“That’s Not My Name” (Conclusion)

K. Adrian Scott

April 19, 2026

Context.

The location of the story in our text was in the region called the Decapolis or “free cities” in ancient Judea and Syria including the modern country of Jordan. Jesus is in Gentile territory. Gerasa, now called Jerash, is nestled in a valley surrounded by hilly and wooded areas and was a charming little town. But there was trouble in Gerasa.

Saint Mark introduces us to a man of Gerasa who had an ‘unclean spirit’ -

v. 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” (v.2, ESV).

Under the influence and because of the possession of unclean spirits the first thing our text says about him is that he lived and roamed around the graveyard during the day and night. This is unusual, for sure. This man’s behavior is odd, and it is due to the evil or unclean spirits that are controlling everything about him, so he is simply being obedient to these deviant spirits.

Well, Satan who is manipulating these demonic spirits has no good intentions for this man. In fact, the demon’s intentions are to destroy this man, to drive him out of his mind and drag him to the lowest depts of degradation, and humiliation, and while doing so, deprive this man of any semblance of a normal life including real human relationships or at least human interaction. He was unpredictable and perceived to be dangerous, and with good reason.

May I remind you that John’s Gospel says this, “the thief (referring to Satan) comes only to steal, and kill and destroy” (John 10.10).

It is sadly interesting to see the complete and utter control Satan has over this person who at one time most likely had the things that most of us have, like a job or career, a roof over his head, adequate clothing, probably friends and perhaps even a family. Now, however, he is living life truly on his own. His mind and his actions are so unpredictable that the friends he once had were afraid to be around him. There are cases just like this here in our communities where often persons who can no longer support their drug habit steal from their family and friends and in the end, they have nothing.

We do not even know this man’s name, but we do know he has apparently been stripped of everything he was intended to be by his creator. His mind - gone. His personality is gone, because this demon possession has stripped him of it. This is beyond sadness. Whoever this man was intended to be and whatever he had the potential of accomplishing, is all gone and now. It is ironic that he is attracted to staying in the graveyards, and maybe it's because he has reduced himself to being dead in spirit, so why not live among the dead!

Note: As I mentioned last week, by not divulging this man’s name, it is as if the Lord was protecting his man’s privacy and what is left of his dignity!

Some of us probably know, or know of someone like this, whose life has turned miserably the wrong way. We have witnessed them having been robbed of their personality, good judgment, their honor, integrity, and eventually in many cases, even their family and friends.

Satan does not care if a crystal meth habit causes someone to lose their job, their home and after using meth it causes a twenty-five-year-old to physically age to the point where they often look like a fifty-five-year-old. Satan not only does not care but receives great joy out of seeing a person’s family, their home and career destroyed by alcohol abuse, drug abuse, gambling addition, a pornography habit or other habits that are detrimental to the prospects of a good standard of life.

Satan, the author of evil, is out recruiting his own disciples every day, and he has one objective; he wants to destroy your life. And when he has destroyed the prospects of a good quality of life, he simply and cruelly throws his victims away. There is no mercy in Satan’s ministry!

In the previous chapter four, nature is out of control, now in chapter five a human being is out of control! This man is out of self-control for sure and out of society’s control at the same time.

Vv. 3-5; “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.”

In addition to living in and roaming around the graveyards, he would cause all kinds of disturbance in the community by screaming loudly and terrifying those who were in the cemetery burying their family members or friends. For those who lived in Gerasa, the man was also known to cut himself with sharp stones and mutilate his body as if suicidal. For those who tried to stop him from hurting himself and save his life, the man with superhuman strength provided by the demon spirits would repeatedly break free and no one could help him.

Where is everybody? You mean no one can get through to this man? According to God’s Word, no! Rather due to paranoia or some other reason, the man trusted no one and would not submit himself to their care.

