My title this morning is just two words, Christ's compassion. What a subject to take this morning, the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ, His kindness, His mercy, His grace, which is undeserved to us. The Lord Jesus looked and found and saw many people and His heart was moved with compassion and he healed them and he helped them and he made their lives utterly, utterly different because they found him and they saw him. Our text this morning, if there is one, is verse 19. Go home to thy friends and tell them how great things The Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee. We're studying Mark's Gospel. We're going through it. We're looking to see the Lord Jesus Christ almost only. We're avoiding other things and we're focusing mostly on Christ. We're looking for insights. We're looking for his character. We're looking for his method. We're looking at the way he deals with situations and with people that he meets and we're asking questions. We shall ask two this morning, questions which arise from this passage which confuse and maybe they give us a particular insight into Christ this morning. Well, chapter 4, two weeks ago, we were looking at the wild sea. It's very easy to join chapter 4 and chapter 5. Chapter 4 is about the wild, uncontrollable, untamable sea. Chapter 5 is about a wild, uncontrollable, untamable man who was possessed Only Christ could control the sea and control the man. Only Christ could tame the sea and tame the man. These two narratives, they run almost into one. We see the power of Christ with two words, be still or peace still. And we see here in chapter 5, it's just a few words that the Lord Jesus needs in order to control this possessed, demon-possessed man. The Lord Jesus says in verse 8, we're not going to look at the whole narrative, we've done it a couple of years ago, but we just pick out the themes. Christ says in verse 8, come out of the man, thou unclean spirit." Notice in both these incidents, it's the Word of God that has power. Two words, and then just a handful of words. It wasn't the touch of the Lord Jesus in some physical way. It wasn't a magic spell. It wasn't a potion. The Lord Jesus did once put spit into dust, put it on the eyes of a man. But normally, nearly always, it was his word that had the power. This is not understood today. People think it's relationships. Well, that's important. They think it's music. Well, music can be a help, but the power is in the word. The power is in the word of God, the words of Christ. Two words, the storm stops. A few words, the man is clean. Just look at the difference that conversion makes to this man. Before, verse 2, it tells us, Unclean. Do you want to be called unclean? That's what they called the lepers when they got near from where they lived on the outskirts of the city and they came near looking for food, looking for help. Unclean, unclean. That's what Christ calls us if we're not yet forgiven. Unclean. Unclean. Possessed with a spirit. A spirit of the world. The spirit of demons. A filthy, unclean spirit. It affected this man's tongue. It affected his body. It affected what he said, what he did, where he lived. Just look at the man. Unclean. He was also unsettled. He was like the storm. He was unclothed, running around with nothing on. He'd ripped his clothes off. Unclean, unsettled, unclothed. He was homeless. His only home was in the tomb and in the hills. He was untamable, unholdable, uncontrollable. He was shouting. He was hurting himself and no doubt he'd already hurt others. They'd told him to go away, get out of our town. You can't live here. Day and night you're keeping us awake. What a picture. We may not be unclothed, but we are spiritually until we come to Christ. We are unsettled, looking, searching, striving for something. We'll never find it until we come to Christ. We're certainly unclean until we've been washed. We're homeless. We found no home for our soul. We may be uncontrollable. Parents, do you have a child, a teenager? Sometimes they're difficult to control their voice, their complaints. I won't do that. I'm not going to do that, not even if you tell me. Uncontrollable. Shouting out. hurting others, hurting yourself, doing things that will damage you. I know someone in this town, he calls several times a week and he's damaging himself, damaging his body with things that should not be. This week he shouted out vile things, I had to finish the conversation. What a picture! That's what this man was like. This is a picture of the human condition without Christ. You may not be living in the tombs, you may not burst chains, but this is the natural condition of men and women and children outside of Christ. His natural condition, but he comes. He comes out of the tomb, out of the hills, and he sees Jesus. He sees him afar off. Verse 6, but when he saw Jesus a long way away, he didn't have to be told who he was. There was something about Christ. He recognized. He knew this was right. He was right. This