The King Over Legions

Heavenly Father, we thank you for revealing yourself to us, revealing true reality to us, revealing that you exist and that the spiritual realm is as real, if not more real than the physical realm. And in the spiritual realm, a battle wages and it's a battle for our souls. And we thank you, Lord, that you did not leave us in captivity to the evil one, Satan, but you sent one who is stronger than the strong man himself. That's Jesus Christ, our king, our conqueror, and our victor. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you came and you came with authority.

By the power of the Spirit, you cast out demons, you rebuked Satan, and you freed many. And I pray, Lord Jesus, if anyone is in the bonds of sin today and the bonds of the evil one, I pray today save them. I pray today send them the power of the Holy Spirit and free them from sin and Satan. And Lord, we do pray that you empower us to live lives of faith and not just walk by sight recognizing that we do have an enemy. Satan walks around, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he would devour.

And I pray today that everyone that hears my voice, I pray today that they are saved by grace through faith in Christ. And I pray, Lord, for anyone who's not in Christ, remind them that they are vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy, even being possessed by the evil one and the demonic. And unless we're covered and protected by your power, we are exposed. And I pray, impress that reality upon our hearts. Bless our time as we search out the scriptures today, as we meditate upon your holy word. I pray, Lord, strengthen our ability to wield the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name, Amen.

We're continuing a sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. We've entitled it Kingdom Come, The Gospel of Mark and the Secrets of God's Kingdom, and the title of the sermon today is the King over Legions. What is true power? True power is the ability to exert your will upon reality. And the greatest level of power is the ability to change reality simply by speaking.

However, if you believe the material is all there is, then you'll never understand true power. The material is not all there is and behind the veil of the material, the physical realm is the spiritual realm, the invisible realm, the unseen realm. In the unseen realm, a violent battle is fought over humanity, over both our physical and spiritual destinies. But this isn't a battle of equals. Satan is not equal to God, nor is Satan's power equal to that of Jesus. Jesus is more powerful than the strong man Satan.

And Satan has invaded this world and he's invaded it with his influence and his lies. Satan has colonized the world that belongs to God. Therefore, God sends his Son Jesus Christ to take it back, and he does so by conquering Satan with his word. "Be gone, Satan," and Satan is gone. "Get behind me, Satan," and Satan gets behind him. God's word stands at the intersection of the scene and the unseen, and God's word reveals God's will for us in this realm. God's word exerts his will for this realm.

And Jesus is the source of all true power. He speaks and he exerts his authority. He is truly the word of God, and he reigns in this world when the word of God is proclaimed, when the word of God is believed, obeyed, and rejoiced. Isaiah 55 tells us that God's word never returns to him void without fulfilling the purposes that he set out. Isaiah 55:10. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out for my mouth.

It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I have purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Last week, we read how Jesus in the text prior to ours today, he calmed a storm simply by speaking. Be still and it was still. And now in our text today, Jesus meets a man with an equally violent storm within him and the storm of the demonic that surges within him.

Jesus quiets by doing the same thing, by speaking his word and the violent demonic storm that turned this man's life into misery, and tragedy is stilled and the man is saved, the man is renovated from within. Today, when Mark 5:1-20, would you look at the text with me? They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs of man with an unclean spirit.

He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me."

For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit." And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many." And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs, let us enter them." So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about 2000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

And the herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.

And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. This is the reading of God's holy, inherit, infallible authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Three points to frame up our time. A demon-possessed man is saved, a demon-possessed people are not, and a Jesus-possessed man proclaims Jesus.

First, a demon-possessed man is saved. In Mark 4, Mark has grouped together three of Jesus' parables and he does so to illustrate the nature and the character of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is growing and the kingdom of God is unstoppable. Mark then groups together three accounts of Jesus' miracles revealing that Jesus isn't just the king in name alone. Jesus has the authority of God upon him and he is the king in the kingdom of God. And these miracles demonstrate Jesus' lordship, his lordship over creation and calming the storm, his lordship over Satan and the demonic.

That's our text. And then next week we'll see Jesus' lordship even over death itself as he raises a young girl from the dead. Jesus is Lord of all seen and unseen. In verse one, it says, they came to the other side of the sea to the country of the Gerasenes. With good weather, the boat trip would take about two hours across the Sea of Galilee. But last night we remember from last week's text there was a storm and the disciples spent all night unnerved and reeling. It probably took them all night to cross the sea.

