Tabor Baptist Church

Intro

• Trials and suffering
• The disciples in the storm were very fearful but The Lord delivered them
• They come through the storm into great calm, but on reaching the other side a deranged man came running towards them
• Maybe the disciples thought that their trial was not as bad as that of the demon-possessed man
• This story should give us great compassion on those who suffer from inner torment
• In the modern day this story might be dismissed as a chemical imbalance or other illness, but he was demon possessed
• Evil does exist today and there are examples of very evil men in the world (e.g. Hitler)
• Demon possession still occurs today
• Witchcraft and the occult exist today
• More prevalent in some places
• We may not come across evil personally, but evil does exist on the internet or in some heavy metal rock lyrics
• We must not overemphasise evil but we must not underemphasise it

Man's Condition

• He had no home
• He lived in tombs and caves
• He roamed in the mountains
• He was tormented, he cried out day and night, he could not sleep
• We are all created in the image of God but this man's image had been so marred because of the devil
• He was a violent man
• He had supernatural power and strength
• He broke open the shackles that bound him
• He would go into the city
• What did the people think when he came into the city?
• What did the people think when they had to bury the dead?
• What did the wives of the pig keepers think?
• He had lost his sense of dignity
• He roamed naked
• He was dehumanised, deranged and dangerous
• He cut himself
• Do you think anyone would have lavished affection on him: to cut his hair, clean him up, etc?

What lessons can we learn from this?

• We need to acknowledge of the devil (and also the existence of God)
• We are not to reject or joke about hell or the devil
• All who reject Jesus will face an everlasting hell

Man's Conversion

• Jesus addressed the unclean spirit
• There was one but many, his name was legion
• We don't know how many but they went into 2000 pigs
• Why did Jesus allow them to go into the pigs?
• It was a great reminder of the amazing miracle that Jesus had done in this man's life
• It was a test for the people of Decapolis: would they place more emphasis on the loss of their herds or that this man was saved?
• Afterwards he was in his right mind, sitting and clothed
• Was previously deranged but now in his right mind
• Was previously restless but now is sitting
• Was previously naked but now he is clothed
• Calvin said that every miracle is a picture of what God can do inwardly
• Those who do not know Jesus are bound and captive to sin
• A life with Jesus allows people to love fully and have full compassion
• All who trust in the Saviour are changed inwardly
• They are clothed in righteousness
• They are made brand new
• Their destiny is turned around
• You may not be possessed by evil spirits, but are you still bound by sin?
• The reaction of the people
• Very different to the Samaritans (when the women at the well was converted)
• Were afraid of him and rejected him
• Maybe too concerned about the loss they had experienced (the pigs)
• Had stigmatised the man too much and had discarded him
• Jesus' reaction:
• He gets into a boat and leaves them
• He does not stay and try and persuade a resistant audience
• He went on to minister the gospel elsewhere
• Jesus advised His disciples to do they same when they were ministering
• Only one man was converted
• There was a mass rejection of the gospel

Man's Commission

• Jesus was not giving up on this people
• The man pleaded to go with Jesus but He would not let him
• Jesus knew it would be better if this man returned to his family, his friends, his city and to tell people his story
• Jesus knew that if the man stayed with Him he would not want to return
• Jesus knows what is best for His own
• We should speak to others about our story and our conversion
• Example of Christmas Evans preaching on this passage
• This is the first man to be commissioned by Jesus
• He hadn't much training or gone on any courses
• He had a story to tell others

Consider the truth of the gospel
There is a fine line between mental health problems and demon possession