The Gospel of Luke (30): The demoniac of Gadara 06/18/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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After declaring the universality of sin, the

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Apostle Paul speaks about the future judgment of the world. It will be a judgment according to works, and God's going to graciously bestow eternal life on those who order their life according to their faith.

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But His wrath will be poured out upon all those who disregard His law. And then at the end of Romans 2,

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Paul talks about really the true Jew, the spiritual Jew, as being one who has true faith, who is circumcised of the heart, not of the flesh.

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Romans chapter 2. Romans 2.

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Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

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We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose,

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O man, you who judge those who practice such things, and yet do them yourselves, that you will escape the judgment of God?

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Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

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Because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when

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God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works.

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To those who by patience and well -doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life.

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But to those who are self -seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

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There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does not obey the truth. does evil, the

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Jew first and also the Greek. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the

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Jew first and also the Greek, for God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.

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And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

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For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires, they are a lot of themselves, even though they do not have the law.

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They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day, when according to my gospel,

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God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. But if you call yourself a

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Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent because you are instructed from the law, and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?

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While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

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You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor

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God by breaking the law, for as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the

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Gentiles because of you. For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

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So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

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Then he who is physically uncircumcised, but keeps the law, will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision, but break the law.

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For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.

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But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter.

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His praise is not from man, but from God. Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for the law that you have written on our hearts, that every man knows what is right, and every man knows what is wrong.

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And we thank you, Lord, for the spirit of God who convicts us and teaches us these truths.

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We thank you for the spirit who enables us to walk in obedience. Lord, we rejoice in the salvation that is from you and you alone.

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Lord, we pray that as we continue our worship service, and as we hear the word of God proclaimed, we pray,

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Lord, that we would fall in line under it. We pray that you would give Pastor Lars wisdom as he teaches.

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We pray that we would hear what the word of God says, that the spirit would take it from our ear to our heart and plant it deep within us.

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We pray, Lord, that we might obey. Help us to see things clearly so that we might walk in a manner that pleases you.

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Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles to Luke chapter eight. And today we're considering the story of our

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Lord's encounter with the demoniac of Gadara. Herein we see, of course, a great display of Jesus' ability, his authority, to deliver from evil and to transform lives.

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Actually, we addressed this account when we were working through the Gospel of Matthew, but that was 13 years ago next month, and so time passes.

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And so I imagine many of us were not here at that time, and those of us who were here probably don't recall much of what we heard, so I think we're in safe territory.

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Before we examine this episode, however, we should say a few words about the context of Luke's Gospel.

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There are, in this section of the Gospel, a group of five miracle stories.

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They show forth to Luke's readers that the Lord Jesus possessed authority over all creation.

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And these five accounts include the calming of the storm, which we touched upon last week, the healing of the demoniac of Gadara, which is before us, thirdly, the raising from the dead the daughter of Jairus, and in the middle of that miracle story we have the woman healed, who had a hemorrhage over many years, and then fifth, we have the feeding of the 5 ,000.

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These miracle stories, these five episodes, prepare the way for the confession of Jesus by the apostles, particularly by Peter.

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We read in Luke chapter nine, verse 20,

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Jesus said to them, but who do you say that I am? And of course, Peter responded, you're the

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Christ of God. And so these accounts of the power of our Lord Jesus is revealed, directing them toward this confession, but also through these miracles,

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God displays through Jesus his compassion and willingness to save to the uttermost those persons who find themselves in great need, even in what seems to be hopeless situations.

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And so I think that you and I may be greatly encouraged in our faith as we ponder these accounts.

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And so here is this report of this rather pitiful person who received deliverance when the

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Lord Jesus came to him. This is Luke eight, a longer episode, verses 26 through 39.

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Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee, and when he stepped out on the land, there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time and he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but in tombs.

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When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, what have

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I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high God? I beg you, do not torment me.

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For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles, and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.

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Jesus asked him, saying, what is your name? And he said, legion, because many demons had entered him.

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And they begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss, bottomless pit.

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Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain, so they begged him that he would permit them to enter them.

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And he permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

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When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

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Then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.

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And they were afraid. They also, who had seen it, told them by what means he who had been demon -possessed was healed.

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Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.

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And he got into the boat and returned. Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away saying, return to your own house, tell what great things

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God has done for you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things

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Jesus had done for him. There are actually several predominant themes set forth in these verses.

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First and foremost, as we mentioned, Jesus is shown to have authority over the demonic or satanic realm.

