Jesus Is Our Divine Deliverer! Series

Jesus Is Our Divine Deliverer!

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared August 18, 2021)

BACKGROUND:

*Today we are going to look at one of the most drastic and devastating examples of demon possession found in the Bible. Thankfully, it is also one of the greatest examples of deliverance we find in God's Word.

*This story is found in three of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. Each of these adds information to the story. Matthew 8 is the only place where we see that there were actually two men delivered by Jesus that day. Mark and Luke focus on just one of the men. And Mark 5 gives the most detail, so let's turn there to explore what happened. Let's begin by reading Mark 5:1-20.

MESSAGE:

*God wants to give us some important lessons from this great deliverance.

1. AND THE FIRST LESSONS ARE ABOUT DEMONIC SPIRITS.

*The first thing to notice is the terrible effect they had on the demon possessed man. We see how tormented he was in Mark 5:1-5:

1. Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.

2. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

3. who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains,

4. 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.

5. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

*Luke 8:27 tells us that as soon as Jesus "stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes. . ."

*That man was horribly tormented by those demons. And this reminds us that the devil is nobody's friend. He causes misery everywhere he goes, and he gladly ruins anything he touches.

*This man's life was in utter ruins. David Yarbrough described him this way: "Wild hair, bloody wrists, scratched skin, fury encased in flesh, naked bedlam, arms flailing and voice screaming." Tim Smith added, "This no-name person may have been demon-possessed for quite some time and he was not a pretty sight. His arms and legs were most likely ringed with layers of scar tissue from repeatedly fighting against the chains that others used to try and confine him. . .

*Now free of those chains, he tortured himself by gashing his body with stones. His recent wounds were still oozing puss and blood. From both a physical, emotional and spiritual perspective, he was nauseating and repulsive. His being and personality were under the mastery of an evil power."

*How did this happen? Tim Smith explained: "In the lands surrounding Palestine, demonic possession was not uncommon. Demon worship and even dedicating one’s child to the Devil was not unheard of." (1)

*Demon possession still occurs today, especially in areas where Christ rejecting religions dominate the culture, and people worship false gods. Think about the nation of India where Hinduism is the major religion. In 2020, there were estimated to be almost a billion Hindus living in that country. And according to Hinduism, animals are not inferior creatures. They are manifestations of God on the lower scale of evolution compared to man. They believe each animal contains a spark of the divine, capable of becoming human and achieving salvation like the rest of us.

*Hindus worship many divinities in animal form. They believe that Lord Vishnu was incarnated upon earth first as a fish, then as a tortoise, next as a boar, and so on. The third day of the harvest festival 'Pongal' in Tamilnadu is the cattle thanksgiving day. People decorate and worship their cattle on this day. (2)

*There are many more examples of idol worship going on in the world today. Idolatry isn’t dead. In many ways, it’s more widespread than ever. And in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20, the hard truth is that anywhere people are worshiping idols, they are really worshipping demons. It makes sense that demon possession would be more common in those places. And a recent searched for "demon possession" on our International Mission Board website got 237 results.

*Thankfully, we don't see many obvious manifestations of this kind of evil in our community. And we don't even like to think about demons. But they are still here in the world with us, doing their hateful and hurtful work.

*All Christians have a part in this spiritual battle against unseen evil forces. But the good news for us is that we can never be possessed by a demon. We are bought with the price Jesus paid on the cross! And we belong to God. We are possessed by God and His Spirit lives in us.