The Gospel of Mark #13 – “A Nude Dude in a Rude Mood”
Mark 5:1-20
Intro –
1. I love preaching the Bible & all that goes along with it!! I love the study of Homiletics – the art of preaching. I have over 40 books in my library just on this topic alone!
2. 2 Tim. 4:2 “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” **1st PCEFC sermon!!
3. One of the things we are taught in preaching is the importance of getting the people’s attention in the introduction so they’ll be interested enough to follow along. **The hook!
4. You can surprise people, dress differently (like a bum), make them laugh with a joke, tell a human interest story, show a video, etc…There are a lot of ways you can capture interest.
5. But there are some portions of Scripture that don't need that. This is one of those.
6. If this is not the most interesting incident in the life of our Lord, it is certainly one of them. It is so compelling & so riveting & so strange & so bizarre & so fascinating that merely reading it makes you want to learn all about it.
7. This story is written in all 3 synoptic gospels, but Mark’s is the most detailed. Matthew gives the account 7 verses, Luke 14 verse, & Mark 20 verses.
8. Mark 5:1-20 (Read)
9. This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible!! It is a tremendous picture of the grace of God touching & transforming the most hopeless of men.
10. At the beginning of this man's encounter with Christ he is hopelessly enslaved to the powers of darkness, wandering aimlessly down the road of destruction, alienated from God & man. Yet by the time Christ finishes with him, he is "sitting there, dressed & in his right mind" (vs. 15). Not only that, but he then becomes a slave to the cause of Christ & goes around proclaiming "how much Jesus had done for him" (vs. 20).
11. Ps. 34:6 “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.”
12. Once in bondage to the kingdom of darkness, he is now the willing & obedient slave of the kingdom of light.
13. Rom. 6:17-18 “17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
14. ILL – Watching scary movies when I was young because I knew they were not real…
15. While this story may seem “unreal” we can learn some very real lessons from it –
I. The Demonic World is Real – Vs. 1-5
The Bible has little to say about how demons came to have their evil nature & even less about where they came from. However, we do know that there are “good angels” (God’s angels) & “evil angels” (Satan’s demons).
*Millard Erickson writes, “Demons, are angels created by God & thus were originally good; but they sinned & thus became evil. Just when this rebellion took place we do not know, but it must have occurred between the time when God completed the creation & pronounced it all “very good,” & the temptation & fall of the humans (Gen. 3).”
**For the Christian, there are 2 extremes which must be avoided –
C. S. Lewis, “There are two equal & opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, & to feel an excessive & unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, & hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”
While the demonic world may be shrouded in mystery, it is nonetheless very real.
A. Demons can possess a lost person – vs. 2, 8, 10 **“a man with an evil spirit”
1. There are several prominent accounts of demon possession in the Bible.
2. While this story has often been called “The maniac of Gadara,” it is absolutely clear that he didn’t just suffer from mental illness – he was possessed.
3. While the symptoms of mental illness & possession may be similar, we must understand that they are 2 distinct maladies.
4. Notice, the symptoms of this man’s demon possession –
a. Severe personality change – The “before” & “after” descriptions of the demoniac reveal that he was a totally different person under demonic influence.
b. Anti-social behavior – He lived in the tombs, away from people & was naked.
c. Spiritual insight – He instantly recognized the Lord Jesus as God’ Son & begged not to be cast into hell before the appointed time (vs. 7). **Luke “Abyss.”
d. Super-human strength – No one could bind or subdue him (vs. 3-4).
e. Torment – He continually shrieked & cried out like an animal (vs. 5).
f. Tendency towards self-destruction – He gashed himself with stones (vs. 5).
5. Nowhere in Scripture are we told what makes a person a candidate for possession, but we can see it is a reality.
B. Demons can only influence a saved person –
1. Notice in this story that as soon as the demons felt the presence of Jesus they began to tremble & fear. Why? They were no match for Christ’s power & presence!
