Introduction
A. A husband and wife were at a party chatting with some friends when the subject of marriage counseling came up. "Oh, we'll never need that. My husband and I have a great relationship," the wife explained. "He was a communications major in college and I majored in theater arts." "He communicates real well and I just act like I'm listening."
B. We have read the passage here in Matthew about two demon possessed men.
1. Jesus had done a great deal yesterday and today, and He seemed to want to get away with His disciples perhaps to do some teaching.
a. They spent some time on a boat in a storm, which we saw last week.
b. The boat arrived at a place called the Gergesenes.
c. When they landed two men came to meet Him.
d. They were possessed by demons.
(1) Turn to Mark 5:13
(2) It was the demons that recognized Jesus and begged Him for mercy
(3) Apparently the demons knew that Jesus would cast them out of the men
Mark 5:13 NKJV
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.
(a) The Mark passage concerning this incident goes from Mark 5:1-20
(b) In Mark only one man is mentioned, is this evidence that the Bible has mistakes?
i) No. In Matthew the two men are mentioned, but in Mark just the one. The difference in number is only important to certain aspect of the lesson to be taught.
ii) Matthew felt that the two made a greater impact for the lesson to be learned concerning Christ
iii) Mark may have felt that reference to one man was sufficient for the lesson to be learned
iv) As you read both accounts you will find that Matthew includes some details that Mark has not included and Mark includes other details not included in Matthew.
a) These differences do not impact the reality of the Biblical accounts
2. There are 8 things I want to bring out illustrated in this story
a. First know that the devil is real Verses 28 - 29
b. Second, demon possession is real Verses 28 - 29
c. Third, Jesus cares for men in the worst circumstances of life Verses 28 - 30
d. Fourth, Jesus has absolute control of the demonic forces Verses 28 - 32
e. Fifth, the demons want to possess a body Verses 31 - 32
f. Sixth, the desire of the devil and his demons is to destroy us Verse 32
g. Seventh, people care more about things than God or men Verse 34
h. And eighth, Jesus cares about us, our earthly friends don’t care anywhere as much Verse 34 and Mark 5:15-17
II. Body
A. First know that the devil is real Verses 28 - 29
Matthew 8:28-29 NKJV
When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. {29} And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
1. The devil is not a fantasy
a. The Bible tells us about the devil, called Satan, from Genesis to Revelation
(1) There are varying descriptions of the devil in Scripture, but the most telling is the one found in 2 Corinthians 11:14
(2) Here, we are told that the devil transforms himself into an angel of light
2 Corinthians 11:14 NKJV
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
(a) Turn to John 8:44
(b) Notice Satan transforms himself into an angel of light
(c) The devil is a deceiver and so his transformation is to deceive
(3) Jesus calls the devil the father of lies
John 8:44 NKJV
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
(4) Lies and deception are his stock and trade
(5) There is no truth in him
(6) The Devil's most beautiful ruse is to convince us that he does not exist.
(a) We cannot resist something in which we do not believe
(b) There is an ancient parable which says that the dove once made a pitiful complaint to her fellow birds that the hawk was a most cruel tyrant and was thirsting for her blood. One counseled her to fly low--but the hawk can stoop for its prey. Another advised her to soar aloft--but the hawk can mount as high as she. A third instructed her to hide herself in the woods-- but that is the hawk's own territory. A fourth recommended that she stay in town--but there man hunted her, and she feared that her eyes would be put out by the cruel falconer to make sport for the hawk. At last one told her to rest herself in the clefts of the rock, there she would be safe; violence itself could not surprise her there.
(c) Christ is our rock, and we must hide in the cleft of the rock where the devil cannot touch us
(d) It appears that within man there is a protective barrier sheltering him to a certain extent from the baneful influence of demons. Once a person begins dabbling in the occult, this protective fence is broken down.
i) We do not have to practice the occult consciously we need only invite the devil in some way
ii) Playing with a oujia board
iii) Or out and out invitations to ghosts
(e) The victim henceforth becomes the prey of wicked spirit forces. Occultly subjected people often confess that it was not too difficult to make contact with the spirits. But once they become aware of the diabolical nature of their spirit intercourse and sought to renounce this evil, they found that no power on earth could free them.
(f) But, there is one cure and we shall reveal it forthwith.
i) Going back to verses 28 & 29, we see that
B. Second, demon possession is real
Matthew 8:28-29 NKJV
When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. {29} And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
1. The Scriptures say that these two men were demon possessed
a. If we turn to we will see that the demons controlled the man completely
Mark 5:2-5 NKJV
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.
b. Mark only tells about one man, but it is enough to see that the demons controlled the man completely
(1) Turn to Mark 9:17-18
c. Another illustration is found here in Mark 9:17-18
Mark 9:17-18 NKJV
Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. {18} "And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."
