misplacedmenmark5
Title: Misplaced Men
Text: Mark: 5:1-20
Introduction: The way a man treats God is indicative of the relationship he has with others. If he loves God with all his heart, with all his mind, with all his soul and with all his might, he will realize who he is in God and how much God loves him. He will then love himself and respect himself. He values and adds value to all the relationship he has. He will be a better friend, a better husband and a better brother. This is the place where God wants a man to be in his life. God wants men to be in their rightful place. A man’s rightful place is a place of Godliness, a lifestyle that pleases God. A man’s rightful place is having a stable family environment where he is functioning as an effective father. A man’s rightful place is service in his church where he is a priest worshiping the true and living God. Man’s rightful place is in his community where he is operating in his prophetic office speaking truth to power and empowering others in the kingdom building principles. When a man is in his rightful place he is powerful! That comes from being right with God. The problem is that men are not in their rightful place because they don’t have the right relationship with God. God divinely ordered men to be in a certain place yet we see them out of place everyday. Men are out of place when we don’t father our children. Men are out of place when they molest children. Men are out of place when they engage in pornography. Men are out of place when they don‘t want to work and live off of their women. We are out of place when 50% of AA men are in prison but we only make up 12% of the population. We are out of place!
I want to go on record and say that something is causing men to be out of place. It is ungodly and demonically influence on the inside of a man that drives him out of his rightful position. Thus, making men move out of their place of their destiny. Something has got a hold of you and is pulling you away form you place of promise. It is an ungodly spirit that provokes your flesh and you need to be delivered so you can get back into your rightful place in the kingdom of God. If this pertains to you, I got some good news for you! Jesus has the power to deliver you form anything that is disturbing you!
Our text tells us that Jesus has traveled to the other side of the Sea of Galilee after demonstrating His omnipotence by calming a storm. Those who witnessed the storm raised the question “what manner of man is this?” I have the answer to this question. He is more than a man. He is your Savior and Strong Deliver who is always there to free you from a life of despair.
Our story is about a misplaced man whose is in life’s despair because of an evil influence that got a hold of him. We see from this man’s life that his despair was do to…
I. Despair
A.Having no self-control vv.2-5
A lot of our men lack self-control and get jammed up! Brothers, you got to control yourselves no matter what it is. The text says in v. 2 when Jesus was coming out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. This man had something inside of him that took control of him. He could no longer regulate his thought process. His moral freedom and self consciousness was controlled by a demonic force. This is what happening to too many of our men today. They have something on the inside of them that is taking control of who they are. That thing got a hold you and now lust is in control! Lying is now in control. Alcohol is now in control! Anger and rage is now in control! It has become apart of your normal behavior. You loss of control to your issues puts you in despair take you from you rightful place and you better recognize it! Next, you are in despair when…
B. You can’t have healthy relationships vv.3-4
The text says the man was so wild that people tried to hold him down with chains and shackles but he would break them apart. He was so wild he could not be around people therefore he had no meaningful relationships. As a result, he found himself alone and living in the graveyards. My brothers, you are in despair when people can’t handle your issues so they leave you alone in an environment that can’t grow or prosper. It was something on the inside that drove you away from your families and friends and God blessings. Your life is also in despair when…
C. You hurting yourself
The text goes on to say in v. 5 that night and day the demoniac would go between the tombs and the mountains crying out and cutting himself. First, this crying out according to the original language was to vociferate, a gut cry. It was a continuous cry of pain. Have you ever been in so much pain that you would cry out from your gut? He was also self-destructive, inflicting pain on his own body. Second, the text says that he cut himself. Cutting himself suggests that he was looking for some type of relief. He was cutting himself opening up his flesh hoping what was on the inside comes out. My brothers you may not be cutting yourself literally but figuratively, you are doing the same thing to relieve the pain. When you used drugs, you were cutting yourself. When you were drinking excessively you were cutting yourself. Whatever it is to give your flesh relief from the pain and it is not godly, you are cutting yourself! Tell your neighbor don’t cut yourself?
II. Despair: How do you delivered? vv. 6-13
Look what happens next. When the demoniac saw Jesus, the unexpected happens. You would think that this demon possessed man would run away from Jesus or challenge him. The text says in v. 6 “But when he saw Jesus from a far off, he ran and worshiped him”. Something is about to change in this man’s life. You know when you see the word but something is about to shift in the direction of the event. The word “but” is a conjunction. I thank God the function of this conjunction in my life. You ought to thank God for change in your life that this little word gives you. Let me see if somebody can get where I am coming from. I was sinking in my sin but…I was heading down the wrong path… I was sick in my body…
We learn from the demoniac that your deliverance starts with your worship. When we worship, we are seeking God presence and receiving His power. When you worship the Kingdom of God comes into your situation. Therefore, when you see God moving you have to get close to him. This is why we come to church because we want to see God move and when that happens we have to run to him and worship Him! Verse 7 says that when the demoniac encounters Jesus he starts crying out “why you bothering me Son of the Most high!” First of all, Jesus was minding his business and the demoniac gets defensive and accuses Jesus of messing with him. Some you of know what I am talking about when you know that you are dead wrong, you get defensive! Secondly, this verse warns us and lets us know that demons praise. The demoniac called Jesus the Son of he most High. He exalts the name of Jesus! That’s praise! Point: Watch out for people whose behavior doesn’t match their praise. They got holiness on their lips but no holiness in their life. However, I was struggling when I read this text. I couldn’t understand in my natural mind why the demoniac not only identifies who Jesus is but also runs to him and worships him. Maybe he saw Jesus from the seashore and thought that if this man can calm a storm at sea, he can certainly calm the storm in me. But the Lord reminded me how this happens thru his word. Phil 2:10-11 “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” That means your knee, my knee, and the devil’s knee (tongue). That’s right the devil has to recognize the power of God! Nobody is greater than God! James 2:19 tells us that the devil trembles in His presence! The devil in trouble when Jesus shows up!!
