He tells them, in verse 16, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves...” In verses 17-27 Jesus warned the twelve disciples that they might as well expect the same treatment that He had received. Then He explained in verse 24, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.”
If you are wondering why He told them to expect all these things it was because He did not want them to think that serving Him was like going on a picnic.
The Christian life is the greatest life on earth. There is nothing you and I could do that can enrich our lives more than to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. However, as we travel this wonderful road to heaven we are going to experience some “bumps” on the way.
After telling them that they should have some concern about the way evil men would treat them, Jesus let them know from where their real threat would come -- from Satan himself.
Look at Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Jesus told them that the reason Satan was their most dangerous foe was because he could destroy a man’s SOUL!
Illus: Most people have a fear of being murdered. We all lock the doors of our homes night and day because we know there are some people out there to be feared. However, very few have that kind of fear of the destructive power of Satan.
Those who “play around” with the devil, as if he were some kind of TOY TO PLAY WITH, will discover one day what fools they were. Satan is no one to play with; he is to be FEARED!
In our text, Mark 5:1-19, we read the THREE ESSENTIAL “WHAT’S” Jesus gave for the Christian to know. For example, it is essential that we know...
I. WHAT SATAN CAN DO.
A good example of WHAT SATAN CAN DO can be found in Mark 5, where we read about the demon possessed man who lived in the country of the Gadarenes.
As soon as Jesus left the ship at Gadara He was confronted by the demon possessed man. Look at verse 2. We read, “And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.” Probably, at one time, that man had been like everyone else. Then he made the dreadful mistake that so many today are making. He began playing around with SIN. He probably thought, like many today, that nothing would come of it. Sad to say it just does not work that way:
-Do you know how people become ALCOHOLICS? They become alcoholics by letting the devil tell them they can take a drink and quit drinking any time they desire -- nothing will come of it!
-Do you know how people become DRUG ADDICTS? They become drug addicts by listening to the devil’s saying that they can experiment with drugs and quit any time they want to -- nothing will come of it!
Every sin is small when it begins, like a baby, but grows into a monster that devours the sinner.
Illus: Someone said, “Sin would have very few takers if its consequences occurred immediately!” That surely is true. If people could see what sin will do to them in the future, they would never participate in it. You would think people would observe the ends of others, as God would have us do, but often we are not smart enough to do that.
Perhaps the man that met Jesus had been a fine, decent citizen at one time. The Bible does not tell us a thing about his life before he wrecked it with sin. We do not know if he was married, if he had children, or what he did for a living.
The Bible does tell us a few things about him just before he met the Lord. For example...
A.Look at his dwelling.
Look what the devil had done to him. He had discovered that, “...sin will take you deeper than you ever intended to go, and you will get there faster than you ever thought it would take you to get there.”
That man actually was dwelling among the tombs. Look at verses 3-4. We read, “Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.”
Have you noticed that the longer a man serves Satan the more his life begins to resemble the life of a violent wild animal.
Having said that, notice, this man became so much like a wild animal that the people tried to chain him the way you would chain a vicious dog. However the man was so powerful that he would “pluck asunder,” the chains they put on him. Look at verse 4 again. We read, “Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.” That looks like the description of a wild animal instead of the description of a man. HIS DWELLING was among the tombs. Now...
B. Look at his dilemma.
Look at verse 5. We read, “And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.” The Bible says that “night and day,” he was “CRYING and CUTTING HIMSELF.”
He did not have any relief. The devil will never have any mercy on anyone. What a picture of the relentless effort of the devil to make a man’s life as miserable as it can be!
It must have been a pitiful sound the people heard as they passed by that cemetery and heard that man CRYING NIGHT and DAY.
Illus: We are told that one of the quickest way to empty a restaurant is to let a baby keep crying. Why? People cannot stand to hear a helpless baby cry. There is something inside of us that causes us to not want to hear anyone CRY.
Listen, the Bible says that the demon possessed man was CRYING NIGHT AND DAY. This makes us believe that the more miserable Satan can make a person, the better he likes it.
The man despised himself for allowing Satan to destroy his life. He literally hated himself. The Bible tells us that he would take sharp rocks and cut himself. HIS DWELLING was terrible. HIS DILEMMA seems to have been that he could no longer control himself.
Yes, we can see by this man’s life WHAT THE DEVIL CAN DO. Perhaps there are some here who are playing around with sin. You had better understand that Satan is not playing. He can destroy your life in just a short moment.
Illus: It is always interesting to attend a high school reunion. Christians are usually amazed because Satan’s destructive power is so obvious in even just a few years. And, if you attend that class reunion after 10 to 15 years you will find Satan can do so much damage in a sinner’s life that they are beyond recognition.
No wonder the Lord told His disciples that they should not fear those who could destroy the BODY, but that they should fear him who could destroy BOTH BODY and SOUL!
We have ample evidence of what SATAN CAN DO to a person. Look at the scripture and see...
II. WHAT THE LORD CAN DO.
The Bible tells us that Satan has come for the purpose of destroying us PHYSICALLY and SPIRITUALLY. In John 10:10 we read, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” His purpose is clear! If you get nothing else from message, I hope you get this. Sinner and Christian alike, Satan is not your friend! He is your worst enemy!
That verse also gives the purpose for the Lord’s coming. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Jesus is the best friend any person could ever possibly have!
