Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Matthew chapter 8. Let's pray and then we will begin reading in verse number 34. We'll just read the one verse, verse 33 and 34 rather. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we just commit this time to you, Lord, we ask indeed, as Brother Jim said, we ask for a blessing, Lord. Bless us by your word, Lord. You know that we need it.
[00:00:22] We need the grace and encouragement that comes from your word and hearing, hearing your voice. I pray that you would stir us up, Lord.
[00:00:31] Help us to see these truths and see what you've done and this good work of grace and power in this man, Lord. Help us to see your work ever clearer. Bless these people here, those that are listening in as well, Lord. I pray that you would give them a blessing as well. In Jesus name. Amen.
[00:00:50] Verse 33 says this, and they that kept them the pigs and fled and went their ways into the city and told everything and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
[00:01:12] So that appears to be the end of the story. But that is actually not the end of the story. So let's go to Mark 5, and if you will hold your place in Mark 5 and go to Luke 8, we're going to be looking at both the parallel passages in Mark 5 and Luke 8 and kind of flipping back and forth briefly, and we're going to see the end of the story for sure.
[00:01:41] What happened with the man, or rather the people of Gadara or the Gadarenes and Girges. What happened with them was unfortunate. Their rejection of Christ out of, apparently out of fear.
[00:01:59] But the Lord was not. The Lord did not allow that to be the end of the story. It could very well easily have been the end of the story. All that would have been required is for the Lord to leave and that's it.
[00:02:10] Right?
[00:02:12] That just reminds us that God does not operate. The Lord does not operate in our lives. He does not operate in the lives of people who are do not yet know him on their schedule, on their timetable, in their way. And we do not have the liberty to simply decide when we're ready for the Lord. That's not how it works. The Lord could have left and that would have been the only chance that they would have ever had to interact with Jesus, but he didn't do that.
[00:02:42] And so we go to Luke 8, let's go there first.
[00:02:47] We see in Matthew, we don't see Anything regarding the man himself who was delivered from the devil's possessing and the unclean spirit. But in Luke we do. And in verse number 35, the Bible says this.
[00:03:05] It says, and they went out to see what was done and came to Jesus and found the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. That tells us something with the fear had to do with the man and the effect upon the man. This man. Now there has been a power that has acted and has acted in his life in such a way that is really outside of the boundaries of mankind. In fact, there was no way that this man could be delivered from the powers of devils. And that's what the fetters and the chains represent. They represent the efforts of mankind to tame this man failed. But one word from the Lord Jesus and he is healed completely immediately.
[00:04:00] And what we see is the way he's acting. Now that you know, you can compare the influence of the devil in his life versus now the influence of the Lord Jesus. He's been delivered from the power of the devil. Right? He's been delivered from the power of the devil. And that relates directly to us in our day. Delivered from the power of the devil before we knew Christ. That's what Ephesians chapter two was telling us in verse two. It was telling us that before we knew Christ, we were under the power and influence of the devil. Even if the devil did not, he did not control us in this way. Yet we're under the influence of the principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. And they controlled us. They controlled the way we think. They controlled our values, they controlled our choices and influenced those to such a degree that we destroyed ourselves, which is the whole point.
[00:04:51] But when we're saved, once the Lord Jesus comes into our life and delivers us, we're no longer under his power. That's the only power that Satan has in our lives. Just remember what we studied this morning is the power that we yield to him. That's it. That's it. He has no power over us except that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. That is all the power is the power. We yield to him willingly or occasionally by deceit or temptation.
[00:05:27] And so the Lord is broken even in us. Just like in this man. The Lord has broken the power of Satan in his life and in our life. And he says this.
[00:05:36] He says he was sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind it's simply this.
[00:05:46] As a result of the Lord's power in his life, he now has an attachment to the Lord Jesus and a desire to learn from him.
[00:05:55] Because of the work of the power of Christ in his life, his former way, naked, wild, is transformed. What he was is no longer right. That's the second thing. And the third thing is because of the work of the power of Christ in his life, his mind is renewed.
[00:06:17] Remember, you see that he's sitting in his right mind and they were afraid.
[00:06:25] So this is the effect of one who is delivered by the Lord Jesus. Now go to Mark chapter five, if you would. As I said, we're going to flip back and forth a little bit. Mark chapter 5.
