Three "What’s” That Are Essential...

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.”