23rd August 2026 : Mark ch 5 v 1 - 20

Mark ch 5 v 1 - 20

The reading this morning is from Mark chapter 5 verses 1 to 20.

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when he had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces. Neither could anyone tame him, and always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him, And he cried out with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me. But he said to him, Come out of the man, unclean spirit. Then he asked him, What is your name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many. Also he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged him, saying, Send us to the swine that we may enter them. And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine. There were about 2,000. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea.

So those who fed the swine fled and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed in his right mind and they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon possessed and about the swine. Then they began to plead with him to depart from their region.

And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon possessed begged him that he might be with him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marvelled.

Okay, let's pray and ask God for the anointing on his word.

Lord, inspired of your Spirit and Lord spoken by the Spirit and written under the inspiration of the Spirit, Lord carry us along in that same Spirit, Lord, and speak to us. And Lord, for whatever purpose you fashion this word today, may it come to rest in the hearts and minds of those for whom you've purposed it. God forbid that it should return to you void. Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen.

This is another one of those passages spoken on quite a few times, actually. And it comes around every now and then. And I'm absolutely confident that the Lord put his hand on this passage for this occasion. But why? I don't know. At least. Let's put it this way, this man in this passage of scripture, who was formerly demon-possessed, presents us with perhaps the most powerful testimony in the whole Bible. I mean, I'm struggling if my mind scans the Bible for people who've been changed, saved, delivered. I can't think of anyone more powerfully saved and delivered than this man. If you can let me know afterwards, I'd love to hear it.

But this is a very powerful testimony indeed. Can you see how desperate he was? He had no power of his own, none whatsoever, to deliver himself or save himself or virtually to do very much at all for himself. He was helpless. He was remote. He was removed from society. If he was around today, they'd probably section him and put him in a secure psychiatric unit. Is that the answer? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

But there he was. No one would cross the road to speak to him. No one could get near him. They tried, they bound him. But they couldn't do that anymore because his condition got worse. By the end of it, he was able to break all these bonds, even the shackles, and smash them into pieces. No one could get near him and nobody wanted to cross the road to speak to him.

Could he be saved? Is anyone so remote from God that they can't be saved? Is anything too hard for the Lord that he can't reach someone? Well in that case what about you? Is your condition and your circumstances so remote or too difficult for God? Can he reach you? Can he deliver you from whatever circumstance or situation you face? Can he be the answer now as he was then? And the answer is Amen. We speak the Amen remember. We started with that reading at the beginning of the service, didn't we? All God's rich and precious promises are yes in Christ, but you speak the Amen.

A bit like something we looked at on Thursday or we started to look at in the book of Joshua. God promised his people, there's a rich and pleasant land flowing with milk and honey. I've given it to you as I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It's yours. Now, enter in, conquer it and possess it. Faith has two parts, doesn't it? We rest in the promises of God and we're confident in the promise of God for us. And then it's active. Faith is not passive. A passive experience is very dangerous. And it's actually one of the channels through which somebody might become demon possessed. But I'm going ahead of myself.

Let's look at this passage. And come into Mark 5 now, verses 1 to 20. When Jesus stepped out the boat, it was met straight away. It looked like it was met by a man, but the man was possessed by demons. I think the only Bible I can think of that renders it differently is the Good News Bible, one I started off with as an early Christian. When Jesus said, what's your name? The answer was, my name is Mob for there are many of us. In every other version it says legion, it's the same thing, it's from a Latin word actually. Think of a mob, reckless, chaotic, all over the place, but nevertheless very powerful, something that needs seriously dealing with, a mob.

And Jesus was met on the face of it by a man, but in reality behind the man was a mob of demons. And look at what the response was. They came and knelt at his feet. Demons, if you want to know something about them, there's quite a lot of information in this passage. They are subject to Jesus. They are subject to the Lord. Mark's Gospel chapter 1 verse 23 gives another instance where the Lord entered a synagogue and a man there with an unclean spirit began to scream. It was quiet until Jesus entered in and that was a place of worship.

