There is an old Scottish proverb that says, “The devil’s boots don’t creak.” The devil and his minions never announce their arrival, they sneak in on those who are over-confident and prideful.
In fact, as the great preacher Cotton Mather said, “That there is a devil is a thing doubted by none but such as are under the influence of the devil.”
In Mark 4 Jesus and the apostles have just crossed the Sea of Galiliee in a little boat. A storm had suddenly come upon them and the apostles almost drowned. But Jesus, who had been asleep, spoke to the water and the wind and they became instantly calm. Jesus had shown the boys that He had power over the natural world. Now Jesus was going to show them that He had power over the supernatural world, as well.
1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.
2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,
3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;
4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.
6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;
7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!”
8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”
10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain.
12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.”
13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.
15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened.
16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine.
17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region.
18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.
19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”
20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
Matthew’s Gospel (8:28) tells us that there were two demon possessed men. Mark records the response of the one that wished to follow Jesus. The eighth chapter of Luke’s Gospel also records this event.
Let’s look at four aspects of this day:
1. WHAT THE DEVIL DID WITH THE MAN (vv. 1-3a, 5)
The Bible tells us that Satan and his demons have one goal and purpose regarding each of us. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
What is that purpose? To devour, to destroy, to kill us!
What did the devil do with the man? He gave him…
A. A Living Death
He had a dead religion--This man was possessed. Demon possession involves false religion, namely the occult. The Bible teaches that false doctrines and religions are originated by demons. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” and 1 Corinthians 10:19-20 says, “What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.”
He had dead dreams—The devil had robbed the man of his future on earth and eternity in heaven. There was nothing but misery in this man’s future dreams and plans.
He had a dead hope—As bad as having death in your present religion and destruction in your future are, the worst part of this “living death” was having a dead hope. There was nothing this man could do to escape the clutches of this evil. No matter how hard he fought, he was powerless.
B. A Lonely Dwelling
He Left Family and Friends Behind.
He Lived in a Cemetery by Night.
He Longed for an end— A salesman traveling down a country road saw a pig with a wooden leg standing in a pen. He had to know why this pig had a wooden peg leg. So he stopped and asked the farmer. The farmer said, “That pig saved my life! I got pinned under my overturned tractor. It was on fire. That pig saw me about to be burned alive and ran over, grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to safety.”
The salesman replied, “That doesn’t explain why the pig has a wooden leg.”
To which the farmer replied, “Sure it does, that pig’s too good to eat all at once!”
The devil was driving the man to cut himself with stones and bleed. The devil was eating him one bite at time.
C. A Legion of Demons
He was controlled by them—A legion was the largest unit in the Roman military. It contained anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 soldiers. This man was possessed by as many as 6,000 demons!
He was condemned with them—Demons are angels who sided and fell with Satan in his rebellion against God (Rev. 12:4). Jude 6 says, “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” The demons were afraid Jesus would cast them into the Abyss, or Hell. They know ultimately that is where they will spend eternity. The devil wants as much company as possible in Hell.
2. WHAT THE PEOPLE DID WITH THE MAN (vv. 3b-4)
We have seen what the devil did to the man. What did the people do to him? They…
A. Chained Up the Man
The man NEEDED FREEDOM, but he RECEIVED FETTERS!
B. Cast Out the Man
They NEEDED TO REACH the man, but instead they REJECTED THE MAN.
3. WHAT JESUS DID WITH THE MAN (vv. 6-17)
We have seen what the devil and the people did with the man. Now let’s see what Jesus did with the man. He…
A. Cast Out the Spirits
Satan will turn a man into a pig because, to Satan, a pig is as good as a man. The demons drove the pigs to destruction. This is a reminder to us what Satan will do to people.
B. Cleansed the Sinner
Do you remember Jimmy Swaggart? Of course you do. He was the Assembly of God/Word of Faith preacher who was caught in immorality with a woman that wasn’t his wife. These Word of Faith preachers like Swaggart, Frederick K. Price, Benny Hinn, etc. on TV sound good. But they are serving up false doctrine right and left. They are warming up in their microwave oven left over false teachings from the Gnostics of Persia that predate Christ’s birth in Bethlehem.
In the ancient Gnostic view, a good god rules the spiritual world and a bad god rules the physical world. In their view, everything that is wrong is the fault of the bad god. Every pain, trial and suffering is the fault of the bad god.
Jimmy Swaggart had been banned from preaching by the Assembly of God Church for a year. He defied the order and assured the public that he was free of moral defect. He said he called Oral Roberts who cast the demons out of him over the phone. Oral Roberts confirmed Swaggart's report, insisting the demons had their claws deeply embedded in Swaggart’s flesh. Now that those rascals were gone, Swaggart could get on with preparing the way for Christ’s return. This sounds a lot like comedian Flip Wilson’s famous quip, “The devil made me do it.”
Do you catch the problem? For these metaphysical evangelists, even personal sins can be attributed to the bad god, since he is, after all, sovereign over this earthly realm. When this heresy was revived during the Reformation, John Calvin said, “They made the devil almost the equal of God.” This teaching replaces the problem of sin with the problem of Satan. To them, the problem is facing Satan, not facing their own sin and rebelliousness. “I’m not the problem—the devil is!”
Don’t make this mistake too! Like us, this man’s greatest problem was his sin, not Satan.
Jesus cast out the demons and cleaned up his sin. Sin was going to take the man to hell, not Satan.
C. Clothed the Saint
Luke 8:27 tells that this man ran around naked and hadn’t worn clothes in a long time. Now he is seated (calm), in his right mind (freed from sin and Satan), and clothed at the feet of Jesus! He also has new spiritual clothing. Revelation 7 pictures the saints in heaven wearing robes of white. Why are they white? Because they have been “washed by the blood of the Lamb.”
4. WHAT THE MAN DID WITH JESUS (vv. 18-20)
We have seen what the devil, the people and Jesus did with the man. Finally, let’s see what the man did with Jesus. He…
A. Begged to Follow Jesus
He Loved Jesus—He wanted to be with Jesus.
He Was Loyal to Jesus—He wanted to go where Jesus went.
He Listened to Jesus—When Jesus told him to go back home, the man obeyed.
B. Became the First Missionary
The man had a new Master!
The man who was REJECTED by the people was now REACHING the people!
George Scott, a one-legged school teacher from Scotland came to J. Hudson Taylor to offer himself for service in China. "With only one leg, why do you think of going as a missionary?" asked Taylor.
"I do not see those with two legs going," replied Scott. He was accepted.
What made this just saved and former demoniac the best man to go back to his village as a missionary? His willingness to go!
Let’s be like the man…
Let Jesus cleanse and clothe us.
Take Jesus to our neighborhood.
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