If you've been with us for a while, you will recall back in February, we looked at Luke chapter 4 and the temptation of Jesus Christ in the wilderness by Satan. And you may recall that after failing to get Jesus to sin, to bow down and worship him, Luke closes the account with these words, when the devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportunity not more opportune time. It looks like today that one of those opportune times has come because Jesus is going to come in great confrontation with a demon-possessed man, possessed not just by one demon, but a legion of demons. So they, after the context, the context here in Luke is they have just weathered this amazing storm. They have seen Jesus still the sea, still the wind, to rebuke the storm. They've made it through the other side. of Galilee. They're climbing out on the shore, and this demoniac man comes running up to them, yelling and screaming. These guys don't get a break. They've gone from the fire pan into the fire, and my hope is that you will be confident in the power of Christ, as you understand, as did the Demon's Legion, that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Most High God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we do turn to this scriptural passage that gives us a glimpse into the dark world, the dominion of Satan, the wickedness that comes from the fallen angels. And I pray, Lord God, that we would be like scripture. We would take the devils and sin and temptation and demons seriously, as seriously as you do. But we'd also be able to look to them as a defeated enemy, that we are more powerful than they because you, the son of the Most High God in the Spirit, live within us. And we bless you for the strength that comes in that knowledge. Teach us things from the great wisdom of the ages today, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please do turn to Luke chapter 8, and we are looking at verses 26 through 39 this morning. It's somewhat of a lengthy passage, so I'm going to just read as we go along the three component parts here. You're going to see, and you'll find this in your home group helps insert, you're going to see, we're going to look at the lunatic in verses 26 through 29, the legion in verses 30 through 35, and the lessons lost and learned in verses 36 through 39. So first of all, the lunatic. In chapter 8, verse 26, God says, Luke writes, Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, what have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many a time he had seized him and was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break free the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. Well, this is the stuff of horror films, isn't it? I mean, this is a dramatic scene, especially following the other dramatic scene that the apostles have just gone through. So they had this frightening account where they almost get killed by the storm, and then Jesus calms the storm, and they're more afraid of Jesus than they are of the uh of the storm and that kind of idea of that that kind of fear is going to come to us again but they've seen his power over creation and this is one of the reasons why Luke includes this account he you he wants to not just leave you there that he is the creator over creation he is also uh the one who has power over the forces of evil and of darkness to kind of set where they are here. They're going to the country of the garrisons. That is probably in the district of Hippo. It's one of the major cities of the Decapolis on the other side of Galilee. Hippo is actually, you can actually walk the streets of Hippo today. It's up on a great plateau over Galilee. It's likely that when Jesus talked about being a city set on a hill, he probably pointed to Hippo because it would radiate with the sunrise and the sunset so that all in Galilee could see this glowing city on a hill. It says here, when Jesus stepped down on land, he's met there from a man from the city who had demons. There just seems to be this instant kind of program here. They pull the boat up on the shore, and then this man comes running out. Now, one of the things we've seen throughout scripture is that the demonic activity was at an all-time high, probably not seen this since then, during the ministry of Jesus Christ. This is Satan's counter to the ministry of Jesus Christ. He is possessing people. He is sending out his spirits in to populate that land, to distract them, and to keep them from coming to faith. in Jesus Christ. So, you know, it makes you kind of wonder, though, given this setting, is this man sitting there waiting for people to come to shore so that he can sort of pounce on them? Now, we understand from the account in Matthew that there were two demon-possessed men, but both Mark and Luke seem to want to focus on the chief speaker here. So, the exhausted disciples, they kind of roll up. They're probably still wet from the storm at night. The only one who seemed to get any sleep that night was Jesus. So, they're exhausted and they come back up into the situation and they're met by this lunatic. Now, it's interesting that term lunatic was often used in days gone by. Matter of fact, you would have lunatic asylums all throughout England to help people who had mental disabilities. It's considered a now offensive term, and it really probably is an offensive term. There's a lot of terms that are considered offensive these days that we kind of ignore those who were offended in some ways. But this is probably one, I wouldn't call anybody a lunatic. But a lunatic would be, have a severe disordered state of mind, they behave wildly and foolishly and in an uncontrolled manner. So this man certainly fits that description. It's interesting the word lunatic comes from the word for moon, luna, because they thought the different phases of the moon would cause people to have mental episodes here. So this man's lunacy was actually spiritual. He is possessed by demons. Now that's important. Demons are real. Satan is real. He is a real person, okay, if you want to use that term. And we live in an age that actually doubts Satan, even though the evidence of him is everywhere. You can hardly look at the news without seeing the evidence of Satan. But we believe in one true God in Trinity. We ought to believe in one true devil with many, many demons. If you believe that, you're in something of minority. A recent Gallup poll says that around half of all the Americans do not believe in a personal devil. They don't believe in the devil. And the scary thing about that is about 20 years before, a third of the people didn't believe in the devil. So you're seeing an increase in number of people who are doubting the reality of the devil, but scripture tapes them very very seriously as we'll see. So for a long time this man wore no clothes. He had both a shame of nakedness, but also was exposed to the elements. If you ever camped in the desert, it gets cold at night, and this man is running around naked. in the tombs. And he said that he had not lived in a house, he lived in the tombs. Mark adds that he was constantly at night and day screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, which is just terrifying. It's terrifying. Can you imagine being a real estate agent representing that area? Tommy Davis is trying to sell a house in this area, you know. Please note the spacious two car garage. How about the shrubbery out front? They'll take some price off