2. 1 John 4:44 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
3. While believers cannot be “possessed” we are told “do not give the devil a foothold.” (Eph. 4:27). Why? There really are “kingdoms in conflict!”
4. We must realize the reality of spiritual warfare if we are to live a victorious life in Christ & overcome the influence of the enemy!
II. Christ’s Power to Change Lives is Real – Vs. 6-13
Any story of a great conversion is exciting to me!!(EX. – Manasseh, Chuck Colson, “The Cross & the Switchblade”, Teen challenge, etc…). This one is particularly riveting & relevant!
A. He was chained by sin – vs. 4 **read!!
1. Many had literally tried to chain this man to keep him from hurting himself & others, but they could not because He was so strongly chained by the kingdom of darkness.
2. I know it is not popular to preach on sin today, but the truth is without the doctrine of sin, there is no doctrine of grace!
3. Rom. 3:10-12 “10As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
4. Someone wrote, “Sin will take you further than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”
5. This was the case with this man indeed! BUT…
B. He was changed by Christ – vs. 15 **read!!
1. When the people saw this man after meeting Christ, He had been “unshackled” from sin & radically changed!
2. What is the # 1 evidence of salvation?...A changed life!! **ILL – My story!!!
3. 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
4. 1 Cor. 6:9-11 “9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
5. My challenge to us today is to “live like you are, not like you were!”
III. People’s Choice to Receive or Reject Christ is Real – Vs. 14-17
A. The Bible if full of opportunities to reject or receive God’s plan!
1. It is interesting that in Matthew we learn of 2 men who were possessed, while Mark & Luke speak of only one. Why? It is pure conjecture, but could it be that only this 1 of the 2 men turned back to Christ to follow Him? Like the 1 Leper in Luke 17?
2. The people of the city were faced with a choice! What do we do with Jesus? They chose to ask Him to leave because He “disrupted” their lives!!
3. We all have to choose to reject or receive Christ?
4. John 1:11-12 “11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
B. God has not made us as robots, rather we were created with a free choice to receive or reject Christ.
1. It would be inconsistent with the character of God for Him to give you a choice that you actually could not make. True He must work, but we must choose!!
2. The question is, have you received Christ? You can choose to receive him today!!!
3. John 4:13-14 “13Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
4. Rev. 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”
IV. The Believers Duty to Share Christ is Real – Vs. 18-20
Jesus has changed this man’s life! Delivered Him once & for all from the torment of demon possession. What is His response?
A. He wanted to stay, Jesus said go
1. In a poignant scene, this man wants nothing more than to be with the one who changed His life – but He is denied by Christ & sent back to his family & friends to share with them “how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
2. It is interesting that He was sent to his “family” or literally his “house” first.
3. ARTICLE – “3 Common Traits of Youth that Don’t Leave the Church”…1) They are converted. 2) They have been equipped, not entertained. 3) Their parents preached the gospel to them.
4. The words of Prov. 22:6 do not constitute a formula that is true 100% of the time, but they do provide us with a principle that comes from the gracious plan of God, the God who delights to see his gracious Word passed from generation to generation: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
B. Jesus calls every believer to “go”
1. It is not the duty of a select few talented people to share Christ with the world – it is the privilege of every believer!
2. I am not an evangelist – but I work sharing the gospel with people!
3. Did you know that in all 4 gospels & the book of acts, Jesus last words to believers were to go & share the gospel with the world? **Not just Matt. 28:19-20!!!
a. Matt. 28:18-20 “18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
b. Mark 16:15 “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.’”
c. Luke 24:46-48 “46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.”
d. John 20:21 “Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
e. Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
4. The only way the gospel gets shared is for believers to share it with others!!
5. 2 application questions –
a. Who are we “going” to?
b. Who are we building relationships with so that we can “preach” Christ to them?
Conc. –
1. Has Christ changed your life? What are you doing because of it?
2. Rom. 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
