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[0:00] Mark chapter 5. Where did I get the 8 from? I have no idea.! Mark chapter 5. Finishing up here today, we've been talking about the Maniac of Gadara,!

[0:30] Jesus is on the Sea of Galilee, gets to the land of the Gadarenes, gets off the boat, is met by a guy who has demons in him, and he's been kind of up there in the mountains, in the tombs, kind of running wild, and people are scared of him and everything, and he sees Jesus, and he comes running to him.

[0:57] And we talked about the fact that here's this man full of demons running to Jesus, but it's because Jesus is the ultimate authority, and they knew that they had to bow down and worship him. Jesus has a conversation with the demons that are in him, and they don't want to be sent out of the country, they say.

[1:13] They don't want to be sent to hell. They say, can you send us into the pigs? So they go into the pigs. Pigs go crazy, run off the cliff, drown in the water. And that pretty much catches us up to where we left off.

[1:28] So we come down to the next point, which is point four, a distinct piece. A distinct piece.

[1:40] So number four, Angela. Oh, did you think? Okay, I was looking at the wrong one. I was looking at the bottom one. All right. So this transformation, this man, is going to be immediate and drastic.

[1:54] It's going to be a transformation that's just hard to believe what's going to happen to this man and how quickly it happens. Here's a man whose life was full of rage, wrath, anger, and now he's the perfect picture of peace.

[2:09] That's what happens when Jesus comes into our life. He gives us peace. Let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll talk about this drastic change. Heavenly Father, thank you for the time we have this morning to look at your word.

[2:22] Lord, I thank you for what we have been learning from this incident with this man. Lord, the devil's always after us. The devil's always trying to destroy us, but when Jesus comes in, the peace that comes, the change that comes.

[2:36] Lord, I just thank you that those of us who are here know that change. We know Jesus Christ is our Savior. We've asked him to come into our life. There's been a change in our life.

[2:48] And, Lord, I just thank you for the dramatic change that takes place. Lord, help us today to learn more from this man and the things that happened in his life, especially what happened after this incident.

[3:01] Lord, use that to inspire us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. There was a dramatic change. He had been frightening people. He had been scaring people and everything. And now the men who have seen the pigs run off the thing, they go running.

[3:17] They run into the city and tell everybody what's going on. They run through the countryside, and they tell everybody they meet what's going on. It reminds me of the shepherds the night that Jesus was born. They went telling everybody the things that they had seen and heard.

[3:31] Here's this man. These men, they're going, and they're telling everybody what they've seen and heard. Look at verse 15. And they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind.

[3:48] The change that took place in this guy's life. He had had this anger. He had been crying. He had been cutting himself. He had been running around up there in those tombs full of these demons.

[4:00] And now he is sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And then notice the last four words. And they were afraid. Can you imagine?

[4:13] This guy's been living the way he has. They're afraid to go up there and be near the guy. And now he's sitting and clothed in his right mind, and they're afraid. They're afraid of what happened, what changed.

[4:24] You know, we get used to sin. We get used to the things of this world. And I'll talk some more about that in a minute.

[4:35] But this man, he meets Jesus. Jesus sends the demons out. And this man who is, as Ephesians 2.1 says, this man was quickened who was dead in his trespasses and sins.

[4:51] He's made alive, even though he had been dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians goes on, chapter 2, verse 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

[5:09] That's what he had. He had the spirits in him. He was going according to what the devil wanted him to do. Verse 3 of Ephesians 2. Among whom also we had also our conversation in times past, in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

[5:28] He said, you were just like that. We were just like that. We were living according to whatever we wanted to do, whatever we felt like was good, under the influence of the devil. We didn't realize it, but under the influence of the devil, we're living our life and just, you know what?

[5:43] I can do whatever I want. I don't have to worry about what anybody else thinks. I don't care what God thinks. But then in verse 4 of Ephesians 2, it says, But God, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherein he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.

[6:08] By grace are ye saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He says he brings a calmness.

[6:20] He brings a peace. He brings the ability for you to sit down and to just contemplate and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, and to have this time where you just sit with him in heavenly places, learning about him.

[6:36] You know, he says you're going to sit together in heavenly places. They come and they find this man. What's he doing? He's sitting at the feet of Jesus. He's sitting in heavenly places. He's sitting learning from the creator of the universe.

[6:50] What a change in this man's life. You know what we tend to forget, though, as we study this man? He had all these things going on in his life.