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We read of the absolute authority of Jesus to command an absolute obligation for the demonic realm to comply with the commands of the

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Lord Jesus. He is sovereign. But there are other emphases as well.

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Secondly, we see the compassion of the Lord Jesus to deliver even the most wretched and helpless sinner from the devil that had bound him.

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Worst case scenario. Thirdly, we see the complete change of nature reflected in our

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Lord's deliverance of this man from his condition. The fact is the Lord Jesus transforms the lives of those on whom he shows mercy, works his grace.

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And then fourthly, there's a missionary impetus as well suggested in this passage in that Jesus commanded the delivered man to evangelize his family and his countrymen.

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But there are other minor points of emphasis as well that we may touch upon as we work through this passage.

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J .C. Ryle put it all together in his application to the salvation that God brings to every one of his people.

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One thing, however, must never be forgotten, striking and miraculous as this cure was, it's not really more wonderful than every case of decided conversion to God.

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Marvelous as the change was which appeared in this demoniac condition when healed, it's not one whit more marvelous than the change which passes over everyone who is born again and turned from the power of Satan to God.

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Never is a man in his right mind till he's converted or in his right place till he sits by faith at the feet of Jesus or rightly clothed till he has put on the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Have we ever considered what real conversion to God is?

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It's nothing else but the miraculous release of a captive, the miraculous restoration of a man to his right mind and the miraculous deliverance of a soul from the devil.

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Amen, J .C. Ryle. Well, let's first consider this man's dreadful condition, verses 26 through 29.

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Probably ought to say a word first about the location, however. Verse 26 reads, and they sailed to the country of the

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Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. This account is told in all three synoptic gospels,

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Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but as you look over the manuscripts down through history, there are different variants regarding the name or the location where this miracle took place.

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And so in different Greek texts of Luke, there are references to the land of the

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Gergesenes and the Gerasenes and the Gadarenes.

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Matthew speaks of Jesus arriving to the country of the Gadarenes. Mark and Luke both describe the destination as the country of the

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Gerasenes. However, a scribe of Luke's gospel at a later time modified the copy of his gospel to conform to Matthew's gospel, and so our

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New King James Version in Luke 8, 26 reads Gadarenes. Probably what the

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English Standard Version, ESV, records is what Luke had originally penned. Then they sailed to the country of the

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Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. There were two major cities in this region, one

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Gadara, the other Gerasa. Gadara was situated six miles south of the coast, a little far for this event, the swine running into the lake.

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And Gerasa was 30 miles southeast of the shore. Mark references this region as a district of Decapolis, the larger district.

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This was a Roman name for the region east of Galilee that contained 10 large

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Roman cities. You can see the Decapolis, Deca, like in Decalogue, the 10 cities,

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Decapolis. And in this region, there were many Gentiles living, but there were also Jews there as well, but it was principally a

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Gentile region. Now, as we read this passage, we're struck at once by the strangeness of the story.

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You don't encounter this every day. It's far from our experience. Few of us have ever encountered such persons in such a despicable condition.

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At least we didn't recognize him as being in such a state. To quote Ryle again, he gave this account from a 19th century record.

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Trench quotes a remarkable circumstance mentioned by the traveler Warburton in the Crescent and the

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Cross, which throws some light on this expression. On descending from the height of Lebanon, I found myself in a cemetery where a sculptured turban showed us that the neighboring village was

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Muslim. The silence of the night was now broken by fierce yells and howlings, which

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I discovered proceeded from a naked maniac who was fighting with some wild dogs for a bone.

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And the moment he perceived us, he left his canine companions and bounding along with rapid strides, seized my horse's bridle and almost forced him the horse backwards over a cliff.

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From time to time, a person is discovered in today's society which parallels in some ways the description of this man here.

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Some years ago, there was in the Sacramento area when we lived there, a man, I won't mention his name, who seemed to be more animal than human.

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He committed horrible crimes. He lived in horrible conditions there in North Sacramento.

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I think he was probably as crazed and possessed as this man here in Luke chapter eight.

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But stories are increasingly common as our society deteriorates into coarseness and wickedness.

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You might've seen the news just last week, and I don't wanna get too graphic here, but a trail camera reportedly photographing a couple of half -naked witches in the woods consuming a decaying deer corpse.

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I mean, wretched, wretched stories. In societies in which the righteousness of God's law and the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is less pronounced, the works of the devil are more frequent and more pronounced.

