Good Morning my beloved,
We
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On December 31st 2019, many of us were anticipating the arrival of the New Year, I believe it's safe to say there is no way that we could have predicted the things that we have seen occurring since the beginning of 2020, when the world as we know it, was turned upside down. Without warning, people were out of work, schools were closed, grocery stores were out of the basic necessities, churches were shutting down, and fear gripped the the hearts of many around the world. We saw windows shattered and buildings burned to the ground and monuments were toppled as riots broke out, and removed due to an increase in racial tensions, then we endured greatest political turmoil and national unrest I've ever seen as election results were being contested. Even amidst all the disruption and chaos, those of us who are secure in Christ were able to still rejoice knowing this world is not our home.
In our last message, Jesus said to His disciples, "Let us go over to the other side," they were anticipating rest, but they did not know what was waiting for them on the other side. Like many of us, there were moments when they were not sure that they would even make it to the other side. And, there is no way that they could have predicted the unexpected situation they would find themselves in when they arrived. The truth is that none of us know what lies ahead, so let's praise our God Who not only knows what's on the other side but has a perfect plan for His people.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for Your Word, for the tenderness of Your grace, Your mercy and compassion. Thank You for granting us the privilege of knowing the Truth, that even as Satan unleashes every weapon he’s got against, our hope cannot be shattered because salvation is secure. Lord, we pray for those who are yet without Christ, who need to know that You can grant them repentance and forgiveness leading to salvation. Father, we ask that You would soften hardened hearts, open deaf ears and grant sight to blind eyes that Christ would be exalted, all for Your glory and the increase of Your Kingdom.
In His precious name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: What is waiting on the other side?
As we return to the Word of God, we come to verses 1 through 20, in the 5th chapter in Mark's Gospel, where Mark tells us a compelling story, about a man with an unclean spirit, with one purpose in mind, to make sure that everybody understands that Jesus is God incarnate. In fact, that is how he began his gospel, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Whether Jesus is healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, making the lame walk, or casting out demonic spirits, all of which He did often throughout His ministry, or taming the natural elements, we see the limitless power of God on display through Christ.
Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 5, Mark chapter 5 verses one through twenty, I invite you
to follow along with me as I read to
set the text in our minds. This is a rather long portion of Scripture, so we will likely not get through all of it today, but it is my prayer that by the time we're finished, that you will see, that in depravity, deliverance, desperation, determination, and delight on the other side.
Mark 5:1-20.
"They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because
he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had
been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was
strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and
shouting with a loud voice, he *said, "What business do we have with
each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do
not torment me!" For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he *said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many." And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them." Jesus
gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the
swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two
thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. They
*came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed
sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had
the "legion"; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He *said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed."
Let's look at verse 1, "They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes." After Jesus calmed the storm, they went across the Sea of Galilee to the other side, into the country of the Gerasenes. Matthew places the location in the country of the Gadarenes. The fact that Scripture doesn't give us the precise name of the town is an indication that the biblical writers were not concerned with identifying certain specifics. Most scholars agree the location is the small town of Gergesa in the territory of Gadara, rather than the more remote territory of Gerasa. So, while it was the village of Gergesa, it was the town of Gadera that gave its name to the region. In other words, it's not a contradiction as some have suggested, but a matter of perspective. Both Mark and Luke are noting the village, while Matthew is noting the entire area. Either way, it was in this part of the land that the Decapolis was established. Decapolis means "ten cities," which was a Gentile territory located approximately six miles from the city of Capernaum.
Verse 2, "
When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him." They were expecting rest when they got to the other side and what they actually got is a man who was totally depraved, possessed by many demons running down the slope to the edge of the lake towards them. In
chapter 8 of Matthew's parallel account, there were
two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. But even his account of the story focuses on just the one man.
We live in a world that is consumed with sin. Issues such as abortion, homosexuality, gender dysphoria and transgenderism will continue to plague our society and are only going to get worse until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. As the people of God, we can expect to find ourselves wrestling "against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."