[7:01] He had all these demons. He had all this anger. He had all of these things. And we think, oh, man, what a sinner. But then here come all these people from town.

[7:14] They were sinners, too. Maybe not to the degree that he was, but they're sinners, too. And so when they get there and they see what has happened and they see Jesus and they see the man changed, it says they were afraid.

[7:27] Why were they afraid? Because they didn't understand what they want. They were afraid they'd have to give up their pleasures of life.

[7:37] They were afraid. Their life is around. Yep. They were afraid because, I mean, this is a dramatic change. And they're like, what's going to happen to us? What's this man going to do to us?

[7:49] So they kind of have a, we think of this man being up there in the tombs kind of being demented. Well, this crowd was kind of demented, too.

[7:59] And they make condemnation about the things that have happened. They're upset about the pigs. They're upset about the fact that this man has changed. They're used to their status quo. They're used to all this.

[8:11] This is a big change. Maybe they were afraid that whatever was in him was catching. Maybe. Look at verse 16 of Mark 5. Verse 16 of Mark 5.

[8:23] And they that saw it told them how it befell him that he was possessed with the devil and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coast.

[8:35] They see what has happened. They see the changes take place. They see the pigs down there floating in the water. And they're like, you need to leave. You need to go away. We don't want you around here.

[8:47] You're messing everything up. You know, here's this man. Anger, rage, breaking chains, breaking shackles, running around nude, doing all these different things.

[8:59] He's sitting and clothed in his right mind. And they're afraid of him. Just boggles the mind, doesn't it? Maybe they also were afraid of the fact that it was spiritual.

[9:11] It was what? Spiritual. It was a spiritual thing. Yeah. So, yes. What I meant by what I said was not that his crazy part of the kitchen. I meant the tantal part of the kitchen.

[9:23] Yeah. Yeah. They didn't want to change. Yeah. Yeah. I got that. They, they, they, yeah. They were like, we like our life the way it is. Let me connect that with this next part.

[9:36] Think about when you got saved. You probably wound up changing friends. You wound up not hanging out with the same people you used to hang out with.

[9:47] Your, your life changed when you came to Christ because when you start talking about Christ and the things that he's done and how he's changed you, a lot of your friends don't want to hear it. I was talking to a lady at the funeral I was at on Monday and she was telling me, known the lady for a long time, she was telling me that, about her brother-in-law.

[10:12] I went to school with her sister. Her brother-in-law has had Gillian Barnes, Barnes, whatever it's called. It's a nervous disease.

[10:24] He's been in the hospital. He was in the hospital for a hundred days. They were going to put him in a nursing home, but they decided to take him home and they've been working with him there and helping and stuff. And they were talking to him one day and they were talking to him about the Bible and Jesus and stuff and telling him about salvation.

[10:40] And he said, Wayne, would you be interested in asking Jesus Christ to come in? And he's like, yeah, I would. Yeah. I'd like to do that. And so he did.

[10:51] I said, what about Darlene? Because Darlene's the one I went to school with. She kind of looked at me and smiled and said, Darlene's still like, don't bring that Bible in my house.

[11:03] I don't want anything to do with that. So you imagine the conflict that's, you know, taking place there. See, people are afraid of the Bible for some reason. They're afraid of Jesus for some reason.

[11:15] Because they know they're probably going to wind up changing. Because they watch like Jared and the change that's been made in his life and some of you others. And they're like, no, I like my life the way it is.

[11:26] I'm used to my life the way it is. And so here's this same man. You know, Margaret? I have a very funny thought. I'll share with you. Can you imagine the children rejoicing?

[11:39] Mama can't threaten me by sending me to the cemetery anymore. That's true. If you don't behave yourself, I'm going to send you to the cemetery.

[11:50] You know that guy that lives there? Good point. When we change and people see the difference and the change, what is their usual reaction?

[12:04] You join some kind of cult or something? What are you doing? What are you doing with those people? It really challenges them. You choose your path and not what they're doing.

[12:17] It upsets their life. Your action upsets their life. It is such a conviction. Yep. Yep. So. See, if you live like the world, the world has no trouble with you.

[12:31] But you start living your life in a different way. When you suddenly have a love for Jesus and salvation has been now a part of your life.

[12:43] See, when we accept Jesus, we understand what he did for us. That he went to that cross. He gave his life to pay for our sin. He did it because he loved us.

[12:56] That will change your life. Second Corinthians 5.15. Second Corinthians 5.15 says this. And that he died for all. That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.