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The reality of demon possession is not doubted in many nations of the third world, and increasingly, it's not doubted as much in our nation in the

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West as it once was. It is a common condition which pastors and churches must contend with in those lands.

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And as I communicate with our missionaries and whatnot in Kenya and India and elsewhere, you hear stories of this.

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The Jebelos mentioned it recently from down in Mocha in New Guinea. Satan and his minions manifest much evil through people who are outside the kingdom of God, who are under his control, unless and until the

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Lord Jesus sets them free. The whole world lies under the realm of the wicked one, and only

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Jesus Christ can set them free. This man was probably known as one of the most evil in the region, most distant from God.

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Why? If you asked the question, who is farthest from the kingdom of God, they would have probably pointed to this man.

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He was viewed as probably beyond recovery. The only manner in which the people sought to address him was through physical restraint.

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They put guards on him, they shackled him. And although these efforts were often repeated, they were never successful.

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And yet this man was wonderfully saved by the power of the Lord Jesus. And therefore, this account really should be a source of encouragement for those who feel themselves or they see their loved ones so controlled by the power of sin that they've despaired of any hope of their recovery.

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God can save anyone through Jesus Christ, any sinner in this world, great or small, if there's such a thing as a small sinner.

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The demoniac of Gadar was the worst case which could be found. Jesus sought him out and healed him, and thereby demonstrated

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God's power was manifest through him. In the Lord Jesus' delivery this man from his condition, making him a disciple, essentially, he showed forth his sovereign power, authority, over the spiritual realm.

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The Lord's power is greater than any force on earth. God's power is capable of delivering anyone, even the most wicked, from the power of evil and transform him into a humble, teachable, obedient disciple of Jesus Christ.

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And that's what this man was by the end of the episode. Incredible. This man had a dreadful condition.

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Mark's gospel account, and it's found in all three synoptic gospels, gives a few additional details.

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And when Jesus had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains.

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He had supernatural strength. Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, and neither could anyone tame him.

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And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones.

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This guy was in bad shape. How might we describe his condition?

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Well, Luke depicts him in several ways. First of all, the man is shameless. Verse 27, when he stepped out of the land, there met him a certain man from the city, he'd once been in the city, who had demons for a long time.

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He wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but in the tombs. Upon Jesus leaving the boat, come to shore, the man immediately recognized and acknowledged the identity of Jesus and ran down to them.

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This demon -possessed man had more insight regarding the identity, purpose, and working of Jesus than most anyone

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Jesus had met. This guy had quite a bit of understanding, insight. Demonic -influenced people may know much about Jesus Christ and the

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Holy Scriptures. I, for years, had a hour -long question -answer radio program in Sacramento, and over the course of the years,

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I had two different people in the act who committed suicide call me, live. And one man was up on the top floor, he was a security guard, and he told me on the live radio he was gonna jump off, do himself in,

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Jim. I talked him out of it, went and met him, and over the course of a couple months, he and his wife were converted, she was pregnant.

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That was the closest I ever came to baptizing a baby. She was about nine months pregnant, and they ended up being converted, they became members of the church, he ended up having five kids, and they're still serving the

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Lord in California. Another lady had a revolver and was gonna take away her life, and so my friend who came with me that night, we went over to her house and met her, and my friend, he was an

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Assembly of God man, good friend, my neighbor, and she came in from the other room and she had this big revolver in her hand, and my friend just about freaked, he almost threw his

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Bible at her, but she just came in to hand me the revolver and I took it from her, but she was just a very distressed lady and very calm, but I remember this one lady,

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I wasn't gonna mention it, but she was probably demon -possessed, she dressed just like Morticia in the old

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Addams Family, just like her, long dress with almost like the octopus tails on the bottom of the dress, black dress, long black stringing hair, and she called the radio program, wanted to come to the church.

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I won't go into the details of it, but she thought she had something physical going on with Jesus, and while I was driving down the freeway to church, she was talking about how she got so angry with pastors and she went into a rage, and talking about pulling out a knife and doing them in, and I thought, you know,

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I didn't know whether to bail out or write it out, but you know, there's strange things going on in the world, and once in a while, they come about, but demon -possession is a real thing, and I think it's becoming more and more frequent as our world,

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Western world is growing more and more wicked. This man was shameless.

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Upon Jesus leaving the boat, the man immediately recognized, acknowledged the identity, and he came down to Jesus, but he was a very wicked creature, and he knew of Jesus.