Verse 3, "And he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain." This man lived in the tombs that were carved out of the hillside where they put dead bodies. Luke tells us he "had not put on any clothing for a long time." His nakedness was related to his deviant sexual perversion, that’s why Luke adds it. Nakedness is a euphemism for sexual perversion. This man is a deranged maniac with supernatural strength. Not too many years ago, people in this category would be put in straitjackets and placed in a padded cell to prevent them from causing harm to themselves or anybody else, because they have incredible strength and are typically very aggressive.
Verse 4, "
Because
he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had
been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was
strong enough to subdue him." His demon driven strength made it impossible to restrain him, enabling him to get away with anything he wanted to do, this man was a danger to society and himself because demonic possession has totally taken this man over. All of their attempts to seize and restrain him were futile because he would simply break free from the
shackles and chains, and continue his reign of terror. These demons were not only torturing this man, they were tormenting everyone that came in contact with him.
These people were no match for the manifestation of evil.
Matthew 8 tells us
"they were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way."
Verse 5, "Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.'" He was running naked among the rotting corpses of
the dead, screaming night and day and cutting himself with jagged stones. This man was in living hell, unsuccessfully attempting his own life. This is an extreme case of demon possession, there's nobody else like this man recorded in Scripture. This unprecedented even for Satan, he doesn’t usually operate that way. He likes to disguise himself as an angel of light, hiding among God's people to lead them astray. If you've been paying attention, you have undoubtedly noticed a lot of pastors who are reinterpreting the Scripture to say what they want them to say claiming to bring the character and nature of God up to date. They say the Bible as it is written doesn’t fit in society anymore, so they have to reinterpret it in a way the culture will relate to.
In
His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave us the guidelines, the principles,
the requirements, He effectively said "If you’re going to be in My
kingdom, this has to be who you are, this is how you have to act."
If you’re a Christian, I believe that is imperative to understand, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a gospel of self-indulgence. Jesus didn't come to lower God's righteous standards, saying let's just obey what we want to obey; loving each other and let everybody do their own thing. In fact, He said, "Not one jot or tittle would ever pass from it till all was fulfilled." On the contrary, He raised the absolute standard back up to where God put it in the first place because the so-called religious people were ruthlessly rejecting God's written moral laws for the traditions of man. That's why He said "unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
He confirmed God's moral law in the Old Testament by saying "It is written." Then He restated the moral law of the God with clarity, "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." He confirmed the standard of marriage as God designed it, He confirmed the sufficiency of Scripture, that the Word of God has the power to save.
God's Word never changes because
God doesn't change His mind. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." They're just replacing the wisdom of God with human philosophy. Paul tells us in Romans 1,
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools." Modern Christianity is
drifting along with an anchor, moving further and further away from
God's standard of righteousness, attempting to drag the holiness of God
down to their corrupt level. The Word is to be proclaimed, to be honored, and defended, may God have mercy on the souls of those who dare to alter His Word
to accommodate their sin, denying the authority of Scripture.
Bach to Mark v
erses 6-7, "Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!" Mark 3:11 says,
"Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, "You are the Son of God!" Demons have to bow down before Christ,
they can't resist even if they wanted to.
Mark uses the Greek verb "
proskynéō," to bow down before a superior to worship.
No one could restrain him even with chains and shackles, then Jesus
shows up and brings him to his knees without even speaking a word.
Seeing Jesus from a distance, these demons probably started out with their usual standard approach of spiritual wickedness, running down the hill, screaming, ready to attack until the man gets close enough to see who’s there then "he ran up and bowed down before Him," overwhelmed with fear, he began "shouting with a loud voice, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!" Because these demons were once holy angels, they are forced to submit to
His power. In fact, you may have noticed demons always say basically the
same thing, "I know who You are, You are Son of God, the Holy One of God, Son of the Most High God." These demons didn't mind torturing this man, tormenting everybody in town, but they're begging Jesus to swear not to torment them. Luke says "They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss." They are well aware of God's divine plan and they anticipate that Jesus came to destroy Satan and his domain. What they don’t understand is that the timing is off.