The demon possessed man’s life had been wrecked by sin. He met Jesus and never again was the same man.
A.Look at his desire.
Look at verse 6. We read, “But when HE SAW Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.” Even though he was demon possessed he “...ran and worshipped him...” when he saw Jesus.
It matters not how evil a person may be, inside him there is a desire to worship SOMETHING or SOMEONE!
Illus: You can go to Africa, India, China or any other country and you will see evidence of man’s build-in desire to worship something. He may not worship the true and living God, but he will find a rock or tree and carve statues so he can worship them.
The Bible says that when the demon possessed man saw Jesus, he RAN and WORSHIPPED HIM!
Illus: Many Christians have already made all kinds of plans of what they would like to do when they get to heaven. Some would like to...
-walk the streets of gold.
-find loved ones who are there.
-look up people the Bible mentions, like Abraham, Noah, Isaiah, Jonah, etc., and have a talk with them personally.
But listen friends, you can lay aside all those plans. Why? As good as they might seem to be, when we get to heaven we are going to SEE THE LORD AND HE IS GOING TO STEAL THE SHOW.
That demon possessed man was totally consumed by every sin available, but the Bible tells us that once he saw the Lord, “...he ran and worshipped him.” When we see the Lord we are going to do the same thing! HIS DESIRE was to worship the Lord. Now...
B. Look at his demeanor.
As he approached Jesus, to worship Him, Jesus could look into his eyes and could tell the devil had completely taken over his life.
Look at verses 7-13, “And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.”
Before Jesus stood the shell of a man. Inside that shell were all kinds of demons. There was the demon of lust, greed, maliciousness, envy, hate, unbelief, murder, promiscuity, lying, deceit, etc. Every kind of demon that you and I could imagine was in that man!
In verse 9, Jesus spoke to the demons in that man, “What is thy name?” The devils answered, “My name is Legion; for WE ARE MANY.”
At that time “legion” had special significance. People could relate to it because it was common knowledge that in the Roman army a legion of soldiers consisted of 3,000 to 6,000 men. That man had at least 3 to 6 thousand demons in him. That was alright though, because Jesus was more than a match for them. When they realized Jesus was going to cast them out, they begged Jesus to allow them to enter the “great herd of swine,” that was feeding nearby. We are told that there about 2,000 swine in that herd.
Illus: We all can imagine the scene. The Hog farmer was about to feed his hogs so he was hollering “Suie! Suie!” The pigs came a running. When Jesus cast all the demons out of that man, at once they entered those hogs and they all committed “S-U-I-E CIDE." Notice, I did not say “suicide.” I said they committed “S-U-I-E CIDE!”
Look at verses 14-15. We read, “And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.”
The farmers who had been feeding their pigs ran to town and told what had happened. When they returned with the townsfolk they saw the man who had been A TERROR TO THEIR TOWN and WHO HAD LIVED AMONG THE TOMBS and HAD OFTEN BEEN CHAINED TO A TREE LIKE A WILD ANIMAL, but now he was different. Now he was...
- SITTING.
- CLOTHED.
- IN HIS RIGHT MIND.
They had a hard time believing this was the same man, but it was the same man! He was different because Satan no longer had control of his life. He was different because Jesus had set him free and he wanted to serve Jesus.
Isn’t it something, WHAT SATAN CAN DO? He can destroy a man’s life with sin so that he is beyond recognition. WHAT CAN CHRIST DO? He can take the man that Satan has destroyed and RESTORE him so no one recognizes him!
Listen, perhaps your family and friends have given up on you. Perhaps you are the first to admit that because of your yielding to the devil, Satan has ruined your life. But did you know that THE LORD SPECIALIZES IN TAKING BROKEN LIVES AND PUTTING THEM BACK TOGETHER. The Lord Jesus can change your life so much that your family and friends will have a hard time believing that you are the same person you once were.
Illus: A young boy was very popular in high school. When he was young he had gone to church with his family. As he got older he got out into sin. With every year of high school that passed he seemed to get deeper and deeper into sin. He soon had a reputation for fighting and promiscuity. Some Christian young people went to his house one night to invite him to church. He was impressed because they thought enough of him to invite him to do something good for himself. He certainly had been invited enough by those who wanted him to participate in evil. He decided he would go. After going with them a few times, he gave his heart to the Lord. He found a PEACE and JOY that he had been seeking for all of his life. That same young man felt God’s calling to enter the ministry. He did and is now pastoring a church. Many who once knew him still say, “I knew him back in high school. It is hard to believe he is a preacher!”
We have seen WHAT THE DEVIL CAN DO, and WHAT THE LORD CAN DO. Now let us look at...
III. WHAT WE CAN DO.
The man in our text who had lived like a wild animal was changed and went on to live a life that reflected the glory of God.
When the Lord saves us, He does not take us to heaven. He leaves us here on earth because He has something for us to do.
Notice, Mark 5:18-20, “And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.” Jesus told the man that he should not go with Him, but rather that he should...(V. 19), “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”
That was what the man did. The Bible says, verse 20, “And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.”
Conclusion/Summary:
It is essential that every one of us come to recognize:
I. WHAT THE DEVIL CAN DO.
II. WHAT THE LORD CAN DO.
III. WHAT WE CAN DO.
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach many of his sermons on Youtube. Go to You tube and type Youtube Lykesland