(1) First, the demon caused the boy to be mute
(2) Second, the demon had absolute control of the boy
(a) Turn to Mark 9:22
(3) The boy’s father went on to describe more of the boy’s behavior
Mark 9:22 NKJV
"And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
(4) Fire burns and water drowns
d. The demon was trying to destroy the boy
(1) In both narratives, Matthew and Mark we see that the demons caused the men possessed to be alone
(a) Away from family
(b) And friends
(c) To live among the graves
e. Notice also that the demons caused the person possessed to act in self destructive ways
(1) Throwing them into fire and water
(2) Causing them to cut themselves with stones
(3) While I was going to Bible Collage a pastor told us about one young man they found at their church. The building blocks of the church were very rough and this young man had run up to the building and began to tear the flesh off his face by grinding his face up against the building blocks.
(a) He was crying
(b) Incoherent
(c) And screaming at those who were trying to stop him to leave him alone
f. Another illustration comes from a creditable source on the Internet.
(1) An American woman who levitated, demonstrated paranormal psychic powers and spoke foreign languages unknown to her was clearly demon possessed, according to a board-certified psychiatrist and associate professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Medical College.
(a) Lets turn to Matthew 8:28 - 30
C. The third thing I want us to get is that Jesus cares for men in the worst circumstances of life
Matthew 8:28-30 NKJV
When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. {29} And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" {30} Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.
1. Just think about the description in the Mark account
a. These men were living in the grave yard
(1) Alone
(2) Away from family and friends
(3) It would be natural to fear these demon possessed men, even if they were son, husband, friend, or father
(4) It seems as though everyone else had deserted these men
b. But Jesus had mercy upon these two men
(1) Jesus cared
(2) Jesus had compassion on them
(a) Turn to Matthew 8:29 - 32
D. Fourth, Jesus has absolute control of the demonic forces
Matthew 8:29-32 NKJV
And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" {30} Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. {31} So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine." {32} And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.
1. Notice one thing, a very important thing. The demons recognized Jesus
a. They knew that He was the Son of God
b. Obviously these demons knew Jesus power, they would have to do as Jesus commanded
c. They also knew that they would be or I should say are condemned to an eternal hell
(1) They begged Jesus not to command them to go to hell prematurely
(2) They asked permission to enter the pigs
(a) Note that Jesus allowed them to go to the swine
(b) They could do nothing without Jesus permission
E. Fifth, the demons want to possess a body
1. If we examine another passage, Matthew 12:43-45, we see in Jesus parable the fact that demons want to live in a flesh and blood body
a. Why would they want a body? Two reasons
(1) In this way they can interact in the material world
(2) And, as we shall see later, they hate God’s creation and wish to destroy His special creation
Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. {44} "Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. {45} "Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation."
(3) Turn to Matthew 8:32
F. Sixth, the desire of the devil and his demons is to destroy us
Matthew 8:32 NKJV
And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.
1. I’ve been told that pigs will not run down hill
a. And yet, Scriptures here says that the pigs ran down hill and drowned in the sea
(1) But lets turn back to Mark 9:22
Mark 9:22 NKJV
"And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
(a) The father of the possessed boy testified that the demon often threw the boy into the fire and into the water
(b) As I said before, fire burns and water drowns
i) Turn to Matthew 8:34
G. Seventh, people care more about things than God or men
Matthew 8:34 NKJV
And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.
1. The citizens were more concerned that the pigs were drowned then they were about the men who had been healed of their possession
2. They cared more that they lost the pigs then they cared about Christ’s power over the demons
a. Now turn to Mark 5:15 - 17
H. And eighth, Jesus cares about us, our earthly friends don’t care anywhere as much
Mark 5:15-17 NKJV
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. {16} And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. {17} Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.
1. Jesus met these two men and freed them
a. Jesus gave them back their life
(1) Their family
(2) Their sanity
(3) Their dignity
(4) Jesus freed them from sin and demonic power, because Jesus care about them
b. The town’s people, it seems, didn’t care that these men were healed
(1) They weren’t rejoicing that they had been set free
(2) They weren’t gladly welcoming them back to the world of sanity
(3) They weren’t happy that they had been delivered from the demons
(4) The town’s people only cared about their pigs
(a) They were more concerned about their pigs than these men, their neighbors
c. So it has been, the prodigal son had the same experience
(1) When his money was gone, his friends were gone
(2) They didn’t care about him
(3) They only cared about themselves
(a) Turn to John 14:6
2. We fight spiritual battles
a. The lost fight to save their soul, but only Jesus can do that
John 14:6 NKJV
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
b. The saved fight to keep their focus
(1) Turn to 1 Peter 5:8
(2) They fight to be obedient
(3) They fight to not be led astray
(4) They fight to not be devoured
1 Peter 5:8 NKJV
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
3. Jesus cares
a. He is able to save us
b. He is able to give us victory
c. If we’ll just let Him.
