
effect of this is found in verse 15, in closing. In verse 15 says,
they came and they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed
with the devil and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his
right mind, and they were afraid. He was clothed. He had a righteousness
that was not of the law, but it was the righteousness of Christ.
Christ clothed him in his righteousness. He was seated. He was no longer
working. He was no longer cutting himself.
He was no longer trying to break chains. He was no longer doing
anything. He was seated in the righteousness of Christ. And
what's the third thing we see that the Lord always does? He
put him in his right mind. He put him in his right mind.
That's what he does for his people. This gospel renders men powerless,
renders you powerless. The believer rests in God being
all sovereign and all powerful, but the non-believer can't rest
in that. Why? Because they're still maniacs.
They're still maniacs by nature. All men are sinners by nature.
And the Lord came to save sinners, but only the Lord can reveal
to you that you're a sinner. Only the Lord can reveal to you
that you're a maniac. And if he reveals that to you, he is
going to reveal the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as
he did for our brother Terry. Our hope, our hope is that God
would intervene. We are maniacs unless the Lord
intervenes, unless the Lord does something. Our only hope and
Terry's hope Terry's only hope was is that God would have mercy
on me, the sinner. God have mercy on me, the sinner,
and have compassion on this maniac. Father, we pray that you would
bless your word according to your promise. Clothe us in your
righteousness, cause us to sit down and rest in your finished
work, and put us, put us in our right mind, Looking unto Jesus
we pray, in Christ's name, amen. We're gonna sing number 199 in
closing. Christ receiveth sinful man. Number 199. me. Sinners Jesus will receive sound
this word of grace to all who the halfway lead All who linger,
all who fall, sing it over and over again. Christ, receive a
sinful man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive a sinful man. ? Come and he will give you rest
? ? Trust him for his word is plain ? ? He who claims you're
sinfulest ? ? Christ, receive a sinful man ? ? Sing it over
and over again ? ? Christ, receive a sinful man ? Make the message
clear and plain. Christ, receive us, sinful man. Now my heart condemns me not. Here before the law I stand. He who cleansed me from all spot. Satisfy its lasting man. Sing it over and over again. Christ, receive a sinful man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive a sinful man. Christ, receive a sinful man. Even me with all my sin. urge me from every spot and say,
and with him am I entering, sing it over and over again. Christ, receive us, sinful man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive us, sinful man. Steve, will you dismiss us in
prayer? Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for your message,
for this gospel that makes us alive. We pray, Lord, that through
the preaching, you'll be glorified. We are so thankful for Terry,
and we do miss him, but we know, Father, that he's in the presence
of you, and we're very thankful for that. We pray all these things
in the Lord's name, amen. Amen. You're dismissed.