When two parties run to one another, they'll meet more quickly. That's profound, isn't it? But when a sinner runs to God, God the Father runs to the sinner, and He does. There will soon be a happy and joyous meeting. I know that to be so because the Lord Jesus Himself said, I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repented, more than over ninety and nine just persons, those who think they're righteous in their own eyes, which need no repentance. There are many today in religion who profess to believe the gospel that have no need of repentance. At least they say they don't. And believe they don't. But they do. Before us today, we have a clear picture of just that. My text will come from two passages of Scripture. And we'll see a picture of the sinner that Christ came to save. And we'll see a picture of the Father who delights to save. Both declared the sinner's salvation by God alone. So first turn with me, if you would, to Mark chapter 5, verse 1. Mark chapter 5. We have a very familiar story in front of us. The story of the demoniac of Gadara. You remember that story. Mark chapter 5, verse 1. And they, the Lord Jesus and His disciples, His apostles, came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when He was come out of the ship, the Lord Jesus, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit." That's what every sinner is by nature. Men and women with unclean spirits. Completely possessed by the spirit of sin. Now I know Hollywood and everyone else in the world today has made demonic possession something scary and crazy, All of us who have fallen in sin, all of us who have disobeyed God in our father Adam, are possessed with the spirit of sin. There's none that doeth good, no, not one. All are sold under sin. Every single one of us. Verse 3. who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could bind him, no, not with chains, because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces, and neither could any man tame him." So again, we see a picture of ourselves Mad men and women who clearly picture this demoniac, they live among the tombs. You know why? Because they live among the dead, and they're dead themselves in trespasses and sin. Spiritually speaking, they are themselves dead. And we live among the tombs. Religions restraints cannot hold, bind, or control this man or them. Speaking of you and I. Religion's chains are going to be plucked asunder. The fetters and chains are going to be broken in pieces. A sinner who is mad, possessed by sin, cannot be bound. Only by God. Man can't bind him. Religion can't bind him. No mere man could tame this possessed man. And it's the same with us, naturally speaking. Only a sovereign, omnipotent God can. Verse five, and always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. Now this is a heathen country, and this man was in the mountains of iniquity. This pictures him as the highest and greatest of sinners. He was furious, and he was outrageous, and he couldn't be managed by force. Again, what a picture of you and I. Jewish historians say that the tombs and graves in Gadara were very much likely upon the mountaintops. The rocks were cut out of the mountain to make sepulchers. John Gill said that this man cut himself with the sharp pieces of stone found among the broken and cut rocks which the sepulchers and tombstones were made. And that's what sin does to us. It causes us to inflict pain upon ourselves. Day and night, every second, every minute, every hour of every day, always, verse 5 says, he cried and cut himself. He couldn't help but to do it. Again, a picture of us. It's the same with us. We cannot not sin. Just try it. You cannot not sin. Sin is what you are, not what you do. You sin because of what you are. We cannot not inflict pain upon ourselves. You do it, I do it, we do it often. My mom used to say to me, you're your own worst enemy. She was right. She was right. You are and I am. We're our own worst enemy. Now, closely notice verse 6. But when he, this demoniac, saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him. I've titled this message, Afar Off. As I said, it seems that the tombs were in the mountains and it's where this man dwelt. And when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ come to the Sure. Vertically, He was some distance away. He looked down from that mountain that He was at, and though He could see Him being at the elevation He was, it took Him a while to get to Him. He was afar off. He saw the Lord afar off. That's where we saw Him. We were afar off. Far off from God. Now there are four important words found here in verse 6. First, we are told that he saw the Lord Jesus. You're going to have to see Christ before you're ever saved. Secondly, we're told that Christ was a fire off. We were a fire off from Him. Thirdly, this man ran to the Lord. He didn't run to the Lord to do Him harm. He didn't run to the Lord to endeavor to frighten Him as He did everyone else in this city. Those that were terrified of Him. Then why did He run to Christ? Fourthly, He ran to the Lord to worship Him. To worship Him. Begin verse 6, But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him. And the demoniac cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High? I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not. Now this is where I ask you that old familiar question. Who in this story did the sinning? And who did the saving? That's always an important question. Because salvation is of the Lord. We did the sinning, God does the saving. Aren't you glad? Because we sure can't save ourselves. I'm glad the Lord does the saving. Verse 8, For He, the Lord Jesus, said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. You see, it was the Lord that sent these legion of devils out of the man. Now let's make some observations here. First, here we see the