Certainly good to be back with you all. I know there are several out sick and certainly pray that everybody will get back to normal, whatever that means, very soon. You'll have to pardon me if I do a little bit of coughing and clearing my throat. I'm fighting some allergies too, so I apologize in advance. If you would, go ahead and turn to Mark chapter 5. Certainly praying for you all and I would cover your prayers for myself and my family as well. This text here in Mark chapter 5 sits kind of in the middle of several what people would describe as hopeless situations that, you know, the main difference in all of these situations is that Christ comes to town. Outside of that, it would seem to be a very hopeless situation, but Christ makes all the difference. And as we go through this passage today, we're going to kind of give a little bit of background before we really dive into what we're going to be looking at, the Gadarene demonic, the madman of the Gadarenes. But we're going to kind of build up to that here just for a few minutes. Leading up to Mark chapter five, we find there, especially if you just go back to chapter four, the disciples and Jesus were on a ship. We see that a tremendous storm comes and verse 38, and he said, and he was in the hinder part of the ship. So we have this, let's go back to verse 35. And the same day when the even was come, he saith unto them, let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him, even as he was in the ship, and there were also with them other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, and so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow." So can you imagine if you're in the middle of this storm on a boat, and I've never been on a a heavy storm on a boat before, but you've got to remember the circumstance here, who Jesus is with. Several of these guys are very seasoned fishermen, and so they're no strangers to storms on the sea, especially since this is how they earn their living. But Jesus here, with this storm whipping all around, and they're all afraid they're about to die, Jesus is the one in the bottom of the ship, in the hinder part of the ship, asleep. So, no matter how many miracles they had seen God perform and how they knew he was sovereign and seen him do so many miraculous things over and over and over, I think this is applicable to our lives as well. We know God is sovereign, yet we lack faith. These seasoned fishermen lack faith here in the midst of this storm, so they awake and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? What's the difference here? If Christ hadn't been on the boat, they probably would have perished. But there's a purpose in storms of life, and there's a purpose in the storm that Gadarene, demonic, had to deal with as well, because we're going to see that Christ is not just Lord of the deep here, and since they're on a boat and on a sea and dealing with the storm, he's also the lord over the demonic. He's also the lord over disease, because following that he deals with the woman with the disease, and then following that, someone's daughter who is dead, so he's the lord over death as well. So when we think about our situations, the storms or the loss or the difficulties we're facing, Christ is over all of it. He is supreme over absolutely all of it. Carest thou not that we perish. Makes me think of the song, of course, Christ arose in verse 39 and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, I love that, peace be still. That song I love to sing, peace be still and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Just like that, right? They were so fearful. They thought they were about to die. They thought this was it. It's over. And they eventually worked their way down to Christ, who's asleep. This just shows His sovereignty, but also just how He's just so in control of everything. And notice the question he asked him, why are you, verse 40, so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? My goodness, we should be asking ourselves that question repeatedly on a daily basis because I find myself lacking faith more often than I should. So in their minds, this was a very hopeless situation. But beyond this, after they get out of this situation, Christ went through this storm, got on this boat, endured this storm for a purpose. He's moving on to the next mission. Christ was constantly moving and working about his father's business. And so he purposely went through this storm, not only to show his sovereign power, which he most certainly did, he's about to do it yet again, going to the madman of the Gadarenes here. and show that he is Lord over not just the deep, but the demonic as well. He's master of all that we see all around us. So this brings us to our text here in Mark chapter five. And before we do that, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our heavenly father, we're so thankful for your goodness and your mercy and grace, how you bless us more than we deserve. And we thank you for that unspeakable gift of salvation. We thank you for your word. We thank you for this church that we have, where we can come and assemble together to open your word. We pray that you'll reveal to us the things you want us to know from it today, and that we will make you preeminent in this service, and that everything that's said and done will redound to your honor and glory. Of course, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. So this brings us to Mark chapter five. So they endure this storm here, and this brings us to verse number one of Mark five. And they came over unto the other side of the sea, unto the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit." Notice that it says immediately there met him. No rest for the weary, right? He was