Finally, Jesus calmed the sea. So probably in the morning they're still processing what happened. They're all exhausted, Jesus himself also, from a long day of ministry, and then he was awakened by the disciples. So he and his disciples, they make sure somewhere in the district of the Gerasenes and on a map, these small cities or towns would almost be directly opposite of the Sea of Galilee.

And while the beach there is relatively flat, about one mile south of the city of Kersa, there's a region with steep slopes coming up to the shore where a number of caverns and tombs have been discovered. Most likely this is where it takes place. In verse two, when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. So no respite for Jesus. No break. No rest. There's the pesky word immediately again. It shows that Jesus' life and ministry was a life of whirlwind day in and day out, seemingly speeding up by the day.

Jesus was anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit at his baptism, anointed as the ultimate prophet, the ultimate priest and king. And here the king goes to battle with unclean spirits again. The man characterized as a demon-possessed man, a man with an unclean spirit, simultaneously is frightening and also pathetic, also helpless. And no doubt that people in the area knew all about him. Most likely they considered him either insane or knew that he was possessed by demons, and they knew that he was a threatening presence.

Thus, they tried to chain him up in order to protect him from himself and from the people. He has an unclean spirit. He's unclean because he lives amongst the tombs, and he's in Gentile territory that were considered an unclean people. And they're herding pigs which were considered an unclean animal. Rabbis even condemned the raising of pigs. So this man is an epitome, a very embodiment of uncleanness itself. The furthest you could possibly get from God. And that's exactly where Jesus heads to the person that needs him most.

The demon possession here is not just a psychological problem, but alien occupation. He's with the unclean spirit. He's demonized by it, possessed by it. It's inhabiting him and squeezing the very life out of him. In verse three, it says he lived among the tombs and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.

Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. So he's absolutely dominated by the unclean spirits and they've endowed him with supernatural strength, the supernatural strength that comes from Satan, who is called the strongman, but he's abandoned. He's alone. He's alienated, ostracized, just living a wretched existence, life of agony, despair, and desperation, and walking around, spending all night crying out and wailing.

The people tried to restrain him. They could not. The restrainment was for his self-protection. Even that didn't help. It says night and day he was among the tombs. He was forced to sleep amongst the corpses, amongst the dead, which in and of itself is frightening. Night and day he was terrorized. And the demons, what are they trying to do? They're trying to destroy him. Thus, the self-destructive behavior, self-mutilating. And the demons who have possessed them, they delight in distorting the divine image in him, the image of God and the dignity with which God created us.

So the demonic possession has reduced the man to living as a suicidal savage and an object of fear, scorn, and disdain amongst the people. And here we got to pause and say, careful with saying that's him, but I'm in a completely different state myself. Apart from God's restraining grace, Satan would bring each of us into a state like this or even worse. Apart from Christ, there's only a difference in degree between you and this man, not a difference in kind.

Apart from Christ, you are enslaved, dominated by sin, therefore leaving yourself vulnerable, exposed to demonic possession, control, and manipulation. And until someone is a subject to Christ's rule, all human beings are subject to the devil's rule and control. It might not be as demonstrable as with this gentleman, it might not be as graphic or as grotesque, but the of ordinary people as just as inescapable and just as deadly as it was for this man. Verse six, when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.

And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." The demons know exactly who Jesus is. They know his identity, although Jesus is in human form, and Isaiah 53 says that Jesus had no beauty and nothing about his appearance would attract us to him, nothing about his appearance would identify him as the Son of God, but the demons recognized him immediately. They recognized the indwelling power of the Spirit that Jesus has, a very presence that has provoked the demons to wrath.

The fact that the man runs to Jesus, falls down before him shows that the battle in the unseen realm has been waging for some time. And the demons know they're defenseless against Jesus, that they can do nothing to resist him, except cry out and ask not to be cast into the fires of hell. And here the demons, they masquerade themselves. They don't present themselves as legion from the very beginning. They actually speak in the man's voice, in the singular.

