Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Example of taxi driver
• A story of a troubled man who has an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ
• An extra dimension: he was filled with demons
• How do we interpret this?
• In a psychological way? - a wrong approach
• Real spiritual beings that inform a simplistic evangelical approach - a wrong approach
• Why did Mark include this story?
• Marks is making a special case that Jesus is not just an ordinary man - He has authority
• He has authority over evil spiritual beings
• This point will help inform our Christian life and outworking
• v15 - to see the three changes in his life as a result of his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ
• Challenge: have you had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ?
• Three things that will happen if you do have an encounter with Jesus Christ

Turmoil into Tranquility

• He is now sitting
• Previously he was running around, he was expelled from the city
• He is at peace:
• With other people
• No peace in yourself affects relationships with others
• This has been the case from the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden
• Gen 3:12
• We blame other people
• People are coming to this man (because he is at peace with God)
• With himself
• No longer tearing off his chains or cutting himself
• Example
• The Gadarene demoniac was in a similar state
• With God
• Ever since the fall people are enemies of God
• There is no neutral position before God
• We all need to be made right with God
• We have peace through 'justification' - explanation

Disgrace into Dignity

• He is dressed
• Previously he was tearing around the tombs stark naked
• People were naked in the Garden of Eden but a covering was given to them
• Our society is becoming increasingly shame orientated
• Not guilt orientated
• Body shaming - especially on social media
• Affecting a lot of young people today
• People can feel like damaged goods
• People can feel 'de-personed' - Quote from Monica Lewinsky
• He felt shame
• He was a blight on society
• He may have been a foil for others
• 'I'm not perfect, but I'm not like them'
• Adam and Eve felt shame so covered themselves with fig leaves
• God gave them animal skins
• Some people feel our shame is self-imposed
• We cannot go back to the fall but we can look forward to a day when we will be dressed by God himself
• Rev 21:1-2
• We can be given the righteousness of Christ for our covering 
• We can all experience this in our lives
• This is the only way to overcome this shame and guilt
• This man had experienced a change in his heart

Confusion into Clarity

• He is in his right mind
• His thinking previously had been false, futile/fruitless, frustrating
• False thinking:
• Nothing that we think is not affected by sin
• Everything we think is affected by sin
• Example of Lord of the Rings
• This is what it is like for every human being
• We are irrational in our thinking - examples
• Sin corrupts our thinking
• Futile/fruitless thinking:
• "As a man thinks, so he is"
• Bad thinking leads to bad living
• People became depraved
• Example of Rome
• Example of modern art
• Our culture has become corrupted
• Frustrating thinking:
• Life doesn't make sense
• Personal example
• It is often difficult to admit we are on the wrong path
• This happens with sin
• We have to admit we are on a wrong path and turn around
• Example of well known author

Closing Remarks

• Challenge: have you met the Lord Jesus Christ?
• Example of taxi driver
• You too can be changed by Jesus Christ