Sermon Central
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Set Free Series
Contributed by Carl Willis on Oct 29, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: The demoniac was possessed by a legion of unclean spirits. One encounter with Jesus set him free, seated at the feet of Jesus fully clothed and in his right mind.
Set Free
Mark 5:1-5 (HCSB)
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. He lived in the tombs. No one was able to restrain him any more – even with chains – because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones.
Tormented
* Dark compulsion
* Controlled by an unclean spirit
* Forced into the darkness
* At home in a place of death
* Unrestrained
* Could not be subdued
* Could not be restrained
* Crying out in agony
* Hurting himself
* The root cause
1 Peter 5:8 (HCSB)
Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
Mark 5:-8 (HCSB)
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before Him. And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don’t torment me!” For He had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
Begging for Mercy
* Jesus recognized
* Son of the Most High God
* A declaration of authority
* Having dominion over all things
* Physical
* Spiritual
* A fearful request
* Don’t torment me
* The unclean spirit did not want to receive what it was giving out
* Born out of compulsion
* The unclean spirit no longer had freedom
Mark 5:9-10 (HCSB)
“What is your name?” He asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered Him, “because we are many.” And he kept begging Him not to send them out of the region.
Not Just One
* Identify yourself
* Jesus asked the unclean spirit to reveal its name
* The identity revealed the true nature of the unclean spirit
* Legion
* More than one demon was afflicting the man
Matthew 12:43-45 (HCSB)
“When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn’t find any. Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ And when it arrives, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. Then off it goes and bring with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that man’s last condition is worse than the first. That’s how it will also be with this evil generation.”
Mark 5:11-13 (HCSB)
Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him, “Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.” And He gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.
Banished
* A herd of pigs
* The demons asked for the pigs
* Animals vs. the abyss
Luke 8:31 (HCSB)
And they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss.
Banished
* A herd of pigs
* The demons asked for the pigs
* Animals vs. the abyss
* Destruction
* The goal of the unclean spirit
* Steal
* Kill
* Destroy
Mark 5:14-15 (HCSB)
The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
Clothed and Sane
* Clothed
* In Christ’s love
* In Christ’s freedom
* An outward expression of inner wellbeing
* In his right mind
* The mind God had given him
* The mind God was seeking to use
* A mind set free from the bondage of evil
* A mind under the influence of Christ
Mark 5:16-17 (HCSB)
The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. Then they began to beg Him to leave their region.
Fear Factor
* Fear of the unknown
* How did Jesus do this?
* What other demons might be lurking?
* Ignorance is bliss
* Fear of the cost
* A man’s life cost a herd of pigs there lives
* What might the next man’s life cost?