sinner's state. What a picture this is of our state before God without Christ. We're dead and we live among the tombs. Would you agree? We cannot, apart from the will of God, deliver ourselves. Not by our will can we deliver ourselves. The restraints, the fetters and shackles of religion cannot hold us from sinning. They cannot make us perfectly holy as God requires. They cause pain to themselves and others. They bring pain and judgment to themselves. Our sin is ever before us. We cannot hide sin from ourselves. Everything looks dark and dreary to us by nature. Everything we do is tainted with sin. Never done a good thing. Never thought a pure thought. Never said a good prayer. Listen, have never in and of myself preached a gospel message. It's all the Lord's doing. We live without God, we live without Christ, we live without hope. Living without God and Christ is to live without hope. Because Christ in you, dear friends, is the hope of glory. Now this man had a legion of devils. He had been without the one thing needful, but now He sees him on the shore, and He runs to him, but He runs to him not to do him harm, but to worship him. Who made the difference in that man? The same one that makes the difference in you and in me. We know that there's but one God, and the devils themselves believe and tremble at that truth. Those legions of devils knew who stood before them. They did. And they said, look at this, verse 7, What have I to do with thee, whoever you are? No. They said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High? They knew not only who He was, but who He really was. He was the Son of the Most High. I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not." So first, we see the sinner's state. Secondly, we see the sinner's place. Where are they? Far off. Far off. A long distance from salvation. A long distance from He who saves. What a distance we are from our Lord. And sin's the cause. This man didn't come to Christ. Christ came to him. We don't find this man getting on a ship and going to look for Christ. Christ gets on a ship and comes looking for Him. He always does look for the sinner. He's not the one lost. Why are we so far away from Him? We're separated from Christ by our sin. Let me show you this. Hold your place here. Turn with me to Isaiah 59, verse 2, if you would. Isaiah 59. And look at verse 2. Why are we so far from Him? Why are we separated from Christ? Verse 2, but your iniquities, your sin, have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear. He can, but He will not hear. Why will God not hear us? He's too holy to have any dealings with us who are nothing but sin. For your hands, verse three, are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None among these sinners calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth. They trust in what? Vanity. You could substitute themselves right there, because we are vain. They trust in vanity and speak lies. They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. That's why. God's very clear in His Word as to why. God will not hear because we by nature have no interest in God or His justice or a just God. And He is a just God and a Savior. And we say, I've got to do something to be saved. What good thing must I do to be saved? That's what I want to hear. We don't plead for truth. We're vain and we speak lies. We conceive mischief and we bring forth iniquity. That's pretty much the resume of a sinner in our resume. That's what we do. We don't plead for truth. We're vain and speak lies. We conceive mischief and we do nothing but sin. Everything we do is tainted with sin. Now look down at verse 7. Their feet. Whose feet? Mine. Yours. And everyone else. Run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of what? Iniquity. Sin. Wasting and destruction are in their paths. By nature, our feet, they don't run to Christ. They run to mischief and eagerness and swiftness to do wrong. We take delight and pleasure in doing evil. Our feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood. Proverbs 1.16. Paul said himself, our feet are swift to shed blood. I don't know how any man or woman Talk about what they themselves do in order to be saved. They do everything to keep from being saved. Our thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. The thoughts of our hearts are only evil continually. And because of that, that's what God saw when He looked down from heaven. And He said, I'm going to destroy the whole shooting match. I'm going to destroy it all. Because the thoughts of their hearts Oh, he's got such a good heart. No, he doesn't. No, he does not, and neither does she, and neither do you, and neither does me. We are very talented at wasting and destroying. Our ways are ruin and destruction. Verse 8, the way of peace, they, who, you and me and everyone else, know not, No judgment in their goings, and they have made them crooked paths. Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us. Neither doth justice overtake us. We wait for light, but behold obscurity, for brightness, but we walk in darkness." Now, friends, somebody's got to make us to differ. Somebody's got to make us to differ from those who do these things. We walk in mists. We walk in thick fogs. We have scarcely any light at all. We thought we deserved deliverance and salvation, but then God shows us that we've earned nothing but darkness, affliction, and distress. That's what we deserve. Hey, listen, this demoniac, he's getting what he deserves. Verse 10, we grope for the wall like the blind to lean against, and we grope as it were as if we had no eyes, no understanding, no reason. We stumble at noonday as in the night. We are in desolate places as dead men. That's our resume. Though the gospel is revealed through grace, we stumble in darkness. Verse 11, we roar all like bears in the darkness of their