Liberation through Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
The title of our sermon today is Liberation through Jesus.
8 and a half years. 8 and a half years of fighting for freedom. 8 and a half years of fighting oppression. 8 and a half years. On April 19th, 1775, American patriots with the support of France and Spain began an 8 and a half year battle for liberation. Americans had put up with oppression long enough from the British government. So they began their battle for liberation.
Stories of liberation are always ones that hit us emotionally. Because it almost always come from a place of oppression. Whether it is a group of people standing up to a government, or the Jews being liberated from concentration camps, it brings great emotion to us.
Today, we are going to break down this passage that deals with liberation. We are going to look at 3 instances of being liberated. Yes, military or police can liberate people, governments can liberate people, but if you get anything out of this message, it need to be that…
Main Point: Jesus is the perfect liberator.
Probing Question: Do you trust that Jesus has liberated you?
If you have not been liberated by Jesus, I pray that God uses His word today to do so.
Jesus Liberates Demonic Possession
Jesus Liberates Demonic Possession
Jesus and his disciples have just gotten out of the storm that nearly killed them. Remember the reaction to it all from the disciples was fear. They had seen the true power of Jesus that he could not only heal and teach, but that he has power over the elements. He has put on display his power over the natural world. We will soon see how he displays his power over the supernatural world. Now they make it across the sea. They are now in a Gentile region. This is very important information as we go through this passage. Verse 2 tells us that when Jesus got off of the boat, he was approached by this man that had what Mark tells us is an unclean spirit. This is a kind way, as we will see when going through these verses, of saying this man was possessed by a demon.
I want us to look at the details that we have about this man.
3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,
4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.
5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
Living among the tombs - Yes, tombs in this case are actual tombs. This man was living with dead bodies. Not only was he unclean because of the demon possessing him, but he was unclean because of the company he kept. An unclean spirit has made this man his home and this man has made an unclean place his home.
No one could bind him - It was not for lack of trying. They had put shackles and chains on him to keep him from torturing the people of this town. This man was a menace to them.
Supernatural strength - He broke chains and shackles. No one could bind him. He was stronger than anyone else
Disturbing the people - It says he was crying out night and day. (peacocks in our back yard) (can’t imagine a person crying out nonstop)
Cutting himself with stones - harming himself. Maybe it was some sort of internal instinct to try to kill himself to escape from the torture of the demon that was possessing him.
This is quite the description of this man. He was greatly disturbed. But this description is not something that should be too strange for us. Because we have encountered people like this today. The difference is that we often just say that they have a mental health problem. Now, don’t just take this idea and run with it. I can hear it now, “the preacher said that there is no such things as mental health problems and it is just people who are possessed by demons”. That is not what I said. But often times, there are greater powers at play than chemical imbalances.
See, our world today has become desensitized to the demonic. We have entire movie franchises and the entertainment industry makes billions of dollars over people’s fascination with with the supernatural. So, you may be wondering, is there such a thing today as demon possession? We should acknowledge that there is evil in this world. We should acknowledge that Satan is still active. Anytime the things of God are attacked(terrorist attacks, war, murder, abortion), feel sure that Satan is close to it.
So yes, demons are active today. Can you and I exorcise demons? I see in this passage that the only thing that ultimately and finally takes care of this demon possessed man is Jesus. So we must trust Jesus to take charge in these situations. We know for certain that the presence and the power of Jesus take charge in this man possessed by this demon.
6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.
7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
We begin this confrontation between this demon possessed man and Jesus. Instead of attacking Jesus, this man ran up to Jesus and fell down before him. Unlike other times in scripture, this was not an act of worship. This was an act of acknowledgement. But the demon was desperate. He was desperate because he knew who Jesus was and the power that Jesus had over demonic spirits. Jesus had already been calling out to the demon. And he knew that if he did not beg for pity from Jesus, that he would endure torment.
This demon says to him the same thing that was said at the first recorded encounter of a demon in the book of Mark. Mark 1:24 “24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.””
Now, Jesus and this demon have an exchange.
9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
Notice the language change here in this answer. In verse 7, he says what do you have to do with ME. This implies singularity. Now, he says that WE are many, implying plurality. But this is actually given away in the demons name. He says that his name is Legion, because they are many. This comes from the military term in the time of legion. A legion of soldiers was around 6,000 men. So this man has an entire army of demons inside of him.
Do you already see the pattern of begging here. He begs Jesus not to torment him. And now he begs for something else.
10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
He tried bargaining with Jesus. They did not want to be sent to a place to await judgement. They wanted to continue their reign of terror. So they bargain.
11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,
12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.”
Instead of sending them away, they begged for Jesus to give them a new host. They knew that God cared for people and Jesus was going to send them out of this man. Luke was more precise in his telling of where they did not want to be sent. Luke 8:31 “31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.” They did not want to be sent to the abyss. This would be a place where they would be held prisoner for judgment. So they spotted a new host that they thought would be suitable.