[00:06:37] The Bible says in verse 18, and when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil. I just think of the man's past, you know, it's forever from this moment on. What is he called commonly? What does he commonly call this man? He's called the Maniac of Gadara. Forever from now on, 2,000 years later, still called the Maniac of Gadara. And he's up there in heaven looking over the banisters. Not that there is any, but just humor me. He's looking over the banisters. I'm not a maniac anymore. That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. But here's the thing.
[00:07:17] The man's past is connected to him.
[00:07:20] In other words, the man's past is a trophy in this case, of the power and of the compassion of the Lord Jesus in his life. And that's no matter how long he lived, that's the way he would be known. Now that's going to come be a little bit of a problem in just a minute, but think about when the Lord saves us. The past is obviously something that brings us shame. But the past is also something that the Lord uses to draw, to give him glory. He uses to show his power.
[00:07:54] That's what our past does. Our past is a shame to us, but unto God. That's why our past is, as a believer is an important part of our testimony, because that's what shows the power of God active that transformed you. And so that's what this man's past demonstrates. But notice what he says in verse 18.
[00:08:18] He that had been possessed with the devil. I like the way it's described. In other words, not his name, but described as his past. The Maniac of Gadara, who's no longer one.
[00:08:30] He prayed him that he might Be with him.
[00:08:34] Now, that's a very. At first glance, that's a very.
[00:08:39] That's a very noble request. Lord, I just want to be with you. I just want. And we understand that. We understand that. How his heart would be endeared to the Lord Jesus. And indeed it should be.
[00:08:50] But why did this man want to stay with Jesus? Now? I think part of it is affection. I think affection.
[00:08:59] People that. People that are possessed with devils.
[00:09:03] It's torment. It's torment. Like I'm talking about the real thing, which obviously this is the real thing. It's torment. It's not anything pleasant. There was a lady in our church in Cambodia that had had this experience before I met her. And it was not a fun experience. It wasn't to be oppressed by the devil and fear and that kind of thing. It was not a fun experience.
[00:09:27] So you can understand. We can understand his affection for the Lord Jesus. But I think there might be. And I'm just reading between the lines here, there might be some other reasons that he didn't. He wanted to stay with Jesus. Jesus is getting into the boat. Think about it. He's not just wanting to hang out with Jesus. Jesus is getting in the boat to go back over to the other side of the lake. And in a land without streets or roads and interstates and that kind of thing, I mean, that's a long ways away.
[00:09:55] Eight miles by 13 miles.
[00:09:58] That's the Sea of Galilee. So, I mean, that's a good little drive. It's like here to Columbia, you know, or something. Something equivalent or probably even more of distance. So in other words, when he left to go across that ship, he was saying goodbye to this. This world on this side of the lake.
[00:10:18] And I think he probably did that because going back home. Notice he says in verse 18.
[00:10:26] He says in verse 19, rather. But Jesus suffered him not. But saith unto him, go home to thy friends.
[00:10:33] He tells them to go home.
[00:10:36] You know, that would have been. He hadn't been at home for a long time, is what the scriptures say. He hadn't been at home.
[00:10:43] So for practical purposes, he didn't have a family.
[00:10:46] Right. It would have been easier to leave.
[00:10:50] He could just leave that life behind, whatever it was before. But not only that. Think about how difficult it would have been for his family here. If you have in your mind. If I have in my mind this idea, his family would be like, son, we're so glad you're well.
[00:11:05] I don't think that would have been the case at all.
[00:11:08] I don't know that they've been happy to see him.
[00:11:11] To be honest with you, I don't think they would have.
[00:11:14] This man, because of the power of Satan in his life, has brought reproach on his family.
[00:11:24] Has brought reproach on his family. There are probably not too many people that want to receive him back into this family, given all that has happened. The shame the community put upon them as a result of their association with him. You think people would do that? Oh, yes. Oh, yes, they do. Yeah. Imagine have somebody in your family that was a criminal of some kind, some kind of a heinous criminal, and everybody knew about it. Would you feel kind of shy about that?
[00:11:52] You know?
[00:11:55] Well, imagine that. Times like a hundred.
[00:11:59] I imagine going back home would have been difficult. It would have been easier for him to just escape the situation and to live among than it would be to live among those people that he knew and that knew him and that knew all that he did. Run around naked like a crazy man. Indeed a crazy man, a maniac.