dens, and we mourn sore like doves when it's lost its mate. For a month or two, I had two little doves. I think that they pair for life, if I've read correctly. And they were in the little tree right outside of my study, and I got taken up with them, and they were just so pretty, and they'd make that little sound they make in the morning. I said, they're the doves. They're little doves. But sometimes one would leave and that other one would just cry. You could just hear her cry. Maybe I don't know. Maybe it was the male crying. We don't do very well without our wives. But anyway, they mourn sore like doves when it's lost its mate. We look for judgment, but there is none for salvation, but it's far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, O Lord, and our sins testify against us. God is the witness that's against us. For our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them. in transgressing and lying against the Lord and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. How can anyone justify the denying of the very One who created us? How can any of us justify denying the One who watched us sell ourselves under sin and then buy us back with His own precious blood? I think of Hosea and Gomer. There she was on the auction blocks. She sold herself to her lovers. All along, he was the one providing for her, her loving husband, and she didn't even know it. And now she's wasted away. She's lost her beauty. She has nothing to offer anyone, her lovers or her husband. But, he was there that day at the auction block and he bought her back, her husband. What a picture of what Christ does for His whores. That's what she was and that's what we are. Verse 14, and judgment is turned away backward, that being our judgment. And justice standeth afar off. God is so merciful and long-suffering toward us, His vengeance is not immediately executed. He says, for truth has fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Truth is preached, Christ exalted, yet it's trampled on. And few there are that believe it. That's what has separated us from God. Now, when the Lord Jesus went to Gadara, He crossed the Sea of Galilee, as I see it. He endured the storm that night. You remember, there was a bad storm. So much that the apostles thought they were going to die. The Lord Jesus came to them walking on the water. And He did all this that night in order to heal and deliver one man. Just one. I remember someone asked Brother Mahan one time, heard him on the TV broadcast, and he called him up and he said, Brother Mahan, how many people would we have to have in order for you to come preach to us? He said, two. And he said, two? He said, yeah, you to listen and me to preach. The Lord can save how many He wants or how few He wants. And when our Lord left after delivering and saving this man, He was content to have accomplished that one thing. The scribes and the Pharisees, the hypocrites they were, would encompass sea and land to make one proselyte, one conversion. And then they would make them two-fold more the child of hell than they themselves were. I've seen that happen. I've seen it happen. The Lord would come past sea and land to deliver one who was a child of hell, possessed with a legion of devils, and deliver that poor man and conform him to his own image. And glad to do it. Glad to do it. He delights to show mercy. And the glorious Gospel confirms to us that our Lord crossed more than just sea and land to save. a sinner. He came from heaven all the way into this world from His throne of glory to the depths of depravity into this world to save sinners. That's who He came to save. There's none too bad for Christ to save. That's who He came to save, sinners. Not the well, not those righteous, Not those that have no need that are doing okay on their own. You know, this demonic act of Gadara was no more a sinner than you and I are, or were. I say were because God has put away our sin and we're perfect in the eyes of God through what Christ has done for us. He didn't come to the Lord. The Lord came to him just as he did all of us. Is there one here this morning that feels as though they are a far off? Oh, I got some good news for you. I got some good news. It's called the gospel. Good news for sinners. You're not only a far off at a distance, but also you're a far off in character. If God shows and reveals to you your heart, it'll condemn you. Without my help, I don't have to tell you. Christ is perfect, you're full of sin. Christ is just, you're unjust. He is meek and lowly, and you are proud and wayward. He is beloved of His Father, and you and I, by nature, hate Him without a cause. No reason for us to hate Him. All of us by nature are certainly far off. Our position due to our own doing is far off. Others are far off from Christ just to the knowledge of Him. Sad to say, but most today know little about the Christ of God. They know little about God and His Christ. Even with churches on every corner of nearly every street, in every town, in every state, all through this country of ours, and there are yet few that know Christ according to the Scriptures, according to the Bibles. Now there are many who say that they know Him, but they don't know this God, the God of the Bible. I got online yesterday. You can find just about anything online. And I found out that there are 77 churches in just the city of Madisonville. Not counting all of Hopkins County. 