Okay, Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter
5. And we see in this story a demon-possessed,
wild, crazy man. A sinner, most vile, most wicked,
most wicked. And we see in this story of this
man, his conversion, how this man came to know the Lord. One time we see him running naked,
wild, and crazy, out of control. The next time we see him and
these who came to the Lord and saw this man, they saw him sitting,
clothed, and in his right mind. Now how do you account for such
a transformation of a wild, out of control, crazy man? to someone
who is sitting now at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
worshiping Him, and loving Him, and praising Him. It's all by
the grace of God. By the sovereign purpose and
grace of Almighty God. And we see this, a picture of,
in this story, a picture of how God saves sinners. Now I tell
you what, this is my story. I'm this wild, crazy man, by
nature, And how God arrested me and God came after me and
sought me and saved me by His grace. And all who are saved
by God's grace, they have this same testimony. And I love to
go and tell how great things the Lord had done for me. And
saved me by His grace. Now, notice first of all, the
Lord crossed over. It says in verse 1 and 2, and
they came over the other side of the sea into the country of
Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the
ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with
an unclean spirit. Now the Lord got in this little
boat, and remember He told the disciples, we must pass over,
let us cross over. He got in this little boat, crossed
over the sea, through this storm, and came to meet this man on
purpose. And here we see a picture of
the Lord of glory coming from eternal glory through this storm
of this life to save His people from their sin. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them. The Lord crossed over the sea
through the storm, the storm of God's wrath, to save us by
His grace." This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Remember what we read? That the
Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Do you consider yourself
a sinner? I do. I'm a sinner saved by God's
grace. Now we see something of this
man's sad condition, his sad story. It says there in the last
part of verse 2 that This man had an unclean spirit who had
his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could bind him, no,
not with chains. They tried, but they couldn't.
He'd pluck them off. This man lived in a graveyard. It says in another place, turn
over here to Luke 8, Luke 8, 27. It says over here in Luke
8, 27, another account of this same story, in verse 27 of Luke
8, and when he went forth to the land, there met him out of
a city a certain man, which had devils a long time, and he wore
no clothes. He was naked, neither abode in
any house. He was homeless, but in the tombs. This man was in a sad state,
a sad state. He had an unclean spirit, and
it says there he had devils a long time. That's us by nature. That's me by nature. We are all
as an unclean thing. That's what it says in Isaiah
65. All of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. There is
none righteous, no, not one. We're all as an unclean sinner
by birth, by nature, by choice and by practice. The heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know
it? You see, this is my story. And
if you're redeemed by God's grace, this is exactly how God saved
you. That's me, wild, uncontrollable, with an unclean spirit. And then
it says here, He lived among the dead. By nature, all of us
are born dead, spiritually dead, without God, without hope, without
Christ in this life. And Adam all died. Now listen
to me carefully. Adam was the only man that became
a sinner by sinning. That's right. I'm born that way. I'm born in sin, shapen in iniquity. Adam was the only man that became
a sinner by sinning. What I do is a result of what
I am. I'm born sinful, born dead in sin. Something else about
this man from reading Luke 8, 27, He had no clothes. He was naked. He had no covering
before God. And that's me. You know, Adam
tried to cover his nakedness after the fall with fig leaves.
Didn't work, did it? This man was naked. He had no
covering. He was naked before God. That's
how we stand before God. Naked. He sees us through and
through. Naked to the bone. He knows our
thoughts. Thoughts of our heart are far
off. He knows all about us. Naked, he had no clothes. Not
only that, the record there in Luke 8, 27 said he was homeless. He was homeless. He was kicked
out of the house. That's exactly what happened
to Adam in the garden. When he sinned, kicked out. Kicked
out of paradise. And when God kicked him out,
He kicked me out. You see what's true of the first
man, Adam, is true of me. naked, no clothes, homeless,
kicked out of the garden, put out. You remember what God put
there in the entrance of the garden so Adam couldn't get back
in by his own deed? The flaming sword of his justice. The only way back in to God's
paradise is in Christ. He took that flaming sword of
God's justice at Calvary and opened the way. He said, I'm
the way, the truth, the life. This man's condition, thirdly,
was beyond human help. It says there that no man, see
verse 3, no man could bind him. No, not with chains. Because
that he had often been bound with fetters, and that's the
chains of religion, false religion, rules and regulations. And it'll
check the flesh for a while, but eventually it'll break out.
