Go Home & Tell of God's Mercy

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Will you please open in your Bibles with me to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. And this morning we'll be continuing to look through the book of Mark. Remember last week Jesus had stilled the storm in the boat? If you're looking for Mark chapter 5 in your pew bibles, you'll find it on page 886. Mark chapter 5, and this morning we'll be reading verses 1 through 20. Mark chapter 5, beginning at verse 1. Brothers and sisters, this is God's Word. Let's pay careful attention to it.

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerardines. And when he had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains. Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and sent him out of the country.

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged him, saying, Send us to the swine, that we may enter them. And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine. There were about two thousand. And the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea. so that those who fed the swine fled. And they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.

And those who saw it told them how it happened to him, who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with him to depart their region. And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him. However, Jesus didn't permit him, but said to him, Go home to your friends. and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled.

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Father, we need your Spirit to teach us this morning. Lord, we need you to work in our hearts. Father, we need to come into contact with you this morning. Father, please, may our eyes be filled with your glory. May we know who you are, and may it utterly change us in every way. In Jesus's name, amen. You know, sometimes you come into contact with something or someone that you'll never forget, especially when it's something or someone more powerful than you are.

Sermon

I remember in about 2009, I went on this camping trip, a church camp in the mountains of California, and I was in charge of these six boys, middle school boys, and as we were going, there was this half cabin, half tent type thing. It had a porch, but it was canvas walls. We went down to breakfast and my boys were there and one of them said, I forgot my Bible up in the tent. And so I said, that's no big deal. You guys stay here. I'll run up and grab it.

And so I ran up the hill to where our tent was and where the porch railing was, I grabbed onto the porch. I was just about to go over the porch and underneath the tent canvas, I saw a grizzly bears paw. I remember Stepping back slowly, as quiet as I could, literally praying to God, please don't let him hear me or smell me. And as that grizzly bear walked not more than six feet away from me, I watched him go up into the hill. And as he was about 150 yards from me up on the hill, walking parallel, him on one ridge of the hill and me on the other part of the hill, walking down the path, just praying, Lord, please keep me safe. Because at any moment, I can't outrun a grizzly bear and he could have gotten me.

Sometimes we treat Jesus too domestically. And that's not the picture we find of Jesus here. When we come to Jesus, he is someone that people are fearful of. And there are serious spiritual forces that we find in conflict here in this story. And so first I'd like for you to look at the first, what seems like an unconquerable force. Look with me at verses one through five. A serious spiritual force that seems unconquerable to men.

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when they had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him, out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. Remember, they had just come across the Sea of Galilee. There had just been the giant storm.

The disciples had just wondered, what type of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey Him? And as they stepped foot onto that ground, it's most likely dark at night. And they hear a shriek in the moonlight of an untamable man, a crazed man, a man of disgust. A man who the text tells us would cry out in the middle of the night and throughout the day and would take sharp stones and would mutilate his body. And there as the disciples come onto the shore with Jesus, it's a ghastly sight.

Why did Jesus go there? We get to verse 21 and He just leaves. He goes to the other side. Why would Jesus tell His disciples, get in the boat, we're going to go to the other side, knowing that a storm was going to brew up, and also knowing that this man was going to be there? Jesus was on a mission to teach His disciples who He truly was. He comes to the other side of the ocean, or the other side of the sea, and He comes face to face with a man who was a byword amongst the people. Alistair Begg preaching on this passage talks about how it would have been a thing for the town people.

That he would have been the person that the parents would have scared their children with. You don't want to become like Legion, do you? You don't want to live in the tombs, do you? You better be a good kid. Don't go out at night. You might run into legion. Don't go out there. There's a crazy man who walks in the countryside in the tombs at night. Don't be a fool and go out there. This man literally would have been the nightmare of the town. No one able to tame him, though they had tried. in shackles around his waist, in chains around his hands. From time to time, they would try to bind him and he would break out of it.