Meaning when you have a conversation with someone who is demon possessed, you might have no idea until you bring up the subject of Christ. What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? What do you want to do with me? The demon reacts as though Jesus has come to bring the final judgment. And when the demon speaks of Jesus as Son of the Most High God, it's not a messianic title. He knows exactly where Jesus came from, his divine origin, his divine dignity, and the demonic here, tries to overpower Jesus by speaking an incantation.

He says, "I adjure you by God, do not torment me." The demonic is trying to use the name of God to overpower Jesus. Obviously that won't happen. But the phrase to adjure is standard exorcistic terminology. It was employed when an exorcism would happen. You would say, "I adjure you by the name of God," And that's what the demons are trying to do here. But what they're trying to do reveals how powerless they are. All the demons' actions reveal that in the presence of Jesus, they have no power.

When the demon causes the man to bow down before Jesus, when the demon causes the man to yell out, when the demon invokes the name of God to gain control over him, all of this communicates helplessness in the presence of Christ. The power Jesus exorcizes over the demons is that much greater than their power. Verse eight, for he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit." And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

My name is Legion. We don't know the man's name. We know the demonic army's name. The man's whole personality has been commandeered by the demonic. He's completely lost himself. His psyche has been utterly overwhelmed. His consciousness has been subsumed. He has lost his name. He has lost his identity. He's been swallowed up by the demonic. He's lost all control over himself. The term legion is a military term referring to about 6,000 foot soldiers, 120 horsemen.

And the point is that there's a large body of demons acting in concert, just as a military unit would, as they're opposing Jesus. And we're reminded that Satan is real and he is ruler over an enormous host of subordinate spirits, the demonic. And here Jesus is confronted not by one demon, but by an army of them, in the same way that a believer can be evermore filled with the Spirit, evermore led by the Spirit, evermore controlled by the Spirit. The varying degrees of control of humans by Satan is just as real.

How did it happen with this man? We're not given the backstory, but scripture is clear that when we reject God, God gives us up to our sins. This is Romans 1. Three times it's repeated. And God gave them up. God gave them up. God gives people what they want when they reject him. And often that takes them down a spiraling road away from God and ever closer to the demonic. Verse 10. And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. So he's using the man's voice, the legion is, in order to defend himself.

The region across the Sea of Galilee was largely Gentile, and therefore the demons felt comfortable in a region where there weren't any worshipers of God. They wanted to stay there. Verse 11. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him saying, "Send us to the pigs. Let us enter them." So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

Why would Jesus allow the demon permission or the legion permission to destroy someone else's property and their livelihood? Well, first of all, everything belongs to Jesus. Jesus is king. He's king overall, even over people that don't bow a knee to him. He can do as he pleases with what he has. He also does this in order to graphically illustrate to the townspeople the intentions of Satan. This is what Satan wants to do with absolutely every single one of us, to destroy us. He wants our bloodshed.

He wants to kill us, and it gives us a foretaste of the judgment that is coming when Jesus comes back the second time to destroy all of the works of the evil one. The man is set free from the evil powers, but the evil powers want to continue destroying God's created order, and thus they terrorized the herd of pigs. The kingdom has come, but it's not fully consummated. Yes, Jesus on the cross dealt with Satan and he gave Satan a death blow. But until Christ returns the second time, Satan is still at work.

Jesus prevents the demons from doing further harm to the man and he's freed from them. Their rebellion continues today, although restrained by Christ and the gospel and will until the last day when they will be tormented. Uncleanness, like sin itself, is thrown into the depths of the sea In Micah 7:18-19. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights steadfast love.

He will again have compassion on us. You will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. This was supposed to be a graphic illustration for the herdsmen and for the townspeople, but the herdsmen responsible for tending the pigs aren't amused. They've just watched their livelihood run down the hill and drown themselves. And that brings us to point two, a demon-possessed people are not saved. Verse 14. The herdsmen fled and told in the city and in the country.

And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. It didn't take long for word to spread about what had happened. People from all over the area came to see it for themselves. And what do they see? They see Jesus Christ, and they see this man who must have been famous in that area who had been demon-possessed. He's dressed.

