41 Preaching/Teaching Mark 5: Go Tell It On The Mountain

Go Tell it on the Mountain!

ETS- Jesus sets a demon-possessed man free to go and serve him back at his home.

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ESS- We must TELL about our All-Victorious Savior because:

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OSS- Hearers will tell someone about Jesus this week.

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FCF-Because of the seriousness of the battle against Satan and evil, we must realize that we can, like the townspeople we will, ask Jesus to leave us alone, but we have the opportunity to be freed and live on a mission for him.

Jesus would win the ultimate battle on Calvary-Where once and for all, he defeated Satan and death.

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We must TELL about our All-Victorious Savior because:

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We must follow the All-Victorious Savior because:

Intro

Muhammed Ali made the claim he was the greatest of all time.

She leaned over and said, "Mr. Ali, you need to fasten your seatbelt." Ali replied, "Superman doesn't need a seatbelt." The flight attendant quickly responded, "Superman doesn't need an airplane either! Now, buckle up!"

Sports debate who is the greatest of all time.

Jerry Rice or Randy Moss?

Patrick Maholmes or Tom Brady?

Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds?

Muhammed Ali or Mike Tyson?

Target or Walmart?

Heb or Cosco?

When I was young, it was Magic or Bird?

I was a Magic guy. When we talk about the greatest of all time, when you pick a person, they usually have a great rivalry.

Magic and Bird's rivalry started in college.

Here is what we know about the greatest debate of all time: you can't be both a Magic and Bird guy. It was only about ten years ago that I went back and watched Bird and realized how good he was.

The Lakers and Celtics hated each other; they were bitter rivals.

Today, we will talk about Jesus being the greatest of all time.

Is Jesus the all-powerful Savior?

Do you believe that?

In the Gospel of Mark, we see that we can either follow Jesus or not. But if we decide not to follow Jesus, we will ultimately follow something less.

We have made so many things "gods" in our culture.

There are so many things we can follow.

Usually, what we talk about and tell others about reveals what we are following:

Here are some things we can follow instead of Jesus:

Success-We can make this number 1

Fame

Pleasing people

Fortune

Family

Today, Jesus is going to remind us that he is the Victorious saviour over all things and that there is a real enemy/Rival.

But in this battle, there is a natural enemy. Magic had Bird, and Jesus had Satan and his entire army.

Just like in boxing, a real battle is going on, a spiritual one.

For some Christians, that is all they talk about.

Other Christians act like it is not even a real thing.

These are two extremes, but there is a battle, and we are in the middle of it and have to decide whether to follow the all-victorious Savior.

But a battle is going on right now for your souls and the souls of men and women worldwide.

The question is, will you go and tell others about the unconditional love of God?

Will you talk about Jesus, or will you make your life about telling your friends and your family about other things?

Today, I hope you will leave here wanting to discuss this all-victorious Savior.

Today, I want to give us three reasons why we should talk about our victorious Savior:

We must TELL about our All-Victorious Savior because:

1. Without him, we are helplessly broken (1-5).

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

“This account, more graphically than any other in the Gospels, indicates that the function of demonic possession is to distort and destroy the image of God in man.”

Mark 5:1 NASB95

They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.

Jesus is going into a Gentile region. Jews, especially rabbis, did not go to gentile areas. And here Jesus is, going right into hostile territory. Isn't this the heart of God to bring his message to the world.

Mark 5:2 (NASB95)

When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,

Jesus is going to take on his greatest arch-enemy of all time, and he will leave little doubt in our minds that he is the Greatest of all time.

Jesus is standing face to face with a man who is overcome with demons. Demons rule his life.

You thought Ali vs Foreman was a big clash. You have not seen anything yet. This is Jesus vs. thousands of Demons. Who would your money be on.

One of Satan's greatest tactics is to totally deface the image of God in you.

Evil and sin will spiral out of control and come to the surface (3-5)

Description of this man

Mark 5:3–5 (NASB95)

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.

Description of this man: Under the power of an unclean spirit, continually lived among the tombs, no one could subdue him anymore, bound often with [with shackles and handcuffs: which he could tear apart], no one could restrain him, always shrieking and screaming and beating and bruising and cutting himself with stones [he was hurting himself],

Don't we all struggle with sin. If we say we don't struggle we may struggle the most. And when sin goes unchecked in our life it will literally be out of control.