[13:15] He died for all. But those that understand that, those that accept what Jesus did and take it as part of them, he says, look, we understand. We should not live for ourselves.

[13:27] We need to live for him that died for us and him that rose again. That's going to change your life. That's going to make things totally different. You know, what's your life like since you came to know Christ?

[13:41] Do we desire to be with him? Do we desire to spend time in his word? Do we desire to spend time in prayer? Do we desire to be in church with God's people?

[13:52] You know, one of the best ways to show about, you know, has God changed the life? But I want to be around God's people. I want to be around people who believe like I do. I want to be around people who are going to encourage me and uplift me and, you know.

[14:10] This man is so excited. So excited about what Jesus has done for him that he wants to go with him. He wants to be with him.

[14:21] Jesus is heading back to the boat. Remember, they said, get out of here. We don't want you here. Go away. So Jesus is heading back to the boat. The man follows him. He wants to go with Jesus. Jesus is going to tell him no.

[14:35] And Jesus is going to tell him no. But Jesus is going to give him a command. A very doable command. Sometimes we look at God's commands and we go, hmm.

[14:47] But this one, very doable. He's only been saved for a few minutes. He has not gone to church anywhere. He has not gone to Bible school anywhere.

[14:58] He has no degrees or anything. He's had just a few moments sitting and clothed and in his right mind talking to Jesus. And Jesus is going to give him something to do.

[15:10] Look at verse 19. How be it. Jesus suffered him not. But saith unto him, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord had done for thee and that hath and then hath had compassion on thee.

[15:27] So he hasn't done any of these things other than just spend a few minutes with Jesus. And Jesus says, you know, no, I don't want you to go with me. I've got a job for you.

[15:38] Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go and tell your friends and your neighbors and the people in the towns what I did for you. I want you to go give your personal testimony.

[15:50] Yeah. Looking at this, what came to mind, it showed how powerful Jesus was, that he could control them demons and tell them where to go and put them in their place and everything.

[16:05] And the people might have been afraid of his power too. Yeah. Yeah. Good point. Yeah. Afraid of the power that he had. I don't want him messing with me. Look what he did to this guy.

[16:17] Maybe they didn't want their demons to do. That's true. That's what I was mentioning when I said before, you know, this guy wasn't the only one who had problems with demons and the devil. All these other people.

[16:28] Yeah. Yeah. So this guy, no training, doesn't have a special charismatic personality. Everybody's been scared to death of him for years. But Jesus says, okay, I want you to go and tell people your testimony.

[16:44] Reminds me, John chapter 9, verse 25. Jesus has healed a man who is blind. And now the Pharisees and all of them are upset because he did this miracle and he did it in such a way that they didn't agree with him.

[17:01] Da, da, da, da. And so they asked the guy, this guy's a sinner, right? And this guy, here was the guy's answer. John 9, 25.

[17:12] He answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.

[17:24] His testimony. I don't know all these things about the man that you're asking me. I know this. I used to be blind. But now I see you over there in the blue coat and you in the red coat and you with the gray beard and you with the bald head and you with the, you know.

[17:40] Don't ask me all these questions. Here's my answer. I was blind. Now I see. That is such a powerful encouragement. We don't have to have Bible college degrees.

[17:53] We don't have to have all of that Bible learning that way. All of it is required to send a chance to send in your life. Yep. Yes. Some people die.

[18:03] You don't have to be a theology with multiple letters after me. Yep. And they ask you all kinds of questions and go, I don't know. Here's what I do know. I was blind, but now I see. Here's what I do know.

[18:16] I live this way. Jesus came into my life. Now I live this way. Jesus changed me. Yep. Speaking of that, that last part of the verse there, John 9, 25.

[18:31] Whereas I was blind, now I see. Sound familiar? Yep. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

[18:42] I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. That was written by John Newton in 1779. And we still sing it today.

[18:55] And you know what that song was? That song was John Newton's testimony. It was just him giving his testimony. Do you know anything about John Newton? John Newton, he was a rascal.

[19:09] He was blasphemer, didn't care anything about God, grew up in a home where his mother loved the Lord, prayed for him and stuff, and he went out and just lived his life the way he wanted to. He said, I'm going to do anything I want.

[19:21] You can't tell me what to do type of thing and stuff and all this. He wound up being a sailor on a ship. And then he wound up being the captain of a ship, a slave ship.