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This man had given himself over to evil for so long, he lost all sense of decency. His condition had long been with him.

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He had demons for a long time. He was somewhat like many of our own society, because they'd been so long in their sin, they could not foresee or desire any other way of life.

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And over time, they worsened and coarsened, and so that which would have caused them to blush, people to blush 20 years ago, has become a basis of boasting today.

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They glory in their shame, is the expression the word of God uses. They seek to have pride in what should cause them shame.

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They call good evil and evil good, and they expected the man, you and I, affirm them in that.

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We won't do it. A clear sign of a person or society decline and departure from God, is insensitivity to decency and refusal, even inability to experience shame.

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When our first parents had sinned in the garden, they were in those early days of sin, struck with shame regarding their nakedness.

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They sought to clothe themselves with big leaves. But as sin is indulged and its effects and extent increases, that shame disappears, and so goes the clothing, nakedness.

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The farther people are from God, the less they perceive and regard the presence and scrutiny of God, the less concern they have for decency and propriety.

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Rather, they have more desire and delight in indecency and debauchery. And this is the way our world is going, of course.

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And so we may conclude from verse 27, that the man was not only shameless, but he was also friendless.

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He wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but in the tombs. And so here's another result of sin.

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Alienation, separation from those of decency. Now, it's true that these persons may collect themselves in groups of like -minded people, say, as the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah.

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You know, dwell together, citizens of Gibeon. But when persons go on in their sin, they can no longer dwell to people who are not like them in their behavior.

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And so they have to collect into their own groups or societies, where there's a sort of camaraderie sense through their common lust, pursuits, and practices.

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Actually, this man did have one friend, for we read in Matthew's Gospel, there were actually two demoniacs, not just one.

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Mark and Luke mentioned one, Matthew two. Mark and Luke probably addressing the one that was the most pronounced among them, between the two of them.

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He did have this friend. But this man, being in league with the devil, felt more comfortable around dead people than with his own family and former friends.

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He lived in the tombs. And there in the little community of Gerasa on the southeast side of the

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Sea of Galilee, there is a graveyard, there's a cliff there where the swine probably ran down, and there were empty tombs there as well.

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And, you know, this man lived in them. There is something demonic and dehumanizing in a culture that's fixated and fascinated with macabre and with death.

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Our society is somewhat given to subjects like the walking dead vampires and sorcerers, and it's increasingly so, isn't it?

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Especially as we come toward Halloween, the entire month of October anymore on television is given over to it.

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We can well imagine the time when this man's family and friends preferred to have him living among the tombs rather than with them.

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And it's sad when one who was loved by family can become so consumed with sensual and riotous living that the family would prefer that he's absent rather than present in their company.

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We often encounter persons in our community in great need. John Bolger handles our fellowship fund, and he, of course, communicates with me between the two of us.

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People are either homeless or hungry. They call to ask the church to help them. We got a call this week.

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In fact, John told me he got seven or eight calls from this woman who was in New Hampshire, but she had a history with us.

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We try to be wise in order to balance mercy, give forth the money that people give in our fellowship fund with the gospel witness.

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And so we commonly inquire if they have family or friends in the area, and they commonly do have, but they've burned the bridges.

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Family and friends, they don't want anything to do with them anymore. Are your parents living? Oh, yeah, but I haven't seen them in a long time.

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Do you have any siblings? Oh, yeah, but I don't communicate with them in any way. They're not welcomed by their family.

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Sin will often alienate and isolate people from former loved ones, and that's happened on a broad scale within our society.

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And this man was helpless, verse 29. For it, the demon had often seized him.

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He was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles. He broke the bonds, was driven by the demon into the wilderness.

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Again, seems strange to our experience, but it's not as strange in our society today as it was.

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13 years ago, I noticed as I was reading my notes, I had to make a few changes. Police who work in large cities where much evil is conducted in an unchecked manner can recount stories as strange and bizarre as what we have here.

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Paul wrote to Timothy of the widespread influence that demons have upon people. He was telling

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Timothy of the difficulty he'd have as a pastor. Now, the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, and that's this whole church age, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines, teachings of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

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The point is this. This man had so given himself over to evil that evil and demonic forces of evil controlled his mind and body, and now he found himself helpless and powerless to break free.

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We read in Mark's account, he'd cry out all night and sought to do himself harm. He tried to commit suicide.

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Attempts had been made to reclaim him, but as the King James Version said, no man could tame him.