He's sitting. He's calm. He's composed. And from his demeanor, it's absolutely clear that he is in his right mind, restored and whole at last. Jesus has arrived. The alienated is reconciled. The guilty is pardoned. The demonized is delivered, and the dominion of sin is overthrown. The demons are exorcized. Whereas the chains couldn't hold him down, now he's sitting there of his own will with Jesus Christ. The devils destroy what they can control and that's their only pleasure, bringing destruction.

But God here, what does he do? He purifies the man. He renews the man, beautifies the man, makes him glad, gives him peace, and sets the purposes of his heart on that which gives life, which is God. And when the people witnessed the immediate and dramatic transformation, what do they do? Do they say, "Praise God. The presence of God is with us. Jesus, tell us more now?" No. It says that they were terrified, and terrified not with a good fear of Lord, forgive us of our sins as we enter your presence in fear and trepidation.

No, it's a fear that actually pushes them away from God. This account has powerful parallels with Isaiah's prophecy of the messiah coming and both people part of Israel and people who were part of the Gentiles would reject him. Isaiah 65:1-7. I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me. I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that was not called by my name.

I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs and spend the night in secret places, who eat pig's flesh and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels, who say, "Keep to yourself. Do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.

Behold, it is written before me: "I will not keep silent, but I will repay. I will indeed repay into their lap both your iniquities and your father's iniquities together, says the Lord, because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds." Israel's messiah has come. He came to Israel and the religious elite rejected him. And they started plotting to kill him. And here he comes to the Gentiles, and the same thing.

They reject him. This demon-possessed man has been delivered. And yet sadly, the people here act just like unbelieving Israel. They saw a miracle. There's clearly evidence of this miracle. This man has been transformed, but they're not interested in Jesus even though his authority over the demonic is now clear for all to see. And this just points out that for the hard hearts and the stubborn necks, there's never proof enough of God's existence or of Christ's divinity.

And those who had witnessed the event now attempt to explain what they saw to the crowds in verse 16, and those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man to the pigs, and they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. And as is sadly in situations like this, the crowds forget completely about the man who was terrorized, the man who has been saved, who's in his right mind. They're far more worried about what? About what happened to their pigs.

They're far more worried about the financial cost to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, coming in to their lives. And so without a word, they actually beg Jesus. It says beg. They don't just insist. They beg Jesus to leave. Jesus may have made them safe by saving this man, but they obviously wanted nothing to do with him. A word about the pigs. If your first thought in reading this account was, "Oh, poor pigs," I would submit to you that your values are as warped as these people. For God, one eternal soul is more valuable than all the animals in the world.

Matthew 12:12. "Of how much more value is a man than a sheep," Jesus said, "So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Jesus said, if a person is worth more than a sheep, obviously a person is worth more than a pig. In Mark 8:36, for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? We hear Jesus is clearly saying, you can take all the wealth, all the treasures in the world, all wealth of all time, and still it would not be as valuable as that of one precious soul.

The very presence of Jesus means the presence of the kingdom of God and the presence of God brings new values. In the kingdom of God, one soul is more precious than even the world itself. Do you believe this? Do you believe this about your own soul? Well, how does that then translate into the priorities of your life, the priorities of your time, the priorities of what you're preoccupied with? Are you preoccupied more with the material, more with food and drink and clothing and housing, et cetera, et cetera, than your own soul?

And then how much more should we care for the souls of the people around us? This is disturbing for these people that the kingdom of God has come in, that Jesus has almost come in with an invasive power. But this is how kings work. Jesus has come with an invasive power. He's invading that which is his. And yes, there's always a cost to following Jesus, and often that cost is financial and the people resented that financial loss. The man was possessed by a legion of demons and these people are possessed by a legion of money.

And sometimes Satan is very explicit as he was with the possession of this man where you could clearly see this man is under the influence of the demonic. But most of the time Satan is much more subtle than that. You look at a person, they look fine. They look calm. They look like they're in their right mind, but their hearts are possessed by idols, and for these people the idol was money. The demons desire to stay in possession of the territory.