And here he is, face to face with Jesus. Verse 6, when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me." See, Jesus is going to come face to face with this unclean spirit, with these demons. He's going to come face to face with this man that everyone else was terrified with. And notice what the response of this demon-possessed man is right away.

And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran, and our text here in the New King James has worshipped him. I'm not convinced the Greek word here, proskuneo, means worship, but it's this idea that he falls down on his face before him. This isn't because he loves Jesus, this is a defiant obedience. He bows down before Jesus because he knows who Jesus is, but that doesn't mean that he loves Jesus.

It means that he's come face to face with somebody who's stronger than he is, somebody who's mightier than he is, someone who's more exalted than he is, and this is what comes off the lips of the demon-possessed man. What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? This demon-possessed man seems to know more about Jesus than even the disciples did in the boat the night before. He knows that He is Son of the Most High God.

This is a term used in Genesis chapter 14, when Melchizedek comes on the scene as Priest of the Most High God. This is what Nebuchadnezzar says when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they're in the fiery furnace, And he looks into the furnace and there's a fourth person, looks like an angel of God somehow, and he calls them, he says, come out of the furnace, servants of the Most High God. This is also the term, the Most High God, Elyon, that Isaiah, I'm going to turn there, Isaiah chapter 14 uses. I think it's ties directly into this passage, Isaiah chapter 14, beginning at verse 12.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, on the furthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit.

It was Lucifer who had the audacity, the pride to say he was going to be like the Most High Himself. I've got to tell you, God doesn't share His glory with anyone. And here He comes, face to face, once again, with this unclean spirit. And He finds Jesus. and he has to bow down to him. This man hadn't bowed down to anyone. He didn't bow down to the men who lived in Gadara. He didn't bow down to their mighty ones. They couldn't bind Him. They couldn't shackle Him. They couldn't tame Him. All they could do was run Him out into the tombs and make Him live in an unclean place. That's all they could do. They couldn't handle this man.

But at the very sight of Jesus, He has to fall on His face before the Most High. But then notice out of His mouth the hypocrisy of this demon. What have I, verse 7, what have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? And then notice what he tries to put Jesus under oath for. I implore you by God, do not torment me. Think about that for a moment. Think about the cruelty of that statement.

Here's a man who has been driven from his family. Here's a man who has been driven out of his mind. Here's a man, the corresponding story to this in Luke said, he's not just living in the tombs, but he doesn't even clothe himself. He's naked. He's cold. He's ashamed. He has to live with rotting corpses, day and night. He can't help himself but to mutilate his body with sharp stones.

And he has the audacity to tell Jesus, I implore you by God, that you do not torment me. Is that not the face of evil itself? To torment, to torment, to torment, to take pleasure out of torment, but then to... But I don't want that myself. To take cruelty and somebody else's pain and sorrow and misery. Because they have no love for someone else. But only for themselves. And their desires. Notice also the hypocrisy he says in verse 10.

Also he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country. They had wreaked, Legion had wreaked terror on this country. Night and day they couldn't go to bed without hearing the shrieks of this man. They couldn't go visit the graves of their ancestors without being afraid that they might be beaten to death by a crazed man. And yet he has the audacity to tell Jesus not to send him out of his own country. And indeed this man this was possessed by something great, verse nine, and he asked him, what is your name? And he answered saying, my name is legion for we are many. Two things to notice here in that verse one is that this man is possessed.

Some of this is a weird thing, right? I'm just going to warn you. I'll probably warn you again in the sermon. Don't get too mixed up in reading a ton of stuff into demonology stuff here. You'll get really whacked out with your theology. It just gives us a little bit. Somehow it's used as a singular. He says this, but then it would switch to the plural. They say these things. This is weird, unnatural stuff that's not supposed to happen, and that's the point.