He'll bust them loose. And that's what happened to this
man. He'd been often bound with rules and regulations, fetters
and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder, and the
fetters broken in pieces, and no man containing. The rules and ceremonies and
traditions of men won't make sinners new creatures in Christ. In Mark chapter 10, turn over
there, Mark chapter 10, the disciples asked the Lord this question
in Mark chapter 10, verse 26, can be saved, you see Mark 10,
26, and Jesus looking upon them saying, with men it is impossible,
but not with God. But with God, all things are
possible with Him. You see, no man could make this
man a new creature in Christ and raise him from the deadness
of sin and and take him out of the kingdom
of darkness and translate him into the kingdom of God, dear
son. That's the work of grace. That's the work of God alone. Something else about this man
in verse 5, back in Mark 5, verse 5, he was always, night and day,
he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting
himself with stones. You know, this man was a miserable
man. A miserable man. had no comfort, he had no peace,
he had no satisfaction. No satisfaction. He tried to
operate on himself. He tried to help himself by cutting
himself and crying out and he could not give himself relief.
I tell you, that's me. That's me when I grew up in works
religion, miserable, miserable, miserable, no comfort, no peace,
Couldn't help myself, always crying and cutting, trying to
find a way out. And I tell you what this is a
picture of here, it's religion without Christ. That's what it
is. It's religion that makes the
natural man absolute, full of misery. Turn over here to Isaiah
57. It describes those wicked who
have no peace. Isaiah 57. Verse 20 says, "...the
wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose
waters cast up mire and dirt." Have you ever been to the ocean
when there's a storm coming in, and you notice how that water
even changes color as it starts to wash in all that sand off
the bottom? That's like the wicked, and the
wicked are like the troubled sea. No rest. And they just cast
up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God,
to the wicked. To the wicked. So we see this
man's terrible, terrible condition. Now who's going to help him?
Is there any help for this man? Can this man, can he be helped?
Well, yes. Yes, there is. The Master comes. The miserable man meets The Master,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The sinner meets the Savior. You see, this is why He came.
He came to seek and to save the lost. Turn over here to Matthew
9. Look at verse 11. Matthew 9.
This is exactly why the Lord came. He on purpose crossed over
that sea to meet this one particular man. He had His heart, His mind
on this one man. And that's why the Lord came.
Matthew 9. Verse 10, And it came to pass
that Jesus sat at meat in the house. Behold, many publicans
and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, you know the Pharisees, you know
who they are, the self-righteous, the religious. When the Pharisees
saw it, they said unto the disciples, Why does your Master eat with
publicans and sinners? The Lord heard that. said unto
them, They that behold need not a physician, but those who are
sick. The sick seek a physician. Go ye and learn what this means.
I'll have mercy, not sacrifice, for I'm not come to call the
righteous. I came to call sinners. And this is why the Lord Jesus
Christ came. Turn to Luke chapter 4. Turn
over here. Luke chapter 4. This is why He
came. This is why the Lord anointed him by the Spirit. He had the
Spirit without measure. Luke chapter 4 verse 18. Luke
4 verse 18, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me
to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives. That included this man. Recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of Jubilee.