This is precisely the unfortunate situation with far too many today; they just cannot be reached by you or me. No matter how great their minds or personalities once were, nor what fantastic gifts they once possessed, but because of unresolved anger, anxiety, or other unaddressed emotional problems that are often manifested by destructive habits, social isolation, dishonesty and even violent behavior. Let there be no mistake, this man reflects far too many in society today and yesterday.

It is my opinion that we drastically underestimate demonic activity in our world because Satan is a persistently active recruiter of those whom he can use to do his work of destruction in the world. So, there is no doubt about it that far too many in our current society of whom it can also be said are “out of control.” And such were some of us - “out of control.”

Note that verse 3 says, “no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.”

Everyone in the village was deemed useless when it came to getting this man under control! He was uncontrollable. Not his acquaintances or the legal authorities were successful in helping get this man under control.

Do you have any idea what the recidivism rate is the state prison system? 68% of inmates are rearrested within three years and up to 83% within nine years!

Society to this date has not been very successful helping those whose lives at some points were deemed ‘out of control.’

So, we see those legal and legislative restraints, moral restraints, and even religious restraints are not enough by themselves to bring about a change of heart and/or attitude. Society, or this world by itself cannot regulate one’s mind, control one’s will, and certainly cannot bring a person to repentance. We all need a Jesus intervention!

All of the societal and governmental reforms have led us to where we are not – a society that is in great measure ‘out of control.’ The man in Mark 5 as well as all the unregenerated or unconverted and out of control people in our modern society needs a genuine encounter with Christ!

Vv. 6-7; “And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 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” (ESV).

The possessed man falls on his knees before Jesus. This is a sign of submission, reverence, and this posture is also often a prayer posture! Here is some scriptural evidence that the demons possessing this man recognized the person and authority of Christ and had the man kneel before the Lord!

In my Proposition last week I asked, “Do you recognize the authority of Jesus? Here is the truth – Don’t you see here that Scripture is testifying that Jesus’ authority and power is superior to that of our enemy Satan? And if so, are you willing to bow down before the Lord Jesus right now as Lord of your life and Savior of your soul?

Are you willing to give up control of your life right now and trust Christ as the head of your life? In a moment of honesty, can’t you see you are not able to fix what is truly wrong in your heart?”

Vv. 7-8; “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!

Again, we see Satan’s demons recognizing the superior power of Jesus.

v. 9; “And Jesus asked him, what is your name? He replied, my name is Legion, for we are many.”

And I want to remind you that Satan or Lucifer as he is also called, has contested the plan of Almighty God for humankind, that none should perish. But Satan, the author of evil, was dealt a mighty blow from the righteous right hand of God, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. The Psalmist collaborated with the Holy Spirit when Psalm 110.1 says, “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” Then in the New Testament Mark 16.19 confirms the Old Testament Scripture when it says, “So then, after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16.19). So, the significance of Jesus being at the right hand of the throne of God the Father coincides with Mark 16.16 which records the words of the Lord Jesus Himself when He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” So, when the Lord Jesus spoke from the cross and said these three words, “It is finished” means that Satan, the great deceiver has been knocked down by the powerful hand of God, and he is not getting up! He is down for the count! The fight for supremacy is over. The battle over sin’s dominance was done! Satan and sin no longer held the title of Master.

So, I want to say to you this morning, when Satan accuses you and says to you “your name is ‘liar’, tell Satan “That is not my name!” When he says, “cheater” tell him that it is not your name! Thief, drunkard, homewrecker, deceiver, tell him emphatically, “that is not my name!

When he says you are defeated, bound, hopeless, lost, fearful and confused; tell him, ‘No, that used to be my name, but “that is not my name now!”

And when the late boxing champion Joe Frazier who was a formidable foe was knocked to the canvas in that boxing ring, Muhammed Ali, that victorious champion, now crowned with the glory of being called “World Champion” stood above Mr. Frazier and began asking him, “what's my name?” Repeatedly the champion asked his defeated opponent, “what's my name?” Cassius Clay, his birth name, had taken on a new identity and was going by a new name, Muhammed Ali.