[19:33] Can you imagine any worse job being the captain of a slave ship, taking slaves to other parts of the world? He just didn't want anything to do with Christ.

[19:43] But then one night, during a storm, on the boat, he gave his life to Christ. He cried out to God. He asked Christ to save him.

[19:55] And just like this man, it radically transformed him, made him so different. He eventually became a pastor. He became one of the leaders in the abolition movement against slavery.

[20:05] And he wrote this song, Amazing Grace. How sweet this sounds. See, when Jesus comes into our life, and we allow him to do that, and Jesus, we follow him and do what he asks us to do.

[20:21] This man's going to do what he asks us to do. It becomes a dynamic catalyst to change our lives and to change others around us. That's what this man's going to do.

[20:31] He's delivered of the demons, and he did exactly what Jesus told him to do. He's going to go out and tell others. Look at verse 20. Mark chapter 5, verse 20.

[20:44] And he departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and all men did marvel. He said, I'm just telling you what he did for me.

[20:55] I'm giving you my testimony. I'm doing exactly what he said to do. I'm telling you what happened. And he says, men marveled at it. It was published in Decapolis.

[21:08] Decapolis is an area southeast and east of the Sea of Galilee. Decapolis means ten cities. That's what the word means.

[21:19] And so there were ten cities in that area. And this man was going around from city to city to city telling people what Jesus had done for him. Was he effective in what he did?

[21:31] Because we don't really hear about this guy ever again. Was he effective in what he did? Go over to chapter 7 of Mark. Mark chapter 7. Jesus only went to this area twice.

[21:46] The first time was when he met this man up there in the tombs. The second time he goes, he meets some other people. Look at verse 31. 731.

[21:58] And again, departing from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the Sea of Galilee through the midst of the coast of Decapolis. Verse 32.

[22:09] And he did bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. And they beseeched him to put his hand upon him. He took him aside from the multitude, put his fingers in his ears.

[22:23] He spit, touched his tongue. Yep, touched his tongue. And looked up to heaven. He sighed and said unto them, Epaphrita. That is, be open.

[22:34] And straightway his ears were open. The string of his tongue was loosed. And he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much the more, the great deal they published it.

[22:49] And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well. He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. Did you catch back in verse 32?

[23:06] They bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. And they beseech him to put his hand upon him. When he healed the man with the demons, go away.

[23:21] Go. Get out of here. We don't, we, no. Uh-uh. Jesus tells that man, you go throughout your area now and you give your testimony. And now Jesus returns and people say, Hey, can you heal this guy?

[23:33] Come over here. Jesus is here. Can you take care of this guy? This man had been doing his job. He had taken his testimony. They knew what Jesus could do. And they knew if you need help, if you need salvation, today for us, if you need salvation, you need help in your life because the things are going wrong, go to the people who know Jesus.

[23:57] Jesus can help. Jesus can take care of things. What made the difference? This man had gone out and told people. He'd gone out and given the gospel.

[24:10] So let's kind of wrap this up. We're running out of time. In 2 Corinthians 3, 2 and 3, it says this.

[24:21] It says, He says, Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. For as much as ye manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.

[24:41] He says, you go out, you give your testimony, you tell people what Jesus has done for you. You are an epistle walking around. We have the epistles in the Bible that we read, you know, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and all those things through there.

[24:56] We read all those. Those are epistles that Paul wrote to give us instruction. He says, you are an epistle. You, walking around. It's not written with pen and ink.

[25:06] It's not written on tables of stone. It's written in the heart. Go tell people. Go show people. Be the testimony to them that you're supposed to be.

[25:17] That testimony can have a powerful change in people's lives. Again, don't have to have all the degrees and everything. Just be a testimony. Three verses, real quick, in rapid succession here.

[25:29] Matthew 5, 16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. He says, look, let people see what Jesus did in you.

[25:45] Romans 1, 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and to the Greek. He says, I'm not ashamed.

[25:56] I'm going to go out and tell people what Jesus did for me. I'm going to give them my testimony. And then Mark 7 there. Look at verse 37. And you could add to that, and the lost saved and transformed.

[26:23] How powerful is it for you to just go out and give your testimony to people? To just go out and say, you know what? I don't know all the answers to all the questions in the world. Neither do I.

[26:35] But I do know that Jesus did this for me. I was going this way. I met Jesus. I asked him to come into my life, and now my life is going this way.

[26:49]  And I'm sitting and clothed and in my right mind. Heavenly Father, thank you for this passage.