DELIVERED FROM EVIL
Mark 5:1-20
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As we begin today’s message would you recite the LORD’S Prayer with me? (Say Prayer). This afternoon I would like us to consider the last part of that prayer… “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the glory forever and ever… Amen.” What are we requesting when we pray those last sentences and what have we been given as a result of the Gospel, Christ’s Mission and His Authority? I can think of no better passage for the answers to these questions than Mark Chapter 5 verses 1-20. I invite you this afternoon into a story, into a journey and into the reality of the goodness, righteousness, power, and compassion of God in Christ Jesus Our LORD and the difference it made in one man’s life, and the difference it makes for us today! So if you have your Bibles turn to Mark 5 verse 1 and follow along as I read…
The first thing we need to notice in this passage is where the journey begins… This man’s journey with Jesus into the light of freedom begins where a dark heart-breaking journey into captivity, fear, madness, helplessness, and isolation ends and as we arrive on the eastern shore of Lake Galilee in the region of the Gerrasenes I want you to get a full picture of it… The Disciples and Jesus left the western shore in the evening and Jesus has just calmed the storm and amazed His Disciples at his power and authority over the natural world and now it is fully dark as they land and arrive on the edge of a graveyard in the black of night. Out of the shadows, from the open rock tombs filled with the corpses and remains of the dead they hear an unearthly cry as a naked tortured figure with the wide deadlights of his eyes glowing approaches them on the shore! The man is filthy, and crazed, covered with blood he has open wounds across his body and he smells like the rotting corpses and every dirty thing he’s been living among. If you wanted a realistic picture of the walking dead, of the unclean, of the profane incarnate and the ravages of evil and the ungodly the demonic upon the human body and soul this is it. An immediate action for anyone beholding him would be instant fear and loathing. The Disciples are cowering behind Jesus considering getting back in the boat and rowing fast away but not Jesus! Jesus has come to set this man free, to deliver him from evil and send the demons back to Hell where they belong! When the King of King’s and His Kingdom of righteousness encounter’s the realms and fiefdoms of darkness who will give way, and who has authority? Who is in charge?
In our study today we will answer four questions concerning this story and what it reveals… 1) What does this story tell us about the enemy? 2)What does it tell us about Jesus? 3) What does it tell us about the community? And 4) How is this event to inform our current Mission of sharing and living the Gospel before others?
So first, what does this story tell us about the enemy about evil? Evil and spiritual forces of darkness are very strong and you cannot resist them in your own strength. The Gerasene Community thought they had this demon possessed man under control, but the Bible shows that they did not; they could not subdue him. The best they could do was try to keep the man at arms length- out of the way and out of sight!
Satan and his minions are out to do harm… The condition of this man is that satan took everything from him: his home, his family, his place in the community, his sanity, his health, and his agency (the ability to exercise self-control, care and purpose). All gone! If Christ has come to set you free, if we have fellowship in freedom with Him in His Kingdom of light, then Satan and his demons have come to place you and everyone they can into bondage, helplessness, violence, chaos and destruction, far from God, far from hope, and condemned to death and eternal separation from Christ and His Kingdom. When people open themselves up to demonic influences: horoscopes, ouija boards, fortune telling, the occult, they are opening a door to their own demise and destruction. It’s like tearing a feather pillow apart outside on a windy day, you can’t gather and subdue what you have let loose… People in and of themselves are helpless before God’s enemies- no matter how hard they want to think they are still in control: ask an addict, ask an alcoholic, ask the pornographer. The Lord’s Prayer we just prayed: has a petition in it to the Father- “Lead us not into temptation…” God doesn’t tempt us, no this is a request to the Father- “don’t let me go there! Don’t let me entertain even the idea of evil or allow it into my home, let alone my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my feet, my mind or my heart, where I am trapped up by it in its perpetration and/or tolerance in my life.” Mark does not tell us how this man got started on the road to demonic possession, what influences and evil he tolerated, invited, and partook in, but Mark definitely showed us where he ended up. And the sad truth is this, if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior and LORD, if you’ve not been set free by His grace through belief in His Word, by His cross and resurrection- you are far from God and in danger of being far from Him for all eternity in Hell with the devil and his angels- don’t let that happen! For here’s the good news- its shown in the story, and it’s still true today!!!