Why? Because they want to stay in possession of the people and the human agents here who want to evict Jesus from this land are under the influence of the same demons. The human opposition of Jesus reflects the demonic one, and what's implied is it's the same source. Sometimes Satan reveals himself explicitly most of the time, especially in the West. It's very, very subtle. He comes as an angel of light, scripture even says. 2 Corinthians 11:14. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

So it is no surprise if his servants also disguised themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. Think of the greatest opposition party to Jesus Christ, that of the Pharisees and the religious elites. In a conversation that Jesus has with them in John 8, he clearly says, "You are not on the side of God. You are not aligned with God. You're not part of the family of God." He says, "Your father is actually the devil." In John 8:39, they answered him, "Abraham is our father."

Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual morality. We have one father, even God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God.

The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God." If Jesus isn't your Lord, Satan is. And apart from Christ, Satan is having his way with you. And Satan wants nothing to do with Christ, wants nothing to do with the word of God. That's what Jesus makes clear. Ephesians 2:1-10. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which he once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we are dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Apart from Christ, we're all wretches like this man. We're all alienated, hostile to God and impenetrable bondage to sin, hurting ourselves and others. Colossians 1:21.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. When Jesus Christ comes into their region, so does the kingdom of God, which means the day of decision is here, the day of decision has come.

And people would rather not have to make a choice. They would rather put up with this crazed man, demon-possessed man in the tombs, in the caves. Just you stay over there. We'll stay over here. Your demon-possessed. We're not. They'd rather do that than repent of their sin and turn to God. They'd rather be left alone by God and vulnerable to the demonic oppression than face the reality of God. They would rather believe Satan's ultra convenient lie about a third kingdom, a neutral kingdom.

And a lot of people are like this. No, I don't follow Christ, but I don't follow Satan either. I am in a neutral kingdom, a third kingdom. It's secular. It's humanist. It's material. There's no spiritual. But that, friends, is Satan's most potent lie. It's the strongest, most powerful lie that there is neutrality, that there can be independence. That's not true. There's no such thing as neutrality when it comes to God. Neutrality toward God is rebellion and seeing a man totally free from the bondage of sin, the demonic, hits a little too close to them.

They now can't hide their own bondage to sin. A lot of people want Jesus to free them, Jesus to help them, Jesus to remove guilt, Jesus to remove shame, or Jesus even to remove the demonic and then leave me alone. That's not how it works. Jesus actually has a story where he says, if a demon is cast out of a house and then the house isn't dwelt with the power of the Holy Spirit, that demon goes out and takes his friends, comes back to the house, and the person is left off even worse.

We want Jesus to free us, but not to rule over us. Jesus as savior, but not Jesus as king. But there is no freedom apart from submission to Jesus Christ. Only true freedom is found with him. Sadly, Jesus is too much of a threat to their way of life, to their comfort, to their money, and so they plead with God to leave. Point three is a Jesus-possessed man proclaims Jesus. Verse 18. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.

And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." While the locals begged Jesus to leave, the delivered man begs Jesus to go with him. Jesus, you're my new master. And in the Greek it's clear that he has become a disciple of Jesus. So he wants to stay with Christ, stay with the disciples, instead of staying with people that view him as an object of scorn. And Jesus refuses the request perhaps because a Gentile in his group of disciples would be an impediment to the mission to the Jews.

Something interesting you find here is that Jesus gives the demons what they asked, and Jesus gives the townspeople what they asked, but he did not give the man what he asked for. And sometimes when God gives us what we want, what we ask for, it's actually not a blessing. And when he doesn't give us what we ask for, that's where the true blessing often is found. There are times when the worst possible thing for us is that the Lord should actually grant our prayer. Psalm 106:13.

But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert. He gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. So whenever we pray, whenever we plead with God for the desires of our hearts, we also need to end it with, Lord, not my will, but yours be done. Why did Jesus tell him to stay? Wouldn't it be better for the man to go with Jesus? Well, yeah, he would have the physical presence of Jesus Christ, but Jesus cared not just about this person's soul.

You're saved now. He cares about the souls of the people back in town. He cares about the souls of the people that rejected him. He cares about the souls of the people in the 10 cities in the Decapolis. And so the man goes back in the Decapolis. How is the level of his theological training? Zero. What does he know about Jesus thus far? Does he know that Jesus is part of the trinity? Does he know that Jesus is fully God, fully man? What does he know about God?