[00:12:18] And it's no doubt that his family had suffered a great deal because of him. There would have been a lot of shame to return home and to face all of that. But the Lord's answer to this man, praying him that he might be with him. In Luke, it says this.
[00:12:34] It says, he says, now the man, verse 38. Now the man, out of whom the devils were departed, besought him that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away. So you think of all the times Jesus said, take up your cross and follow me. Follow me, follow me. Jesus says, don't follow me.
[00:13:02] The Lord's answer was not follow me.
[00:13:05] In this case, to follow Jesus was simply to do what he said, even if it didn't make sense. You say, well, everybody's supposed to follow Jesus. Not this time.
[00:13:14] Jesus says, stay, but to stay is to follow.
[00:13:21] In Mark 5:19, if you'll flip back there, it says this. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord had done for thee and hath had compassion on thee.
[00:13:39] Why did the Lord send him home?
[00:13:44] You see what's in the Lord's mind in sending him home and indeed requiring him to go home is the Lord wanted to use this in all of Scripture, in all of the Lord's ministry that's recorded in the Gospels. There's only two or three instances this dramatic. There were many times he delivered people's people from devils, but there's just a handful that are recorded in Scripture. So this was. This was a. I think this would probably be considered kind of a unique, standout, maybe experience in the Gospels. Okay.
[00:14:23] You see, the Lord wanted to use this marvelous display and manifestation of his power to that he affected upon this man, or these two men, as the case may be.
[00:14:37] He wanted to use that to affect others for good. Others who had not seen that manifestation and who were not under the power of Satan in such a dramatic way. Not everybody was possessed of a devil at this time, Right? Just like not everybody, even in this room, not everybody in this room has a past that is in the absolute dregs of sin, you know, and the slop of sin and those kinds of things. Not everybody has a past like the Apostle Paul. Not everybody has a past like the maniac of Gadara. Not everybody has that kind of past. So what the Lord does is he uses people who do have those kinds of pasts as a tool to affect others for good.
[00:15:25] To say, wow.
[00:15:28] So that their heart might be inclined toward the Lord. He uses them as a tool.
[00:15:37] And not only that, but in verse number 19 of Mark, it says this. Go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee. Now here's what I want you to see is Jesus did not heal this man and deliver this man, that this man might have a great life. What he's telling him to do is hard.
[00:15:59] The mission he's putting him on is difficult. He didn't heal him. Of course, now that he's healed, now that he's delivered, he's going to have a great, you know, he's going to have a lot of joy and peace and all that stuff, that all that torment is gone, right? So he's happier, right? He's a happier man. But that's not the ultimate goal. Jesus doesn't save us for our own happiness.
[00:16:22] It's for him, Right? Are not all things for God's glory? Are not all things for Christ? Yes. The answer is yes. So when he saves us, he saves us not for our own sake, but for his own sake. Not for our sake, but his. Think about this man. What Jesus is requiring of this man is the hard thing.
[00:16:43] He's requiring of him. The hard thing.
[00:16:47] This man was not to go home and take it easy. This man was not to go home and enjoy the rest of his life. He says, go home and get to work. That's what he said. He gave him a job to do, to use what God had done. For good. He says, go home to thy friends and tell them there's the mission, there's the job.
[00:17:09] So this man, in other words, although he has all these benefits of being delivered from Satanic power, not just for his ease, it's for God. Is that not our life? The Lord doesn't save us.
[00:17:23] That's the way it's often described. Salvation is described as something the Lord does because he wants us to be happy. What? He makes us happy. We have joy and we have peace. But really our life is not about us, right? It's not about our life. It's not about using it for ourselves. It's about God's glory and God's purposes. That's why we're here.
[00:17:47] Why is that man still there for Jesus? That's why. That's why he's alive.
[00:17:56] So the Lord uses a great work, as we might call it, an unusually great work to further his normal work, right?
[00:18:09] Preaching the gospel, bringing people to trust, to believe in him. He uses a great work to further his normal work that people might believe on him. Not only that, but he says, go home to thy friends and tell them Jesus is not telling them personally. He's using someone else to do it. That sounds familiar.
[00:18:28] That's our job, right? He says. But we see in that that the Lord is still concerned about those people that he's leaving.
[00:18:39] That's why he leaves an evangelist.
[00:18:42] Even though they have rejected him, even though they refused him, his work among them is not finished. He still has compassion and cares about them. You know Jesus was grieved. You know that whenever he went to different cities and different villages and towns, in Galilee especially, and in and around Judea, he was grieved. Woe unto thee, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum. He was grieved.
