We're going to be reading in the 5th chapter. I've got quite a bit of cold, so everybody pray for us. This is a familiar passage of scripture. It's not overtold here in Mark, but in Matthew and Luke. and they came over into the other side of the sea, into 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, 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 broke 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 for stones. And when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee, my God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out, thou man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, this is Jesus now, what is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send him away out of the country. Now there were there nine in the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, and that we may enter into them. Before which Jesus gave them leave, and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down into the sea. There was about two thousand that were choked in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting in cloth 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. And they began to pray him, now listen, and they began to pray him to depart out of their coast. And when he was come up, and when he was coming to the ship, he had He that had been possessed with the devil prayed that he, prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but stood unto him. Go home and tell thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord has done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. He departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and all men did marvel. This is a very familiar passage of scripture. We've preached from this text. I don't know how many times since the Lord's called us to preach. It's always a message to the lost and what the Lord can do for you. We have it on our mind today and if the Lord will allow that us that are here, that are born again, do us well to reflect on what the Lord has brought us from. We find this place here that there's a man that was possessed with numerous amounts of devils. We know that he was in great turmoil. That his turmoil was such that when they were cast upon 2,000 swine, that it caused them to run violently in the water. You know, that goes to tell you how much pain one man can carry around in his heart. If you was to read the account in Luke, you'd find out that this man was naked. that he was unclothed and if you was to read in Matthew you'd find I'll show that he wasn't alone. But that he had a companion if you could call it that. That there was two there that dwelled in the tombs and I thought what an odd place to live. But you know, there's some people, and I would say all of us that are here today, that have been born again, that in our life that's a very befitting place in which we would dwell. What's there amongst the tombs? What's in a graveyard? It's nothing but the dead. We know that if you go, you can go to Lebanon. Lebanon's got a mighty big graveyard. You don't have to go that far. You can go right outside this church, and you'll see tombstones, and you'll see Simone's and you'll see Dickens. If you go to a graveyard that's got a lot of, or got any old graves, you might even find a piece of marble. that have no name inscribed, just a tombstone. And you look at that and you think, or at least I thought in my time that when you look at that, I thought, well look, they didn't even have enough money to have a name engraved. No doubt there was a name etched in that stone, maybe with another rock, maybe with some chalk or a rock scraped on there. I don't know, maybe they placed it there and then placed a name. A time is a wash that off and then you will see great monuments. If you go to 11 you can see great monuments there built. Great tombstones, not even tombstones, but what they call I forget what they call them, but they're actually placed inside of them, and you look at them and you can say, obviously this person had some money. Well, no. We know of people that have died. We know of people that are children of those that were extremely wealthy, and because their children was full of sin, They went off and they lived the life that their family was very ashamed of them. That their family was heartbroken and everything they tried to do for them, it just seemed as if that they just turned it to naught, just wasted it away. So when we see a fancy tombstone, or when we see a monument there in the graveyard, we can't just assume that that person buried there is a rich person. We know that they come from a family. I need y'all's prayers, we're going to get this preached out. I had enough wealth to be able to buy this. One thing can be said of them all is that they're dead. They might have a fancy tombstone, but they might not have it. I have a marquee dog. It might just be a little swag. I can take you to a marquee dog over in Wright County. I can breathe a little better now. I'm thankful prayer changes things, aren't you? I can take you to a cemetery down there in Brown County. And all you'll see is just a swag in the ground. I don't know who's there, but my Lord does. I think about what I've seen, and I was a lot like it. I ain't going to preach on them. I can preach on any one of us that's here. There ain't one of us that works like that old man. That was there. I've