From Maniac to Missionary

“From Maniac to Missionary”

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I love the story about Harry Ironside when he gave his testimony at a Salvation Army meeting. Standing in the crowd as he gave his testimony was a well-known agnostic, who had made a name for himself lecturing against Christianity. The man came up to Ironside after he gave his testimony, and handed him his business card, and on the back of the card he had written,” Sir, I challenge you to debate with me agnosticism versus Christianity, in the academic science Hall next Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock, I will pay all expenses.”

Ironside stepped back up to the mic and read the card out loud, and then said this:

I’ll be glad to debate you on the following conditions. In order for you to prove that you have something worth debating about, you must promise to bring with you next Sunday two people whose lives have been changed as proof that agnosticism is of real value in changing human lives and building true character.

The first person to bring with you is a man whose life was wrecked, and he had been an outcast from society. A man who was a drunkard, or a criminal, or a drug addict, or a man given to sexual sin.

A man who for years was under the power of evil habits, from which no one could deliver him from. But he entered into one of your meetings and heard you speaking on the greatness of agnosticism, and heard you rejecting the Bible and Christ. And after listening to you was so deeply stirred that he went away from your meeting saying, from now on I too am an agnostic! And I found a new power in my life, and the sins I once loved, I now hate, and righteousness and goodness are now the passions of my life. Bring a man who has been made entirely new, and has become a credit to himself, an asset to society all because he is an agnostic.

The second person you are to bring is a woman, whose life was once controlled by sin, who was once a slave to alcohol, drugs, and abusive relationships. A woman who lived for years lost in her sin. But this woman also entered into one of your meetings and heard you proclaiming the message of agnosticism and ridiculing the word of God. As she listened hope was born in her heart and she said, this is just what I need to be delivered. She followed your teaching until she became an agnostic herself, and as a result her life has been totally changed. And she is now living a life that is clean, virtuous, and happy, all because she is an agnostic.

Then he said to the man; if you a promise to bring these two people with you as examples of what agnosticism can do, I’ll promise to meet you next Sunday at 4 o’clock, and I will bring with me at least 100 men and women who for years lived in such a sinful, wicked, depraved, ungodly life as I have tried to describe. But they have been gloriously saved through believing the gospel which you ridiculed. I will have these men and women with me on the platform as witnesses to the miraculous saving power of Jesus Christ, and as a present day proof of the truths of the Bible.

Will you agree to these conditions?

The man smiled and waved his hand and said, nothing doing! And turned and walked out on the crowd.

The gospel of the Jesus Christ transforms people’s lives! Jesus rescues the perishing, cares for the dying, Jesus is merciful, mighty to save!

The man were going to meet this morning experienced the transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ!

He is a man that goes from being a maniac to a missionary!

There are several great facts about sin and salvation in the story of the man who goes from a maniac to a missionary.

Fact #1:

1. Satan Wants to Destroy You!

V:26-28.

When we first meet this man we learn that his life is a wreck; Satan is controlling this man, and seeking to destroy him. Jesus and his disciples have sailed through a storm to get to the other side of the Sea of Galilee into Gentile territory. This is the first time that Jesus has ventured into Gentile territory.

Jesus is not only the savior of the Jews, he is the savior of the world.

As soon as Jesus stepped out the boat he is met by this man who has been possessed by demons for a long time. This was somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, maybe somebody’s husband and father. This man’s life is under the dominion of Satan. Obviously this man’s condition is extreme; but he gives us a living picture of what Satan desires to do in people’s lives.

This man was lost in his sin, and had opened himself up to the control of Satan.

This man is being controlled by Satan morally, spiritually and physically. Satan wants to blind people’s minds to the truth of the gospel, keep them from spiritual life in Jesus Christ, and destroy them physically and damn them to hell.

When this maniac came running up to Jesus and his disciples, I’m sure the disciples were freaked out, I know I would’ve been.

I can see him with his eyes darting back and forth, his hair matted and caked down; he has no clothes on, he smells like dead decomposing bodies; he looks more like a wild animal than a person.

We don’t know how this man had opened himself up to demons; but he had, and he was possessed with demons.