just on the bottom of the ship sleeping. It just shows his humanity side too because he was God in the flesh and he got tired. But here we see, go from one mission to the next, right? He's met with a man with an unclean spirit, and 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, neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones." We're going to consider three main thoughts today. The first thing we're going to look at, let's consider this man here who is demonically possessed. And the first thing that really jumps out as we read, especially verse 2, how it's described As a man with an unclean spirit, he is defiled, right? He is defiled with this unclean spirit. He's held fast in the grip of the devil. I've never seen someone demonically possessed, but I can't imagine it's a very pleasant scene to behold. This man, we're going to go as we go along, just see the descriptiveness of what he had to deal with. But at this particular moment, Satan is the master of his life. And from a human standpoint, he's in a hopeless situation. What's he going to do about it? Obviously, there's nothing he can do about it. What are the people around him able to do about it? As we just read, and we'll consider here more in just a moment, there was nothing they could do about it either. We're told he had an unclean spirit. We find out that he's not just home to one foul spirit, but he's possessed by a legion of demons. In verse number nine it says, and he asked him, what is thy name? It's Christ asking the demonic man. And he answered and saying, my name is Legion, for we are many. So we find that he's a house, a vessel of thousands. Now if you history buffs, his name's Legion here. If you look at a legion in the Roman army, that could be anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 men. So we have this man who is possessed by probably at minimum 2,000 demons. Can you imagine that for a moment? Not just one, probably at the minimum 2,000. For we are many. As I think about that, I don't want to jump too far ahead, but it just goes to reveal the depravity of man, that a man can house 2,000 demons. Fast forward just a little bit, we'll get there eventually. When the demons are cast out into the pigs, the pigs couldn't handle it. The pigs went and ran and drowned themselves. It just goes to show just the depths of depravity of man and how defiled men are. But that's the condition of the lost. That's the condition of every lost soul in this world. In Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3 it says, ìYou hath he quickened who are dead in trespasses and sins, when in times past you walked according to the course of this world.î Just as this demonic is walking according to what the devil has such a grasp on him, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, he is the personification of this right here. The verse 3 of Ephesians 2 says, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past. We were all in this boat, spiritually speaking. You may not have been possessed by a demon, but you certainly were lost in your trespasses and sins and defiled by sin and in need of a savior, just as this demonic man is in the grip of evil, in the grip of sin, and needs salvation. So it's a pitiful shape to be in, this defilement that he has, this depravity that he has. Notice again in verses 3 and 4, "...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 fetters broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him." So I guess two words kind of factor heavily into this man's world here. cemeteries and chains. He didn't dwell among the living. He didn't dwell in town. He dwelt in a cemetery around all of these tombs. And he was so bad and so depraved and had such wickedness in him that that even those on the outside would come and try to bind him and he would just rip those chains and those fetters and everything they tried to bind him with, rip it like it was just paper. Nothing to it whatsoever. What a horrible state to be in. A totally depraved state. And again, this shows God's sovereignty in election. Christ knew he had to go here for this man because this was one of his, right? And he knew he was the only one that could do that, and this was one that the Father had set aside for him to go and to save. And this man could not take the first step himself. He's completely sold under sin and under demonic possession. What first step could this man possibly take? So if someone says, you need to take the first step, you can't. We'll talk about the Holy Spirit here in just a little bit. But the Holy Spirit needs to get involved. Christ is the one that draws. Let's notice his helplessness. He was absolutely, completely out of control. I mean, they bound him. He ripped the chains. He was cutting himself and screaming and yelling. They tried everything they could do to try to hold him down or to help him. Of course, man always has their ways of trying to help. They'll have their hospitals and their pills. Men will turn to alcohol to try to solve all their problems. Men turn to all sorts of vices and solutions and sometimes doctors have a place, medication has a place. I'm not saying those things don't have a place. Those are treating symptoms. If sin is the real problem, if sin is the real problem, there's only one cure and that's Christ. This demonic, these people, these chains, sure they might be able to tie him down temporarily so he can't cut himself. And all of that, maybe try to gag him so the screams weren't so loud and painful, but symptoms, symptomatic. You may squash the symptoms temporarily, but the problem still remains. It's still there. These man-made devices just could not hold him. He's just trapped in this depravity. Let's go to John chapter 3. You know, man acts