Judgment is related to His second coming, not His first coming. The world be a better place if Satan and all his forces of evil would be banished, bound in hell forever wouldn't it? Scripture promises that day is coming, and these demons know it. At this point, the book of Revelation hadn’t even been written, still they knew what is going to happen.
Jesus has been banishing sickness and disease, confronting Satan, demonstrating His power over the kingdom of darkness, casting out unclean spirits for sometime now, but now He's raising the bar to a whole new level. Over the years, I have heard a number of false teachers claiming that Christians can be demon possessed, that's not what Scripture teaches. The Bible teaches
that they might be attacked, but they cannot be possessed, because of the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. Quite frankly, I can think of far easier places for these demons to dwell than a Holy Spirit controlled Christian.
Paul tells us in
Philippians 2, "For
this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will
bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." What strikes me as peculiar is demons know Christ will someday return and that they will be judged, and
they're terrified. Yet, many so called highly intelligent people are thoroughly convinced they can just do whatever they want with no thought of being judged by God.
It's just like Paul said, professing to be wise, they become fools.Verses 8-9, "For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit! And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he *said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many." Jesus commands these unclean spirits to come out of the man with divine authority to demonstrate His power over demons, they didn't want to come out of the man, that's significant because only God has that power. Then He demands to know the name of the unclean spirit, they obey Him because they know exactly who He is. By the way, Legion isn't a name it's military unit, it was to illustrate that there were many unclean spirits. You may remember a Roman legion consisted of up to six thousand soldiers. And in Matthew 26:53, Jesus said "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?' This does not mean that there were six thousand demons possessing this man, that's why he adds "for we are many." Jesus is demonstrating the extensiveness of His power. I mean it’s one thing to cast out a single demon out of a person, but to commands thousands of demons to obey, that's another thing. Again, only God has that kind of power and authority. That's the point. It amazes me how Christians today are deceiving themselves by attempting to bring Christ down to their level, failing to recognize His Supremacy. He's not on our level, He is the Holy God, Who deserves to be reverenced, worshiped and honored.
Then, in verse 10, "And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country." They didn't want to be sent to the abyss, now the demons are begging Him not to send them out of the country. Remember, this is Gentile territory, the perfect setting for the manifestation of their evil operation. They want to be able to continue to wreak havoc and chaos by tormenting and torturing the people in this region. This a testimony to Satan's power to thrive in false religion.
Verses 11-12, "Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them." This is further evidence that this is a Gentile territory because Jews don’t raise pigs. Then the demons make a rather absurd request, their beg Jesus to allow them to enter into the pigs. Scripture doesn't tell us why they wanted to go into the pigs, just that they did. We can only speculate that perhaps they need to occupy something wreak havoc, even animals have the potential to behave violently. Whatever their reason, Jesus permitted it to happen.
Verse 13, "Jesus
gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the
swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two
thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea." The man couldn't deal with these very powerful destructive supernatural beings, these pigs could not tolerate the sudden shock of their evil presence to their systems, because they immediately became self-destructive like the man when they possessed him, it drove them right off a cliff right into the sea and they drowned, about two thousand of them. I believe that Jesus permitted these demons to enter the swine because He wanted to prove that these demons came out of the man. In a rather dramatic way, it certainly validated Jesus' power to deliver the man.
Verse 14, "Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened." Keep in mind they were the herdsmen, they weren't the owners of the herd. So when they saw what happened, they fled as fast as possible to report everything to the owners of the pigs and "in the city and in the country" tells us they probably went all over every place, telling everybody they came in contact with. Or it could have been pork meat exporting business that the whole village was in on. Either way, Mark says "And the people came to see what it was that had happened." Matthew adds "And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus." Given the history of this demon possessed man, it would have been impossible to imagine, however, the pigs were the proof.