You say pastor, there is no one possessed by demons and in this condition today. But I want to remind you this morning that if your life is not under the control of the Lord Jesus, your life is under the control of Satan and sin. I am aware that there are different manifestations of the control of Satan and his demons. And that Satan often masquerades himself as an angel of light, .

But Satan’s intentions are the same for the person who is in high society and the person who has been driven to the depths of derogation.

Satan’s desire is the same: To destroying the image of God in man, and leading man to be separated from God for all eternity.

Satan’s single purpose is to twist, mar, distort and destroy your life!

And he doesn’t care what he uses to do it; whether it’s a dollar bill, a bottle of Jack Daniels, a beautiful woman, handsome man, pride, power, popularity, pornography, possessions or pleasure.

Jesus said that Satan has come to kill, steal and destroy!

There are two extreme views on demons today:

The first extreme is to deny the existence of demons; a writer for Newsweek said, “The idea of a devil is merely a trivial personification, hardly adequate to symbolize the mystery of evil”.

I’m sure the devil approved of that; because the devil and his demons like to operate undercover, incognito, pushing their agenda of sin and destruction. But the Bible clearly teaches that there is a devil, and demons. The devil and demons are no joke; their desire is to blind people’s minds to the gospel and damn their soul to Hell! Don’t believe the picture off the devil in some red onesie with a long tail and a pitchfork sitting on someone’s shoulder. The Bible tells us the devil is a sinister, diabolical, powerful enemy; who transforms himself into an angel of light, to attract, deceive and destroy people!

The first extreme is to deny the existence and reality of the devil and demons, and their agenda.

The second extreme, is to become obsessed with the devil and demons. To make more of demons than you ought to. Some people think that every problem they have is from the devil. They are the flip Wilson's of this world –"the devil made me do it" and anything and everything that happens they blame on the devil and demons.

I heard about this brother and sister who got in a fight, the little boy hit his little sister, and pushed her, and spit on her. The mother broke up the fight and said to the little boy, the devil made you hit, push and spit on your sister. The little boy said, the devil may have made me hit her and push her, but spitting on her was my own idea.

A lot of things we blame on the devil, are our own ideas. Some people make too much of the devil.

We need to avoid both of these extremes; the devil and his demons are real, but they are not all-powerful, only God is all-powerful!

This man had opened himself up to the devil, and the spirit of disobedience, the spirit of Satan was controlling this man’s life. Everyone is going to be occupied by something or someone. God’s plan is for your heart to be occupied by the Lord Jesus!

But if you don’t open your heart up to Jesus, you leave yourself open to the influence of Satan and sin.

Don’t open yourself up to the spirit world of demons. Don’t mess with witchcraft, séances,

Ouija boards, fortune-telling, palm-reading, astrology, or the occult. Satan is real, don’t open your mind up to Satan! He is a liar and a loser! The Bible is the only source of accurate knowledge about spiritual, supernatural things, and life after death. It is foolish to seek knowledge anywhere else! Get a good look at this man who has opened himself up to Satan; and see how Satan is destroying his life!

When Satan and sin is controlling your life here are some things that will happen:

· You want to take your clothes off, in the wrong place. V:27-“Wore no clothes…

This guy had taken his clothes off in public; Satan is the one pushing nudity and immorality in our society. Satan is behind the lust of the flesh! Satan wants you to be filled with lust, pornography, and sex outside of marriage. The devil wants to lead you to be immodest, shameless, and show yourself to the opposite sex. So, this guy was running around in the graveyards, cutting himself, breaking chains, and he was doing it all naked!

God is not against you getting naked; God brought the first man and woman together, in a beautiful garden, with no clothes on!

You can’t get any better than that! But they were husband and wife! Don’t take your clothes off for anyone except your husband or your wife! And don’t look at anyone with their clothes off except your husband or wife!

· He lived among the dead. V:27-“Lived in the tombs…

He lived among the tombs, this is not some well-kept funeral home. He was living in caves with decomposing human bodies. Can you imagine a man living in a tomb with dead bodies?

This man was not only living among the dead; this man was spiritually dead, separated from God.

· He was extremely violent.

- “exceedingly fierce” he was extremely dangerous and difficult to handle. No one could go anywhere near where he was.

What makes people fierce today?

Sin has always been in the world, but there is a level of sin and violence in our day that is beyond the normal. We are living in a day were men are “exceedingly fierce” what makes a man go into a movie theater and shoot people?