Beloved, there is no such thing as a neutral atmosphere. God's people lift his name and enthrone him on their praise and they make the atmosphere. That's something for you to do. That's your active faith. When it becomes mundane and formal and dead, something like that synagogue where they can sit quietly, undisturbed and undiscovered until the Lord comes in. And then they began to scream because they are subject to him. Wherever the presence of the Lord is, there they will be revealed in subjection to the glory and majesty of God.

We mustn't think of them as some kind of alternative god or deity. They're not, fallen and lost and cursed. So that's the first thing we know about them. The second thing is that they do have names. What's your name? My name is Legion or Mob. And if it's a mob, then there was a group of them all with different names. But the leading or the prince of the demons among them was Legion. But they all have names. What about the spirit of gloom? What about the spirit of despondency? What about the spirit of depression? What about the spirit of anxiety? What about... They're all negative, aren't they?

Have you seen the connection? Have you seen the connection with this man and his condition? So remote, so isolated, and that's the plan. That's what they do. You see, the strong man keepeth his goods in peace as long as his house is full of those gods and undisturbed, kept away from. Genesis chapter 2 verse 18, God said it is not good for man to be alone. It's not good to be alone like that. It's not good in isolation. And you know, it's a funny thing how these demons had cut this man off. They'd cut him off from all company, sensible or otherwise. And they'd imprisoned him in isolation. He lived among the tombs. He lived among the rocks. And then rather than being comforted by his own company, he was tormented by it and tortured because he was so available for those demons to cut him. And their purpose was to destroy.

What did Jesus say? John 10.10. He said, te enemy, Satan, has come to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they might have life in abundance. Absolutely different. So poles apart, they can't be measured together. And then, of course, their aim was disturbed by the presence of Jesus once he comes in, and I mean the power,presence of the Lord. I don't just mean some formal presentation of the gospel. There's a difference. When the Lord came into this situation, they screamed, they declared their name and their purpose. They also declared that they're territorial. Don't send us out of the country. It's important to us. Regional. And the other thing was they wanted to go into the pigs. If they can't destroy this man, they'll destroy the pigs.

I can't prove it because it's not in this passage, but I have a theory about these things, that somehow the pigs were connected from start to finish with this incident. And somehow that man who was demonised was connected with them from start to finish. And maybe they were one of the incidental causes of his condition. But the demons wanted to go into the pigs. Was it the first time? Or is that where they came from in the 1st place? At any rate, that's where they went.

And that tells us something else about them. They must have permission. They must have permission. They begged Jesus. They didn't ask him. They pleaded, allow us to go into the pigs. And you know, it reminds me of a passage in the Bible, in the book of Job, chapter 1, the first few verses, where God required all the angels to stand before him and give an account. And Satan was there also and he couldn't speak until the Lord spoke to him first. It's like an ancient king in an ancient kingdom where his subjects come before him and they'll speak when they're spoken to. So subject to him because he's the king and he's got the power and the glory and the dominion and the authority over all things. And Satan needed permission.

Demons need permission. Allow us to go into the pigs. And Jesus gave them permission. They shouldn't have been there anyway, should they? God's people should have nothing to do with pigs. That was the Jewish worship or part of it. And they rushed down the steep bank and they drowned. And you know, that's a figure of the end times, that when the Lord comes finally in his ultimate kingship and lordship, That's what will happen to them, but it won't be a lake of water. It will be a lake of fire. And there they are prefigured, their end and they're gone.

So we got quite a lot of information about demons, but what do they do also? What were they doing to this man? What was their work? What did it involve? I mentioned isolation and that's the key. You see there's a battle first of all for the mind. How does it work? Let's look at some of the ways in first of all. There are about 10 main channels really where a person can fall into this stuff very seriously. Unforgiveness is 1. We pray about it in the Lord's Prayer, don't we? But remember what Jesus said in Matthew 18, unless you forgive your brother and sister from the heart, God will reimpose the debt. He will not forgive your sins. And it goes further to say in Jesus' parable that he spoke of, hand the unmerciful servant over to the torturers, to the jailers, the tormentors, demons, unforgiveness. It's a channel, it's a way in.

