one of the three gospel accounts examined for the story of the Gadarene demoniac
1 When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
2 Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 Jesus said to him, “See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
5 When he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him,
6 and saying, “Lord, my servant lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented.”
7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8 The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and tell my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not even in Israel.
11 I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,
12 but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have believed.” His servant was healed in that hour.
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.
15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her. She got up and served him.
16 When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick;
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.”
18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side.
19 A scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
21 Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
23 When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
24 Behold, a violent storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves, but he was asleep.
25 They came to him, and woke him up, saying, “Save us, Lord! We are dying!”
26 He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
27 The men marveled, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
28 When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.
29 Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them.
31 The demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” They came out, and went into the herd of pigs: and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea, and died in the water.
33 Those who fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, including what happened to those who were possessed with demons.
34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
one of the three gospel accounts examined for the story of the Gadarene demoniac
1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs.
3 He lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him any more, not even with chains,
4 because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Nobody had the strength to tame him.
5 Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed down to him,
7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.”
8 For he said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9 He asked him, “What is your name?” He said to him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
10 He begged him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding.
12 All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.”
13 At once Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea.
14 Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country. The people came to see what it was that had happened.
15 They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid.
16 Those who saw it declared to them what happened to him who was possessed by demons, and about the pigs.
17 They began to beg him to depart from their region.
18 As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him.
19 He didn’t allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.”
20 He went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled.
21 When Jesus had crossed back over in the boat to the other side, a great multitude was gathered to him; and he was by the sea.
22 Behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet,
23 and begged him much, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.”
24 He went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides.
25 A certain woman, who had an issue of blood for twelve years,
26 and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse,
27 having heard the things concerning Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his clothes.
28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd, and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 His disciples said to him, “You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
32 He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler’s house saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?”
36 But Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”
37 He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
38 He came to the synagogue ruler’s house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing.
39 When he had entered in, he said to them, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.”
40 They ridiculed him. But he, having put them all out, took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was lying.
41 Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha cumi!” which means, being interpreted, “Girl, I tell you, get up!”
42 Immediately the girl rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were amazed with great amazement.
43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat.
one of the three gospel accounts examined for the story of the Gadarene demoniac
26 They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.
27 When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. He wore no clothes, and didn’t live in a house, but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!”
29 For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bonds apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him.
31 They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.
32 Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. He allowed them.
33 The demons came out of the man, and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned.
34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country.
35 People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
36 Those who saw it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed.
37 All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. He entered into the boat, and returned.
38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 “Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message was part of an ongoing Harmony of the Gospels series. Pastor Ray walked through the account of the Gerasene demoniac as told in Matthew, Luke, and Mark, showing Jesus exercising authority over the supernatural. The three versions of the same story, taken together, build a picture of a man utterly destroyed who was completely restored.
What was said
Pastor Ray opened by noting that the three gospel writers each tell the same story with different details, and that is not a contradiction. Just as someone might say they are from Georgia, from Harris County, or from Shiloh depending on who is asking, the variation in place names reflects audience, not error. Matthew calls the region the Gergesenes, while Luke and Mark refer to the Gadarenes, and both names point to the same area of the Decapolis.
Matthew's account is the shortest and most direct. He mentions two men, both demon-possessed, living among the tombs and frightening everyone who passed by. The demons themselves speak, acknowledge Jesus' authority, ask not to be cast out ahead of their time, and beg permission to enter a nearby herd of pigs. Jesus says one word, "Go," and it is done. The whole herd rushes into the sea and drowns.
Luke adds texture. He focuses on one man, describes him as naked, homeless, and living in the tombs, a state that would have been deeply taboo even for a Gentile. The demon identifies itself as Legion and begs Jesus not to send them to the abyss, the term for complete separation from God. Pastor Ray noted that if a herd of two thousand pigs was driven to destruction by those demons, the level of torment the man himself had been living under is almost impossible to imagine.
Mark's account, the longest of the three, includes the detail that the herd numbered about two thousand. It also underlines that no one had been able to restrain the man, that he was tearing apart chains and crying out day and night, and that he was cutting himself with stones. Pastor Ray paused there to say that self-harm always signals something deeply wrong, whether the source is spiritual or mental, and that it calls for careful, prayerful attention.
After the healing, all three accounts record the same reaction from the people in the surrounding towns: they were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. Pastor Ray said the choice in front of them was faith or the wrong kind of fear. Recognizing that kind of power could mean having to change, and it seems they were not willing. The man who had been healed, by contrast, begged to go with Jesus. Jesus told him no, to go home and tell what God had done for him, and he did, proclaiming it throughout the whole Decapolis.
