Chains won't hold

into:

Everybody, my name is Zach Honnen and I am super excited to be here tonight. I get to fill-in for Pastor Ryan and I'm excited to continue through Mark.

So last week y'all were in Mark chapter 4 I believe what did Ryan cover or what was the main part of the lesson last week?

Do you guys have more of an open conversation format or does Ryan teach for a while? How does it usually work for y'all?

All right, let's go ahead and pray, and then we will start breaking down the text.

Mark 5:1–20 ESV

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 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. 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!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 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.” 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. 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. 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.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

When Ryan came to me and offered me the opportunity to teach, I was excited,

but when he told me it was this passage, I was overjoyed.

The reason is I love this passage. I believe it has a ton to say, and I think there's a ton of practical application for us tonight.

So just by looking at this passage right now, what stands out to you?

What thoughts come to mind?

Mark 5:1–20 (ESV)

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

2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

Now for context and understanding, this was an area that Jews normally did not go to this was an area that it would've been unheard of for Jesus to visit. This was an area that wasn't following religious law, and most would have avoided.

Out the gate, Jesus is doing something that's different, but then he immediately is met with a man who has unclean spirits

And I wanna make this point clear immediately right now Jesus cares for the one

Jesus is here for one man and we see that as we go

You see with in scripture Jesus describes himself as the shepherd that leaves the 99 for the one

And tonight I want us to realize that Jesus would travel miles On sea and land To reach one person.

And not just see and land but time space he would leave heaven and die on earth for one for you and I, and for this man in the story

And the reason I think that is so important is because you and I have a responsibility to chase after the one

I'm not talking about the one in the spouse that God has for us not that we chase after the person who is on the outskirts. The person who seems too far gone the person who needs Jesus.

In church and in our communities, we can get in holy huddles and forget about the one on the outside

If Jesus thinks it's worth it to go across land time and space to talk to one man who is an OutKast, then we should do the same.

Now I want to look deeper into who this man is, but what thoughts do you guys have on that when it comes to leaving the 99 for the one and how that applies to us with evangelism

Looking at who we're talking about tonight

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.

This man is a man who was in the dark

The reality is, we don't get to see a lot of this man's history, but we can see the results of his history

He is a man who is shackled not with the shackles that it talks about, but with the demonic influence in his life, he is completely controlled by these demons

He is possessed and in torment

Now the reality is, we can safely assume that this man was living some sort of way that would invite the Dominican influence into his life

We see a man who's been controlled and taking captive

This would be the person that we would avoid. This is the person that may make us uncomfortable. This is the person that needs Jesus the most.

We can see the people in the town, tried to deal with him

They tried to put heavy chains and shackles on him to control him, but no one had the strength to subdue him

This man was utterly alone with no place to live, except for the tombs, And he was in such torment that he would day and night cry out and harm him himself

This would be the person that needs Jesus you see the reality is this is the one. This is the OutKast that no one else can reach.

And his community tried to deal with it, but they couldn't and I don't know what this man's history was in his current state. He's in the dark dark place.

And I don't know where you're at tonight whether you were in a dark place

In this room, many of us may be far from Jesus, even though we look like we're close to Jesus on the outside

And what I can tell, you is the end of that is this the darkness that we hide inside will make it to the outside and it will become clear

Unless we run to Jesus and it's never too late to run to Jesus

Which is what we see in verse six

6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.

What do you see in this passage? Is there anything interesting that you see?

Because when I see is a demonically possessed man running towards his destruction

The reality is that if I'm possessing somebody if I'm a demon and I'm possessing somebody and I see that son of the living God down the road I'm running the other direction

What I believe is happening is this man with whatever shred of free will of repentance that he has is using it to run to God to run to Jesus

And he falls to his knees, and then the demons take over from there, but this man wanted salvation. This man needing salvation his community couldn't save him.

His community tried saving him, tried, tried subduing him. Nothing worked, and he needed Christ.

And Christ and his sovereignty knew and how to save this man he just had to be available\

We may assume the person that is so dark that is so far from God would never want anything to do with God

But it might be the moment they see the moment they see the gospel they hear the gospel they will run to the father they will run to Christ

This is so important for you to be willing to share and step out in our faith with evangelism and be obedient to God

What are some ways that you and I can purposely reach out to people we know don't know Jesus

How many of us feel comfortable, sharing the gospel with somebody?

How many of us feel comfortable evangelizing

Looking at what this man said to Jesus, we continue

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!”

9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

Again, going back to what We were talking about earlier, this man wasn't just possessed by a demon this man, every aspect of who he was was filled with demonic power

He was controlled by his demons. He had a legion of demons.

Within the Roman measurement of this, this is 2 to 3000 soldiers would be a Legion.

This man was completely controlled, and yet the little sliver of humanity that was left ran to Jesus

And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

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.”

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.

Now I want us to pay attention to something Jesus just freed this man from three Thousand demons.

This man has been saved where his community could not save him

He could be bound, he could not be controlled and I want to touch on that

The first time I heard this passage, the Lord put a thought in my mind that I think was just so beneficial

This man would have heavy chains and different things put on him to protect him and keep him from getting out of control, but he would get out of control every time

And I can't help but see the connection between that and our own sin

You and I struggle with sin, and if you've grown up in the church, your response may be restrictions chains legalism, but the answer is surrender and repentance

The reality is this man tried to control himself. His community tried to put these regulations in controls on him, but they wouldn't work.

He needed the cure he needed. Jesus he needed the gospel.

And you and I are no different if you're trying to control your passions control your sin nature without going to Christ and you're just putting in more regulations and obstacles you will fail

The thing is Jesus doesn't want to control he wants to kill

He wants to death to our sin he wants to crucify our sin and clean out our house

We can often times think that we can just put regulations to control and do it on our own, but we can't we often times think that the answer is community or legalism, but that doesn't work either the answer is Jesus

You've been Christian for a long time or this is the first time you need to go to Jesus daily asking him for strength asking him to protect you

And asking him to free you

Yes, it's good to have safeguards in place when it comes to avoiding sin, but it's also vital that we reach out and seek Jesus first and foremost

No one will be perfect on this side eternity. We will have a pattern of walking in the light.

1 John 1:5-7

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.

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.”

20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.