But Jesus asks him, what is your name? And he says, My name is Legion, for we are many. Legion and the Roman army, the Roman army is comprised of 24 different legions, about 6,000 apiece. This man is being tormented by a host of different demons. But Jesus has the authority that if he asks a question, he can't say, I'm not telling you. You can't say, nope, nope, you have no authority over me. I'm not, I'm not going to tell you my name, but he has to reveal who he is. But he's still, even though he's face to face, this is the ridiculousness of Satan. Even though the demons and Satan know the end of the story, that doesn't mean that they're going to follow along. is a continued desire for his reign of death and terror. Look at verses 11 through 13.

Now a large herd of swine was feeding near the mountains. So all the demons begged him, saying, send us into the swine, that we may enter them. And at once Jesus gave them permission, then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine. There were about two thousand, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea."

These demons... make a request to go into the pigs. Not because they want to go into the pigs, because this is going to be just this marvelous hillside, beautiful picture. You know, oh, we'll just go live in the pigs. Maybe some of you have dealt with demon-possessed pigs. I've talked to some of you who talk like you just run at you like crazy. But here, imagine 2,000 demon-possessed wild pigs, and the purpose of Legion is not so that way he could prosper the town, but he wants to continue the reign of terror and chaos. Death, death is the goal. And so they run into the sea. Now it's this interesting thing, if you read commentators on this, they'll scratch their heads. And after I read four or five commentaries, all of them sit there and they say, well, pigs are able to swim, so we don't know why they drowned.

And I thought, well. But I also want you to see, why would Jesus allow this to happen? While these 2,000 pigs might have died, think about what a testimony that was to that one demon-possessed man. Think about the value that God places on people over animals. But to that one man, for him to sit there and go, it's finally done.

They tried to bind me, they tried to shackle me, they ran me into the tombs. But when Jesus gave the word, he gave permission, and they're gone. For good. Forever. Now I don't know what happens to demons inside pigs when they drown, and the Bible doesn't tell us that either, so don't go speculate beyond what the Bible says here. But the point is, for this man's heart, I can't imagine how much of a blessing it would have been.

Well, there's people there, They see it. They're tending them. And they're, well, they're shocked about this. Verse 14, so those who fed the swine fled and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. You know, this is the blessing of living in a rural area. If somebody's hog enclosure collapsed, right over here, and all their pigs were dead in an instant, you better believe there'd be all sorts of neighbors coming out to see what happened.

And they'd be all asking each other, what in the world transpired here? Was it something with the building? Was it something with the floor? It would be the talk of the town. But it would also be a mourning for the town also, because that's a lot of income. A lot of monetary loss. And so the news spreads throughout the town.

But we notice at this point there's a juncture. There's really two ways to respond to Jesus when something like this happens. There are at least two ways to respond to the mighty acts of Jesus. And I want to look at that with you at verses 15 through 17. The first way to respond is that of fear.

Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to him, who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with him to depart from their region. They go out These people go out from town and what do they see right away?

The New King James Version tries to clean up the Greek a little bit here and I wish they hadn't. In verse 15 it says, Then they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man. It wants to say that in the New King James they changed it to, who had been demon-possessed. That's why it's actually in italics in your Bible. That's not actually there in the Greek. Because in their mind, this is the demon-possessed man. This is the demoniac. This is the way they've known him. This is the way they've experienced him. This is how they think about him. He is the demon-possessed man.

Does it matter what Jesus has done for him? Does it matter that he's closed? Does it matter that he's in his right mind? Does it matter that he's finally tame and sitting at Jesus' feet? They see him and they're afraid. That's a demon-possessed man. They're afraid because of Jesus. They realize that this is someone that they can't control. They're afraid because of the repercussions of having someone like Jesus in their towns. If He's able to cast out demons from one person, what's going to happen to all of our financial revenue? What's going to happen to all of our herds?

And we need to notice in verses 15 through 17, the reality that fearing Jesus does not equate to loving Jesus. Let me say that again. Fearing Jesus does not equate to loving or believing in Jesus. This is why James will say that you believe in God, good. The demons believe that too, and they hate him. But there's another way. And this is the way of the man who had experienced the power of Jesus and now loves him. He has faith in him. Look with me at verses 18 and 19.