Pastor Ray connected the story to a trip to South Africa and to a man he and a colleague encountered in KwaZulu-Natal who showed the physical signs of severe torment. He also described a Zulu chief who, recognizing a destructive presence among his people and lacking the power to address it himself, called for outside help, and in the process heard the gospel and came to faith. These were offered not as parallels to the biblical account but as reminders that the spiritual dimension is real and not to be treated as the "neglected middle," the part of the Venn diagram between the physical and spiritual that people are willing to pray for blessings from but not acknowledge darkness in.
The sermon closed with the question the crowd's reaction raises: why would someone see that kind of power and ask it to go away? Pastor Ray did not answer it so much as leave it as a mirror. The man who had been set free could not stop talking about what Jesus had done for him. At the end of the service, a man named Justin came forward with his son Jeremy and briefly described his own experience of being set free, which Pastor Ray offered as a living echo of the same story.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Ray mentioned that when Jesus shows up and people recognize his power, the reaction is either faith or fear. What do you think makes the difference between those two responses, and have you ever experienced one of them yourself?
The people of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to leave after he healed the demoniac, partly because his presence threatened their way of life. Are there areas of your own life where you have hesitated to invite Jesus in because of what it might cost you?
Speaker 2I'll let you do that. Good morning, family. Welcome to church. And as pastor E said, Merry Christmas. Will you please stand and let's worship the Lord this morning?
Amen? I am here with all my heart to fill God's presence in this place. Amen? And my prayer is that he will speak to us individually something beautiful this morning. I don't know how you are.
I don't know much about your life, but I can promise you this. If you, in sincerity, you prayed this morning and say, Lord, I want more of you this morning. I wanna feel your presence, and I want you to do the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, Lord. Touch me, mold me, guide me, and if it's necessary, spank me a little bit if it's true. But point me in the right direction, Lord.
I wanna serve you, Lord. I wanna feel your presence in my life. Amen? I wanna be a Christian that knows who Jesus is. Amen to that.
Let's worship as the Lord is here. Amen? Praise the
Speaker 1lord. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning for one of em. I I think we'll get to it but there's Vacation Bible School this week.
The theme is Christmas in July. So, we're in June right now but July 1 is Christmas in July, right? So, this is what we're doing this week. Vacation Bible School. We also have Monday nights.
They're on. You might notice that Carl does not look like himself right here right now today. But Brad Yates is going to be bringing the message tomorrow night and I think Natalie and Brad are going to be bringing the meal for Monday nights at First B. I know they're here somewhere. There they are.
Plan on being there. It's going to be good. This is a good time to get together. 06:00 meal, music, and a message at First B down the hall, fellowship hall, tomorrow night. There's a prayer group that meets every Wednesday morning in the church office.
They've been doing this for probably close to twenty years now. Every Wednesday morning at 07:30AM, church office will be open and there will be people here praying. You're welcome to be a part of that if you want to. Sunday school. So, children's church, not the high school and middle school boys and girls but the children's church is going to be taking a break during the month of July.
So, if you have the kids and you want to bring em in, we are cognizant that's going on and we're going to try to shape our Sundays to look like they'll be up here with us. Anything else? Am I forgetting something? Church campout is August the fifth through the seventh. So, August fifth through the seventh is the church campout.
If you want to be a part of that, let Brian McCooey know. Call the church office. Figure it out. We paid the deposit. It'll be at Coulter Bay, similar to where it usually is.
So plan on being that. August fifth through seventh, that's the church camp out. And there is is another one for the Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center. Their deal is coming up this week unless I missed it last week. I'm not sure.
That's a terrible announcement. There it is. July 12. Okay. There you are.
Thank you, Carolyn. I I did not make this slide. I'm sorry about that. July 12 coming up. Love them both is the theme of that.
And I think that's it. Would you stand with us, and we will taste and see that
Speaker 2the Lord is good. Psalm thirty four eight says, taste and see that the Lord is good, all the joys of those who take refuge in him. Amen? Amen. I wanna say I'm thankful for the for our leadership.
Thankful for you, pastor Ray. Thank you for pastor Phil. Thank you for Ryan. Carl prepared the song so awesome for me. Even the the side of my
Speaker 1The strap.
Speaker 2The strap. He fixed it. It's exactly the way I want it. I love him. Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Amen? Lord, we thank you for the privilege that we have to be here in your house, Lord. My prayer this morning, Lord, is that you will touch our hearts and and speak to us something that we need this morning, Lord. Who knows the heart of men? Who knows the mind of men?
You are the only one that knows, Lord. Would you please reach to us in such a way that we would say, you are the Lord. You are almighty God, and I trust you this morning. And I put my anxiety, depression, whatever I deal with in your hands, Lord. We if we cry to you, you promise that you'll always be there and answer and be our side and support us and help us.
Lord, here we are. That's where we're here this morning. We're a bunch of people, bunch of sinners gathered together to worship your holy name and to ask you, Lord, that you would work in our lives in such a way that we know you more better and better, Lord, that we walk with you. I wanna walk with you, Lord. I wanna feel your presence in my life.