been tormented. in the graveyard. How many of us? Oh, it means a little kid or something. Oh, he'd go and he'd walk in the graveyard. Boy, it'd make your hair stand on your head. Oh, why, because of all the stories you heard about Hanks and whatnot. And it wouldn't take much to make your little The wind had been blowin' through the old trees. I can remember as a kid, I don't know why I was. Seemed like the only time that caused it to get so dark. Early in the wintertime. But sometimes I remember being around the graveyard in the dark. The leaves were off the trees. up to the sky and the shadows all around there and I'm thinking about all those people used to be alive and now they're dead and I just kind of get a shiver when I'm thinking about it. They tell me that if they had a chance that I'd have to run, as a little child would, because I didn't want to hear what the dead had to say. Now listen to me, what I'd like to tell you today, that there is no one there left to speak. Throw me out of your kennel, cause the old rich man, he ain't a slave to me. But what they tell their history will be the same as they told you. Don't go to the grave all alone. This man here, he dwelled in the tombs. But we find out he weren't all alone, was he? Because his name was Legion. Because there was many like him. I can't imagine living a life as he did. But that's just the way the devil is. He invades the devil and his demons. Oh, it's real. His children matter. But they're just bragging rights to the devil. Before we find a man there to dwell among the tombs. And the Bible said he was naked. Oh, man. What is our brain to pose? How do we know that he had a family? After Jesus told him, let it go and kill his family. What took place? How do we find the mania? How do we fall into turmoil? He's out of his mind, he's running amongst the hills, and he's thinking, he'll die of exposure. Let's go get him, let's try to close him, let's try to close him. Let's keep up, for just a little bit, so we don't hurt ourselves. Let's go get Legion, for he's my brother, he's my son. They go there, and they get in. I want to try to rebound, oh no. This was a job more for one. So go now, maybe, if you just see a picture today, say only he was my brother, and you're not hating him for what he's done to me. We've heard of children that beat their mama, beat their father, hurt their brothers. But because of that love, it ain't never family. I was able to experience that love. I'd be worried about my brother, and you might see me. I'd go on walking toward the old cemetery. You'd say, Daryl, what you going to do? Well, ain't you see my brother? He's running out on the hill, and he's naked. And I'm afraid he's going to die of exposure. You don't go out there. You know how he is. Well I know. I tried to get somebody to help me. But because of what he done last time, I can't find nobody. And you'd be there. Because of your love for me. You just feel that tugging. You do what it may. You might need a busted mouth or a broken nose, but because of your love of maybe what Legion used to be, or your love for his family, you'd find yourself, as it were, a monster of the multitude that went through the tubes, and you'd call out, don't you imagine, old Legionnaire, I don't know how much he's in his right mind, but he knew Jesus when he come, and you'd hear him go wailing away in them old tombs, running about as they were a deer, and maybe the father of the mother would call out and say, but I don't know what his name is. But the Bible said those that were tormenting him, his name was Legion. So we'll use that today. But you could use my name. We could use yours as they hollered out, Herbert, Herbert, Daryl, Daryl, whatever his name was, come here winners, come here. I've got it cold. Your mama's made for you. Won't you come? Oh, you're gonna die of exposure. Won't you come? Just come out. The tunes are a little bit hot, but there'll be no answer. So what'd you do? You'd go in there, and I guess you'd make. Maybe they come with torches at night. Maybe it was at the noonday sun. But they surrounded him, one get away, another get an arm, and they try to hold him down, as he was, and maybe as you've seen, somebody violent with rage, and it'll take five or six big old scout policemen to hold him down. They hold him down just long enough, that they could, and then they begin, They chained him down for his own good, no doubt. I wonder if there was some there that maybe even looked down, maybe leeched himself and said, if there is a God, I wish you could set me free from my torment. You know, the old agent, he had to work But he wasn't the only one, was he? Did that suffer? Did his family suffer? Maybe it was his son, I don't know. I don't know when he had that condition. If he even had any children. But I imagine, because of what took place, I believe in the power of prayer. You know, there's a lot of people, in the tomb, and the only friends they've got are the names on them tombstones. Maybe they'll call Joe, or Billy Joe, or maybe Daniel Duncan, or whomever else they find on that tombstone, and they talk to them, and that's the only friends they've got. That's the only friends I had when I was lost. It was a tombstone from the glory of God. Somebody left there a telephone, and he searched me out, and he told me about Jesus. I want to tell you, for