And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed, notice, now it really is in the grammar, had been demon-possessed. In Jesus' eyes, he is no longer the demoniac, he is a whole man. And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged him, he might be with him, However, Jesus did not permit him but said, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you.

They're telling him, Jesus, you got to leave. All the townspeople are saying, get back in your boat, you Jewish man. Go back to the other side. We don't want you here. Just leave. Just leave our area. There's been enough damage. There's been enough financial loss. Just leave, OK? And could you imagine this man's heart sinking as the only person who has shown him love and care now starts to put his feet into the boat to embark and leave. Let me go with you. Jesus, let me be with you. Let me learn from you. Let me follow you. Don't leave me, Jesus, is what this man is crying out for. He wants to be part of His discipleship. He wants to be with Him and learn from Him and follow Him.

So why does Jesus say no? Does Jesus not love Him? No, because Jesus does something for the first time. Every other time, when Jesus has healed someone up to this point in the book of Mark, He's told them, Don't tell anyone. And now on the Gentile side, by the way, this man is not a Jewish person. He's a Gentile. And on the other side of the lake where there's not a danger of the people trying to make him a messianic king because they don't believe the scriptures. He says, go home.

Tell your brothers, tell your family, tell your loved ones about all that the Lord has done for you. See, because if you come into the contact with the Most High, there are two options. This is for you. If you have come into contact with the Most High, there are two options for you.

And thank God in the Christian life, we actually get to do both. Unlike the man who wasn't allowed to go with Jesus, we're told that Jesus is in us. That if we abide in Jesus, He will abide in us. He did not leave us as orphans, but He poured out His Holy Spirit into our hearts to cry out, Abba, Father. And so the first is that we get to stick close to Jesus. We get to go with Jesus. And Jesus goes with us.

There's no more Jesus departing and never coming back, but Jesus... This man never knew if Jesus was coming back again. But Jesus has promised us, I'm departing, and it's good for me to depart, because I'm gonna give you my Holy Spirit, and then I'm gonna return again. The boat's coming back, Christian, but He didn't leave us as orphans.

He gave us His Holy Spirit. So what are we to believe? What does God require of us? Well, we are to believe that He is the Son of the Most High God. We are to believe that He is the One who governs our souls. We are the ones to believe that He could cast out demons. We are the ones to believe that though the world might hate us, even be afraid of us, He could take the most vile of sinner and the deepest dark blackness of their hearts and transfer them from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light. God requires of us faith, and He requires of us action, that we abide in Him.

But now some of you might say, I've tried this stuff. Some of you, if you're honest with yourselves, might be thinking, You know, I've tried to abide with Jesus, but sometimes I read my Bible, and my heart's just cold. Sometimes I go to prayer, and it seems like there's a ceiling between heaven and earth, and I'm not sure if my prayers are penetrating. Some of you, even last week, came to the Lord's Supper, and you thought, you know, I believe it. Sometimes it's tough. You might say you get tired of these ordinary means of grace. And if that's you this morning, I want to give you a few things to think about.

The first is be honest with the Lord about the coldness of your heart. The first is to go to the Lord and to plead with Him, Lord, I believe, help my disbelief. The second is realizing that you have a church full of other people right now. I'm so glad about this. Thank God Christianity isn't a solo act.

There are people next to you that if you say, you know, I've been really struggling reading my Bible, would you help me? Would you hold me accountable? I bet if you leaned over to someone in another pew and you say, you know, it seemed like Pastor Brian was talking right to me. And if I'm going to be honest with you, my heart's been really cold.

Will you pray with me and pray for me that God would revive my soul to renew the joy of my salvation. You'll find people next to you who will encourage you and support you. You are not alone like the demoniac in the tombs, but he has brought you into a living fellowship. Thirdly, don't give in to the coldness of your heart, but I'm going to encourage you to establish routines. I need to warn you about this, okay?