I wanna hold your hands if it's possible like a child with a daddy. Lord, please please touch our hearts. Revive our church. In your precious name I pray. Amen.
Praise the Lord. Lisa, thank you for playing so beautiful, and thank you for saying yes this morning. Amen. You guys, I I feel the church on fire. Thank you.
Oh, I love it. I love to worship the Lord, honestly. Violetta was here yesterday helping with the decoration, and then I was at home practicing with Carl because we listen to Carl's voice all the time during the week so I can practice and play the rhythm. Kind of. Okay?
So I texted you that. I said, I'm I'm having such a first of all, the kids were here. So I was by myself. No noise. Nothing.
Yes. Sorry. So so I was by myself, worshiping and feel God's presence, and I I texted you and I said, this is the only thing that I wanna do in my life. I wanna I I really wanna be a worship leader, preacher, whatever God would lead me towards Romania. So I can't wait to do that full time.
It's my dream. It's my passion. Amen. Amen. Until then, let's worship the Lord here where we are.
Amen? Amen.
Speaker 3Will sing
Speaker 2the chorus one more time all
Speaker 3my life you have been faithful all my life you have been so with every breath that I
Speaker 2Amen. Please have a seat. This is the time of worship the Lord through giving. Yep.
Speaker 1Would you pray with me? God, we're thankful for the bounty, Lord, for the abundance that we are living in. I pray, Lord, that our own material blessing would never blind us to your work and what it is that you're doing. I pray, Lord, that you would show us exactly what you would have us to do with our time, with our intellect, with our conversations, with our resources of all kinds, Lord. I pray that you direct our direct our minds and our hearts.
May we set them on things above and not on things below. God, I pray that your good gospel would flow through us to the very uttermost parts. I pray play I pray that you, Lord, would be speaking your love and your mercy and your forgiveness through us daily. That it'd be something that's just the normal thing to be coming out of our mouths. Lord, some of us are Some of us just complain quite honestly, Lord, all the time.
And it's what we hear. Studies show it's nine times as likely. You're nine times as likely to say something bad. God forgive us. God forgive us for that.
I pray, Lord, that you direct our hearts into an an attitude of gratitude and that we would be, Lord, shining light, in this valley, but, Lord, to the very uttermost parts, really, that your word would travel, with your people, that it would be continuously filling our minds and our hearts and it would overflow out of our mouths. Lord, direct our steps and give us the strength to walk in, and through and with the spirit in Jesus' name. We ask you to bless all that is offered this morning, Lord, to extend it, multiply it, and do your work, your will, and your way. Amen.
Speaker 3Amen. Yes, or you can use me, Lord.
Speaker 2Lord. Thank you, Ryan for singing so beautiful. Thank you. Amen.
Speaker 1Thank you. It's time for children's church downstairs. And There's a lot going up here on up here on this stage this morning. I'll try not to trip over anything. We are going through Harmony of the Gospels view of the New Testament.
This was this week. I did I ended up doing I did three memorial services last week and I did four weddings this week. Yeah. And one of them was up here on Monday night at Molton Barn. I love, love, love weddings.
I think marriage is God's greatest gift to society and I just love it. And it rained like crazy during the wedding but the rainbow was great. Look at that. Isn't that beautiful? Sweet.
Harmony of the gospels. So we're looking at Matthew eight and Mark five and Luke eight all today. I told you last week that there are three stories in a row. Really, it's it's it's like three or four stories depending on how you look at it in a row that kind of form, I've heard somebody describe it as a triptych. In art, there's a lot of times in older churches, there'll be a big central panel and it's Jesus almost always in the big central panel.
Sometimes it's Mary, usually Jesus. And then to one side, there'll be another figure and to the other side, another figure. This one is like a triptych of stories. So last week, we got Jesus being showing his power over nature and this one is going to be his power over the supernatural. That's what we're going to see today.
And then next week, we'll see another well, not next week. Week after next, we'll see that. And last week I included Rembrandt. Rembrandt included himself in the painting of Storm on the Sea Of Galilee, if you all remember. There were 14 people in that boat and Jesus was one, the 12 disciples.
And then Rembrandt is looking out at us. And when I started looking at his self portrait in this, I started thinking about I was an art major way back when, most of you all know that. This looks more like the Gadarene demoniac, the guy that we're going to talk about today than it does me. But that was the night that we got to Costa Rica in 2003 and I decided I'm going do a sketch every day, self portrait every day. I looked at that one and I didn't do another one the whole time I was there.
So anyway, this is another self portrait from an earlier time. Tanya and I met in 1992 in January and started dating and we were married in September. And this was during those times I look back. And this is another self portrait right here. I don't know why I'm shorter in one than I am the other.
