Welcome/Visitors
“In me there is darkness, But with You there is light; I am lonely, but You do not leave me; I am feeble in heart, but with You there is help; I am restless, but with You there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with You there is patience; I do not understand Your ways, But You know the way for me.” “Lord Jesus Christ, You were poor And in distress, a captive and forsaken as I am. You know all man’s troubles; You abide with me When all men fail me; You remember and seek me; It is Your will that I should know You And turn to You. Lord, I hear Your call and follow; Help me.”
Prayer
Chained or Changed
Mark 5:7-10
7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
We are still walking through the Gospel of Mark. We’ve just covered the parable of the soils (how to know Christ, how to be saved, how to be right with God), then last week Jesus shows us the next step in faith and our call to trust Him even in the midst of storms (Jesus calmed the storm and stilled the sea) and here we are with another witness to Jesus’ power as our Messiah, our Emmanuel, God with us.
Mark 5:1-20
[1] They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. [2] And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. [3] He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, [4] for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. [5] Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. [6] And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. [7] And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” [8] For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” [9] And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” [10] And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. [11] Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, [12] and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” [13] So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
[14] The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. [15] And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. [16] And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. [17] And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. [18] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. [19] And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” [20] And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
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As a church:
We believe God is real and Satan is real
We believe in a real Heaven and a real Hell
We believe in a spiritual domain and a physical domain
You can’t see all these things, but they are real.
1 Peter 5:8
[8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Ephesians 6:12
[12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Daniel 10:2-13
[2] In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. [3] I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. [4] On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) [5] I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. [6] His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. [7] And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. [8] So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. [9] Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.
[10] And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. [11] And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. [12] Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. [13] The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,
So what’s going on here with Jesus?
We have a crazy man running around naked scaring everyone and he cannot be bound…even by chains (fetters are for the feet too)
Jesus is going to cast out the demons (thousands of them)
And it changes the man’s life.
Things to notice
Jesus ministry is now in Gentile country
Now we see the unseen spiritual realm overlapping with the physical realm
is it easier to see from the evil side? Horror movies
but people are skeptical when it comes to the side of good or light
We’ve already seen Jesus cast out demons, but this is different.
“This account, more graphically than any other in the Gospels, indicates that the function of demonic possession is to distort and destroy the image of God in man.”
The demons say…..What have you to do with me? …….What’s it to you?
The demons know who Jesus
Remember demons would only submit to someone more powerful. God is more powerful.
In the parallel account in Matt 8:29 they say that it’s not yet time for their destruction……. So they know there is an appointed time for their judgment and destruction. Humanity struggles to recognize that.
When cast into the pigs…..why do they run off the cliff? because, whatever the demons touch they destroy
That’s what Satan and his demons want to do to you and me.
So we’re not just talking about a little devil on your shoulder like the cartoons. We’re talking pure evil. Destruction, consumed, bound, enslaved, ruined.
Speaking of the spiritual world….DA Carson says “Make no mistake, it’s a battle, a war”……(a war for your soul)
The Bible portrays God as a warrior and us as His troops.
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By the end of this passage we see the man “Sitting in his Right mind”
What changed?
Jesus
Jesus takes on the worst cases it seems..Woman at the well, this demoniac, the woman with the issue of blood, the blind, the hopeless, the dead, the helpless, the sinners.
So we see this pattern that runs so clearly through scripture…
I was like this….I’ve found God…and now I’m like this
Lost then found
Luke says…He was wandering naked and wounded, now he’s found and clothed
He was witness for evil now a witness for God
He was chained, but now changed
Not old self, but New creation
Remember, though…you are in a war
More from Carson:
“……In the closing two years of World War II. The Russians were pressing from the east. The allies had cleaned out North Africa and were pressing up the boot of Italy, and then they landed on the beaches of Normandy. And in three days, they landed 1.1 million men, countless tons of . Anybody with half a brain in his head knew the war was over. In terms of numbers, in terms of equipment, in terms of logistics, manufacturing, energy levels, money, replacements, the war was over. Does that mean Hitler quit? “Whoops, sorry, let me sue for peace.” No, some of the ugliest fighting of the war came next. Wasn’t long before there was the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler almost broke out, except that he ran out of gasoline.
In other words, precisely because he’s curtailed, precisely because he knows his time is short, he is filled with fury. That’s what Revelation 12 says. Because Satan been cast out of heaven, he has been defeated in principle, he knows that his domain is curtailed and his time is short, therefore, he’s flipping angry. That’s why we have to deal with him. You see, there is a sense in scripture which tells us that the devil himself is a defeated foe. In principle, Jesus has already conquered him. He has no claim on the children of God. Our sins have been forgiven, but that doesn’t mean he quits. “Whoops, made a mistake. Sorry.” Now he is filled with fury because he knows his time is short. And some of the toughest battles, the worst mopping up of the entire engagement take place right now in your life, in my life. We must understand that that is the nature of the engagement. He’s going to try to attack us at the level of our conscience. He’s going to try to stir up hate and opposition. What he cannot manage to squash with dictatorial regimes and punishing persecution and selling people into slavery, he will try to seduce, he will try to capture by guile. And if we view the battles as merely political, or merely intellectual, or merely economic, or merely personal, we are not probing deeply enough to understand the nature of our engagement.”
How do we fight? Note: shallow faith won’t work
Ephesians 6:10-20
[10] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. [11] Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [13] Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. [14] Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, [15] and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. [16] In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; [17] and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, [18] praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, [19] and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, [20] for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
What does knowing Jesus do for you?
Keep you from being chained
Help you to be changed
John 8:36
[36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Jesus set this man free from possession. He can set you free from whatever binds you today. Whatever has you chained up.