Restoration in Christ. Now, back to the story. Now,
look at verse 6. Here's this meeting. And this
is not a chance meeting. You see, God ordered this from
all eternity to cross this man's path and to save him by His grace. Look at verse 6. When he saw
the Master, the Lord Jesus afar off, he ran. and worshipped Him,
and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with
thee? Jesus, thou Son of the Most High
God, I charge thee by God that you torment me not." Don't torment
me. I'm already tormented. Don't
torment me. Now usually when this man saw
somebody, he would attack them. He was a wild, crazy man. He
would attack any in a most violent rage. But now he bows to the
Lord Jesus Christ in reverence. In reverence. His state, we see
here, he said he saw the Lord Jesus afar off. And that's us
by nature, afar off from God. His actions, notice it says here
that he ran and worshipped Him. Now isn't that amazing? He ran. and worship the Lord. Now, why
do you do that? I'll tell you why. No man can
come to me except the Father which sent me. Draw him. This
is a drawing power of God Almighty. And when God drew this sinner
to himself, he ran. Draw me, Lord, and I'll run after
Thee. And that's what God does by His
grace. And this is what I experienced
in my life when I was so religious and lost He drew me. He crossed my path with the gospel
and He drew me to Himself and made me a creature of His grace,
a new creature in Christ. And notice this man said, they
worshipped Him. He looked upon Him. Our Lord
said, come unto Me, look unto Me and be ye saved. All the ends
of the earth, I am God and there is none else. Now notice this
cry here in verse 7. Even the demon spirits recognize
the Lord Jesus Christ as God. And here this man's crying out,
but I believe it's also these demon spirits crying out, crying
out with a loud voice, what have I to do with you, the Savior,
the Son of the... And notice their confession here,
the Son of the Most High God. I charge thee by God that you
torment me not. Even the demon spirits recognize
the Lord Jesus Christ as God. As God. But you know what? This
is also a confession of an awakened sinner before God. What have
I to do with you? You're the most high God and
I'm a most vile sinner. Did Paul consider himself that
old wretched man that I am? Who can deliver me from this
body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. You remember the story of Isaiah?
In Isaiah 5, he said to those people, woe unto them, woe unto
them, woe unto them. And then Isaiah chapter 6, when
he saw the Lord high and lifted up, you remember what he said
then? Woe is me, woe is me, I'm undone,
I'm a man of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the Lord. Job had that same experience.
In the last chapter of Job, I believe it is Job 42, I've heard of thee
by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see of thee. Wherefore
I abhor myself, I hate myself, I repent in dust and ashes. This
is the experience of grace. When He comes to us and convicts
us and shows us what we are, we confess that He is holy. You
see, He is light. We are darkness. He is holy. And we are most evil. He is truth. Let God be true and ever man
a liar. He is life. We're death. What have I to do with you? You're
the Most High God and you've come to me? You've come to save
me? Now notice thirdly, in verse
8 down through verse 13, notice the sovereign power of the Lord
Jesus Christ is demonstrated here. over these demon spirits. They said, notice in verse 8,
the Lord speaks with command, come out of the man. He doesn't
say, well, you know, if you would, would you please? Would you let
me do this? You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
as God speaks with absolute and all authority, come out of the
man. You unclean spirit. And you know
what? They did. They came out. They came out
and then they asked permission to enter into this herd of swine,
of hogs, and they were, the hogs were destroyed. The hogs were
destroyed. All demons and the devil himself
are subject to the power of Almighty God. That's right. God is God. The devil, now listen to me,
the devil is God's devil. The devil is God's devil. And
God uses him to accomplish His own purpose. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
Almighty who works all things at the counsel of His own will.