In our Christian walk as evangelicals, we often want to get to these high places of experience with Jesus. And you might have those mountaintop experiences with Jesus when it's like the Holy One of God is right before you, but then there are other times where it seems like the boat has gone away. How will you remember Jesus when the times are hard? You need to keep the memory fresh.

We need God's Word. We need to be people of prayer. You need to look at what God has done for you and this morning I would encourage you to determine what type of person you're going to be. Are you going to be the type of person who reminds yourself daily of what God has done and said? What does that look like? Being in God's Word and being honest in prayer.

Are you going to be the type of person, the type of redeemed Christian, who no matter what circumstances, no matter what people say, no matter what's going on in your life, that you remind yourself that this is the Jesus I love, and who has changed my heart, and has loved me? Because I've got to tell you, if you don't remind yourself, the memory will fade. This is why we have to come to worship. Because we remind ourselves, we encourage each other, we admonish each other, we correct each other.

If you say in the morning, God I believe you have saved me by Jesus and given me your spirit, please help me to live that out. If you firm your identity in your union with Jesus, You'll find hope even in the darkest hours of your life. If you remember who Jesus is, so first for you, Christians, stick close to Jesus.

Second Point

Second, Christian, for you, go home and say of what all the Lord has done for you.

Look with me at verses 19 and 20. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. And he, this is the healed man, he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled. I just gotta say, I love the interplay here in verse 19 and 20. Jesus tells him, go and tell all that the Lord has done for you. And he goes and what does he do? Did you catch the shuttle shift there in verse 20?

And he told all that Jesus had done for him. And all marveled. This is the guy who used to cut himself. who used to maul his body. The scars are still there, but it looks like he's healed. This is the man who was outside of his mind shrieking in the night. And now he's using sane words and telling us of a man who made him whole. Will you go home and tell your parents of what Jesus has done for you? Will you go to the workplace and tell your co-workers of what Jesus has done for you. I have to think, this was probably an existential fear for this guy.

If he goes on the other side of the lake, nobody knows him. If he went with Jesus, I mean, that's easy evangelism, right? Nobody knows his past. Nobody knows seeing him crazy in the tombs. Nobody knows him walking around naked at night. Nobody knew that he had all this baggage behind him. But Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I want you to go back to the people who know your past.

So they might see how amazing your God is. Some of you might be embarrassed. As you think about telling your family members, your high school friends at your reunion, your co-workers about Jesus Christ, because you might say, but they've seen my sin. They know my past. You know what I'd encourage you to do? I'd encourage you to ask the question, you remember that one time when I did blank? And let them tell the story.

And then, when they're chuckling about the story of the person you once were, and say, can I tell you about what Jesus has done now? And how I learned the way of wisdom? That Jesus put me in the right path? That Jesus transferred me into his kingdom of light?

Yeah, you might have scars from your past. You might have a backstory that people might think, there's no way. But this is the exact nature of the gospel. Scars and wounds remain for now, but the scars are healing. Fear of the man as he went back and told of what the Lord had done. I'm sure gripped his soul, but he couldn't stay quiet.

Closing Prayer

Why should we? Have you come into contact with this, Jesus? Or is Jesus domestic to you? Have you come into contact with the one who can change everything about your life? And who has called you to stick close to him? This isn't some fable. It ain't no legend. This is our Savior who says He loves His people. Don't let it grow cold on you. Don't let the memory fade. Go and tell others of what He's done for you. Let's pray.

Father, we confess to You that we're often fearful. Lord, we're often fearful and cowardly in front of other people, fearful to say of what you have done for us. Father, would you change our hearts and open our mouths? Lord, how will they hear unless we tell them? Lord, we pray.

Father, we plead with you. that through the mighty working that you have done in our lives, you might bring a harvest to yourself. Thank you that you sent your Holy One to save us for now and into eternity. In Jesus's name, amen. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.