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You could tame animals, but you couldn't tame this man. But how do you think he would have described himself?

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I'm free. Nobody tells me what to do. I'm in control of my own life.

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In reality, he was in bondage to his own passions, in servitude to the devil. And the devil was driving him to self -destruction.

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Well, we see his attitude and reaction to Jesus. Verse 28, when he saw

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Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him with a loud voice, said, what have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high

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God? I beg you, do not torment me. As one older commentator once wrote, the sight of Jesus appears to have produced an extraordinary impression on him.

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The holy, calm, gentle majesty, the tender compassion, and the conscious sovereignty which were expressed in the aspect of our

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Lord awakened in him by force of contrast, the humbling consciousness of his own state of moral disorder.

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When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him. Take note of the spiritual insight of this demon -possessed man.

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Now I remember why I brought up that woman from the radio station. About three months after I had brought her to church, she called on the radio station that night, and she asked me a question about Satan, and I didn't wanna go there.

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I knew who she was. And so I just said something to try and move on to another caller.

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And all of a sudden, she started quoting scripture after scripture after scripture, every verse having to deal with the devil, word by word.

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It was amazing to hear her recount these verses from scripture. This man knew

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Jesus was the son of God. His disciples yet were not convinced of his deity.

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That comes in Luke chapter nine. But this man knew he was the son of God. He knew that Jesus had been given authority to judge sin and sinners.

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Just because someone acknowledges the true identity of Jesus Christ does not make him a Christian any more than this man was a

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Christian. I know who you are, Jesus. You are the son of God. Salvation is more than a mere acknowledgement of who

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Jesus is in truth. It involves believing who he is and living one's life in the light of that knowledge.

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Salvation is more than merely believing in God and having fear of him. James wrote, you believe there's one

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God, you do well. That's good that you believe in one God. But even demons believe. And then he contrasts that, and they tremble.

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They go beyond you. At least they fear God. Yes, you do well if you believe in the true

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God. You do well if you fear him. But that's not enough. Damned demons have that kind of faith.

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It's not saving faith. When this man saw Jesus stepping off the boat, it was the demon that had possessed this man who recognized the identity and authority of Jesus Christ who would execute

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God's judgment upon the demonic world. Demons knew of their future, that they would be the subject of God's wrath, even eternal torment in hell.

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Have you come to torment? Do not torment me, please. I beg you. This demon, singular, was speaking collectively on behalf of the many that were in this man.

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He feared the Lord, and Jesus would commence, that Jesus would commence their punishment then when he had come to them.

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When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him. He revealed his intense opposition to Jesus, showing forth his utter disdain and subject to Jesus.

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What have I to do with you, Jesus? Rhetorical question, meaning nothing.

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He knew Jesus would bring about his own ruin and future torment. He was holy at the mercy of God, which was close to him.

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We read of his own words. I beg you, do not torment me. This man didn't want deliverance.

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He just wanted to escape punishment. Matthew includes the words of the demon. Have you come here to torment us before the time?

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Here we see the demons took control of the speech of this man. It wasn't the man speaking. It was the demon speaking through him.

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The man himself was totally passive in this, for he was wholly controlled by a foreign entity.

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This is an impossibility to the scientist with a materialistic view of a human being. But the scriptures teach us that a body is like a house, a house in which indwells a soul, commonly referred to as our spirit.

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The point is this, our soul or spirit, that is our true self, currently inhabits or indwells our body, our physical body, sometimes described as a tent, a temporary dwelling place.

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And at death, our soul will be separated from our body. But just as our soul currently possesses our body, demonic spirits are capable of possessing and dominating a human body, as we have recorded here.

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If the soul that currently dwells that body is weak or deceived and surrenders wholly to the evil one.

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I think drugs seriously weakens the ability of an individual to remain independent and free.

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The demon is able to influence the thinking and speech of the one possessed. The spirit is able to impart information to an individual that would be humanly impossible to know.

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This spirit was, this explains, by the way, the phenomena displayed by psychic, spiritist, fortune tellers, tarot card readers, many self -styled prophets, that under the influence of demons, they have access to knowledge that is truly supernatural.

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Demonic, Paul encountered a young woman with a demon that gave her amazing insight.

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Luke wrote in Acts, it happened as we went to prayer, a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit, a demon of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune telling.

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And so just because someone claims to be a prophet and can foretell the future does not mean that person is of God.

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Maybe an indicator he or she is not. The Bible speaks of doctrines of demons.