man could help him. and he worshipped him. Even the demons recognized this was the Son of God. The Pharisees wouldn't. The scribes wouldn't. The Sadducees wouldn't. The religious elite who had all of the Old Testament prophesying what Christ would be like. And yet a demon-possessed man probably from a Gentile district, because most were, where he came from, he knew Christ. He recognized him. Oh, this man is different. He calls him Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God. You see, that's what happens. When the natural man comes before the Word of God and the presence of God and the voice of God, we know this is high, this is glorious, this is the Son of the Most High God. I adore Thee. By God, please, I beg Thee, do not torment me. The word means torture. Don't come alongside me and examine me and then torture me, just like somebody on death row. They look at the papers, is this the right person? Has the electric chair been correctly allocated to this person? Don't come next to me, don't look at my papers, don't torture me. That's how the man felt. He felt like Isaiah in chapter 6, verse 5. Don't look it up. Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. That's how Isaiah felt. He was a prophet. He believed in God, how much more this man, I'm unclean, I'm undone, and mine eyes have seen the king. That's how this man felt. Do you know that's how we should feel? When you come before God's word and you come to Christ, you should feel undone, pulled apart, unclean, Because God looks at your heart, looks at your life and he sees everything. And it's as though he examines and tortures and torments you until that uncleanness is taken away. So that's the man, his natural condition. Look down to verse 15 before we come to these two questions. The man is healed, you know what happens. The demons are sent, not by Christ. People say, oh, how cruel. 2,000 pigs killed by Christ? No. It was the demons that asked if they could be sent into the herd. And Christ said, well, if that's what you want, you can go. But here's the man, verse 15. They come to Jesus. the pig farmers, and they see the man. He was sitting. He wasn't restless. He was clothed. Yes, Christ had clothed him. I don't know where the clothes came from. Perhaps it was a miracle. It's always a miracle when Christ clothes us with his righteousness, with the white shining garments of heaven, He was sitting, he was closed, and he was in his right mind. What a change! That's what conversion does, true conversion, not the phony, scam, nonsense conversion that goes about today. Just say a word, you can carry on living your life as you used to. You can do the same things, have the same friends. No, just carry on. Have a bit of God and all of your old life." No. He was sitting, closed, and in his right mind. This man was totally changed. The past had gone. His old home, his old way of living, the chains, His old food, scavenging. Now his mind is lucid, clear. He sees life as it is. He sees everything. And he sees Christ. And now he depends upon Christ. And he wants to be with Christ. There's two questions here that come up. And they're good questions and important ones. Why does Christ not allow the man to travel with him? You see, the man is healed so remarkably. They begin to tell Christ to leave. The people round about that have seen this man, they don't want Christ here, even though he's transformed this man's life. What a hatred for the gospel. Christ, go away. We don't want any of this healing. We don't want any of this transformation of life. We don't want your goodness. Leave. Leave our region. Verse 17. And then he comes to Christ as he's about to get into the boat. He that had been possessed with the devil and he prayed, the word means beg, he beseeched, please, please, can I come in the boat with you? Can I travel with you? Can I live life with you? Christ says no. What a reasonable question. What a good question. I want to be with you. I want to see what you do. I want to hear what you say. I want to go with you. Wherever you go, I will go. Christ says, no. I want you to stay here, just where you are. You could come with me, but I'm not going to let you. I have a different plan. It's a good question, it's a reasonable question, but Christ says no. Well, what's the answers? Why? Why does Christ say no? Well, there's lots of answers that have been given. The first is this, I want you to be with your own people. The people that know you and with your family, they're the ones that you are to live with and to stay with and to testify and witness, this is what Christ has done for me. Go back to your wife, go back to your children, they had to push you out. Go back to your neighbours, your family. I want you to stay. and live with them. They need to hear what you've got to say. Well, that's a good answer. That's true of us, isn't it? When the Lord saves us, he very often saves us firstly to live at home for Christ. It might be difficult. It might be very