But this is the way that I kind of saw myself is my hair looked more like the guy on the right. My hair was more like a Mormon missionary at the time than it is now. But the guy on the left, actually really understand and empathize with too. So you might look at it and say, this is a divided man, unstable in all of
Speaker 2his
Speaker 1ways. But the truth is this I see both sides of these things, right? And so that's a self portrait, kind of a divided. But to be able to empathize with people on both sides, I think is really important. To be able to look at things both directions.
So that's that. The piece and that's a flower not a gun, just if you're wondering. Tanya looked at it recently and said, Is that a gun? No. That's not a gun.
So Jesus displayed his power over the natural last week. And this week, we're gonna look at this. We'll look at it in all three. I'm gonna go Matthew, Luke, and then Mark as we're going by length these days. So Matthew first.
And his is the simplest version of the story. He includes detail that neither the others do. But when you're telling the story, can tell it the way you want to tell it. Can you not? Yeah.
You can tell the story the way you want to. When he tells us, and Matthew was there. He was now witness to this. He's Matthew, Levi, tax collector. He doesn't spend as much time on this story as the other two gospel writers do.
But when he came, that's Jesus, to the other side into the country of the Gergesians. The Gergesenes in his, you might see Gerasenes or you might see Gadarenes, depending on your translation, depending on the textual translation, I mean a script that they pick up. But we'll get to that when we get to the Gadarenes in a minute. That's the map. This is the Decapolis.
The Decapolis is the 10 cities. So in the 10 cities you see Gadara and you see Garrasa. And that's the country of the Gadarenes or the country of the Garrison. If I'm telling you all where I'm from, depending on where you're from, I'll tell you a different thing. I'm from Georgia.
That's close enough for most of you. I'm from Shiloh, Georgia. Really. I'm from Harris County. I'm from that's the way it is.
So when we see these guys and they've got two or three different names for where something is, it's not contradictory. It just depends on who your audience is, what you tell them. Two people. Oh, wait a second. Now Matthew says two people.
Two people were possessed by demons and they met him, Jesus, there. They were coming out of the tombs. Wow. Exceedingly fierce so that nobody could pass that way. Wow.
Two people possessed by demons met him there coming out of the tombs exceedingly fierce so that nobody could pass that way. Homeless and living among the tombs. Fierce and scary. And behold, they cried out saying, what do we have to do with you, Jesus, son of God? What do we have to do with you, Jesus, son of God?
Now since there are two of them in Matthew, you may read that and just say, what do we, the two of us, have to do with you, Jesus? But This goes on and says, have you come here to torment us before the time? Now in the other gospels, it's obvious that who is speaking is the demon or a spokesperson for a bunch of demons. So and Matthew says, have you come here to torment us before the time this demon or these demons know that there's a time coming for them? It's not a good time.
They're not looking forward to that time. They're doing all of the fun that they can right now to drag as many down with them as they can. But have you come here to torment us before the time? We know the time's coming. Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them.
And the demons begged him. Wait a second. The demons. It says it flatly. The demons begged him saying, if you cast us out, we know you have the authority.
We know that you have the authority. If you cast us out, permit us to go into the herd of pigs. Permit us to. Now, I mean, our way of fighting battles these days is kind of no retreat, no surrender, is it not? It's like we do whatever we want to do.
We're not going to listen to you at all. But these demons recognize his authority and know that he can cast them out and says, if you do cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs. And he said to him, go. Get. And they came out of these two guys and they went into the herd of pigs and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff and into the sea and they died in the water.
They drowned in the water. Matthew is so matter of fact about this. He doesn't give a lot of details like Luke and Mark. Those who fed them, so there were pig managers, people who kept them, farmers, whatever. Those who fed them fled and they went away into the city.
They've been in the countryside, kind of countryside tombs. And when their pigs fled into the sea and it killed them, they fled. They went into the city. They told everything including what happened to those who were possessed by the demons. So they didn't just say, hey, this fella killed our pigs.
They said, and those two crazy guys are always out in the graveyard. They're alright. Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. And this sounds like quite the draw. If you could produce this sort of thing, you would want to set up what they used to call a crusade.
Right? Everybody in the city came out to meet Jesus. This is the biggest thing that's happened around here in a long time. And when they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders. When I walked in this morning, somebody said, Why is it that they begged him to go away?
That doesn't make any sense. He helped those two guys. He helped that demoniac. He helped him. Why would they say for him to go away?
Well, economics. Killed a whole herd of pigs. It hurt their business. I'll go to the other stories and we'll get them from Mark and Luke here in a minute, but think about why you would recognize the power of Jesus and then beg him to go away. There could be more than one reason.
Okay. Let's go to Luke. Luke eight twenty six to 39. Starts like this. They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes.
So the map, like I said, Gadarenes is about 30 miles from the shore. And so there have been skeptics that have read this story in the past and said, Man, that's the most energetic herd of pigs I've ever seen. The demons just powered them to run 35 miles and jump off into the sea. Maybe. But it's the country of the Gadarenes.