like he acts and does what he does because he's a sinner. Sometimes people, I pay attention to the news, I don't sit down and watch it on television, but I read enough to kind of keep up with things and it can depress you real quick, right? The depravity of man and the sinful things that are taking place and just when you think, well, it couldn't get much worse, the next news story hits, right? The depravity of man is on full display day in and day out, and people will say, what's the problem? They'll say, maybe there's not enough jails, or maybe there's not enough psychiatric hospitals, or whatever excuse they come up with. The problem is sin. The problem is sin. This is a sinful, fallen, broken world. And the problem is sin. Man acts like he acts and does what he does because he's a sinner and in darkness. In John chapter 3 verses 19 through 21, and this is the condemnation that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, and his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God." So man is in darkness, right? Man will choose sin over the Savior. You talk about free will? Man will choose sin over Christ, unless the Holy Spirit gets involved. In Romans chapter 3, we find a wonderful description. of the total depravity of man. Romans chapter 3, beginning in verse 9. What then are we better than they, knowing no eyes? For we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. Who's under sin? Everybody. All under sin. Verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. So if someone says there's a little good in everybody, scripture says otherwise. Verse 11, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Is this demon possessed man seeking God? No lost person is seeking God. We see here there's none that seeketh after God. God's the one that does the seeking. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of bitterness and cursing. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Well, let's just keep reading, but now, I like that, but now. The righteousness of God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. There's the answer. And to all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. No other name. under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. He is the answer for the world today. Let's go back to our text in Mark chapter 5. Let's notice the man's desperation in verse 5. And always, night and day, this was, can you imagine just constantly day and night, night and day, just no, no hope. Just constant torture? Night and day, he was in the mountains, in the tombs, inside of the tombs with bones, crying and cutting himself with stones. What a horrible scene that's painted here by Mark. Every day, It's just more and more and more pain and suffering. He has no way to free himself. And every day the torments just grow worse and worse and worse. Kind of like a man stuck in quicksand. He just keeps sinking down deeper and deeper day by day. If you're lost, that's your condition. You can't do anything about it yourself. You're just in this wretched state. but you need Jesus. We point you to the Lamb of God today. He is the antidote for the poison of sin. He's the only one that can remedy this situation. Let's consider the master. Verse six of Mark chapter five. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him. Amen? The answer came to town, right? The only one who could do anything about this situation. Now, everybody in this town was absolutely afraid and petrified of this guy. They would try to bind him and do all they could to control him. They would tell their kids, if you don't go near this guy, stay away from this guy, he's dangerous. He's bad. Everybody in the whole town was afraid of him. But as I mentioned, Christ, on purpose, faced a storm on a ship to get to this guy. Christ went to this man. While everyone was running in fear and terror, Christ came for this man. Christ didn't want to avoid this man. He made this trip just special for him. This man wasn't even a Jew. He was a Gentile, which makes this even more amazing, right? Jesus is having compassion on him, and thank God for his compassion, his love, his mercy that he shows us. We don't deserve it. This man didn't deserve it. But Christ is showing love and compassion We have a compassionate Savior. He loves us and gave himself for us. Sometimes, I'm afraid, maybe we look at people and think they're a lost cause. There's no way they could be one of God's children. They're too far gone. They're too far in sin and in darkness and love this darkness rather than light. There's just, there's no way. I think I mentioned maybe last time that, you know, folks thought the same thing of Saul of Tarsus. And guess what? On the road to Damascus, everything changed, right? He became the apostle Paul, a missionary, church planter, a mentor of preachers. Who would have thought that when he was consenting to Stephen's death and rounding up people for persecution? Who would have thought that? Many people thought he was too far gone, right? People could look at this guy and say oh, he's just there's there's no way no way Christ is sovereign He can heal the filthiest nastiest of sinners, and this is a wonderful picture of this here in Mark chapter 5 If you're here today, and you're saved it's because the Savior had compassion on you He loved you in spite of your sins and and showed you compassion and freed you from this bondage of sin. Hold your place here, but let's go to Romans chapter 5. Romans 5, we'll begin in verse 6. You know what? My eyes were drawn up to verse 5. I'll go back to verse 5. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. There's the moving of the Holy Spirit, a little precursor to where we're going here in just a few minutes. But notice verse 6. For when we were yet without strength, When we're in our sin, we have no strength. None. Zero. There's nothing we can do. No step we can take. Nothing we can do to accomplish our own salvation. When we were without strength, what are we supposed to do if we don't have any strength? Where are we supposed to go? Who are we supposed to turn to? Where's this demonic supposed to turn to? Let's continue reading verse six, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died for this demonic. He died for every child that the father has given him who was dead in trespasses and sins. He died for the ungodly. Verse seven, for scarcely for a righteous man would one die, yet for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us." There's more of this compassion. He's commending his love toward us. In that while we were yet sinners, even though we were disgusting, vile, lost sinners, Christ died for us. This is the gospel, right here. What's going to happen with this demonic? We know that he sees Christ here in verse 6 and he runs after him. Boy, he's going to the right spot. I can tell you that much. Jesus can take Saul of Tarsus and turn him into the Apostle Paul. He can take this demonic man and what we're going to find out, use him to share his testimony to others. You'll be amazed at what Christ can do in your life, how he can use you 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 since we're kind of close over there Wonderful verse 2nd Corinthians 5 Excuse me verse 17 Therefore if any man Be in Christ. He is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. So we find here, if any man is in Christ, if anyone is in Christ, we find he is a new creature. This term, new creature, signifies a radical change in the believer's life. There's going to be an outward showing of salvation. There'll be fruits, if you will, of salvation. This change, it's not just a turning over of a new leaf. I know sometimes people will say, I've turned over a new leaf. I'm not doing all the meanness that I did before. I even heard my grandfather say things like that when he was alive. He was an alcoholic. Usually as a dog returns to its own vomit, he would, not too long after that, go right back to it. Because there hadn't been a proper change in his heart yet. He hadn't been born again, as we're about to see here. He wasn't a new creature. Created by God through the Holy Spirit. The problem with just turning over a new leaf is the other side is still dead. The one side still may be partially green a little bit, but the other side, it's still the same leaf and it's still withering up. Turning over a new leaf, that's not going to do anything. You need Christ. This verse says old things are passed away. The believer's past life, characterized by sin and that separation from God, that's gone. Everything's been reconciled. Bought for, paid for. Old things are passed away. It doesn't mean you forget about your past. I think it's actually beneficial for us to remember where Christ pulled us from. I've done some stupid things in my life, and I can thank God He pulled me out of some very stupid decisions that I made, especially when I was younger. You don't forget your past, but your past no longer defines you. You're a child of God. act like it. The problem is sometimes we don't act like it. We get stuck back in some of those old things. That doesn't mean you're not saved, but we can backslide, right? We can not have that proper fellowship with God as we are supposed to have. This verse also says all things are become new. So this newness just encompasses the believer's life. It changes your desires, it changes your values, it changes your purpose completely. You're a new creature with new desires, new purpose, and new values. That's why I think we need to pray for our leaders that are in office because if they're saved, that's the most important thing. That would be the best way for their policies to be guided. The believer now lives with a new perspective and now in alignment with God's will and God's purpose and you're able to stand accepted in the Beloved. This demonic man needs Christ to be able to stand accepted in the Beloved. In John chapter 3, John chapter 3, excuse me, verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees, so you know he's going to be kind of hard-headed, right? A bit stubborn, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. He's God in the flesh, what you talking about? He's not just some great teacher, right? This is the Messiah. Verse 3, And Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? I love how Jesus is dealing with this. Your knowledge of scripture and your trying to fulfill the law yourself is not going to do it, right? You may be a Pharisee and all this, but Except a man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. So Nicodemus like a life you're old How in the world are you supposed to go back into your mother's womb and be born again? What am I what am I to do with this? He was missing it completely. This isn't a new physical birth This is a spiritual birth where you where you become a new creature Verse 5 Jesus answered verily verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. There is, verse six, that which is, I'll just go ahead and read, finish reading what needs to be read. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee ye must be born again. So this is a spiritual birth here, but notice At the very end of verse 7 we see the necessity of the new birth ye must Be born again If you're to see the kingdom of heaven you must be born again It's not optional It's imperative You can't do it on your own. Ye must be born again. A natural birth, we're born into sin. But a spiritual birth removes us from the guilt of that sin because Christ paid it all on the cross. This is a supernatural rebirth. But as this passage here in John chapter 3 points out, We see in verse 5, again, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit. Spirit. We need a gospel that teaches the moving of the Holy Spirit and God's sovereign in salvation. Jesus is clarifying here that the new birth is a work of the Holy Spirit and not human will. Born of the Spirit. It's not just a human decision. We must emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit. Ye must be born again. Let's go back to Mark 5. We just read verse six, but we'll read it again. But when he saw Jesus far off, he ran and worshiped him and cried with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with the Jesus thou son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, come out of the man thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, what is thy name? And he answered saying, my name is Legion for we are many. And he sought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. For there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him saying, send us into the swine that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirit went out and entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. They were about 2,000 and were choked in the sea. So we see the master's confrontation here with this demonic force. Notice these demonics, these demons that were being housed in this man, they bowed in subjection to the Lord of Lords. They knew exactly who he was. They have a working knowledge. of Christ and God and Scripture. How do you think that Satan is so good at coming up with his own doctrine of devils? He knows Scripture and he knows how he wants to make things contrary to Scripture to do that. You've got to know what Scripture says, right? But even as strong and as powerful as these demonic forces are, they come and they kneel down before Christ. because he's sovereign over all things. The devil's restrained. He can only go so far with Job. He could take everything that Job had, but he could not touch his life because he was being restrained by God. Same thing with these demons. Jesus confronts these demons. He orders their release there in verse 8 where he says, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. They acknowledge his authority there in verse number seven, and they beg him not to torment them, because they knew that he could do with them whatever he wanted to do. They beg him, don't send us out into the deep. They didn't want to be tortured. They didn't want to be, I think that was Luke 8 31. Let's go there. Luke chapter eight. Yeah, let's just look at verse 32. And Jesus asked him, saying, what is thy name? And he said, legion, because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep, a place where they would be tortured. They knew Christ could do whatever he wanted with them. And they asked him, just let us be, just cast us into this herd of swine. that was nearby. We see that in verses 11 and 12 where there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. So they besought him saying, send us into the swine that we may enter into them. And when they do, again as I mentioned, the swine just do not tolerate these spirits at all. So, you know, these 2,000 swine, after these demons are cast into them, we find that Jesus gave them leave and the unclean spirits went out, in verse 13, and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. They were about 2,000 and were choked in the sea. So we know at minimum there were 2,000 demons here. Maybe more, I don't know how many, maybe more than one went into some pigs, I don't know. But these pigs, 2,000 pigs, couldn't handle a demon. That just, again, shows the gravity of man, right? All of these demons, these pigs cannot handle these demons. But again, all spirits are subject to Jesus. They must have his permission to do the things they do. They knew that if he cast them out, they knew he could cast them out and they were begging him not to cast them into the deep. The fact that Christ is master of the demons, that gives us hope. I don't care what the devil tries to do. We have the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, sovereign over all things. Turn to Revelation 20. Revelation 20. We see Satan going to be bound a thousand years here because, I mean, he does whatever he can do. He's like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour. He's doing everything he possibly can do to hinder the furtherance of the gospel and to just torture and tempt and slow down God's people. He's doing everything that he can. But he can only do what God's allowed him to do we see here at verse 10 of Revelation 20 and the devil that deceived them Was cast into the lake of fire. I'm sure he was kicking and screaming and I'm sure he's doing whatever he can do But he is powerless against God. That's not gonna stop him from trying He's gonna fight claw kick scream do whatever he can while he can with the leash that he's been given and But ultimately, we have the victory. He's gonna be done away with. Let's finish reading. Let's cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. So we see that Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. Jesus is the victor. Notice back in our text, the master's command in verse 13. Gave them leave and they went out. Everything that everybody had tried up to this point failed. But Christ came and gave them leave and the unclean spirits went out. Just in one word. Didn't have to bind him with chains and fetters. Just one word from the master and he was set free. That's the glory of salvation. Just as we read and learned today, this morning about Lazarus, when Christ came and there were a bunch of tombs there. It was a