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The apostle warned about having fellowship with demons. At first, the demon spoke of, again, as a singular personality using the voice of the man whom he possessed, first person singular

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I. That's how it's expressed first in verse 28.

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But after our Lord gained their confession that they were legion, they began to speak collectively using the voice of God.

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Using plural pronouns. Notice verse 38, Jesus asked him, what is your name?

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And he said, legion, because many demons had entered him. And they, then the plural pronoun, then they begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.

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Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain, so they begged him he would not permit them to enter them, and he permitted them, or commanded them.

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So these demons not only knew that Jesus is the son of God, but they knew that it was destined for them to be judged and punished by God through Jesus Christ.

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Jude wrote of this respecting fallen angels. Fallen angels are demons.

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The angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but fell, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept,

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God has kept, in eternal chains under gloomy darkness, under the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulge in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

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Sodom was a physical portrayal of that, a metaphor, as it were, of eternal hell.

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And then 2 Peter 2. If God did not spare angels, they said, that's how they became demons, but cast them into hell, committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.

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So both Jude and Peter describe these fallen angels as imprisoned and confined. Well, what about these demons and this man?

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God allows some of them to roam free in the world to promote their evil among men. It's a judgment of God, and he uses them to do it.

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But when God's purposes are completed through them, he sends them back to the pit, where they might remain confined, awaiting the day of judgment.

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These fallen angels, these demons, knew of their fate on the last day, but they thought that their punishment was coming upon them sooner than they expected.

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The appearance of Jesus struck fear among them. And again, these demons didn't want, this man did not want deliverance.

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The demons just wanted to escape punishment. And I fear that many people in these days make professions of faith so call because they want to escape the consequences of their sin, but not the sin itself.

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Of course, there's no salvation promised to people like that. We might summarize this man's condition as one who has given himself over fully to evil, to such a degree that he was totally incapable of reforming himself, and unwilling.

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He had no desire to change, he was wicked. He certainly had no ability to change, he was helpless.

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He didn't want anything to do with Jesus. If God had waited for this man to come to him of his own free will, it would have never happened, would it?

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God would have to perform an act of mercy and do a great work of sovereign grace if this man was to be saved.

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And there were many inhabitants of Gadar in that day, but Jesus sought out this man and manifested his saving power in him so that God alone might receive the glory.

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And that's often the reason why God chose you and me. And so it was no different with each of us.

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He comes to us in our sin and he saves us, not because we were deserving or willing or less guilty or wicked, but because he purposed to do so.

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We had no more desire and ability to be saved as this man. For although we were not possessed by demons, perhaps, we were the devil's possession, weren't we?

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All non -Christians are. Jesus told the Pharisees, you are your father, the devil.

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If God is not your father, the devil is. We did not find within us the desire to be delivered from our sin and be brought to know

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Jesus savingly. It was due to the grace of God that opened our hearts to desire and respond to the things of God.

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He made us willing in the day of his power. The Bible teaches sovereign grace in salvation.

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Well, then verses 30 through 35, we read of his perfect deliverance. Jesus asked him saying, what is your name?

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He said, legion, because many demons had entered him. They begged him, he would not command them to go out into the abyss.

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I heard of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged him that he would permit them to enter them. And he permitted them.

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Then the demons went out of the man, entered his swine and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

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And when those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

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Then they went out to see what had happened, came to Jesus, found the man whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.

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And were they grateful? They were afraid. Our Lord first asked the demon's name.

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Jesus knew he was speaking with the demon by the demon's response to him. He said, legion, because many demons, that's

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Luke's explanation. He said, legion, because many demons had entered him. Legion in the

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Roman army numbered about 6 ,800 men, generally. Were there 6 ,000 demons possessing the man?

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Mark says there were 2 ,000 swine. Were there 2 ,000 demons? We don't know.

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Scriptures don't provide a precise answer, but there were a bunch of them. We can conclude that there were many of them.

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The demons knew they were about to be forced to leave this man, but not wanting to return to the bottomless pit or the abyss to which it sometimes referred, they asked

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Jesus' permission to enter a herd of pigs. Apparently, these spirit -buried beings desire to inhabit physical bodies of men and women, but will settle for any creature, an animal, even a pig, if it enables them to continue to exist and interact with the physical world.

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Mark tells us there were about 2 ,000 pigs. They had to gain Jesus' permission.

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Clearly, the Son of God was in charge, and we read he granted their request. He permitted them.