What makes a person drive their car into a crowd of people and kill them?

Unthinkable crime, child abuse, murder is happening like never before.

The Bible says in the last days fierce, dangerous and difficult days will come; those days are here!

· He couldn’t be controlled.

V:29-“he had been caught and bound in chains and fetters, but was supernatural strength he broke the chains and was driven out by the devil.

This man allowed no restraint, people tried to help him, and keep him from destroying himself. But like a wicked Samson he tore the ropes off and broke the chains. He had superhuman strength. He had been to one recovery group after another, short term, and long-term. He had been locked up, been through every program, and counseling, but nothing helped him. He was under the control of Satan and couldn’t be helped by all the well-meaning people! Some people might think he was free, he could do whatever he wanted, go wherever he wanted, and didn’t have anybody telling him what to do. He didn’t even have to put clothes on. No discipline, no authority, no restraint, no one to tell them what to do. But he was not free, and whenever you live for sin and follow Satan you are not free! You are a slave to sin, in bondage to Satan!

· He had no peace.

-“And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying and crying and cutting himself with stones”

-" The wicked are like the troubled sea, there is no peace, says the Lord unto the wicked."

Sin does not make you happy! He was crying!! Satan is a horrible master to follow! This guy is hurting on the inside, demons are controlling his mind, his morals and his life. He is so miserable that he begins to cut himself! He is trying to get rid of the pain deep inside of his soul. Satan is behind all cutting, suicide, violence, it is Satan who wants you to hurt yourself and hurt other people.

Sin is destructive; it harms the person who commits it. I’m not just talking about cutting (even though cutting is serious – if you struggle with cutting, there is hope and help for you; you need to learn to forgive, control your emotions, and turn over your problems to God). Sin will harm you. It will harm your relationship with God. It will harm your body.

What a pitiful picture of what Satan does in a person’s life, when he is allowed to be in control!

When this man recognizes Jesus he comes running up to Jesus.

V:28-READ.

After Jesus had calm the storm, the disciples asked “who is this man?”

But the demons knew exactly who Jesus was, the son of the Most High God! The book of James tells us that the demons believe in God and tremble.

They know the authority and power that the Lord Jesus Christ has! The demons also believe in something that a lot of people refuse to believe in; they believe in hell. They ask Jesus not to torment them: V:31-“they begged him that he would not command them to go out into the deep”

The word “deep” is the bottomless pit, the abyss, the lake of fire. The demons know their final destiny, and are not looking forward to it.

Jesus asked him his name, V:30-“he said my name is Legion: because many demons were entered into him”

Legion was the name for 6000 Roman soldiers. This man said my life is being dominated and trampled on by the soldiers of hell. There is a battle for every person’s soul; and this man gives us a picture of what happens when Satan wins the battle. Satan wants to destroy you, and damn you to hell!

Fact #2:

2. Jesus Wants to Save you!

Jesus went through a great storm to get to where the man was. Jesus was seeking to save the lost! Jesus sailed that ship to this man shore! Here we see the love and grace of the Lord Jesus. Everybody else saw a maniac, but Jesus, saw a man who needed him! Everybody else was afraid of this man, but Jesus loved this man and wanted to deliver him. Aren’t you glad that Jesus doesn't see us for what we are, but for what we can be by his power and grace? Jesus loves you, he left heaven and endured the storm of God's wrath to purchased your salvation and set you free from Satan and sin!

If there was ever a man who seemed beyond the hope of salvation, it was this maniac. Jesus came to him, and cast the demons out of him, and saved his soul! Satan and his demons are no match for the powerful son of God!

There is a war going on inside this man’s soul; he comes running and falls before Jesus, and cried out what have I to do with you Jesus, son of the most high God?

There is a spiritual struggle going on inside this man, there is a spiritual battle raging over this man's soul! This is what happens when Jesus comes on the scene to save you; the devil starts a battle in your heart! You know you need Jesus as your Savior! You know that you have no peace, no assurance, you don't really know Jesus! Jesus begins to press his claims on you, the Holy Spirit begins to convict you that you're lost, and you feel the desire to be saved! And then the devil begins to whisper, you're okay, you prayed a prayer as a child, your church member, you serve and work in the church.