When I first got saved, I'd been saved for a few months and it was exciting and that was one of the first things the Lord did with me to clean me out of a vengeful spirit. And it involved a lot of crying and shouting and praying. But the Lord said, you can't go forward. You can't do this like you're doing today with a vengeful spirit. I want a clean house. Okay.

Unforgiveness. Doesn't mean to say they're totally possessed, but you can be oppressed. And the same with pride. It's the thing that God hates most. Satan's downfall, the most beautiful of all angels. But Jesus said, I saw him fall like lightning from heaven. And it was pride before the fall. I will arise and make myself like God. No, you won't. There's only one God, and that's the Lord. Beware of pride. It'll steal upon you like a thief.

Membership of certain societies, freemasonry and stuff like that, looks innocent enough down at the level. Get higher and it's just witchcraft. They're a financial organisation, but it can lead you into a lot of trouble. I don't think there's any of those in here. I think I'd know if there was. They usually start shouting, if I say anything, what do you mean, how dare you insult the craft and all that kind of stuff. But I haven't heard that today, praise God.

But what about some of the other stuff? Anybody who's messed with the occult, and those things can be shaken off just by turning to the Lord, but they have a lingering habit and it's an oppression and it steals up upon people. And then they go to work on a person's mind. They go to drop suggestions into your thoughts and that's where it begins. And then people start to worry and then they start to get quite anxious and then they can go into depression. And then the most comfortable thing they can do as a relief is to isolate themselves. There's comfort in your own company when you feel like that without knowing why you feel like that or what's causing it. Oh dear. And that's just the start.

Oppression, what's the difference between that and possession? Neither are good. But what's the answer to come out of it? is not good for man to be alone. And you know, the scripture says 2 Corinthians 3.17, it says that wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, there is liberty. It's not a prison. The Lord sets you free. You feel as though you're imprisoned to anything and there's things stealing up upon you and disturbing you and your nights are full of anxiety. That isn't from God. That is not from the Holy Spirit. That's from another place. And that's where this man was, but he's an extreme case. And there are degrees of these things.

The battle for the mind, that's where it begins. 2 Corinthians 3.17 says, there's freedom in the presence of the Lord. The Spirit gives freedom. I am come that they might have life. What kind of spirit has Jesus given you? can take me straight to scripture, can't you? 2 Timothy 1 verse 7, what does it say? We have not received a spirit of fear. You've got the New International Bible, it might say timidity. That's somebody who can't really make a decision. They're going this way and that, and the best thing to do is to go home and go to sleep. The Lord gives freedom. Those people are decisive because they know where the Spirit is leading. They know what the Word of God is speaking to them. and they tend to go for fellowship. They tend to seek out the places of prayer. Remember Paul in Acts chapter 16, he was looking for a place of prayer and he found some ladies. One was a dealer in purple cloth, remember? But he was looking for that fellowship. Fellowship was important to him and he was looking for the opportunity to minister. He was looking for people who were lost.

Isolation, not good. Put yourself off, not good. Back down and retreat. Retreat from faith, retreat from God's call on your life. That just exposes you to the world, its system and its negatives, even if it's not demons. And the answer in the end, James 4, round about verse 7 and 8, isn't it? People often misquote this verse. They say, resist the devil and it'll flee from you. But it doesn't say that. It says, submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Beloved, are you in submission to God? Are you in submission to the Holy Spirit? I would say anything less is dangerous. I'd say it makes you vulnerable. I'd say you've taken your armour off. The silly thing to do in a conflict. Remember, it's a land flowing of milk and honey. I've given it, but you've got to enter in. You've got to conquer. You've got to possess it. You've got to look after it and make sure it stays intact as God wills it and prepares it.

And in the overcoming, the conquering, what does it involve? We don't fight battles with swords and sandals now, do we? Other things, actually. No, no, we fight with faith. Our weapons are not carnal, are they? And our conflict is spiritual, isn't it? And where's most of the conflict taking place? Quite often in our thoughts. God speaks into the spirit. But there are lots of voices in the world, and they're not all from God. The Lord is a still small voice. If you think this is not for me, this is not for you, think again.