The demons, satan himself, and the realm of darkness are powerless against Jesus! They KNOW who He is (the Son of the Most High God). They KNOW and have felt the power of His authority and they are forced to submit to Him and His will. They shudder and they obey! In this passage they are terrified of Him! They are literally pleading for their lives for their current existence in that community! Demons run and flee at the Name of the King of Majesty, yet here they are forced to come before their conqueror, kneel, submit and be vanquished! Since the enemy is powerless before Christ, what does that tell us about who we should stay close to, depend upon in prayer and follow when we are in the presence of surrounding demonic forces and evil. Demons are subject to His authority- they hate it, they try to have influence and manipulate Jesus, but they cannot- when He commands them to say their name it is a picture of His authority and power over them. Demons, the devil and dark forces are powerless before Christ. They cannot possess or take power over you if you are in Christ- but don’t let them even have a toe hold in your life! (lead us not into temptation) You cannot be close to God “and in” with evil at the same time. Move close to Christ and you will move far from evil- Satan will flee from you as you stand firm in Christ’s name.
We’ve already alluded to it but what does this passage tell us about Jesus? He has full and complete authority, and the shown exercising of that authority proves and is evidence of His LORDSHIP over the supernatural just as calming the storm showed His LORDSHIP over the natural World. Mark let’s us know in no uncertain terms that Jesus is in control, He is in charge and has complete authority over the realms of darkness and just as He has come to deliver us and give us life, He has come to destroy satan and his minions, to cast out and cast down satan’s realm. The demons ask Jesus if He had come to torture them, no He came to do so much more… He came to save that man and set Him free, and He came to destroy the enemy. Part of Jesus’ saving us, is His destroying evil, and breaking the captivity of our lives to Satan and sin. Which brings us to the next part of the LORD’s Prayer: “Deliver us from Evil- for thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever… amen.” Jesus came to deliver us from evil, to set us free! To make us clean! Everything about this story till Jesus intervenes is covered in the uncleanliness, and filth evil leaves in its wake! Demons, pigs, nakedness, decay, violence, insanity, isolation, darkness, misery, heartbreak, pride, death, and defiance… It’s all over the place! The Disciples have just gotten out of the boat- they haven’t even made it inland to a village or town and evil is everywhere! That is till King Jesus takes charge and that makes all the difference! (Story of Kamil being made clean if there is time)… Within this passage we see the depths of Jesus’ compassion, grace and mercy towards this hurting, spiritually and physically ruined man and the passion and zeal of His Mission to Save us and destroy evil to bring the hope of His Word out of the deep despair that evil had brought. Jesus saw their despair and was there to bring them Good News- that the King had come that the light of His Kingdom had been inaugerated, that He had arrived, but the community didn’t see it that way. Jesus knew they were in despair, the man knew he and the people were in despair, the demons knew it too but the community did not!
Everyone in this passage is “pleading- begging” to Jesus. We can infer from the scene of the ceremonial uncleanliness and terror of the surroundings that the Disciples were wanting to plead with Jesus to get back in the boat. The demons were pleading with Jesus that they be allowed to stay and not to be sent away from the area, the cleansed man begged to go with Jesus, and the people pleaded with Jesus to leave… It is all very telling. The Disciples are way out of their comfort zone and want to get back to it right away… Proclaiming Jesus and His Kingdom to their fellow Jews and folks like them with the same values, mores, and like-mindedness is much easier and less terrifying than being around the unclean gentiles, and Roman transplants they despised.
The demons are well within their comfort zone- their begging Jesus shows that they had done their work and had a secure hold and sway over the region. “Legion” means they were many- and there were many demons there because they had found such a willing receptivity to work their influence and defiance towards righteousness, compassion and mercy and the goodness of Christ. This is evidenced by the community’s reaction to the man when the demons were cast out. Instead of being overjoyed that he had been restored and amazed by Jesus’ authority towards a welcoming belief and transforming faith, they saw a great financial loss of the herd of pigs, and like the demons they were terrified of Jesus and begged him like the demons to leave them alone and depart! The only thing they knew for sure is that Jesus was going to change everything and like the demons they didn’t want it! Stop changing our world Jesus, stop making things right, stop challenging our beliefs, our way of life, and our faith in false gods, stop showing the spiritual inadequacy of our own self-sufficiency and our trust in money and things instead of you! Stop turning and transforming our fallen homes, our fallen lives, our fallen community upside down! Towards love, towards hope, towards forbearance, and the care of the orphan, the widow, the refugee, the destitute, and the lost- stop bringing “your Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven!” Leave us in our complacency and darkness towards our own complicit destruction and demise! And Jesus left them, but not without a witness, not without a testimony, not without a continuing proclamation, and evidence of His goodness, His compassion, His mercy, His love and His infinite Grace! More than 2000 years ago Jesus unshackled and left a transformed free man on the shores of the Gerasenes with a powerful testimony of the Goodness and Greatness of God in Christ Jesus Our LORD… And that story comes full circle and continues today! It is the story of our Mission as believers armed with the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our dark and complacent World! It is my Mission, it is the Church’s Mission and it is your Mission Christian!