Satan says don't do anything about it now, just wait, come to church more get more involved everything will be okay. And there is a spiritual battle in your soul. The Holy Spirit is convicted you that you're lost, and the devil is trying to convince you you're okay. Jesus perceived the battle in this man's soul.

Jesus came to set this man free, and save his soul. Here's a man under the power of Satan, but Jesus has power over Satan.

In V:29, Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.

Then were given the details in V:31-33.

The demons asked Jesus not to send them to the bottomless pit, but to send them into the pigs that were feeding on the hill. And Jesus granted their request. The demons came out of the man, entered into the pigs, and the whole herd ran down the steep bank into the Sea of Galilee and drowned.

This raises a lot of questions for people:

How can animals be possessed? Don’t know.

Why did Jesus allow the demons to enter into the pigs? Don’t know.

What happened to the demons, after the pigs drowned? Don’t know. Why did the demons feel it necessary to inhabit something; instead of saying, let us go to Samaria? Don’t know.

And anybody who tells you they know; they don’t know. We could defend what happened to the pigs by saying Jesus didn’t destroy the pigs, the demons did. Of course Jesus is the one that gave them permission to enter the pigs. We might remind ourselves that the pigs were ceremonially unclean, and that hog farming was forbidden by the Law of Moses. We could say this was divine judgment on these people in this region raising pigs. We could say that Jesus created these pigs in the first place, and as the creator he had the right to do with him as he pleased.

We could say these pigs are the most famous pigs in history; what other herd of pigs can claim to have been a demonstration of the divine power of Jesus over the demons and the powers of hell?

But what we do know is, Jesus judged the life of this man far more valuable, than a herd of pigs!

The salvation, sanity, and value of this man’s life; was worth what happened to the pigs.

The Christian worldview is that God has given man a stewardship over creation. Which means that all the food, animals and this planet has been placed in the hands of man to take care off. This does not give us a right to abuse, or mistreat any of God’s creation.

However God has made man in his own image, and given us an eternal spirit, that he has not given to animals. Man and animals are not equal in the eyes of God. God has given man the plant life and animal life to kill, eat and enjoy.

That allows us to go deer hunting, to eat a steak, or fried chicken. But there is a different worldview out there today; the animal rights activist, who put human life and animal life on equal ground. This leads to opposing the testing of drugs on animals. Animal rights activist Karen Davis said that the slaughter of chickens, is equal to the Holocaust.

She said chicken slaughter houses, are huge concentration camps, where chickens are humiliated, tortured and murdered.

She has devoted her life to rescuing chickens, she has more than 100 chickens living in her home, many that she has rescued after they fell off of a chicken truck. She has removed the furniture from her house, so the chickens have plenty of room to roam. Her husband left her over her obsession with caring for chickens. She missed her own father’s funeral because she would leave the chickens.

She doesn’t believe in God, her worldview is animals are equal with man. Are chickens of the same value as men, and should a person sacrifice everything to care for chickens?

Most animal-rights activists would answer yes, because they believe in Darwin evolution, that doesn’t believe there is any dividing line between animals and humans. But Darwin evolution teaches the survival of the fittest, and the process of natural selection. So why is she concerned about what happens to chickens? Because in her confused state, she is displaying the stewardship of God in man.

One animal activist was asked: if a little child was drowning, and a dog was drowning, which one would you save first? And her answer was, it would depend on whose child it was and whose dog it was. That is the extreme view of the animal rights activist.

But the Christian worldview, and the teaching of the Bible is that man is made in the image of God, and of infinitely more value than a chicken, dog, cow, deer are any other animal.

Therefore the soul, and salvation of this man was worth more than a whole herd of pigs! God has given man stewardship over creation, and given man a compassion to care for weak and the wounded animals. And God who created all the animals, cares and knows when a sparrow falls to the ground.

God has placed so much more value on man, that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for man’s sin that man might spend eternity with him.

The salvation and eternal soul of this man was worth far more than that whole herd of pigs!

Jesus saved this man, and changed his life!

V:34-35“the pig farmers went back in the city and told what they had seen. The people went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of who the demons were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid”.

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought, since Jesus came into my heart.