All he knows is, "I was demon-possessed. I was hurting myself. I was hurting the people in my life, and then this Jesus showed up and he saved me. And now I am a completely different person. Before I was doing what the demons wanted me to do, now I'm doing what Jesus wants me to do. I was possessed by Satan. Now I am possessed by Jesus. I'm possession of Jesus. If he sent me free..." And by the way, people talk about this all the time like demons, demons, demons.

We live in society, we don't really believe in demons. But then Halloween happens and everyone believes in demons, or when people are talking about inner sins or inner foibles, and they're like, "Everyone's got their demons." Everyone apart from Christ has their demons. And this man was freed from the demons, just like everyone today that cries out to Christ can be freed from demons. And when you are free from the demons and when you are saved by Christ and you're free indeed, how are we to respond?

The very first response should be, I want to spend time with Jesus. And then Jesus tells us, "Go and tell your friends. Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, how he has had mercy on you." You are the absolute most compelling preacher of the gospel in your friends' lives, people that know you, people that see the growth in you, people see that God's working in your life. So proclaim to them.

And Jesus says, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you," and then the man goes and he tells everyone how much Jesus has done for him. Why? Jesus is saying, "I am the Lord. I'm the Lord of the Old Testament. I am Yahweh. I'm sent here to do his work." And the man didn't just proclaim, didn't just tell people, he proclaimed it. In verse 20, he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

And this is evangelism. You tell people your personal testimony, how much Jesus has done for you, how much mercy Jesus has had on your soul. And to do that, you got to meditate on how much the Lord has done for you. How much has the Lord done for you? Well, he has had mercy on your soul. He saved you from Satan. He saved you from the bondage of sin. He saved you from a real eternal conscious suffering and damnation. He saved you from the lake of fire. He saved you for his kingdom.

He's given you a new heart, new affections, renewed mind. He's given you a love for him, a love for his people. That's supernatural. And he's filled you with the Holy Spirit and he protects you and he preserves you. And he also gives a submission to go and proclaim the good news. What God has done for me, he can do for absolutely every single person. That man had thousands of demons and Jesus saved him. For those who have fewer, Jesus can save them as well.

And we may not have been delivered from a legion of demons, but we sure have been delivered from guilt and the power of sin. And because our heart should be filled with gratitude because all that God has done for us in Christ, how can we not share this great news that God has saved us? And also, some of you in a group of this size, I'm certain that some of you are still in the grip of the evil one. You're no match for him. That's what the text shows us today. You alone are no match for the evil one.

You're no match for even one demon. You will never escape. And then when you think you are about to escape them, it's too late. Today look to Jesus Christ. He's the only one who is greater than Satan. He's the only one who has a greater authority and a power. He can do for you today what he did for that man who is in the grip of many demons those many years ago. The Lord says, "He who comes to me, I will never drive away." So come to Christ today, cry out to Christ, ask for salvation.

Lord, have mercy on my soul, and he will. I can knock at the door of your heart and others can urge you to be reconciled to God, but Jesus Christ alone can come, insert the key, open the door, and drag out by the hair the forces of evil that are now controlling your heart and mind. Through the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus who is Lord over wind and rain, Lord over the forces of hell and Satan, and Lord over even death itself, God will set you free and make you stand strong.

And here I want to close with Ephesians 6 as a reminder that spiritual warfare, it's real. When scripture says fight the good fight, that fight is a real fight. And we need weapons that are greater than just the physical weapons of this world. We need spiritual weapons. In Ephesians 6 they are outlined. But I want you to just notice the emphasis on standing. He says, "Stand. Stand. Stand. Keep standing firm in the strength of the Lord and his might." Ephesians 6:10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breast play of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for a powerful word from your holy scriptures. We thank you, Jesus, that your words are more powerful than Satan himself. Your words are more powerful than even legions of demons. When you speak, they are gone. And Lord, I pray that your word continues to abide in us.

And I pray that your word continues to strengthen us. And I pray that by the power of your Spirit, we have strength that you allot to us to withstand the attacks of evil and to withstand his temptations, to withstand his lies, to withstand his accusations. And Lord, as we proclaim the gospel to our friends, to our neighbors, as we tell people how much mercy you've had on us, I pray that you give us the power of the Spirit so that they too are converted, so that they too are freed, so that they too are transferred into the dominion of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.