So they arrived. Now, put yourself back in that boat for a second. They had seen y'all remember last Sunday? I've gotten so many texts about last Sunday. We get to the storm in the boat.
Put yourself in the scene. And then there was lightning right on cue. My goodness. That was crazy. I had people from Georgia like texting me and emailing me.
Man, that's crazy. Was that real? But if you had just experienced that in the boat literally and then you see the calming of the storm when Jesus says, calm down, and it calms down, and you arrive at the other side, and this is what happens. This is the very next thing. They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes which is opposite Galilee.
Literally, Galilee is up on the Northwestern Shore of the Sea Of Galilee and Gadara is down on the Southeast Shore. So I didn't put the map in. If you were to take from here, if you were to take from here and you bore the hole directly through the earth all the way to the other side, where would it come out? Everybody always says, I'm going dig a hole to China. They always guess China, but it's not China.
If you were to be in Jackson, Wyoming and bore directly through, you'd come up in the Indian Ocean. The closest thing would be a little island that kind of belongs to Antarctica, but the closest populated city would be Durban, South Africa. So it's as far away from here on land among people as you can get. And there I am in 2013 with a buddy of mine named Mahindra. Mahindra Singh is from Durban, South Africa.
We have somebody here that's from near there. And he works among the poorest of the poor, out in the communities. And anyway, I love the guy. Met him in 2010 at a conference in South Africa and then went back. And he was very helpful.
We've been supporting him. The church has been supporting Crossroads Humanitarian Aid Mission for a long time. Here he is. They're teaching people to grow plants. He's showing off.
I think that's an eggplant but I'm not agricultural. He also does school programs and feeding programs for kids who are sad. That's what he says. And they're great. It's wonderful.
He does a really, really good job. He has a team. Melissa Landis worked with him for a long time, one of our missionaries from here. And out in some of the neighborhoods around there, it's charged environment. And when there is poverty and when there's difficulty, There are a different set of problems when there is affluence and difficulty.
And as we're riding along, riding with him and we're delivering bread, we have a whole pickup truck load full of bread. We're delivering it to some feeding centers and going out and seeing the hope center. At that time, it had not been built. This church helped pay for the foundations for that place. And I'll get to it in a minute.
When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. Now he says one man. I think that when you're telling the story, if one guy speaks up or the voice of the demons comes through one of them, maybe you'll just mention that guy. No. So as not to complicate things.
But this certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met up with him. He wore no clothes, naked man, and didn't live in a house, homeless man, but he lived in the tombs. And that, for the Jews, I mean touching a dead body made you defiled for a long time. It's one of the worst things that you could do. Being in the graveyard would be something that people did not do very often.
It was only on the occasion of a funeral that they would even ever want to be there. But this guy was Gentile. He's in the Decapolis, not in Judea or Galilee. He wore no clothes. He didn't live in a house, but he lived in the tombs.
This guy, as we're riding along, was walking down the street when we saw him. Mahindra was in the driver's seat, is on the other side. I'm right there on the passenger side. And he's walking down the road and he's muttering, murmuring, yelling sometimes. And his front side is covered with cuts.
He's been cutting himself with stones. His backside is covered with scars. And we stopped. There was a guy in the back of the truck that is holding a loaf of bread out to him. You can see right there.
And Mahindra is a assembly of God guy. So he was praying loud and calling trying his best to call the demons out of the man because you don't you don't live like that normally. That's not a normal situation. Now the Bible does recognize both demon possession and physical ailment, and not all demon possessions are physical or mental ailments. They just aren't.
But this one looked like this man was tormented in some way. And where were we? I don't know where we were. I don't even know why I put that slide in there. Oh, where were we?
Here we go. Where were we in the scripture? Get back to that. Yeah. I was like, we were in South Africa.
Kwazu Nilunatal as a matter of fact. But okay. So he didn't wear any clothes and he didn't live in a house which is already societally taboo, let's say. And he lived among the tombs. And when he saw Jesus, he cried out and he fell down before him.
He fell down before Jesus and with a loud voice said, what do I have to do with you Jesus, the son of the most high God? I beg you. Don't torment me. He recognized Jesus' authority immediately. Recognized who he was immediately.
It doesn't say there was any kind of an introduction. He didn't have to build up a following. He didn't announce his presence, but they announced him, the demons in this guy. What do I have to do with you, Jesus, the son of the most high God, the most high is what those would have called the God of Israel. I beg you, don't torment me.
Now what was the what were the demons doing to that man? Tormenting him and his family and his neighbors and his kin, his everybody. For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit who had often seized the man. So it was from time to time it would be even worse.