whatever reason, I just couldn't. I just couldn't believe that I found myself tuggin' on them chains, just like this man we find here in the Bible. Oh, I don't know, maybe the mother, maybe the father's on. Well, we got him chained down there, see, it sounds like. I've read that before, and I thought, well, maybe it sounds like the people. I didn't care for him very much, but you know I imagined old E.J. there. He thought, well, they're trying to keep me all tied up. I can see him there tugging on his chains, looking at him. Probably had scars, didn't he not, around his wrists and his ankles from where he pulled. But the lie was said that he was able to break those spanners. This weren't a big ol' Hercules of a man, as much as it was. A man possessed of many devils to the point he just recklessly bent them and he pulled and he pulled. He cut his flesh and tore himself to get set free. Not understanding that his mom, that his daddy, that maybe a neighbor that had placed him there had done it for his own good. He turned him off and that old devil and them demons would come over him and say, the world, you are mine, I'm yours, and you're my possession, and then old Demons begin to beat that old man, from the inside out, they look at them close, maybe it's Mama, maybe, he said I ain't fit to raise, Demons begin to take them off, and run, They get shivered in the cold, but the ghost of what was inside him, he didn't think he was willing or worthy to even feel the warmth of the close one that loved him. That's where I was. Well, I'm glad. Because somebody during the struggles, holding me down, taking me to the altar. They looked up and they didn't say it was maybe the Gadarenes sitting there. But they said, Lord, I know you're real. Lord, I brought here my son and I placed him at an altar. God, I need your help to change this world. the clothes I made him won't give him warm. Then, over from the Sea of Galilee, there comes a ship. I can see it in my mind. I imagine it was a cloudy day. but set for this ray of sun. And my man, whom they call Lee John, was sittin' on the side of the hill amongst the tombs. And he seen somebody look pretty. Hadn't seen something look pretty in a long time. It was nothing but an old ship as the sun shined down through the clouds like a spotlight and it hit the old sail and he began to watch it. I don't know how clear his mind was or it seemed to him. of the old devils that were in him would come and go and he would begin to see everybody come up to that shore and there was somebody that left that ship and now that The day the sun was shining on the one coming up, and the man that dwelled amongst the tombs. The Bible said he didn't wait for Jesus to search him out, but he'd come. He'd come, the Bible said, to worship him and to fall down. Listen, aren't you glad? just for a minute about the demons that ruled this land were a baby and we finally came and it says he began to worship the lord man that night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying cutting himself with stones I don't know how or when his last episode was where he took those stones What's happening? Cutting sale. Maybe that's his wife. He shouldn't stop to wear any clothes. Helicopters and cutting sales. All they've done is stick to it. Nobody comes. Naked, the Bible says in Matthew. Look at the 8th chapter. What a sight, what a sight. I see one running from the tomb, naked, scars all over his body, hoping wounds will heal, coming what to do, to worship an almighty God, coming to fall at the feet of unanswered prayer, aren't you glad that somebody was praying for you, if you've been born again, I want to tell you right now, It was an answer to prayer. I don't care who y'all are. I pray for those that I've never met. I pray for those in this community. I pray for the children yet to be born. I'm telling you, God's paid more. praying people and God's people are a people that seek God answering prayers. So we see this one and he comes as the Bible says and it says when he seen Jesus far off he didn't wait but he ran and he ran Old scorn, feet, ankles, that once had feathers, but because of the torment of the devil, able to break free of them, but not able to break free from the demons. And he come to worship Jesus. But we find when he got there that the demons began to cry out and say, what shall I do with thee, Jesus? Now, Son of the Most High God, I adjure thee by God, that thou torment may not. This was a man that was very familiar with the supernatural, but unfortunately he never came in contact with God. This was a man, you didn't have to convince him that there was a life after death, because this was a man that dwelt amongst the tombs. This was a man that you had to convince that there was evil forces in this world because he knew them right in his heart. But this was a man that had never come in contact with a righteous, and a holy, and a just, and a pure, and a sweet God that my Jesus is. And he come and he began to worship Him, no doubt like he did when he first Maybe you are here. You know the world don't like to call it that. They want to call it a physical condition. They call it the addiction of alcoholism, a drug addict. They're addicted to sex, this or that. But it's a sin to everyone, and a demon to some. You know, I can think of that. As the man comes to Jesus, and he wants to worship