difficult. Every day, living with the ungodly, living with those who are against you. That's where Christ wants you to be. Don't come in the boat. Don't come with me. You go to your own people. I think that's a good answer. Secondly, He wanted the man and everybody else to know that the cure was complete. He didn't need to hold on to, physically, Christ. Some people do that. They want to have Christ always with them, physically. A cross round their neck, no, no, no. A picture, no, no, no. We can't depict Christ. We don't need him in a physical way. This man is cured. He's complete. All he needs is Christ's command, Christ's word, and his presence. Christ will be with him. Wherever he goes, Christ will be with him. Not physically, but spiritually. The man's cure is complete. His presence is promised. He was to stay there as well, because he was to be conclusive evidence. In this area to the east of Galilee, the southeast, near the river Jordan that comes south, there are ten cities, or at least there were, there's many more now, This area was full of Gentiles, mostly Syrians. If you look at the map today, you'll see Arabic languages on the map to name the places. The man lived in Gadara. There were ten cities in Decapolis on that eastern side. This man was to be a missionary. Christ had sent him to his home, and then he was to go through all the region. That's what it tells us here. In verse 20, began to publish, to broadcast, to proclaim, to gossip, to tell, to explain. This is what I was like. Look at me now. This is what Christ has done for my soul. He departed. and began to publish, not just in his town, but in the whole region, ten cities. That's where he would go. I'm sure that's the answer. But you know there's another explanation as well. You see many people today, the famous, even so-called celebrity preachers, a contradiction in terms, they like a following. Come with me. Come to my conventions. Travel around with me. One of the biggest prosperity gospel preachers who has three aeroplanes to travel the globe and he has a large entourage. He wants his followers with him. Christ doesn't need people physically in the boat. He sent this man to serve. And he sent him out. He sent him to serve willingly. And that's what the man does. He begins at home. He's the missionary to the Syrians, to the Gentiles in those ten cities. But there's a final answer. Every time somebody is saved, converted, changed, transformed, We're not saved to sit at home. We're saved to serve. Christ would have us go out. He would have us not just to say, but to do and to live and to act as he would want us to. You look at Christ's actions. They always matched his words. That's the definition of integrity. Words and actions adding up. Words plus actions equals integrity. And that's what this man did. It wasn't just his words, I want to be with you. But his actions followed. And I'll do exactly as you command. Well, that's the first question. Perhaps a bit more briefly. Secondly, Why did Christ, on this occasion, command him to go and tell his friends? Sometimes we're sent, sent into other parts, other countries. Missionaries are sent, pastors are sent, they're moved from one chapel to another. But the first commandment to this man is, go to your home. The man could have disobeyed, couldn't he? He could have said, no, I'll do what I want to do. Some people, the Lord Jesus Christ said to them, don't tell anybody. I'm working to a timetable. I've got to go to Calvary. It's still two, one years to go and I must come on that day that's been determined. I've got so many miracles to do. I've got so many parables to tell. I've got to speak to the authorities and until the hour comes. I don't want you to tell anyone. Sadly, some of the people couldn't help themselves. And they went and told as many people they could. But on this occasion, the first one we read in Mark, he says, don't go home and tell nobody, go home and tell everybody. The complete opposite. Well, I think the answer is this. He wasn't in that northern part of Galilee where the Jewish leaders, the Sadducees, Pharisees, were making life very difficult, the crowds were growing to an uncontrollable level, and he was concerned. He wanted to stick to the timetable. He had to stick to it. But on this occasion, in Gadara, in Decapolis, He wanted the gospel to go far and wide to the ten cities. And so he says to the man, go home. You see, as John Bunyan says, what God says is best, is best. Though all the men in the world are against it. Many people try to stop us doing what God would have us to do. But this man obeyed straight away, go home. Here's the words in verse 19, go home. The people that know you best must see the best of you. The people that know you best, they need to hear. You are the best missionary to go to them. If there's somebody here this morning, if you love Christ, there's nobody better. to testify to your children, to your wife, to your husband, to your unconverted grandparents, because