But it sounds like it's pretty unrelenting. The unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard and he was bound with chains and fetters and breaking the bonds apart. He was driven by the demon out into the desert. When there is, the presence of God, when Jesus is present, all kinds of spiritual things start popping around.
Have you noticed that? If you've really put your hand to the plow and really started to go after, doing the work that Jesus has called you to do, you will hit opposition, period. And it'll be spiritual opposition. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Right?
But it's amazing how sneaky it is, and it's amazing how sneaky it can be depending on where you are. Right? Like we have a different set of circumstances and probably a different set of problems. It may be a different list of demons in this country, in this place. This guy had been kept under guard, bound with chains and fetters, but he kept breaking loose.
And then he was driven by the demon out into the desert. And Jesus asked him, what is your name? And he said, legion, for many demons had entered into him. Legion. A legion of Roman soldiers is up to 6,000 men.
Depending on who you listen to, it's between a 6,000. 6,000 guys. So that's the name that this demon gave. What's your name? And he said, Legion for many demons had entered into him and they begged him.
The demons begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss. The outer darkness. The abyss. This is the Old Testament term that's used for complete and utter separation from God. So it's, you might say hell, but it's the term is the abyss.
It doesn't come up often in the New Testament. It comes up a couple of other times, but the abyss is outer darkness. They knew their time was coming where that's where they'd have to go, and he begged them not to send them there. That's bad. They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss, and now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain.
And they, the demons, begged him that he would allow them to enter into those because they recognized his authority. And then Jesus gave them what they asked for. And then he allowed them. And the demons came out of the man and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Now if it's enough to drive a whole herd of pigs to commit hairy carry, think about that man and what he was going through.
6,000 demons in you, suffering to no end, cutting himself. When people begin to do self harm, there's something wrong. Right? There's something wrong. There's some pain there that is so deep.
I don't know what happened to this man to start the ball rolling, But Jesus looked on him with eyes of compassion, and he even I mean, he let the pit he let the demons go where they were. That's a super compassion right there. He knows their time is coming, and he let them go. And I think it was a visual illustration for his disciples to see what demons do. They destroy.
They tear down. They rip apart. The demons came out of the man. They entered into the pigs. They the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
When those who fed them saw what happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. They couldn't help it. They were telling everybody. And people went out to see what had happened. And they came to Jesus and they found the man whom the demons had gone out of sitting at Jesus' feet.
Oh, just seeing sitting at Jesus' feet, do you think of Mary and Martha? Right? You think of Mary. She's found the better thing. She's sitting at Jesus' feet listening to him.
Says he's clothed and in his right mind. And what were the people? They were afraid. They were afraid because that's some kind of power. We know that guy.
We've bound that guy. We know that guy can't be trusted. Maybe this is one of his relapses where he goes, but if he's clothed and in his right mind, it scared him. And those who saw it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed. Nope.
I saw it with my own eyes. That's a witness right there. And all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them for they were very much afraid. There is going to be a reaction to Jesus. It's either going to be faith or it's going to be fear, and not the good kind.
Okay? I'm just afraid. I don't know what's going on. I'm managing my life pretty good without Jesus. That's what it seems the people around were thinking.
Now that was not true of the man or the men there in the tombs, But they didn't care as much about them, it seems. They didn't care as much about them as about how this would affect my life. If this actually exists, if there's this kind of power available, I might have to change. I might have to change some things. All the people of the surrounding country, the Getherenes, asked him to depart from them.
Please. The demons did not want Jesus to send them away into the abyss, and the people did not want Jesus to stick around. Wow. But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him. This guy who had just been miraculously saved from the demons Recognized himself as a human being the power of God present in Jesus' God.
But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, no, return to your house. Go back home. Declare what great things God has done for you. Whenever we were going out to be missionaries or whenever anybody's going out to be missionary, usually I get a wave of people going, I wanna do something great for God.
I wanna go somewhere. I wanna do that. And I go, it might be what you're supposed to do. But this guy is usually my example for, Or you should stay here and minister among the people that you grew up with, that knew you win. Right?
Return to your house and declare what great things God has done for you. He went his way, and he was proclaiming throughout Paul City what great things Jesus had done for him. That man knows knew that Jesus was God. Right? That man knew.
Tell him what God has done for you, and he went and told him what Jesus had done for him. Amen. He went his way proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. That's Luke. Now we get Mark.
I've told you most of it. Let's see what else comes out. They came to the other side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes. When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs. Can you imagine?
He lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him anymore, not even with chains. He had broken free from everything they tried to tie him up in. Because he had been often bound with fetters and chains and the chains had been torn apart by him and the fetters broken in pieces, nobody had the strength to tame him. Do y'all realize how often do y'all realize how often we deal with people who have been pushed aside, and we deal with people who I have probably twice a week somebody come in and say, I think I have a demon.