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, earth,
seas, and all deep places. These demons asked permission
of Him to enter into the hogs, and He said, Okay. Okay. You see, He's in control of all
things. He is our great God. Now, something else I want to
see here in verse 14 and verse 15, the report of Almighty Grace. They that fed the swine, when
they lost their livelihood, they lost a herd of 2,000 hogs. Now, that's a lot. And their
hogs, they were probably getting ready to take these fatted hogs
to the market. And here they're gone. Well,
you know, these folks got upset. They 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 here they see the Lord Jesus
Christ with this most notorious sinner. And they see Him that
was possessed, demon possessed, that was possessed. He's not
possessed no more. He was possessed with this legion,
this army of demons, sitting clothed and in his right
mind, and they were afraid." Now, we see a totally different
picture now. This wild man who dwelled among
the dead, now he's dwelling with the living God. Now, you think
about that. What a conversion story! What
a transformation story! One time dwelling among the tombs
and no one could bind him, now he's sitting with the Savior
and resting! Our Lord said, come unto Me and
I'll give you rest. Rest. Now he's no longer possessed
of demons, he's possessed by the Savior, the Lord Jesus. Christ in him, the hope of glory. Turn back to Luke 8.35. Back to the other story of Luke's
account. Chapter 8. Luke 8.35 and look
at this. Luke 8.35. And then they went
out to see what was done, and they came to Jesus and found
the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the
feet, sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus. That's a good
place to be. At the feet of the Master. Clothed and in His right
mind, and they were afraid, sitting with the Savior, resting in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice it says here, he was
clothed. Now get a hold of this. Where
did he get those clothes? Where did he get those clothes?
This man was naked. He was poor. Our Lord didn't
say, now you go out and get some clothes and I'll do something
with you. Go out and clothe yourself and clean yourself up and then
I'll have something to do with you. No, He saved him by His
grace and He clothed him by the garments that He provides. And
that's the righteousness the believer has in Christ. No longer
naked, but clothed. In Adam, we're naked. We're exposed. No fig leaf, self-provided cover
will cover our sin before God. But now in Christ, we're clothed. Now where do you get these clothes?
Now stay with me. Turn to Genesis chapter 3. Here's
where you got them. Genesis chapter 3. When Adam
sinned against God, And the Lord came and said, ìAdam, where are
you?î Now, he knew. He knew. But look what the Lord
did for him. Adam and Eve. In Genesis chapter
3, ìAnd unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make
coats of skin, and he clothed them.î He clothed them. You see, these clothing that
this wild man had was provided by Christ. And the garment of
righteousness that we have before God, that's accepted before God,
is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our righteousness. Now, I
want you to find Ezekiel. Ezekiel. And here's another picture
of this in Ezekiel. This clothing we have, this garment
of salvation we have in Christ. Ezekiel chapter 16. This is a
picture of the cast out infant. And this is a picture of salvation
in Christ. Ezekiel 16, When I passed by
thee, verse 6, and saw thee polluted in thy own blood, I said unto
thee, When thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood lived, I have caused thee to multiply
the bud of the field. Thou hast increased and waxen
great. Thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breasts are fashioned. Thine
hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now I looked
upon thee. Now I passed by thee and looked
upon thee, and behold, thy time was a time of love." He's talking
about salvation here. I spread my skirt over thee,
and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swore unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine. Then washed I thee with water. Yea, I thoroughly washed away
thy blood from thee, and anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee
with abroided work." You know, abroided work is something that
is designed and meticulously made. I clothed thee with a broided
work, and shod thee with a badger skin, a durable covering. I girded thee about with fine
linen, and I covered thee with silk." You see, that's the covering
that the believer has in Christ, and it's the Lord who is our
righteousness. Now, Isaiah 61.10, turn over
there. Isaiah 61.10. You see, this man was no longer
naked He was clothed by that garment provided by the Savior
who supplies all our need according to His riches in glory through
Christ. Isaiah 61.10, I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. Isaiah 61.10, For He hath clothed
me with a garment of salvation. He hath covered me with a robe
of righteousness as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments.
as a bride adorneth herself with jewels." Isn't that a glorious
picture? Now back to the text. Mark chapter
5. So, now he's sitting with the
Lord. He's one with Him. He's possessed
of the Savior. Dwelling with the living God.