him, and then he begins to say, Lord, maybe he begins to turn away. Oh, what would you have me to do with you, Lord? Don't hurt me! I opened myself up. I was a man full of questions, wandering, lonely. And I opened myself up to a demon. And he brought with him many more. Oh God, I know your God. For even the demons would have me shattered. Lord, what shall I do with you? What Jesus told him. Well, it's the same as He'll tell me and you. And He said, come out of this man, thou unpleased spirit. And He asked him, what is thy name? Jesus already knew it. He's wanting, He's calling your name today. It don't matter if you've come to church for six years. He wants to know your name. He already knows it. But he wants you to call out to him and say, Jesus, this is your child now. Lord, I come before you. I don't want to dwell in the tombs anymore. and see my open wounds. Hear me God. I don't know why I'm bent on self-destruction. But God, I need your help. Jesus will tell us just like he told this one, come out of this man. He'll tell us that when he saves us, better come out of this world. Why is it so many today who want the Lord, and they run to Him, and they've seen how far off, but they're content, after they've prayed their prayer, to turn around and go back to what they've been called home. Have you noticed that some would have a really, wouldn't it be nice, a man in this position, to find peace and to be set free from those many demons. If he could have just turned around. Don't you imagine that old tune when he dwelled in would feel a little bit warmer. Don't you imagine that the dark would feel a little bit less frightening. Don't you imagine that the loneliness would have felt a lot less lonely. But what was the desire of that man? Well, we know that the Lord granted those devils a request, and they went over into 2,000, hit a swine. Filthy, filthy, unclean animals, according to the mosaical law. And that, the torment, The agony, the pain, the anguish that this one man carried around was enough to cause 2,000 swine to kill themselves, to close in to the ocean. Well, the old swine herders, that's a special kind of person to be a swine herder. Pigs are hard to herd if you ever try. filthy job. But they come, and they told the people what took place, and people come running. What do you imagine they come running for? They wanted to find out. I'd imagine 2,000 swine, that was probably not owned by all one man. I don't know for certain, but I know over there even yet today, that there's men that run their sheep and their goats together, and they have a common herdsman. I'd say that this was probably the town's means of food. And they were coming to find out what on earth happened, and that they lost all this. And instead of rejoicing, that there was one that was on their shore, that was so great, that the one that they couldn't bind with chains, that they couldn't keep clothes on. And that ram cried and moaned in the tombs night and day, sitting there clothed at the feet of the man that saved him. And what did they do? The Bible says that they were afraid and they prayed for the Lord to depart out of their coast. man so great, and yet they turned him away. I don't know, maybe they had more than one herd. Maybe they got to thinking about, wait a minute, what about the guy that lives out there in the vineyards, plumbed out of his head? If he meets him, they'll tell him what all happened to our flock of chickens or our herd of sheep. And he was so afraid of what they might lose. And it's sad that they didn't value the soul of that one person. They counted him as 2,001 and greater than that one man. You know, you think about our lives. I heard about, this week, about a man. He was selling meth down there outside of Marsdale in Mesquite County. There was a man and his girlfriend coming. I guess during this drug exchange, this man, it never says how old his boy was, but his boy was tormenting this man that had come to buy some drugs. And the man said the man struck him. And I don't know if this was just like a heel biter of a child that was running around, just tormenting the man, or if this was an older boy. An older child, that's it, struck him. And the father of that child, man, it was nothing but a dope addict. Thought it was awful. Here he was selling drugs to the feller. Clothes off, this man would strike this child and shot him dead. And because this man's girlfriend was seen it, he shot her dead. Because he struck his child that most likely was a brat. Grown up in an environment like that. It's said that he cut the bodies up and fed it to the hogs. And the bone remains that he burnt and he dumped in a pond. Here we find in the Bible where they didn't value the soul of her. 2,000 swine. This man here killed two people and fed them to his hogs. I've needed help in the past. And if it was up to certain people, I wouldn't have received any. But there's never been a time when I dwelt in the tombs and that I didn't cry out to the Lord that he was there. I find it interesting that Jesus didn't go into them tombs, but he enabled this man to see him from afar off. The man wasn't intent on going back to the tombs, was he? When the people come, and they've seen what Jesus done, they became afraid. Have you ever met people, maybe our loved ones, when we were out in sin, We got shaved that the friends that we ran