I'm not a demon behind every bush kind of guy. I wasn't raised assembly of God. Wasn't raised charismatic, but it does exist. Some of those people probably have mental illness, and some of those people probably have a demon. And we're doing our best the best that we can.
Humility before God to try to set people free from them. But nobody had the strength to tame this guy. Always night and day in the tombs and in the mountains, was crying out. He was cutting himself with stones. Again, say, there's a difference in physical ailments and spiritual battle.
And when one starts to do self harm, it's a very, very dangerous place, and it can be either mental or it can be spiritual. But it's a delicate situation that needs to be handled, very, very delicately with the spirit of God and all the appropriate prayer and care. When Jesus he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and he bowed down to him. Proserucauma. He he bowed down to him.
He got down on his knees and crying out with a loud voice, he said, what have I to do with you Jesus? You, son of the most high God, I adjure you by God. Don't torment me. I recognize your authority and I recognize God's authority over me. You're a created being.
I'm not part of the Godhead. Sometimes we get it mixed up and we think there's an equal amount of evil and good, and it's just a duality and evil wins sometimes and good wins sometimes. But almighty God is almighty, and the spiritual realm of darkness does not measure up to him. I adjure you by God. James says that even the demons believe and they tremble.
I adjure you by God. Don't torment me for he said to him, come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And he asked him, what is your name? He said to him, my name is Legion for we're many. He begged him that much that he would not send them away out of the country.
I don't want to leave. I don't want to go. It's funny to me again that that man, when he got saved, he wanted to go. He wanted to go probably to the very uttermost parts and tell everybody, be a part of that happy band of disciples. But he begged him.
This is legion, begged Jesus that he would not send him away out of the country. Now on the mountainside, there were a great herd of pigs feeding and all the demons begged saying, send us into the pigs that we may enter into them. And at once, Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirit came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about 2,000 my goodness.
It gets to be bigger each time we hear it, and I believe it. 2,000 pigs. Now in in Judea, there wouldn't probably be a herd of 2,000 pigs, but in Decapolis, yeah. The herd of about 2,000 pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea and they were drowned in the sea. And those who fed them fled and told it in the city and in the country.
And the people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw him who had been possessed by demons. I love when we see the man who had been blind, The man who had been deaf. The one who had been possessed by demons. He's no longer that way.
They came to Jesus and they saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting. So the other ways that he's been described is fierce, tearing apart his bonds and chains, tearing apart and yeah, mad. He was clothed instead of naked. Oh. And in his right mind.
It is so good when you can see someone who's been set free. It is so good. Last week I mentioned John Newton and William Cowper, and John Newton asking William Cowper to come write some songs with me considering the goodness of God and write some songs about the goodness of God. Because Cowper had gotten into his own head and had become quite suicidal. And Newton helped him to concentrate on God and the power and not on his own circumstances and situation.
They came to Jesus and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. Something's not clicking here, Blake. Even him who had the legion. That's the guy. No, that's really the guy.
He goes back and reiterates. This guy who had been absolutely raving mad, sitting, clothed, in his right mind, even him who had the legion, and they were all afraid. There it is again. There's a lot of fear actually in these three passages. They were afraid.
They recognized the power of God. Those who saw it what happened. They saw when the demons came out of the man and when they went into the pigs and what happened. And they declared it to all those folks who'd come out. What happened to him who was possessed by demons and about pigs?
The illusion I think there is is to say, and about the economic impact it was going to have on this place. And they began to beg him to depart from their region. We don't want to have anything to do with that. Nothing that we have is stable if you have that kind of power. As he was entering into the boat, Jesus getting back in the boat to leave, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him.
He begged Jesus that he might go with him, and he didn't allow him. I could stop right there. You ever beg Jesus for something that he doesn't allow? He knows better than we know for sure. But Jesus did not allow the guy to go with him.
He had 12 disciples. Maybe that was enough. Not sure. He didn't allow him. But said to him, go to your house, go to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you.
And how he had mercy on you. Oh. So the fact that he uses mercy right here is mercy is when you do not get something, a consequence bad that you do deserve. That's mercy. And so we look at the guy and we see that he's demon possessed and we say, wow, he's insane.
There's, you know, he can't really be held culpable for his action. But just the fact that it says mercy, there may be some culpability here. At least in the beginning, there might have been some culpability when these demons have taken over. Right? Go tell them the great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.
Now in our day, I I think that a lot of times when we talk about people's demons, we're almost always talking metaphorically. Not often are we talking literally. And we don't want to think about this, the neglected middle. We know there's a spiritual realm, and we know there's a physical realm. And this Venn diagram that has this part in the middle where the spirit and the physical overlap, we pray for that stuff.
We want the good stuff, but we don't want to recognize there's any bad stuff. And so I had a professor that called it the area of the neglected middle. Right? How he had mercy on you. Jesus looks on him with a heart of compassion.