[00:19:11] Jesus is concerned about these people who have rejected Him. He's not just like, brush the dust off your feet. He told the disciples to do that and move on. But he is still concerned. So he leaves a man. And we can see his concern because he leaves a man behind.
[00:19:30] God's work among men is not done even when they refuse him, until he refuses to continue to strive with them.
[00:19:42] That's the only time. Only then, then and only then is God's work among them done when God stops.
[00:19:48] So just because someone rejects the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't mean that that's the end of the story. In this case, they rejected. And that was not the end of the story.
[00:19:58] Though the Lord left, he left a witness behind. And this witness would Dwell among them. This witness would be one of them.
[00:20:08] And this witness stood among them as a living, breathing testimony of the power of Christ that could not be denied, even though he himself was not there.
[00:20:21] Look at Mark 5, 20.
[00:20:27] And he departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men did marvel.
[00:20:37] This man became an evangelist. Decapolis. Y'all know what Decapolis is?
[00:20:44] Deca 10. Roman is Latin for 10 and Greek.
[00:20:49] Polis is Greek word for city. 10 cities. There were 10 cities on the eastern side of the Jordan.
[00:20:56] For you over here, the eastern side of the Jordan. And those 10 cities were called Decapolis. They were all in the general vicinity. This man became an itinerant evangelist and he preached among those people. I would say this man had a great deal of Zealand to spend his time. In other words, he took what Jesus said. He obeyed the Lord. In other words, he wasn't just delivered. Now his life was given wholly to the work of God. To what Jesus? To the will of Christ. And that's what he's doing now. Go back to Luke, chapter eight.
[00:21:34] Now we'll wrap this story up.
[00:21:42] Verse 39.
[00:21:47] The Lord says, return to thine own house and show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. Now here's the kicker. Verse 40. And it came to pass that when Jesus was returned, why did he go back?
[00:22:12] Having been rejected, he returned.
[00:22:18] How many times the Lord knock on your heart before you finally received him? Received what he was doing when he was trying to woo you and trying to convict you and show you where you stood and how much you needed him. I remember the Lord distinctly convicting me and making me question where I stood with him before I actually got saved a number of times. How many times did he do that? But look, he returned.
[00:22:43] Rejection was not final. He returned. He returned. And it says the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him. Now you know the answer to this.
[00:22:56] Why the change?
[00:23:00] What changed? There's only one thing.
[00:23:04] Only one thing accounts for the change of mind for these people. What is was the demoniac. It was the maniac of Gadara because he was left behind and he stood as a living witness of the power of Christ.
[00:23:20] They got to observe the reality of. Of the power of Christ in this man.
[00:23:28] The initial shock of it led them to reject Christ. But here's the thing. Over time, it was proven to them that what Christ had done was both true and good.
[00:23:42] And it couldn't be denied. Here's the thing. The work of God is not the work of God. A long work. Now, the Bible says he has a short work in the earth in that way, but in the sense of God is patient and God is long suffering.
[00:23:57] Just because the answer is no now doesn't mean we'll always be no. Because you know what? He's still working.
[00:24:04] He's still working.
[00:24:07] Pray. Pray, Lord. Work. I can't see you work, but please work.
[00:24:13] I can't see that you're working in people's heart. I can't see you're changing. I can't see you're talking to them, but please do it, Lord. Your work is a long work. You're looking at the big picture. You're looking at the whole timeline, not just this little moment that I live in.
[00:24:29] Don't let that rejection be forever, Lord. Return to them. Over and over. Return to them. Return to them.
[00:24:37] You know, it might be that you are.
[00:24:43] That you are that example of the power and grace of God in other people's lives that they see in you.
[00:24:52] It might be that you are. That you are the maniac that the Lord wants to use to affect others. Brother Jim's like, you got that right. I am.
[00:25:05] Aren't you glad that the Lord is working behind the scenes when we don't even. Aren't even aware of it? He's working because ultimately what's driving the salvation of people, of souls and them receiving him is not our work. Although we should work. We should work diligently and earnestly and zealously. What drives it is the Lord's zeal.
[00:25:29] It's the Lord's desire.
[00:25:32] That's why he keeps returning. That's why he leaves people to be a witness. Let's pray.