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Okay. And the result was this mass killing of the herd of swine.

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Now, why did the swine run down into the

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Sea of Galilee, which would have been regarded as really the bottom of the sea as an entrance to the abyss in their cosmology and their thinking?

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We really don't know. Did the demons cause them to die? I don't think so.

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They wanted those pigs to live, didn't they? And so, it was not the demons that caused the pigs to run into the sea, although commentators will tell you that.

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They probably viewed the pigs as temporary dwelling places until some other person or person came along who were vulnerable to their influence.

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It would seem these pigs had more sense than the people. They wouldn't allow themselves to continue so possessed by these spirits.

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They chose to die rather than continue to house these evil spirits. Or perhaps the

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Lord sent those pigs to their fate because it was intentional along to send the demons back to the pit. They momentarily thought that they had escaped their fate.

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Some have said this was a cruel act of Jesus, ruining the livelihood of these people.

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Why did he do it? John Gill wrote, "'He gave them leave as God did to Satan "'in the case of Job, for without divine permission, "'these evil spirits could not do anything "'to the body, souls, and states of men.

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"'They could not enter into the swine "'without leave or permission, "'much less to do things of greater moment and consequence, "'and therefore not to be feared or dreaded by men.'"

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We shouldn't be fearful of these, especially by the people of God. They may be asked, why did

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Christ suffer the devils or demons? In the King James language, there's the word demon is not used.

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It's always devils, plural. The devils entered the herd of swine, destroyed them, which was considerable loss to the proprietors, to which may be answered that if the owners were

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Jews and these creatures were brought up by them for food, it was a just punishment for their breach of the law of God.

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Jews shouldn't be raising pigs for food. Or if it was sold to others for gain and filthy lucracy, but it was a proper rebuke, both of the avarice and the contempt of the laws of their own country, which were made to be a hedge or fence for the law of God.

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Or if they were Gentiles, the people who own these pigs, this was suffered or allowed to show the malice of the evil spirits under those influence they were and who would, if they had but leave or opportunity, serve them as they did the swine and to display the power of Christ over the devils and his sovereign right to disposal of the goods and properties of men and to evince the truth of the dispossession and the greatness of the mercy the dispossessed shared in and to spread the fame of the miracle the more.

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Well, it certainly did that, didn't it? Word got scattered around when these people lost their herd of swine.

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The point though, of course, is when the Lord purposes to do something, no power, no person may resist.

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If Christ purposes to save one, he or she may resist for a while, but only as long as God permits.

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Our Lord can calm a storm in an instant or save a soul in a moment. And the souls that he sets out to save can no more resist him than could those winds and waves the night before on Galilee when he rebuked them and they became calm or the legion of demons he cast out with a word.

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The scriptures teach irresistible grace. Now, much of God's grace, common grace, is resisted all the time by non -Christians and by Christians alike, but when

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God purposes to save a person, they're gonna be saved.

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His grace will secure their repentance and faith. His work of grace cannot be thwarted.

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Jesus Christ brings a perfect and complete deliverance to his people. Jesus isn't up there wringing his hands hoping that people will make his life and death worthwhile.

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He is saving the people that the Father gave him from eternity and he doesn't lose a one of them.

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Thank God. Well, now we have the reaction of the transformed man. What was the result of this encounter?

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Well, you might think that his friends and family would be rejoicing over this, but we read they felt and desired otherwise.

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You know, when I was converted, I thought my friends, my family would be happy to hear about it. You know,

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I was a drunken, you know, a lawless creature, but no, you know, my brother said,

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Mary ruined me. And, you know, that was his perception of Christianity. And my other brother, and I thought

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Lawrence was so smart. They both became Christians later, but that was their, you know, you'd think that people would be happy about this, but were they?

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When those who fed them saw what happened, they fled and told it to sit in the country. They went out, see what happened.

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They came to Jesus. They found the man whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed in his right mind.

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And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon possessed was healed.

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And the whole multitude of the surrounding region, the galleries asked him to depart from them for they were seized with great fear.

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And he got into the boat, returned. But now look at the posture of the man.

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The people came out and they saw this man whom they had formerly could not approach sitting at the feet of Jesus. This man's attitude toward Jesus had changed.

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Instead of brushing about wildly indulging his passions, he's sitting here in the posture of a disciple learning from Jesus.

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He's now clothed. A measure of decency is now evident. This man's behavior is now different.