He banishes those demons, and immediately the guy recognizes the goodness of God, the mercy of God. And I think if I were to say anybody who's ever gotten free from an addiction, they would recognize the mercy of God there. In fact, a lot of them recognize the mercy of God in their rock bottom experience. I know a guy who's been sober for four years, and his rock bottom experience was the worst thing that happened to him on that day, and it's the best thing that happened to him today. Right?
The mercy of God. Tell him how he had mercy on you. And he went his way, and he began to proclaim Indy capitalists all around that country of the Gadarenes how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled. Now the ones who hadn't seen it, they probably weren't nearly as afraid as the ones who had. But the begging him to leave, that is the question of the morning.
If you recognize the power of God that's available in Christ maybe it's hard to believe. Maybe you haven't seen it with your own eyes. Maybe you haven't seen anybody who ever was addicted or maybe had a demon or was suffering from many demons, set free. Maybe you have, and it scares you to death. He went his way, began proclaiming Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him.
I have seen it. The trip to South Africa. So this is the Nduna. The Nduna is the chief of a little tribe of the Zulu people out in Olwasini and this is the guy. And getting there, the circumstances for me being there were different, spiritual.
Why we got there and why Mahindra got there? Mahindra had never met this chief before. I've never met him before, but he was calling for us to come visit. So I end up seeing all of the spiritual charge stuff that's going on, And then this guy accepts Christ out of the blue. Like this, I'm not evangelist.
I don't I don't have this experience as often as Gary might or as some people who are supernaturally gifted as evangelists. But you can recognize the moment when God's power is there and ready to heal. And this guy prays to receive Jesus and to renounce his ancestral idols. It's a huge deal. He's the chief of the whole place.
I'm blown away by it. He recognized a demon in their midst. Whether it was literal or metaphorical, I'll let you decide. But he recognized a demon in their midst, and he didn't have the power to fix it. So he called for outside help, and it ended up bringing into the situation, God's spirit, which eventually solved the problem.
Jesus displays his power over the supernatural. His ways are so much above our ways that when we're stuck and we can't see how this could possibly be a good thing, and we're afraid of him, we just don't want to pay attention or do anything with it, he still is working. Right? Even when I can't see it, you're working, as the song says. Is there anything else up there, Blake?
Is that it? He usually does this, which is funny. He says there's nothing else. This means yay in sign language. It's over.
Yay. Alright. I'm going to invite the band back up, and we're going to sing through. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see you.
I want to see you. I want to see you high and lifted up. I want to see you, Lord, for who you are, and I don't want to be afraid of that in the bad way. I wanna revere it, and I wanna lean into it, and I wanna tell everybody. Whether you send me or whether you keep me where I am, I want you, Lord, right here with me.
In Jesus' name, we pray that your spirit, Lord, would overwhelm us with your goodness, that it would fill our hearts, that we would be able to be grateful, and we would have, just like the song said, we taste and see that you're good, and we can't help but tell those around us how it is, Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray that we'd be sensitive to your spirit, compassionate on everybody. Have empathy, deep deep and abiding empathy for those who are struggling right now. Amen.
Speaker 2Amen. Would you please stand and let's worship the Lord? And may this song be our prayer for this week. Amen? May we be kingdom's gods minded people this week.
Amen. And before we sing, I just wanna remind you again and forgive me. I can't stand. Please come to Monday night. I love Monday night.
Monday night worship service is the mission for this church. And if you are not into eating, that's okay. The worship service starts 06:40. The meal starts at six, but you you say, I don't wanna eat. Don't worry about it.
The worship service starts at 06:40. So please come. I love Monday nights. I love Monday nights.
Speaker 1So, is Justin here? Justin and Jeremy? They stepped up. Ah, I looked and he's not there. So Justin is a young fellow that's been working for Macy's services and he's been here for about a year.
He's been coming to church here for about eight months. And he's a man set free. And I was gonna ask him for a testimony. He's coming in. I texted him during the song.
I quit playing the bass for a second. Hey, where are you, man? Come on, Justin. Come on in, man. Jeremy's catching up with him.
Blake's meeting him with a microphone. I hope this is a better benediction than anything I could have recited. I believe it will be. So Justin, would you just introduce yourself and this fellow with you?
Speaker 3Hello? So I'm Justin. This is Jeremy, my son. And, yeah, I've been here for a year, and he just now came to move with me from Las Vegas. And, yeah, God's good.
Speaker 1God's good. He's a man set free, and he's just gotten, custody of his son, and he's here. And he wants for he wants to be the example for his son, and he wants for y'all to be involved in bringing him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thank you, Justin.
Speaker 3Yeah. Thank you.
Speaker 1I love you, brother. Appreciate it. Jeremy? Testimony coming soon. Alright.
I sought the Lord and he answered me and he delivered me from all of my fears. In Jesus name, lord, may it be so. Amen.