Then, if someone asks you, “what is your name, tell him, “My new name is ‘free’ not Legion. Because in Christ I am no longer bound.’

‘What’s my name?’

Tell him my name is ‘victory’ because through Christ I am victorious!’ ‘What’s my name?’

Say to the enemy, ‘they do not call me Legion, but they call me ‘forgiven’ because the Lord Jesus has forgiven me of all my sins.

Ask the defeated Satan, ‘What’s my name?’

Some call me ‘redeemed’, because I have been bought with the blood of Jesus.

Others know me as ‘loved’ not Legion, because the love of God constrains me.

‘What’s my name?’

Some of my friends call me ‘sanctified’ because I am set apart for God’s purposes.

They also call me ‘healed’ ‘holy’ and ‘righteous’!

Ask the conquered enemy Satan, ‘What’s my name?’

Tell him, ‘I also go by the alias ‘adopted’ because I am God’s child;

They call me, ‘Heir’ because I am an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ Jesus; ‘What’s my name?

I don’t go by Legion anymore. ‘That’s not my name!’

I am known as a ‘citizen of heaven’ not Legion!

I am the ‘apple’ of God’s eye, not Legion!’ ‘That’s not my name!’

I am the ‘bride’ of Christ, not Legion!

I am called Saved, not Legion! ‘That’s not my name!’

Don’t call me Legion anymore because “that’s not my name!”

‘You know my name!’

‘What’s my name, Devil?’ I am -

Forgiven,

Free, because I’ve been released from sin’s bondage.

Never forsaken,

Loved, because Christ came and died for me.

Rescued,

Saved, because I’ve been rescued from the hands of evil.

Sanctified, set apart for God’s purposes!

Victorious! Because Christ overcame the grave.

The Proposition.

It was after mockery of a trial when God the Father brought out His ‘Mastercard 'to pay for the debt of sin. If Satan had asked the Lord to read the name of who the card was issued to, tell him it’s in the name of ‘the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Then if he asks the expiration date of the MasterCard tell him there is no expiration date,because the Lord Jesus is the eternal Savior! And finally, if he wants to know the security pin number tell him it’s, ‘316’ meaning John 3.16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

On my ID is says I am a citizen of Heaven, then if Satan says, ‘let’s make sure the card is good and the transaction clears the bank.’ So, the payment was processed on the cross of Calvary, and the transaction cleared the First Grace Bank three days later at His resurrection!

Christ having taken the enemy’s best punch when He was being nailed to a Cross, but was raised from the grave three days later, having defeated death, hell and the grave, the Lord changed my name and yours from ‘sinner to saint!’

The Close.

So, as Muhammed Ali asked a delirious Joe Frazier, ‘who is the greatest?’

I ask you the same question - ‘Who’s the greatest?’ The answer is ‘Jesus!’

So, I ask you, ‘Who is the greatest?’ Jesus!

Who defeated Satan on the cross? Jesus!

Who defeated the enemy in the grave?

‘Who is the greatest?’ Jesus!

‘Who defeated Satan in His resurrection?

‘Who is the greatest?’ Jesus!

Who knocked down the enemy? And who knocked out the enemy when he ascended to the right hand of the throne of God? Jesus!

I’ll ask you one more time: ‘Who is the Greatest?’ Jesus!

Who is the King of kings! Crown Him!

Who is Lord of lords! Crown Him!

Who is the Savior of sinners! Crown Him!

What’s your name, Christian?

Well, you have many names, but Legion is no longer your name!

v. 10-13; 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 were drowned in the sea.”

Here is an example of the intent and the potential of demon spirits; they are destructive by nature! The unclean spirits were allowed to possess the pigs and they drove them down the hill to a watery grave.

Vv. 14-16; “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.”

v. 17; “And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.”

Vv. 18-19; “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.”

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

What has the Lord done for you? And who are you telling?