they know, some of you, what you were like, and they know what you are now like every day. And so you're the best missionary to your home. Go home to thy friends. The word there is really relatives. and family. Go home to your family. And secondly, tell them. Broadcast. Tell them quietly. Tell them with illustrations. Tell them how you used to live. You put your head on the pillow in the tombs. You ran around like a madman. Tell them your scars, the damage that this world has caused you and you've caused yourself. Tell them. Show them. Then he says here, go home, tell your family, but what are you to tell? How great things. Is there anything greater in life? You want to tell them about your qualifications? Tell them about your day at work? Tell them about things that you've done and hobbies that you've got? No. Tell them about the great things the Lord has done for you. Is there anything better to talk about? You can't talk about it all the time. People will switch off. But tell them, this is what the Lord has done for me. I was down. I was downhearted. I had some bad news. I was told that I had an illness that was unto death. But the Lord has done good things for me. He gave me a verse that assured me my soul, my soul has eternal life. and death doesn't affect me. I'm going to be with my savior. Maybe you've had some bad news. You've got to isolate for 10 days. Oh, how painful. How inconvenient. 10 days that you can read the word of God more than you've ever read it before. 10 days that you can make plans for how you're going to live a better life for Christ. Tell them what the Lord's done for you in your life. Tell them your testimony when you're in the workplace, when there's an opportunity. Tell them how great things the Lord has done for thee. Tell them about his power to transform, his power to reach anyone. and everyone. Tell them of His authority. It was just words He spoke to me. I heard a verse in a service and it struck my soul. But the power of those words. Tell them about His holiness. Tell them that you were unclean. You had bad thoughts. You looked at bad things. You did bad things, but the Lord has cleansed your soul and he's now cleaning your life. Tell them about his mercy. Tell them about this change. It's not like a dog for Christmas. You get fed up with it. It's not like a present put in the cupboard. No, this is for life. This is permanent. It's transformational. But then look at this final word, our subject this morning. Tell them the Lord had compassion. Tell them that he'd been before, he'd spoken to you before, but you had rejected him again and again and again. Tell him you went to chapel for years and you sat there and your soul was dead. But Christ was compassionate. He waited. He came again and again. He gave you more opportunity. He came looking for life. He came and watered your soul, month after month. But then the leaves came, and the flowers came, and the fruit came, and your life began to be as it should have always been. Because Christ has had compassion on my soul. Isn't that what we should say? Isn't that what we should tell? Just like this man. Go home, tell my friends how great things the Lord has done for thee. And he's had compassion. I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve forgiveness, the number of people I hurt, the damage I caused, the offense, with my shouting out, with my insensitivity. The Lord had compassion on me. Day by day, he's cleaning my tongue. I try to say kind things now, sensitive things, thoughtful things. That's what the Lord has done for me. He's been gracious to my soul. Can we say that this morning? Can you say that? Is this true of you? How great things the Lord has done for me and has had compassion on me. Just one more thing before we close. Verse 20. There is no disobedience. There's no waiting. He departed and He began. He didn't waste any time. He began to publish, to broadcast, to proclaim, to announce. That's what that word means. It's the word for gospel. It's the word for evangelical. It's the word for broadcasting, spreading as far, as quickly as possible. How great things, Jesus. are done for him. Is there someone here this morning? You love the Lord in your heart. You know the Lord has changed your life. But up until this point, you've been disobedient. You've waited. You've gone back to your tomb. You've ate the scraps. You've not gone back. to where God had called you to go. Not this man. Obedient straight away. And it says at the end of verse 20, and all men did marvel. They saw, they heard. They heard the testimony. They saw his clothing. They saw his new life because he obeyed. Friends, this morning, I believe there are people here you haven't yet obeyed. In faith, you've not gone to where God wants you to be. And you're not living publicly as God wants you to live. And so people are not seeing because your light is hid. You're still in the tomb. Go to the city. broadcast, tell men everywhere what great things the Lord has done.