Verse 15, "They *came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the "legion"; and they became frightened." Everybody who was once so afraid of this man who was so violent, so out of control that he wasn't able to be restrained, breaking free from the shackles and chains that they wouldn’t even come near him and they find him "sitting down, clothed and in his right mind," and now that he's harmless they are frightened? It's not the demon possessed man they're terrified of now, it's Jesus. Because His power is greater than anything they had ever experienced. He has the power to deliver men and transform them. They may not have believed in Jesus, but they were not able to deny that a supernatural change had taken place in this man’s life. It's the same even today, people may not turn to Christ as a result of our testimony, but they will not be able to deny that a change has taken place in us, if we're living as we should. There is no greater power to transform lives in the entire universe than Jesus Christ.
I have heard of a number of Christians claim that they have the power bind Satan, quoting Jesus' words in Matthew 16, "whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." They're delusional, self-deceived, they possess no such apostolic gift. Jesus is speaking about binding a man in his sin or loosing him from it, depending on his response to the Gospel, not Satan and his demons. Obviously they haven't read Daniel chapter 10, when the angel was sent to Daniel, and the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding him for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help. Or Matthew chapter 17:16, "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." Even though the disciples were commissioned by the Lord to cast of demons, they could deal with the power of Satan, they failed.
Verses 16-17, "Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region." This may seem like shocking reaction but frankly that’s how all sinners are. It's sad but true, depraved people are more comfortable with Satan and their sin than with the holiness of God. It's much easier for sinful people to function in a fallen world. Where righteousness and purity exists, sin has absolutely no desire to remain. John says in chapter 3, "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil." That's why the world under the power of Satan hates us Christians. I believe that sinners today would do well to understand that if they do not get right with God, His presence is going to be terrifying.
In verse 18, Jesus honored their request, He got in the boat to leave. "As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him." What a testimony to true deliverance! This man who has delivered from sin and the power of Satan no longer wants to remain among the spiritually dead. He’s literally begging Jesus to go with Him. I’m convinced that he doesn't want to live without Jesus, and he's willing to leave everything and everybody behind to follow Him. That's what true discipleship is all about, forsaking the past in order to obtain new life. Once this man met Jesus, his life had been immediately, completely and eternally transformed.
Verse 19, "And He did not let him, but He *said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." This may seem shocking at first, but this is a tremendous reminder that witnessing to the lost is part of discipleship. Who better to proclaim the power of deliverance and transformation than those of us who have seen firsthand the power of God at work in own own life.? Once Jesus has delivered you and transformed you from your sinful past, He can do the same for your loved ones, but we need to be willing to tell others what He has done for us. I assure you that joy cannot be found anywhere else apart from a genuine encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ!
I promise you, the more time you spend with Jesus, the more you can see God's hand at work all around you, in His creation, His works of grace and mercy and the power of redemption. I can’t tell you what's going to happen tomorrow but I can guarantee you if you're paying attention, that you will see God at work. By the way, the man that was delivered from the legion of demons, was the first Jesus ever sent out to proclaim His name.
That brings us to verse 20, "And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed." I often hear Christians say that don't have what it takes to be a witness for Christ, your testimony and what is written on the pages of God’s Word, is everything that you need to know. This man had no seminary training, he knew absolutely nothing about the Bible, all he knew was that his life was completely transformed by the power of Christ If you’re a Christian, you know more than enough about Jesus Christ start bringing people to the One Who changes everything on a daily basis. Jesus didn't ask this man if he wanted to share his testimony with others, He commanded him to. We have that same responsibility and privilege to tell others what Jesus has done for us. Evangelism is not a burden, it is a great privilege! God could have chosen anyone to reach the lost, but He has chosen you and me.
That doesn't mean that everyone will turn to Jesus. But, let me to you this, there is no greater joy than being a part of this process in bringing someone to Christ.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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