cemetery. Christ came to town and said, Lazarus, come forth. That was for Lazarus that day. Now Christ could have said, come forth and every dead person in every grave in that cemetery could have come right on out of the grave and then brought right back to life. He's that powerful. He can do what he wants. That was for Lazarus that day. This right here, this is for this particular man here who's being tortured by these demons. Christ came for Lazarus. Christ came for this demonic possessed man. He comes for us, and at His command, and the moving of the Holy Spirit, we are set free. You can try your religious works, but they will not save you. They will fail. As it says in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, why? Why is it not of works? Lest any man should boast. Because if we had anything to do with our salvation whatsoever, we'd say, look what I did, and God wouldn't receive the glory. If this man that was possessed by these demons had anything to do with the removal of those demons, he would have said, look, I did it, I got rid of them myself. That's not how it worked. Christ did it for him. Let's notice the miracle, lastly, here. We've read in verse 14, they that fed the swine and told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that was done. So word's gonna spread quickly here. In verse 15, they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion, sitting in clothes and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed of the devil, and also concerning the swine." So we see that he was changed by Jesus. This man who was living in the graveyard, cutting himself, screaming in torment, Naked, unclothed, just a horrible situation. We find that he has been completely changed. He's no longer running around, cutting himself in such torture and agony. He's sitting with Jesus, fully clothed, and not screaming in his right mind. Jesus changed him, and now he's sitting beside Christ. That's how it works. You have this interaction with Christ and you're changed. This transaction takes place and you are changed. This man clothed them in verse 15, calmed them. Just what a contrast. And all the townspeople saw it and they were just absolutely amazed. And we see in verse 17, And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. They wanted Christ to leave. After what he just did? Isn't that amazing? The man who was demonically possessed is sitting with Jesus and everybody else wants him to leave. Verse 18, and when he was come to the ship, He that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. I want to go with you. The man who was in the cemetery, in the tombs, now wants to just, please let me go with you. I want to stay with you. You've changed my life. I've been born again. I want to stay with you. Christ has a job for him. 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 hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. As much as he wanted to go with Christ, and wouldn't it be nice if he'd just take us today? If we're still here on this earth, that's for a purpose. He's not done with us yet. We have something that we need to be doing. It would have been nice for him. He would have loved it, I'm sure, to have gone and traveled with Christ. But Christ said, no, I have a job for you to do. I need you to go and tell your friends and tell them how great things the Lord has done for thee and had compassion on you. Go tell others. That's what we're all commanded to do, right? When we're saved, that's our commandment. Individuals, we're to be lights. This church is to be a light in the communities where we are, the people we interact with. And notice verse 20, the obedience this man showed. And he departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and all men did marvel. I'd imagine that when he started to go back to tell his friends, because he was commanded to go to his friends, they were probably like, whoa, no, here he comes, everybody hide, right? He wasn't the same man as he was before. He had a story to tell. He had a gospel to share. And we see that he went to Decapolis, which means the ten cities, and preached the gospel to everybody that would listen. What a difference from where he was just a few verses ago, in this cemetery, filled with demons, cutting himself and screaming in agony. But that change has been made, and in Mark chapter 16, we're all commissioned to go. And I believe that this commission was given not just to the disciples here, because if it were just given to the disciples, this commission would have died when the disciples had died. This was given to the church. Christ gave the church the authority to go out and share the gospel. Verse 15, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. So who can baptize? The church. Who sends out missionaries who has the authority to do these things? The local church. This is what, that's who this commission was given to here. He that believeth not shall be damned, and these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues, and they shall take up serpents. And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So we see just the commission given here to the church. That commission stands today. We have a job. At King's Edition Baptist Church, if you go, and as you're walking out the door, there's a sign that's been there as long as I can remember. It says, you are now entering the mission field. I mean, we may not all be missionaries in some foreign land, or a jungle somewhere, or a desert somewhere. We can be missionaries where we are. We're to be missionaries where we are. This man, he was told to go. And boy, did he ever have a story to tell. That's what Christ can do. Help the absolute hopeless. He is our hope. He is our life. And praise God. He has mercy on us.