This once poor man, captive and enslaved to demons and sin had been set free- and in the marvelousness of God’s grace He had been given much more than what He had lost and He was overjoyed to follow Jesus! He was ready to leave with Him, but He was commanded to stay and proclaim what God had done for Him as he went back a changed man to rebuild a new life and spread the new light of God’s love into the dark recesses of that fallen community. He had been given a daunting and courageous task, a task to share Jesus in a hostile and dark community. He could not do this on his own, but only through the testimony and redemption that Jesus had granted Him by His authority. And it is in that same authority “that all authority in Heaven and on earth” that Jesus gave us a similar command to tell the good news of what Christ has done for us! To make Disciples. Don’t get me wrong folks, this is not an easy task. It is simple to share your faith but it is not easy! It is an act of courage; following and obeying Christ is not for cowards! We live in an increasingly dark world, where demonic forces are prevalent throughout our nation, where the love and compassion of many Christians for their neighbor and zeal for God and the spreading of His Kingdom- here- now and today has grown cold, useless and complacent… Where many believers would rather just bemoan the darkness than shine the Gospel light of God’s love that exists within their very souls! NO! Don’t be like that, remember the miracle of how Christ brought you from darkness to light, and put you on the path to Heaven! Share Jesus with others, testify to His goodness, to His Truth, and to His love! And be that example of How Christ in His authority set you free and has delivered you, and is delivering you from evil! Turning this World upside down!
“Delivered From Evil”: Kamil’s Story
Kamil is a young house church pastor and musician who lives in Poznan, Poland. He and his sweet wife and family own and run a music school in the town for children and adults teaching everything from choir and instruments to composition, recording and professional music marketing for amateurs and professionals. Kamil is a kind man, a good husband and father and a dedicated Man of God wanting to see the Word of God spread outward from his church and deeper into people’s lives throughout the community, but it didn’t use to be that way. Kamil HAD BEEN a worship leader in the satanic church and a Death Metal Guitarist far from God till someone shared the Gospel with him. Kamil shared with me how at the concerts that he used to lead the microphone stand had a human skull built into it and it was covered with blood and unmentionable bodily fluids. Everything about Kamil’s life before meeting Jesus was unclean and frightening. BUT JESUS CHANGED EVERYTHING! Kamil told me how everything about his life made him feel polluted and dirty, but that when he believed in Jesus and turned away from sin, and made Jesus His LORD and Savior for the first time ever he felt cleansed and clean! He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has been made right with God! His life is not just different but better, and he and his family want to share the hope that they have in the Gospel through the open avenues they have with other musicians and people in the Metal bands and music industry of Europe. Pray for this young family and the house churches of Poznan as they serve Jesus and spread the Good News, cleansing and Hope that the Gospel brings!!!
For Our Blog Readers
There were 4 questions I attempted to answer in this message: What the passage told us about the enemy, about Jesus, about the community, and about our Mission. I have a fifth question to add to that: what does this passage say to you? Most of us do not deal directly with demonic possession, or direct responses or encounters with dark, supernatural forces, however they are very much real and the spiritual forces of darkness and evil are in this world and around us, and we are at war with them (see Ephesians 6:10 and following). This is where John’s admonition is for believers not to be surprised when the World hates us (1st John 3:13)…
Remember Paul’s warning not to conform any longer to the patterns of this World (Romans 12:2) and Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer that reminded His followers that they are no longer “of this World” (John 17:14). Part of resisting the devil and his influences is not allowing him to have access to your life and instead allowing Christ to have complete access and surrendering every area over to His control as you walk with Him. Be careful in what you watch, what you listen to, and what you participate in as a believer. Many things appear or may seem harmless but they are not; inwardly “they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15-20). As Paul tells us in Ephesians 6- “Put on the full armor of God” do it everyday and “PRAY in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers…” You cannot help a “darkened” community to notice the light of God’s love and Gospel if you yourself are not first living in the freedom of the light and shutting out the darkness that wants to control you and take you captive (see 2nd Tim 2-4). Always remember that “Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the World.” (1st John 1:4) but that greatness is not meant to isolate you from the war but to equip you to fight in it as Jesus wins the victory! May He give you victory in your life- and deliver you from evil that you may proclaim His goodness and freedom to those who have been “taken captive by the devil to do his will” (2nd Tim 2:25-26). As always, All the Best to you! All of God’s Best! Darrin.