Depravity Vs Deity

Good morning Church!

We are going to be in Mark 5 today if you want to be finding that passage of Scripture.

This week, I was blessed to have a conversation with another gentleman, and we were sharing how that God had blessed us tremendously in our lives. He had shared some of the struggles he had with his raising and how his grandparents ended up raising him and his sister. He also shared some of the addictions that had plagued his family for some generations. I had the opportunity to also share some of the the same things that had plagued my family in generations passed.

Though both of our families had struggled with certain things, it was amazing to brag on God and talk about how we were able to break the cycle that had plagued our families for generations.

I began to think about how good God is and how God has the power to break the chains of addiction from sin and free us from generations of sinfulness. It is amazing to know that God allowed me to be the one to break the cycle of particular sin that has haunted my family for generations.

It is amazing to see that I have the opportunity to start over with new traditions, new addictions. This time it will be an addiction to God and righteousness, instead of an addiction to this world and the things that it has to offer.

Amen!!!

Mark 5:1-20 -

Context

Jesus has been teaching to the multitudes.

He decides to bring the disciples across the lake, away from the hype of the crowds.

They come through a major storm on the lake. Jesus is taking a nap. They wake Him and He calms the seas.

The disciples are astonished.

They reach the shore and step out of the boat into a boneyard. It was a Jewish cemetery.

Not only is it a dark, gloomy atmosphere anyway, this man comes running straight at them, but not just any man:

He has bruises around his wrists and ankles from the shackles and chains that has been put on him.

He is bloody from climbing around on the rocks and cutting himself with stones.

He is wooly. He has been living in a cave and hasn’t showered or shaved in months/years.

He is deranged and completely out of his mind.

He is screaming and shouting, maybe even slobbering at the mouth.

He is completely naked.

They all tuck tail and run. These men are still learning that the Spirit is so much more powerful than the flesh. They had seen Jesus battle sickness, diseases, wind & rain, even death. But they have never seen Jesus fight, right? They are hoping in the moment he knows some Karate or something.

I can picture Jesus looking over his shoulder just seeing what everyone is doing. Peter is holding the rope to the boat and just kind of tosses it down right quick. John is laying in the boat and peeks over the edge. He jumps out all of a sudden and stands up straight like he really wan’t afraid.

Though this is a very serious moment, it would not surprise me at all if Jesus gave them a kind of righteous chuckle here in this moment.

And then......this completely deranged demon-possessed man falls at the feet of Jesus. All of a sudden, they all step out and kind of make a circle behind Jesus, you know, like they were there all along.

Can I just stop and say a couple things right quick:

Stephen King is great, but he has nothing on the Bible.

Don’t EVER let anyone tell you that the Bible is boring. It is so cool to read, if you just take the time and really get into the story. It has every possible kind of story you could imagine: love, action, comedy, thrillers!!! It’s all here, and so many of them. The great part is that every word you read from this Book is absolutely, 100% true. There is nothing fictional here. Read it. Believe it. Learn from it. Allow it change you.

I want to preach to you today with this title in mind: Depravity Vs. Deity!

Content

The Depravity of Man (Vs. 2-9)

This man had an unclean or evil spirit (v. 2; 8-9)

Mark’s purpose is to show that the man was as possessed with evil as any man could be. He had reached rock bottom.

This man lived among the tombs (vv. 2-3)

He represents the man who would rather dwell in the darkness than the light.

This man was cut off from society (v. 5)

He lived among the dead. He represents the living dead; all of those who are far from God and cut off from the family of God.

This man was uncontrollable, unrestrained, untamed, wild, mad, and violent tempered (vv. 3-4)

He represents the uncontrollable evil or depravity of man and the helplessness of man to deliver or save himself.

This man was naked, stripped of all decency and all acceptable and righteous behavior (v. 15)

He represents the man who stands naked before God. There is not one shred of evidence that he deserves the righteousness of God and is desperately in need of God’s grace and mercy.

This man was a threat to himself and to others, inflicting harm upon himself (vv. 4-5)

He represents the man who has gone so far into sin that he does not even have a regard for life anymore. He would rather die than live one more day in his current condition, and has absolutely nothing but anger for anyone who wants to try and judge where he is, for they have no idea what it is like to live one day in his shoes.

He cannot fall any further than what he is already fallen. He is absolutely hopeless. No one but God could ever save him.

He reveals his love for the country (vv. 10-12)

This shows us the nature of the devil.

He loves adding more names to his list of evil-doers, but once established, he does not like to leave.

His acts of sinfulness only become more addicting as time goes on, and if left unchecked, thy pass from one generation to the next.

The Deity of Christ (Vs. 6-15)

He Worships Jesus (v. 6)

He Acknowledges Jesus Power and Begs for Mercy (v. 7)

Jesus Destroys More Than One Evil (vv. 11-13)

The Discipleship of Man by Christ (ALL)

The Frightening Is Forgiven

The Forgiveness Strikes Fear

The Forgiven Is Faithful

The Faithful Reaches The Afraid

The Afraid is Forgiven

Luke 8:39-40 “39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. 40 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.”

Commitment

I can’t help but to believe that there are some here who have been touched by this account of Scripture. Ultimately, how you respond to the Deity of Christ comes down to this:

Mark 5:17 NKJV

17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

Mark 5:7 NKJV

7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”

Can I bring your attention back to verse 5 one last time before we close. This man was in absolute misery. These demons were destroying his life, socially and physically. He wanted them out so badly, that he was trying to cut them out with stones.

Can I bring to your attention today, that he was using the wrong kind of rock. Jesus is the rock of ages. You will never be able to use the stones of death to get those demons our of your life, but if you will allow the living stone of Jesus Christ, He will remove the sin that has been haunting you for so long!!!