Illustration: We see headlines all the time that are crazy. Some of the headlines that really shake people up is when we see a big headline that a pastor has done something crazy and awful. I remember I heard a famous pastor fall into a huge scandal. I heard this man preach a few weeks before it broke and he was talented speaker. It starts just like it always does. We see something just like Adam and Eve that we should not do. And then we do it. We stop doing the things we should do, we compromise on our quiet times, on our authentic relationships. We get out of fellowship. And the next thing we know is we are saying how in the world did I get here.

It could be a lust issue

It could be an anger issue

It could be a spending issue

It could be 1000 different issues.

It's easy to look at this man who is completely out of control and say I just can't relate. But I think we can all relate to this man if we think about it. This man did not start here, but little decisions became bigger consequence until his life was completely out of control.

What areas is your life out of control in right now?

"Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. –"

Maybe the reasons your not GOING and TELLING others about Jesus right now is because your life is out of control.

When our life is out of control

Insufficient Coping Methods

We see this man bringing harm to himself. He is cutting himself. First time we see this in scripture. This seems extreme, and we think to ourselves, why would someone do this? But don't we all deal with brokenness in harmful ways that are not God's design? There are so many unhealthy coping methods.

Some do it with:

Alcohol-My dad

Overeating

Pleasing people: the reality is we all have coping mechanisms

Over shopping

What we are doing is we are not bringing it to Jesus.

Application-

How are you coping right now?

We have these coping mechanisms, and they start so small, and then we do them over and over again, and now things are completely out of control.

Have you ever been there?

Do you know what I love about this part of the story? Jesus did not see this man for what he was or the DEMONS he had. He saw this man for what he was created him to be and what he could be. A man created in the image of God. Aren't you glad God does not see us where we are at our worst?

Jesus did not say to this man, "I no longer have a plan for you?" Instead he saw this man for what he created him to be.

What areas of your life are broken right now?

Two things we have to do if we want to cope properly (We don’t graduate from these two things):

We need to have time with God

We need to have authentic relationships-Robert and I meet regularly and we talk about struggles. Robert is a man I look up to and he told me the first time we met. I need accountability. And I was like what an amazing testimony that this man who has walked with God into his 70's still wants to walk with God.

If we are not coping properly we will not GO AND TELL about this victorious savior.

We must GO TELL about our All-Victorious Savior because:

Satan is powerless against God (6-13).

We were in Belize it was my first mission trip. My best friend from college was with me. We were sharing the gospel and he ran into a guy and he told that this man was demon Possessed.

Why do I share this story. Because there is a real battle going on between good and evil and the souls of men and women are on the line.

I am not some demon expert but here is what I do know.

a. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ you cannot be possessed by demons. Demons can try other things but you cannot be possessed. The moment you believe in Jesus you are filled and sealed with the HOLY SPIRIT.

b. Satan has an army of demons and their is a real war going on.

Mark 5:6–8 NASB95

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!”

Satan knows he is defeated (6-8).

he fell before Jesus and cried out to Jesus, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Highest God?", He asked Jesus not to torment him anymore, he had been demon-possessed possessed,

Notice this demon knows exactly who Jesus is. All throughout scripture Satan knows exactly who God is. we always have to remember that intellectual assent in God is not the same as biblical belief in God.

Illustration: I can believe this plane will get me to my destination (demons have this kind of belief) but it is not the same of me stepping onto the plan and putting my faith in the pilot and the airplane.

Demons know exactly who Jesus is.

The Demon bows down (Not for Worship)-now the bigger reason is because he does not want to get destroyed but he knows the power of God. If this is true for a demon how much more should it be for a believer in Jesus. How much more should we know the power of God.

8-This demon knew he was about to lose control. This demon wanted to continue to control this man's life. He was desperate. I know you can do this Jesus, but don't.

Did Jesus listen to his request: Absolutely not

Mark 5:9–13 NASB95

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.

‌Satan wants to plant his flag everywhere (9-13).