77 churches. Or called churches anyway. Do you know any churches that are preaching the Gospel that we preach? Do you know anybody that sends one of these churches that will rejoice in the same message that you rejoice in? I'm serious. I'm not trying to point finger and say, oh, we're the only ones. I've been accused of that. Oh, you think you're just the only ones. You think you're the only ones that God saved. I wish I wasn't so. Many would say because of that that we're wrong. They would say that if what we preach were true, that there'd be more preaching it and more believing it. And there's a perfect example of what I am trying to say about knowing the Scriptures. The Bible plainly tells us that someone asked the Lord one day, they said, are there few that be saved? And the Lord said, strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. He went on to say, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be to find. Many are called, but few are chosen. The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers unto his harvest." It's terrible to think that so many people are well instructed in so many things other than the word of God. Folks know nothing about the true God. They know nothing about the Gospel of Christ. They know nothing about the salvation which God has provided in His beloved Son. I hear people railing against the Bible frequently. You don't have to hide in the back pew of some church to hear it. You hear it in this world! You can hear it at the barbershop. You can hear it at the car center when you're getting your oil changed. People like to talk about what they're doing for God. Not what God's done for sinners. That's our message. What God has done for sinners. They haven't studied God's characters. They haven't examined His teachings. It's as if themselves are qualified to judge God. I only trust that they soon be led to do what this poor, ignorant demoniac did. What a picture of grace he is. Though he may have known little about Christ, he ran and worshipped Him. Thirdly, I'd have you to know the sinner's privilege. Though the sinner is a far-off, Though this demoniac was a far off, he saw Jesus. He saw Him. There were people that spoke face to face with Him and never saw Him. I remember years ago, someone telling me, I see Jesus in you. I wish you did. But people didn't see Jesus in Jesus. Have you seen Jesus? Have you seen the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you seen the One who's done great things for sinful men and women? Have you seen the One who lived, loved, died that He might save sinners just like you? Have you been shown the cross where your sin was put away? What a privilege that Christ has come to where you are. He has come to this horrible, sin-ridden place full of tombs and pollution and where devils run wild in madness. Do you find it amazing that the One who is mighty to save is treading the same gathering shore as this demonic man? He's coming to the devil's own territory. And let me tell you something, He's still there. He's still here today. He's in our midst right now. I truly see that. He who raised the dead, healed lepers, cast out demons, He's still today working by His Spirit. Christ has finished salvation for His elect, but He's not through saving sinners. You know how I know? Because the sun came up this morning. What did the demoniac do when he saw Jesus afar off again? Love to say it. He ran and worshipped Him. Did he come intelligently? Did he come quoting Old Testament Scriptures to the Lord? No. Did he worship as the disciples worshipped? I dare say not. When he approached the Lord Jesus on the shore side, He flew down that beach immediately to worship Him. As He came closer, maybe He intended at the beginning as He ran to do Him harm, we're not told, but as He came closer and closer and approached nearer and nearer to this mysterious stranger, a new feeling came over Him. His step grew slower. He went from running to trotting and then to walking as he grew. His fierce eyes became duller. His beast-like instinct became calmer. Does that sound like anybody you know? Does that sound like an experience that you've had? The roaring lion and ravening wolf within begin to tremble. He and the legion of devils within Him got a fuller view of who Christ was as He stood there in majesty, in calm, in serene and holiness. There was no fear in our Lord's eyes. He didn't see what He was used to seeing. And He must have thought there's something different about this man. And for that brief moment, it was the man, not the devils within him that prevailed. He bowed by the influence of the mysterious presence of God. Oh, there was a time that I, the mad, wild man, the devil that I was, came to my senses because God brought me to my senses, maybe just for a moment. And I saw my need and who it was that I needed. The Spirit of God was leading this man in the right direction. And for a few moments of right reasoning, he ran to Christ and he worshiped Him. Christ can save you. Christ can save you. He delights to do so. He's not willing that you should die in your sin. There's no devil in hell or out of hell who does not tremble at Christ's presence. Our only hope is that He might lay His cool hand on our fevered brow and put His Spirit into our poor withered hearts and cause us to live. So with that said, I'm going to give you the fourth thing, which is the hope for sinners. Is there hope for a sinner? Yes, there is. Turn your thoughts and in your Bible with me from the crazed demoniac to the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. Bear with me. Luke chapter 15 verse 14. You know the story of the prodigal son. He spent all that his father gave him on riotous living. Boy, that's what we've done. God gave us everything that we have, and we wasted away on riotous, simple living. That's you and me. And we, like him, we're eating the husk of this world. Now listen, I like corn on the cob. But I've never eaten just the cob. You'd have to be really hungry to do that, wouldn't you? This man was. And that's what he was eating. Verse 14, And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. Well, that was an unlucky occurrence, wasn't it? No, that's what God sent. And he began to be in want. Oh, that's a blessing. No, that's not a blessing. Yes, it is. For God to show you your need is a great blessing. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And what he would have feigned or fainted, had filled his belly with the husk of the swine, did eat, and no man gave unto him." Now listen, we've all spent all, Sent a mighty famine. Not a famine of bread. Not a famine of thirst of water. But a famine of what? Hearing the Word of God. Amos told us about that. We're still in that famine today. That famine of hearing God's true Word. We joined ourselves to this world. We loved this world for a time. And then we began to be in want. We began to have need. And like the prodigal, we would have fainted, and no man gave unto us. Man can't do anything for us. Man wouldn't if he could, and man couldn't if he would. And man wouldn't if he could. And then this man, it says, came to himself. He began to reason. How did he come to himself? He began to think about his father. He's sitting out there feeding them pigs and eating lunch with them. Eating the same thing they did. And he began to think about his Father. All those years that I didn't give my Heavenly Father a thought, and one day in my need, I began to think about the One who loved me and sent His beloved Son to die for me. Verse 17, and when He came to Himself, His thoughts went to his father and he said, how many hard servants of my father's house have bread enough to spare and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hard servants. Now listen, when and if God begins to deal with the sinner, when and if God begins to show them their need, when and if God allows them to see that they perish from hunger, when and if they see that they've sinned against their Father and are no longer worthy to be His child, they'll come home. They'll come home. They'll beg for forgiveness and they won't expect anything in return. They'll just simply ask for grace. Lord, I don't deserve the least of Your mercies, but would You have grace on me anyway? Isn't that the way You came? We don't ask for what we deserve. I don't want what I deserve. We ask for what we don't deserve. Now look at verse 20 and see your hope as a prodigal son. Verse 20, and he arose and he came to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, he was far off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. This is the only time we ever find God getting into a hurry. And that's in the saving of the sinner. When this rebellious son reached the top of the hill at the home place, now allow me this, I can just picture him seeing the home place there and he sees the trees that him and his brother used to play on. I remember we had a rope hanging from that tree and we swung on that rope, me and my brother did. He could see the home where he was raised, he could see the trees. And I'm sure that he recollected the exact spot in the yard where he left his father to begin with. He wondered how his father would react as he makes his way toward home. He wondered what his father would say. He knows that his father's heart must be broken. He didn't think he could bear his father's wrath. What if He doesn't accept me? What if He sends me away in anger? And all the way home, he had rehearsed these words over and over and over. I'm sure that he changed it several times to get it just right. No, I don't want to say that. I need to say this. And he said, Father, I have sinned. Oh, what a wretch I am. He knew he didn't resemble himself before he left. He looked much different now. He must have thought to himself, he'll hardly know me. He reasoned, I'm not sure that I can face him. He's about to talk himself into turning back. You know how we are. And yet, while he was afar off, afar off his father saw him. and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. In verse 21, the speech he rehearsed was, with every step home, he thought would fall on deaf ears. He recited his confession word for word. Verse 22, but, he said these words to his father. His father didn't respond to him. The father said to his servants, without even acknowledging all that the son confessed he had done. He said, bring forth the best robe and put it on him. Me? Him. And put a ring on his hand and put shoes on his feet. and bring hither the fatty calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He, this prodigal of mine, was lost and is found." And they began to be merry. I was thinking how quick a father's eye is to see his son who is ill. God sees with a compassionate eye. A loving father has a physician's eye. His father saw him and had compassion on his condition. A loving father has a physician's eye. Sight and compassion always go together when God sees his people in Christ. And then fifthly and lastly, We see the action of the sinner's father. God ran. He didn't run away. But He ran toward His children. He ran and He fell on His son's neck. When God stoops to fall on a sinner's neck, it's a wonderful condescension. For when He stooped, He showed compassion. He missed Him. Can you imagine a kiss from God when it's laid from the heart of God? For a burdened sinner, a kiss of forgiveness, a kiss of acceptance. You who are yet without Christ. Do you see that you are far off? Will you turn and run to the only one who can save you? If you do, He'll run to you too. And you'll more quickly meet. Why will you die? Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways. There's no better argument for a sinner's forgiveness and acceptance that the Lord's death cry from the cross delivers. It is finished. The work's done. The sinner is saved. The sin is forgiven and put away. And you are no longer far off. When the sinner runs to God, and God runs to the sinner, it's always a happy ending. Every single time. And what do we call it? We call it the gospel. We call it the good news for sinners. Because that's exactly what it is.