He's no longer naked. He's clothed. And then it says
there, he's in his right mind. He's in his right mind now. What
kind of mind did he have before? Well, he was in his wrong mind.
He was in a fallen mind, a fallen state. His mind now, his thoughts
are changed. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. The believer now thinks right
thoughts of God, who He is, Almighty God. We think right thoughts
of self, sinner by nature. We think right thoughts of salvation. Salvation in no other but in
Christ Jesus. And we think right thoughts about
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God, our Savior. No longer do we think wrong thoughts,
right thoughts. He's in His right mind now. And
this is salvation. This is what God does for us.
And this is what God has done for me. He's given me right thoughts
about Him in the way of grace. Fifthly, a great contrast in
verse 16 and verse 18. Verse 16 down through verse 18.
The great contrast is, they that saw it told them how it befell
him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the
swine. And they began to ask him, would you just leave us? Depart from us. Leave us alone. Sad commentary on the human race. They wanted nothing to do with
this Almighty God. And that's the story of the fallen,
natural man, the carnal-minded enmity against God. Now notice
the contrast here. This man, knowing the power of
Christ within him, he now desires to be with him. And when he was
coming to the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil
prayed him that he might Don't depart. Let me be with you. Let me go with you. You see,
His sheep hear His voice. They know Him and they follow
Him. Knowing the power of Christ within
Him, He desires to be with Him, to meet His people, to hear His
Word, feast upon the blessings in Christ, and to rejoice in
the good news of the Gospel. But the Lord, He said, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. But notice
what the Lord told him to do lastly in verse 19 and verse
20. Our Lord had something for this
man. You see, this man now, being made a trophy of God's grace,
this man now has a story to tell to magnify his Lord and to magnify
the Master. And the Lord said to him in verse
19, howbeit Jesus suffered him not, permitted him not, but he
said to him, you go home to thy friends. You remember before,
he had no home. He was kicked out of the house.
Now he's going to be received back into the home. Back to,
go home to thy friend. Go home to your family. And tell
them, you tell them, not what great things you had done, you
had accomplished. Don't tell them about what you've
done. Go home and tell thy friends how great things the Lord hath
done for thee. You see, that's salvation by
God's grace. It's telling what God has done
for us. He's done all things for us.
And how He had compassion on you. And that's our story. That's our message. We go about
telling how great things the Lord has done for us. The Lord
tells you to go home to your family and friends. Don't separate
yourself. Isolate yourself. Go home. Love
your family. Love your family by telling them
the gospel, by telling them the truth. You see, it's God who
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to God's own purpose and grace. Go home
to your family and tell them. Don't go home and try to be a
theologian. You just mess it up. Go home and tell them what
God has done for you. He's made me a new creature in
Christ. Saved me by His almighty grace. And that's our story. Well, this
man did exactly what the Lord told him to do. Verse 20. And
he departed, and he began to publish. This man became a publisher. He became a preacher. Beginning
in Decapolis. And his message was this. How
great things Jesus had done for him. That's our message. And
all men that heard this man, they marveled. They marveled
at God's grace. This man submitted to the Lord's
Word, his will, and became a servant of the Lord by telling others
the truth. He told them what he experienced.
Now listen to me. Those saved by God's grace, they
preach God's grace. Those saved by sovereign grace,
they preach sovereign grace. Those who believe salvation is
of the Lord, that's exactly what they preach. Salvation is of
the Lord. Now you run into a man that says
that salvation is by you doing this, and you doing that, and
you coming forward, and you making this, and you doing that. Well,
that's his hope. What he had done. So that's what
he preaches. Our message is just the opposite.
It's telling how great things he has done for us. He loved
me. Remember what we read in the
beginning? Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin
in His own blood. Who did that? That's what He
did for us. To Him be all the honor and glory,
both now and forever. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
that and help us to go home to our community, to our friends
and tell them how great things He has done for us. He's done great things. Our great
God has given us great salvation. in Christ Jesus. Okay.