Look at v. 8. Jesus commands the demons to come out of the man. There is some stuff in you that no matter how hard your try, you can’t get rid of it. Only Jesus can do it! And He will do if you come to him believing who He is! Also, Jesus teaches us in this text that when you encounter a demon, we have to speak to it in the authority God gave you because you have the power! Job 22:28 tells us that if we decree a thing it shall be established! Devil get out!! In v. 9, Jesus now talks to the demoniac. Jesus asks the demoniac his name and he says “Legion because we are many”. In that culture, Legion was a military term for a Roman army of 4000-6000 troops. Therefore, in this one man he had up to 6000 demons. Point: Some men don’t generally deal with one issue at a time. Like this Legion, our stuff is multiple and unified. If I got problem with jealousy, I may have a problem with my identity. If I have a problem with drinking, I may have a problem with depression. But no matter how many things you are dealing with, God will deliver you! In vv. 10-13, Jesus wants to make sure that whatever is plaguing you doesn’t come back again. The demoniac spirits come out of the man and by request Jesus sends them into near by sea and caused them to drown. If we look at this metaphorically, we know that the sea is made out of water and water is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. Therefore, your demons will be drowned out by the power of the Holy Spirit. Deliverance is when the Holy Spirit drowns out whatever is controlling you by the presence of God never to come back again. The demons came out the man and the man enters into a new reality. This man was now born again. Theologically, regeneration has occurred. Regeneration is the new birth of those who are by nature “dead in trespasses and sins.” A noted theologian says, regeneration is the state of being grasped by God. It is the hand of God that snatched you out of the grip of the enemy. And when you are in God’s hand nothing can take you out of it! I have some good news today! Jesus is here to snatch somebody out of the Devil’s hand. But you have to be like a demoniac and run to him, cry out and worship! And when you cry out you can be sure that God hears you. David said I cried out to the Lord he heard and he delivered me! If you want to be delivered run to Jesus, cry out and worship! If you want to be healed and live again cry out and worship!
III. You got delivered because you have a new desire vv. 14-20
After Jesus heals the demoniac, the man is found sitting, clothed and in his right mind He was back in place and people were terrified by the power of God! When God delivers you, it is going to shock some people because they are used to seeing you act crazy. They can’t believe you got saved! And they can’t handle your change. Not only does deliverance will give you a new lease on life, deliverance will give you a new desire. This man had a change in things he wanted to do. No more hanging out in dead places with dead people. He now wants to go with Jesus v. 18. Somebody here can testify that you use to run away from Jesus but since your deliverance, you run to him because your desire changed. Your only desire is to be in his presence all day long! But the unthinkable happens for this man. Jesus told him no but to go home, get back in place and tell your friends what the Lord has done. The man was obedient to Jesus’ command to proclaim the great things the Lord has done for him. The text says in v. 20 that the man went out and published which means preached and “all men marveled”. They were amazed! When a man is in his rightful place with God, the world will change!
Celebration: My beloved, you may have something pulling on you that won’t let you go. It is keeping you from being all you can be. But I am here to tell you that Jesus is here to help you get back in place! He wants to lose you from your bondage. My brothers, He needs you free you so can tell the world what Jesus did for you! What he do? He fixed me and He set me free! Brothers, when you get delivered, somebody needs to hear how you made it. Tell them how you use to scream in anger but since you met Jesus, you shout his praises! Tell them how you were once bound and now free! Tell them that devil had you but something else got a hold of you! Look at your neighbor and tell them that something else got a hold of me! I am not the same because something else got a hold of me. I got delivered because something else got a hold of me. I got a new desire because some else got a hold of me.
· I walk different because something else got a hold of me
· I talk different because something else got a hold of me
· I pray different because something else got a hold of me
If you ask me what got a hold of me I am going to tell you, Jesus got a hold of me. His love got a hold of me. Is there any body here that can testify that Jesus got a hold of them? That Jesus made away for them. That Jesus loved them. That Jesus kept them! I am glad about! I will shout about it!! Something got a hold in me!!!