We may read this and think that this demon was crazy trying to bargain with God. We acknowledge God’s sovereignty, we acknowledge God’s providence. So, if God has a plan, who are we to think that we can change his mind. But, isn’t this what we do oftentimes. We try to bargain with God. Maybe we are in a situation that is uncomfortable, or maybe we see something disastrous headed our way, or we just think that things should go the way that we plan. And we pray. And we say, “God, if you would just do this, then…”
As believers in Christ, we should trust God in his plan.
Now this demon, not being a follower of Christ but an opposition of Christ, doesn’t care if he is following the will of God. He is concerned with nothing but his own self. He doesn’t want to be tormented or sent to be destroyed. So he thinks this herd of pigs would be a safe place for him.
13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
Jesus sends them into the herd of pigs. 2,000 pigs inhabited by an army of demons. And then the pigs rushed down the bank and into the sea and killed themselves. Kind of an odd ending to this story of a man being possessed by the demons. They confront Jesus, beg him not to destroy them, then sends them into pigs, and the pigs run into the sea and drowned.
What we do not need to miss in this is that this man, who was possessed by demons, who lived with the dead, who could not be contained, who mutilated his own body, was liberated from the power of these demons. Do we trust that Jesus can do this?
It is a very common thought in our time that some people are too far gone to be saved. I listen to and witness people speak about and speak to people like they are inferior to them. What makes us think that we need to be on some sort of high horse? It doesn’t matter if someone is a different race, homeless, a drunk, a drug addict, a murderer, or a sexual predator. My bible tells me that they are not too far gone. My bible tells me of a man that would have looked even worse to society than any of those things that I just listed, and Jesus saved him.
Do you believe that Jesus has the power to liberate anyone from their sin? Or is this just offered to people who are like you and have their life together. Some people are dealing right now with some sort of demonic possession. Yes, I believe that. And for them to be liberated from it, they need the power of Jesus. In scripture, you do not see demons being exorcised from any sort of words that are spoken, touch you can give them, or a cross on a necklace with holy water being sprinkled on them. What you see in scripture is the power of Jesus Christ being exerted over them. And today, the power of Jesus comes through the gospel of Jesus. Jesus has the power to liberate people who are possessed by demons.
But also…
Jesus Liberates People To their own Desires
Jesus Liberates People To their own Desires
We always want what we think is best. There are times where God gives us that exact thing. But, it may not be what is best for us. It is what we think is best but it may not be what really is best. I think I could take a poll and everyone would agree that human beings are stubborn.
In High School, I was very active in the agriculture program. The school had purchased sheep for the students to raise and we would take them to the surrounding fairs and we would be judged for several things about the sheep. One of the things they would judge is how well the sheep did as we led them around. There was one sheep in particular, you could call it the black sheep because it was black, but this was the hardest one. You would go to lead it, and it would pull away from you. No one wanted this one, so I volunteered to take it. My teacher at the time told me that if sheep didn’t listen, that sometimes a good ole’ wack over the noggin would often get them to do what you wanted to. So that is what we did and I took that one and got first place with it on a couple of occasions.
I have heard pastors before compare people to sheep because of their stubbornness. There is some truth in it. We can be stubborn to the point that we need someone to wack us across the noggin. But these people that Jesus is about to encounter, he decides to give them exactly what they want, even though they are being stubborn.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened.
15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.
17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
The herdsmen were the first to go and tell people what had happened. They were likely upset because 2,000 of their pigs were just killed. They go to other people, tell them what happened, and then they go back to Jesus to see what is going on. When they get there, they see this man who was possessed by a demon and he was now clothed and in his right mind. This would have been disturbing for them to see.
These are the people who had been dealing with the torture from this man. They would have been the ones who tried to seize him and bind him, yet he was too powerful for them to do so. They would have been the people who would be kept up and be disturbed by the screams of this man. And now, here he sits, completely normal.
I think we take the account of the people who had spent possibly years dealing with this man way too lightly. The torture that they went through. How they tried to help this man but he over powered them and even broke the chains that they used to bind this man with. And now they hear the witness accounts of what happened with Jesus and this man. Of how Jesus spoke to the demons and they entered the pigs and then drowned themselves. There is no denying the power that Jesus had to liberate people.
This reaction is not unlike the reaction that Jesus’s own disciples gave him in the verses prior to this. They had witnessed the power that Jesus has over the natural elements and were afraid. These people had witnessed the power that Jesus has over the supernatural elements and they are afraid.
And just like the demons begging to no longer be in the presence of Jesus, these people beg to no longer be in the presence of Jesus.
When we read of people in scripture who do not want to be in the presence of God (Jesus is God incarnate), we should do some evaluation. Do we want to be the ones who fall at the feet of Jesus and worship him, or do we want to be the ones who want Jesus to leave?
Let’s dwell on that for a moment. Let that thought really sink in. When we encounter the power of God, when we see how visible the miracles of God are, do we want to run to Jesus or do we want to run from Jesus? Does the power of God cause us to worship or does it cause us to fear?