with, when they looked at us, they began to become uncomfortable. Why is that? Because they've told themselves all their life that there's nothing to salvation, there's nothing to Christianity, that you're either basically good or you're basically evil. And when they see one that dwells among the tombs, get saved. And they begin to feel that lump in their throat, and they begin to feel the Holy Spirit speaking to them and saying, I am real, and I can change your life. I can make you into a new creature, just like your friend. And in their fear, they turn their friend away, and they go the other way. What did this man ask to do? Did he say, Lord, would you have me go back to the tombs? For there's no one to witness to. All the dead that he used to speak to, of their time had passed, their opportunity had went by. But his desire was to follow Christ. But instead, Christ sent him to go to his family to tell them what took place. Has Jesus met you outside of the tombs Has He met you there, just at the threshold of the cemetery? Well, if He has, He has set us free from the bondage of that place, and we don't have to dwell there anymore. And He's gave us a job to do. So we would, He would have us to follow Him, and the closer that we can follow Him, the more we feel His presence. and others he sent us to go on a mission. What did he tell them to do? He said, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord has done for thee and has compassion on thee. Let us not forget the power of a testimony for what the Lord has done for us. I know we're a small church, and when it's asked if anyone has a testimony, I'm sure that if we was to take a poll, and let's just say, the question was, we're going to have a testimony beaten, who are the first two people going to testify? I bet you if you wrote it down, then almost all of us would get the same answer right. Because there's always, in any congregation, there's always someone in that congregation quick to stand up and testify of what the Lord has done for them or how much they love Him. It shouldn't be that way. Shouldn't every one of us have a testimony of what the Lord has done? You know, I can remember praying because You know, we realize things. Sometimes we see them, sometimes we don't. But I can remember praying, Lord, reveal to me how you're working in my life. And you know, He showed me. And that would be a reason to testify. You know, you can stand up and you can testify of what the Lord has done. And it seems like the more faithful we're at doing that, the more that He is instrumental in our lives. Let's get some song to sing. When men marvel, as the Bible says here, this man departed and he began to publish it in Decapolis, how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men did marvel. If you was to stand and give your testimony, would men marvel? If you was to be mute, If you was unable to talk, and people was looking at your life, would they marvel at it? I'm thankful that when the Lord meets us on an altar of prayer, that He still changes men's hearts, and that we no longer have to dwell in tombs, and I no longer have to tell people when they ask who my friends are, to remember the names written on tombstones, but that the Lord will give me a family that cares for me, loves me, but most importantly, that I have a Heavenly Father that hears my cries, that I have a Comforter that the Bible says that He will send to all of His children, living within my heart, so that instead of being tormented passions of sin and the demons in our life. We can be set free from them. And instead of feeling out of control, we can find peace. Oh, I am so thankful. You know, sometimes we just need to pray, Lord, bring to our mind, not that we would look back as one with his hands on the plow and look back longingly, but the Lord would give us a memory of how needy we were and what he's done. I can remember so many times when the temptations were so strong and I was all alone in the tombs. And all I could hear was the wind blowing through the, around the tombstones and the Oh, it was such an empty sound. And one more time, I was led away by Satan. And I'm thankful when I gave my heart to the Lord. And I no longer dwell in an empty graveyard. Because I dwell in the house of the Lord. And that I felt His presence. And that the Word of God is true when He says that He'll not give us more than we can bear. We can trust on that church. If you surrender to the Lord, if you've bowed your knees, and when the Lord asks you, what is your name? Do you notice the man didn't tell Jesus His name that His parents had given Him? But he basically confessed who he was. And that's what the Lord wants from us. To come before Him and to confess to Him who we are. So that He might reach down and tell us, yes, that's who you are. But I have a new name and a new life for you. Go ahead. You know, I couldn't understand. As we was preaching about that man and his friends, tried to bound him, bind him, No doubt tried to clothe Him. And when I was in sin, I couldn't understand why somebody would reach out and care so much for me. Until I met that Jesus. And He placed the love of God in my heart. And it provided me with much warmth than any coat could ever do on these shoulders of mine. I'm thankful that the Lord loved me enough that he walked around the tombs and called me out by name.