019-Mark 5:1-20

We live in the greatest country in the world. This country was founded upon the principles of liberty and the teachings of God’s Word.

Yet, in the past years, we have watched as our country has grown farther and farther away from those founding principles. We have watched our country spiral down into a level of decadence and rejection of God that our grandparents and great grandparents would have found shocking.

Why? Why this falling away in the land of liberty?

I propose to you that we are currently seeing the work of a mastermind. The

immorality and rejection of God are the handiwork of the Dark Lord himself, Satan. He is powerful, vastly intelligent, and hates everything that has to do with God. He is the enemy of God and the enemy of the souls of mankind.

His vast network of demons spans this globe in a spiritual war against everything good and holy. He seeks to possess the souls of men and furthermore to pervert the souls of men.

In this passage, we meet one of the most famous examples of a demon- possessed man.

We find here the great truth that Jesus has all authority over the Devil and his demonic hordes. No matter how greatly Satan hates you, how cunning his demons are, they are no match for the power of Christ. No matter how deeply our country may seem to be in his clutches, there is hope. There is a sure victory in Christ.

My purpose this morning is to demonstrate beyond a doubt that there is no one so wicked that God cannot save them. There is no circumstance too great for our Lord. There is no disease or demon too powerful for his healing hand to touch!

In our passage this morning we will find 3 truths about this man that display Jesus’ authority over demons and devils.

Mark 5:1–20 CSB

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain—4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough 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 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. 14 The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. 17 Then they began to beg him to leave their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. 19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

1. HE WAS POSSESED BY DEMONS

Mark 5:1–5 CSB

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain—4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough 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 is not a case of some form of mental illness.

This man is under the control of demons. Real spiritual entities who seek to destroy the lives and eternal destinies of people.

Unclean Spirit-Akathartos. Immoral, filthy.

To be possessed is to be under the control of demons. They literally lived inside of him. This is one of 5 possession stories in mark

This man, in many ways is a picture of what it means to be lost and without Christ in this world.

1. THIS MAN WAS UNDER DEMONIC CONTROL

Mark 5:9 CSB

9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.”

Supports the idea of possession - Jesus asks the demon its name.

Legion was 6,000 Roman Troops. ”This word must not be taken literally, as if it meant an actual 6,000 demons.

The meaning is a large number. A legion of soldiers was meant to occupy territory to rule by terror, cruelty, and destruction.

How many demons were there actually?No one knows.

Barclay observes ”Later more than 2,000 swine will plunge to their death...if there is a ration of one demon to one swine there must have been over 2,000. That is a lot of personnel in one human body.”

All men and women, boys and girls who do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior are under the control of Satan

Colossians 1:13 CSB

13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

The problem is that many people do not believe in demons and demon possession today!

Not here in our community. Not in this day and age.

Go to the Casino. Turn on your Television.

1. HE WAS DEFILED

VS.3”An unclean spirit” Moral filth that most likely permeated his life.

We see a degree of immorality and open filth in our country today that has been unknown before.

ILLUS:RealityTV–Pornography

Where he lived showed this also. Probably abandoned burial chambers hewn into the side of a cliff. They were considered by Jews to be the haunts of devils and demons. He lived among the stench and the rot of death and dry bones.

2. HE WAS AN OUTCAST

Mark 5:3–4 CSB

3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain—4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

He was so wild and demented that Matthew8 tells us that no one could pass by the tombs where he lived.

Luke 8 relates he was unclothed. Mark that chains and ropes had shackled him, but the demons broke them.

In short he was ostracized. He was shamed. He was shunned, looked down upon by people.

3. HE WAS MISERABLE

Mark 5:5 CSB

5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

the word is full of people in the clutch of Satan who are miserable. They may not be such an extreme case as this, but there is just as real.

The world tries to tell us that living unrestrained lives will bring about true joy. What we see it’s true misery.

In fact, I believe that one of the reasons that Mark included this extreme a case of demonic control was to show us that there is no case too difficult for God.

2. HE WAS LIBERATED BY CHRIST

Explanation

• Legion has the effect of making this scene look like a battle between the powers of Hell and the power of Christ. That is exactly what it is. Jesus has stated earlier that He has come to plunder and defeat the devil. No matter how much bondage you may be under, Jesus has the power to liberate you. • Notice two aspects of the demonic man’s deliverance.

1. UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST

Mark 5:7–9 CSB

7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.”

Jesus has absolute power in this situation. We must never, never forget this! We see this in the demoniac’s reaction.

His authority was based on Who He Was

The Demon bowed down to Him- To make a Salom, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of worship and reverence. He bowed to a greater power.

He Called Him the Son of the Most High God- The El-Elyon. In the Spiritual realm the demon recognized Jesus for who he was even when men could not and would not.

The Demons asked Permission to possess the pigs

They knew that Jesus had the authority to cast them in to the lowest, hottest, pit in Hell. ”Do not Torment us”

Because of What He came to do- His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

He came to destroy the works of the devil”! I John

The work of Satan and his demonic horde increase today because he knows his end is near. He is rattling the cage of his own destruction.

2. BECAUSE OF THE COMPASSION OF CHRIST

Mark 5:8 CSB

8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

This was no chance meeting. This man must have thought that no one cared. Jesus does. He did not pass him by. His compassion is evident.

Does Jesus care- Oh, yes He cares, I know He cares!

Jesus called him a man. Jesus did not see him as a lunatic, but as a person.

Jesus in his compassion saw a human being under the power and sway of sin.

APPLY: Rather than condemnation, the world must see compassion from us!

Rather than disgust, they must desire for them to be saved.

Rather than rejection, there must be a resolve to share Christ with them.

In no area is this more true than homosexuality and same sex marriage. Why? Because of . . .

3. BY THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF CHRIST

Mark 5:15 CSB

15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

Not only did Jesus cast out the demons he broke the bondage they had exercised in his life.

He had been naked-now he was clothed.

He had been demented and wild

now he was in his right mind and seated.

Jesus doesn’t just set us free-He transforms us.

”The real difference wasn’t in the outward - Jesus started with the Inward problem of Salvation. Transformation is a heart experience. Salvation is an inside job with outside effects!

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

”Jesus sees us not for what we are but what we can be by his power and grace. Give Jesus a thorn and he will give you back a rose. Give Jesus your Jacob, the schemer, and He’ll give you back an Israel, a prince of God. Give Jesus a Manassah, a man the Bible calls the most wicked king that Israel ever had, and he’ll give you back a man changed, saved, and cleaned up. Give Jesus a Simon, the cursing fisherman, and He’ll give you back a Simon Peter, a mighty preacher. Give him Saul, a persecutor of the church, and Jesus will give you back Paul, missionary and apostle.” Jerry Vines, Mark, p.87

Dennis Jernigan, former homosexual, now a leader in the Praise and Worship movement, wrote

Who can satisfy my soul like You? And who on earth can comfort me, And love me like You do? Who could ever be more faithful, true?

”There is a fountain, who is a king, victorious warrior and Lord of everything!

The Bible says it is God who works within you, that our hope is ”Christ in you”, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it in Christ Jesus”.

This would have been an amazing story if we stopped right here. But there is more.

3. HE WAS CHARGED WITH A MISSION

The people insisted that Jesus leave. The man who had been demon-possessed was entreating that he might go with him. Literally means to pray, to beg, that he could go with them. I don’t blame him for wanting to go!

Mark 5:17–18 CSB

17 Then they began to beg him to leave their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him.

1. HE WAS CHARGED TO STAY

Mark 5:19 CSB

19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”

Go back to the people who ostracized you, who chained you, and avoided you; go back to them first.

Mark seems to be making it clear that this is the first missionary to the Gentiles.

2. HE WAS CHARED TO SHARE

Mark 5:20 CSB

20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

He began to proclaim- He started preaching!

A new convert like him. He didn’t go through CWT, EE, FAITH, or Sharing Jesus without Fear, he just told people what Jesus had done in his life.

Tell them what has happened to you.

Tell them your story, then tell them His story! They could not argue with his testimony.

His sermon was to be his testimony. Your greatest testimony is the clear proof of God working in your life.

Conclusion

• You want to know how powerful his testimony was?

Luke 8:40 CSB

40 When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.

No story is more powerful than the story of how Christ has transformed your life!