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Before riotous living, now righteousness is his goal. Now he's in his right mind.

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For the first time, perhaps in years, he could see and think clearly. His whole outlook on life had changed.

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He viewed his very existence in a new way. The Lord restores people's minds when they come to Christ.

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I can tell you people here in this room right now who couldn't put two thoughts together when walking into this church.

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And the Lord restored and brought that person back. It's incredible what the

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Lord can do. But we read of the response of these people. It's just incredible.

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John Gill again wrote, not out of any love and respect to Jesus in order to invite him or conduct him into their city, and they receive him kindly and treat him with due honor and reverence, but either out of curiosity to see such an extraordinary person, which doubtless was the case of many, or else being terrified at the report concerning Jesus and distressed with their present loss, which was the case of others, went out to prevent his coming any further, lest they should suffer something worse.

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Accordingly, when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coast, which was done not as though they thought themselves unworthy the presence of so great a person as did the centurion.

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Remember the Gentile centurion? I'm not worthy to have you come to my house. In the former chapter, or as Peter, when he said, depart from me,

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I am a sinful man, but his fury, lest some greater punishment should be inflicted on them for their sins, of which they were conscious, and therefore make no complaint of any injustice being done them by the loss of their swine.

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They didn't complain about it to him, but they wanted him gone. Matthew Henry wrote about it too.

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I won't read it because of the time. What frightened these people was a display of the sovereign power of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. They understood this man who had come among them was unlimited in his authority and his ability.

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They had a glimpse of the truth that the old Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar came to realize.

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I bless the most high, I praise, honor to him who lives forever, because all the inhabitants of the earth are nothing, and God does according to his will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth, none can stay at his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?

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But then we conclude with the response of the man who had been delivered. He wanted to go with Jesus.

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Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away saying, return to your own house.

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Tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way, proclaimed through the whole city what great things

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Jesus had done for him, suggesting the deity of Christ, of course. Now Jesus had granted the people's evil request, so he departed from them, but he denied the godly request of this former demoniac who he would not allow to travel with him.

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This man longed to be with Jesus. The power of sin had been broken. Those former forces which drove him were gone.

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Beforehand, his family and friends did not want him because he was crude and violent. Now his family and friends don't want him because he was sane and righteous.

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He wanted more than anything to be numbered among his disciples, to follow him close to his side.

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But instead of permitting him to come with them, he gave them a commission. Go home to your friends.

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Tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he's had mercy on you. And we're to do the same, aren't we?

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Go to your house and your friends. Declare what gracious things God has done for you. Confess to others that Christ is your

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Lord and you live to serve him, that he has given you new life, new desires, new longings.

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You're not the same man, not the same woman you once were. Make him known wherever you go.

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We'll close with Matthew Henry. What effect it had upon the poor man who had recovered himself by it.

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He desired Christ's company as much as others dreaded it. He besought Christ that he might be with him as others had been healed by him of evil spirits and infirmities, that Christ might be to him a protector and teacher, that he might be to Christ for a name and a praise.

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He was loath to stay with those rude and brutish gatherings that desired Christ to depart from them.

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Oh, gather not my soul with these sinners. But Christ would not take him along with him, but sent him home to publish among those that knew him the great things

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God had done for him, that so he might be a blessing to his country as he had been a burden to it.

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We must sometimes deny ourselves the satisfaction even of spiritual benefits and comforts to gain an opportunity of being serviceable to the souls of others.

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Perhaps Christ knew that when the resentment of the loss of their swine was a little over, they would be better disposed to consider the miracle and therefore left the man among them to be a standing monument and a monitor to them in it.

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What a glorious account. And again, it should give us hope. All of us have individuals that you're thinking about right now, you know, who's far from Christ.

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God has the ability to save that soul. And we ought to pray to that end.

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And we have to have faith of his ability. We may not know of his willingness, no one is desirous to be saved ultimately.

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As God would have them be saved, it takes a work of grace. But we ought to be as that one leper who is cleansed.

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He came to Jesus as a leper. I know, Lord, you're able, if you're willing, you can make me clean.

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And that ought to be our confession regarding any lost person. Lord, I know you're able to save this person.

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Please be willing to do so and save him or save her to your glory, amen.

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Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word and for this testimony of God, of this man being farthest from you, humanly possible, condemned, controlled by the devil.

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And yet, Lord Jesus, you set him free. We pray that you would use us, our God, to see people set free in our day as well and brought into the kingdom of our savior,