Elijah, remember, very powerful prophet in the Old Testament, ministered in miracle. But once upon a time, things got too much for him. And he ran away to the comfort of loneliness. And God found him hiding in a cave. Remember that? God found him hiding in a cave. And he said, what are you doing here, Elijah? What are you doing cutting yourself off? That's not the answer. It's comfortable at first, but then it becomes a type of torture. And Elijah responded quite negatively, I'm the only one left, there's nobody but me, you know. Anyway, I'm a failure, I'm no good, I don't know why you bother with me, you know. It's amazing how many people say things like that. And then God split the rocks. And then God came in a mighty wind. And then he sent a fire. And then he said, come out to the mouth of the cave. And Elijah went out and there was no fire. He didn't split the rocks again. There was no torment. There was nothing spectacular. He just spoke and said, well, you can read it. That's your homework.

But that was his next mission. That was his next mission. Go and anoint Jehu, go and anoint Hazael, go and do this, go and anoint Elisha, go and... And you'll read on and you'll find he's got more work to do. What he'd received was a lie. Even Elijah fell into that trap and that's a place we should never come. Now if we come to that passage again in Mark 5, this man was an extreme case, I grant you that. It was. I can't think of a more extreme case. But when God, the Lord Jesus, spoke to those demons and he said, come out of him, they came out.

Okay, Christ sets you free. And you've got anything that you can identify with the things I've mentioned today or some of them. The Lord can free you from that. The Lord can meet you. We sang it. He will carry you. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He'll carry you. He can cope with your situation. Do you want him to? Well, this man did. In fact, he wanted more than that. If we look at the passage in detail to the very end, he wanted to follow Jesus. He wanted to get in the boat, don't you? Should be a resounding yes and an Amen. Yeah, I want to get in that boat with Jesus. I want to do the things he did. I want to go with him. I want to be with him. And Jesus said, no, you're not. You're not coming.

That's amazing, isn't it? You know, I puzzled over this for a long time when I first read this, until the Lord gave me the answer. You see, if he'd got in the boat with Jesus, it'd just be another one in the crowd. No good. The Lord doesn't want you isolated, but he just doesn't want you either to be a member of a crowd. He wants you to be special and he's got something special for you. Go back to the Decapolis. Go back to your family. Go back to your friends. Go back to your colleagues. Go back to your neighbours. Go back to those ten cities, he said to this man, and tell them all that God has done for you.

You see, the character of God was his testimony. God is rich in mercy, slow to anger, quick to forgive. Sounds like the Bible, doesn't it? And it sounds like the character of God. What about your testimony, beloved, right now? Is it one that says, I'm no good? I've failed, I ought to give up, I ought to go. If I can I'll put my sat nav on and I'll find that cave Elijah went into or something like that, you know? Or I'll listen to demons all day long and they'll torment me and I'll go to bed gripping a pillow until my knuckles go white, full of anxiety and all sorts of other stuff. Or will I cry out like this man and say, no, Lord, deliver me. You saved him, you delivered him, you can do that for me. And that will equip you as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

That is the point. And that man's testimony, yours will be like that and powerful because of all that God has done for you. I think that's all I need to say. Let's just pray.

Lord, we know a lot about demons, but we know more about you. And Lord, rather than being cut off, we ask you Lord, if there's anyone in this room today who finds comfort in isolation, may they know that is just the prompting of demons. That is not the answer in the long term. If anyone is a prisoner in their own thoughts and too embarrassed to share their own temptations and don't want to speak of them, if anybody's tortured by anxiety and worry and depression, may they know these are not from you, Lord. Your spirit is freedom. Your name is life. You've come to set the captive free. You've come to proclaim good news. You've come to proclaim freedom from the captive. Lord, in Jesus' name, proclaim these things right now into the heart and mind of those who need it and of those who've been suffering with negatives for no good reason. Lord, in Jesus' name, may they be full of the Spirit of God and no other spirit. And in Jesus' name, surround them, put your hedge around them that they hear these things no more and that there are no more permissions, but they are put off from the negative and exposed only to the precious things, the rich and precious promises of God. And lead them, Lord, into speaking, speaking, not thinking. They are men in Jesus' name.

Thank you, precious Lord, that you want to do us good. I thank you, Lord, for your word, which is good. In Jesus' name, Amen.