These people were afraid. So they wanted Jesus to leave. They were stubborn. They did not want to accept that the power that Jesus put on display is not something that they should run from but it is something that they should run to. Jesus just liberated this man from being possessed by demons. And now, they want him to leave. What they should be doing is begging Jesus not to leave but to stay and to liberate them from their sins.
Instead, Jesus gave them over to their own desires. Paul tells us about this very thing in the book of Romans.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
There are times, when God gives people over to themselves. We see this here with the townspeople who beg Jesus to leave. They no longer wanted to be in the presence of God. So he gave them the very thing they wanted. Jesus liberated them over to their own desires.
Jesus Liberates the Man to Minister
Jesus Liberates the Man to Minister
Sometimes God gives us the very things that we desire. Even when it is not the best thing for us. We may think it is, but it really isn’t. So far in this passage, the demon begged to be put in the pigs, and Jesus granted it to them. Then the people begged Jesus to leave, and he granted it to them. Now, in a twist of events, the one person that seemed to be on the side of Jesus begs him for something and is denied.
18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.
19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
This man was liberated by Jesus. He possibly was struggling with being possessed by this demon for years. Having to be the host of this spirit that he could not control and it was trying to destroy his own body. Jesus comes and with words, these demons leave him. He has been saved by Jesus. He now wants to follow Jesus and go with him and serve with him. But Jesus denies his request.
One of my friends one was at a father and son event. And it was at a church and to kick off the event, the pastor was leading some prayer. I don’t know the exact thing that they were praying for, but the pastor said in his prayer, “And God, we know that because we ask for you to do this, then you will do it”. My friends son, who was around 8 years old at the time, looked at his dad and said, “Dad, that isn’t how God works”.
The church has been infiltrated by bad theology and false teachers. There is this prosperity theology that teaches that if we ask God to do something, then he will do it. Or even better, there are some that believe that we can command God to do things. Just because you ask God to do something does not mean that it is going to happen.
Maybe you have been praying for a new job, or for the ability to buy a new home, or for a relationship to come, or maybe you have been praying for your family member to be saved. We all have things that we want to happen. But just because you pray for things to happen does not mean that they will. On this flip side of this, does this mean that we should not pray for these things? No, that is not what this means. But we should not think of prayer as a way to convince God that he should do something. Prayer is a way that we get in tune with the will of God and it helps us to grow in our understanding of God.
In whatever that you are praying for, maybe the outcome of your prayer is not that God says yes. But maybe the answer is God saying, instead of just saying yes, how about this… Maybe instead of a new job, God gives you a renewed passion for the job that you have. Instead of a new home, God gives you contentment in the home that you have. Instead of a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or a wife, God gives you a deeper relationship with him.
Our focus needs to shift from God giving us what we want to God giving us what HE wants. In our passage here, Jesus denies this mans request to go with him. Instead, he gives him something else. He tells him to go home. Go and visit your family and your friends. The ones who care about you the most. And tell them what Jesus did for you. How he has had mercy on you.
For people who have had family that have strayed and wandered away, this really hits home. To have the one that seemed hopeless, a failure, basically dead, to come home and say, “I am whole again”. A true miracle of Jesus. And this still happens today. Jesus is still in the healing business, Jesus is still in the saving business. When we read about a man who had been radically changed by Jesus, the words that Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians hits us a little harder.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
This man was a walking, talking, living, breathing testimony of this very thing. And instead of going in the boat with Jesus, Jesus gives this man a mission. Jesus liberates this man for ministry.
20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
He goes to tell his family. But his family is not the finish line. This man goes throughout the Decapolis telling everyone about what Jesus did for him. This is important because this is the beginning of ministry to the Gentiles. The Decapolis was a group of 10 cities (Deca means 10, polis is cities), that were Greek cities. The ministry of Jesus is spreading through people who are obedient.
We all have some sort of ministry. That ministry might be to your neighbors, coworkers, children, or grandchildren. But sometimes, people are called to the ministry of preaching. Maybe someone here today is call to preach. It doesn’t matter if you have been a Christian for 8 days or 80 years, it doesn’t matter if you are a child or if you have great-grandchildren. Do not put off this call to ministry. Do what this man did and be obedient. If you feel called to ministry, I want to encourage you to come and talk to me. It is the job of the church to train up ministers of the gospel. Don’t try to do this alone.
Conclusion
Do you trust that Jesus has liberated you? For someone being brought from unbelief to belief or being brought from death to life, it means salvation.
Maybe you are here today and do not know what salvation is. Salvation means that you were once an enemy of God, and God drew you into himself and you have now repented and believed the gospel. What is the gospel?
(gospel presentation)
If you are here today and you call yourself a Christian, what does this passage mean for us? This passage shows us that Jesus is the perfect liberator. For us, he has liberated us from our sin, he has liberated us from an eternity of torment and punishment outside of the grace of God, He has liberated us To himself.
It is now our job, just like this man who had the demons removed from him, to go and tell others. Tell them what the lord has done for you and about his mercy. And tell them that they can have this same mercy.