Salvation is an inside matter before it becomes an outside matter. Jesus set this man free from the control of Satan, forgave his sins; changed his heart, then his conduct changed. The Lord Jesus is in the life changing business! If you give your life to Jesus you will be amazed at what he'll give you back.

· This man went from running wild, to sitting.

· He goes from having no peace to peace.

· He went from being naked, to putting on clothes.

· He went from being out of his mind, to being in his right mind.

· He went from being controlled by no one, to being controlled by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus changed this man, body soul and spirit.

The greatest day of my life was when Jesus saved me and forgave me and set me free! When did you experience forgiveness of sins and a change in your life? Jesus wants to save you today, and change your life! Fact #3:

3. People Will Surprise You!

V:36-37-Read.

We are told when the people saw the change in the demoniac they were afraid. It’s not every day that a maniac gets saved, and pigs commit mass suicide. You would think, they would say let’s have a testimony meeting tonight, the Ex-demoniac can give his testimony, and Jesus can preach and will see many other lives changed! But that is not what they do! V:37-“the whole community begged Jesus to depart from them.. This is crazier than the demoniac himself! They asked Jesus to leave; and Jesus did what they ask him to do! Why would they want Jesus to leave? Were they afraid that Jesus would take away their financial interest, making money by raising pigs? After all, 2000 pigs is a lot of bacon. If this is the reason they asked Jesus to leave it shows how wrong their priorities were.

They cared more about their precious pigs than they did about the priceless soul of this man that had been saved. This challenges our priorities! What do we really value? Are we more concerned about doing what we want to do, or are we willing to take time for people who need to know Jesus? Are we willing to give up what we want, to support the work of God, and the spreading of the gospel with our sacrificial giving; so others can hear the gospel? They saw what Jesus had done for this man, and yet they still rejected him! Sometimes people who have a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus, are met by friends and family who instead of rejoicing, ridicule and reject them. Deep down what they are really afraid of is to confront their own need of a Savior!

Fact #4 about sin and salvation is:

4. Salvation Will Motivate You!

V:38-39-Read.

After he experiences the salvation of his soul he wants to be with Jesus! That is ALWAYS what happens! He didn't get saved, and say that was great, I am going back to the tombs and the dead bodies, and my wild and crazy friend and take my

Clothes back off and cut myself and start living for the devil again. No, no, 1000 times no!

He wants to be with Jesus; Jesus has done for him what nobody else had ever done for him!

He loves Jesus, he wants to spend time with Jesus, he wants to learn more about Jesus.

-“Return to your own house, and show them the great things God has done for you”

Jesus told him:

Go home, and show the change in your life.

Go tell, the great things that I've done for you.

Jesus gave him his purpose in life. Go home to your family and friends and to your city and the other cities around where you live, and tell everybody what Jesus has done for you!

Can you imagine this guy going home?

His family sees him coming and says, oh boy here comes wild Legion, but wait – he has clothes on, he's walking, he looks calm, something’s different about him! He would go back and tell people, I was possessed by demons. I lived alone in the tombs, surrounded by dead bodies. I would cut myself and injure myself. I would run around naked, freaking people out. Many people tried to chain me up and tame me, but no one could control me. I was hopeless! Then one day, a boat landed on the shore! I ran towards the boat, only to discover it was Jesus! I fell down at His feet and the demons started arguing with Him!

They could not stand up to Him, and He cast them out and set me free! He clothed me and took care of me. It was a miracle!”

He had an amazing testimony to share with people, and Jesus commanded him to share it. You know what; you and I have an amazing testimony to share!!! Regardless of whether you were a drug-dealing rapper, or an honor roll student, you were a sinner in need of God’s grace. When you asked Jesus to forgive your sins, He did!

You have an amazing testimony, and Jesus wants you to share it! We should be telling other people about Jesus Christ!

Telling people about your salvation is something that should excite you!

Here is the truth: if you love Jesus, you will want to talk about Him! We love to talk about our family, grandchildren, hobbies, toys, sports, video games, girlfriend, and boyfriend. If you can talk about those things, why can’t you talk about Jesus? You and I have been given an amazing assignment to go to our friends and family and tell them what Jesus Christ has done for us, He can do for them! Have you met Jesus as your Savior, has he changed your life? Then you have something incredible to share!