9-Listen to what this demon says-We are many!

A legion Consisted of 6000 roman soldiers!

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

“They are allowed to enter into the swine; but the destruction of the whole herd follows; and that which they most dreaded came upon them; no longer finding organs in or through which to work, they are driven perforce to that very prisonhouse which they most would have shunned.”

Only Mark recorded the number of pis (“about 2,000,” v. 13). As usual, Mark drew attention to Jesus’ awesome power.

Success-Satan wants more territory in your life.

What if you become so successful that you do not think you need God and lead other people away from God? He does not want you to hit rock bottom because he knows you may turn to God.

Satan has a vision for the world

How is he winning in the world?

The 10/40 Window: The Unreached Peoples and Cities

An estimated 3.28 billion individuals live in approximately 6,040 unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window. The 10/40 Window also contains the largest unreached peoples over one million in population. In addition, the 10/40 Window contains the overwhelming majority of the world's least evangelized megacities -- that is those with a population of more than one million. The top 50 least evangelized megacities are all in the 10/40 Window! That fact alone underscores the need for prioritizing 10/40 Window Great Commission efforts.

THUMB

Tribal

Hindus

China

Muslims

Buddhists

Satan has a game plan he knows his game plan is shot if God is present (10).

The Magic Bird Rivalry-Magic won, then bird won and then their was this serious were it was for the finals and their were literal fist fights.

If Magic would have just showed up and beat the Celtics 100-0, not a great rivalry.

In this encounter God complete destroys Satan-Complete domination.

These demons had completely destroyed this man, they had completely destroyed this area.

If God is this powerful and Satan is this powerless: Why is he being so successful.

I want you to think right now,

How is Satan winning in your life?

Satan has two major strategies

a. Believers-He knows he can't take their salvation (it is a gift) so he will do everything he can do shipwreck your life. He will make you look like an enemy. He will take a fully fledge followers of Jesus and destroy their marriage, he will take a believer and never get them connected to other Christians.

I have seen this happen

Application:

1 John 4:4 (NASB95)

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

We need to live with confidence!

We must GO TELL about our All-Victorious Savior because:

there is no greater calling (14-20).

Mark 5:14–15 NASB95

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.

clothed in his right mind, he wanted to be with Jesus, he departed and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.

Why should we tell our story:

(14-15) He has changed our life from death to life

This man was completely and utterly hopeless. I want you to picture this man was not just kind of in a bad situation he was in a terrible situation.And now it says he was dressed (kind of a frightening sight) but isn't that what God does he clothes us. But is says he was in his right mind. This man had been tormented, he was in a dark place and now all of the sudden he is in his right mind. Is this a changed life or what.

What's your story?

What's your testimony?

Has God changed your life?

If he has not it is not too late.

I watched a show one time on the SMU Football team that paid their college players when this was illegal. Bexcause they paid their players they were really good, they were called the Pony express. When they got busted the NCAA put some terrible restrictions on them, they basically killed their football program. Years later when they finally got their program back someone said this:

They said something about testimony.

We are not where we want to be, we are not we're going to be, but thank God we are not where we want once were. SMU Quote

Isn’t that our testimony

Why should we tell our story:

(16-17) Decisions have to be made

Mark 5:16–17 NASB95

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.

Jesus is a FORK IN THE ROAD

There are people who live right next to us who need to decide: What do we want to do with Jesus?

b. Non-believer-If you are not a believer he will do whatever he can to keep for seeing your need for Jesus. Satan hopes some will be super successful and never even have to think about God, and will as a matter of fact influence other people away from God. He does not want anyone to believe the good news of Jesus.

He does not want non believers to have to see the fork.

What about some friends who are far from God?

Why should we tell our story:

We have to.

Mark 5:18–20 (NASB95)

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.

How is he winning in their life?

I am thinking about a friend right now...(example of a person)

This was a decisive battle. Could you picture if you were there.

But later in Jesus life there would be a even bigger battle, it was for the souls of men and woman, it would determine all eternity. It would be a forever battle. If you think this was a big battle you have not seen anything yet.

Jesus would himself: Defeat death once and for all.

Will you go tell it this week?

Who are you going to tell?