the top of the house here. I mean, this is just a nightmare, right? This guy's just out there. They don't know what to do with him. They've tried to bind him. They've tried to change him. He is out there. He's insane with demonic activity. And not just one demon, as we'll see, but many, many demons. David Gooding describes the madman in the gospel, an extreme example of what satanic forces can do with a human personality. that has come under their complete domination. Unlike the Holy Spirit who always sets man free, develops his personality and increases his self-control and dignity, satanic forces seem to strive to overpower a man's personality and ultimately to break down his self-control and to rob him of all self-respect. Now, y'all, that's important because the world doesn't take sin seriously. We should. Sin, sin is the game of the devil. It is the game of satanic forces. It always brings death. It always brings destruction. It ruins the moment. It ruins the life. It does whatever it does. If you could just see the demons that are tempting you, to go down the road of darkness, I think you would be so horrified you would pursue the light. So it's one of these things that we have to place ourselves in a position where we can understand the spiritual forces of wickedness and the heavenly places, as Paul says in Ephesians, when we are tempted. And I think that will help motivate us not to go down that road. to develop some self-control, to show some love, to pursue righteousness, to cultivate habits of purity in our lives. Otherwise, you've really fallen into the snare of the devil who hates you, who wants to ruin your witness. He wants to destroy your family. And we saw Jesus, He cries out and He falls down before Him. It's interesting, He actually takes a position of giving reference here. He falls down before Him. The devil has already lost the battle before conversation even starts here. He is compelled. He sees the Son of Man as a demon. He would recognize the eternal Son of Man. He sees the Son of Man coming down the beach. He runs down and falls down in defeat before Him, before anything else. happens. No human could tame him. No human could keep him bound. They put chains on him. He broke the chains, and yet Jesus Christ walks on that shore. Boom! He is completely subdued. He hates God. He hates the Son of God. He can't stand him, and yet he has no choice but to bow down and before him. He doesn't love God, but he recognizes that he is subject to the authority of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Now you imagine this scene. What is going through Peter's mind? What is going through Matthew's mind? What is going through James's mind as they see this demon coming down and bow down? before the Son of God. Paul would tell us later that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is their great antagonist and they know that they are in trouble. So he says with a loud voice, what do you have to do with me and you, Jesus? In other words, what's going on here? What's your business? You've come to come, you've come. He kind of knows Jesus has come to get him. Jesus had an appointment with this demon-possessed man. He came across the ocean at night in the storm to be able to be here at this moment. But he says here, Most High God, He is affirming the deity of Jesus Christ. You will never get better doctrine, better theology than from a demon. There's no confusion there. They know exactly who God is. They understand the Trinity. They understand how someone is saved. And yet, as James says, the demons believe and they shudder because it condemns them. They hate God. They want nothing to do with it, but they understand that He is the Son of the Most High. This is probably not the man's voice. This is either one or several of the demons speaking out at this time, just to add some more terror, some more nightmares there. And then... He says here, I beg you to not torment me. Isn't that interesting? He recognizes here's Jesus, even in his human form, is the one who brings judgment on the world. Matthew adds that you have not come to torment us before the time. That is, they fear Jesus is going to cast them into the bottomless pit where there are some other angels there and where all demons will go. at the end times. Jesus' half-brother Jude says this in June 6, "...the angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day." Revelation 20.10 says this, "...the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, and the beast and the false prophet were also, and they will be tormented day night forever and ever." Folks, that's what happens with people who are controlled by demons. That's what happens to people who sin is not forgiven. I mean, it's very sobering. It's very sobering. So we actually see it personified here in this demonic man. They're aware of God's eschatological timetable, and so they know it's too early. It's not the end time of man. Jesus is still on the earth here. In other words, are you changing the timeline here? We know that's going to happen one day, but are you changing the timeline? What do you have to do with me? What business do you have with each other? Why have you come? What's going on here?" They're just pleading for some information here. God showed up on the beach and is after them, and they don't know what to do about it. But he had commanded the unclean spirits to come out of him. So this ministry sparks this demonic activity. This man that must have been probably worshiping in pagan temples, perhaps was extremely immoral, kept skirting over the borders of hell and opened himself up for demonic activity. But it's interesting, this man who was terrifying, had to be chained because he was so violent. He wasn't after Jesus. Jesus was after him. Jesus was on the offensive. So we understand this background. Many times he's in chains and that kind of thing. He breaks these bonds. And no matter how much people tried to to chain him, only Jesus could actually free him. It's interesting. There's an illustration of this. There was a I think he's an Englishman, an Elliot Warburton. That's gotta be an Englishman. Elliot's Warburton, right? in 1857 was touring this area of the world, and he described a similar account of something that happened here. He wrote in his diary, on descending from the height of Lebanon, I found myself in a cemetery. The silence of the night was broken by fierce yells and howlings, which I discovered proceeded from a naked maniac who was fighting with some wild dogs for a bone. I bet he missed London at that point. The moment he perceived us, he left his canine companions and bounding along with rapid strides, seized my horse's bridle and almost forced him backwards over the cliff. That's scary stuff. That's scary stuff. I mean, you're going through this bad neighborhood. How do you lock the door on your horse, you know? Cyril of Alexanders, who was part of the council in Ephesus, who helped confirm the hypostatic union, described this situation. In great misery and nakedness, he wandered among the graves of the dead. He was in utter wretchedness, leading a disgraceful life, deprived of every blessing, destitute of all society, and entirely deprived even of reason. You really kind of feel sorry for this guy, right? I'm not sure how much the town folks felt sorry for him. Well, enough not to kill him, I guess. But it's really a pitiful situation. It's an extreme example, but folks, most of the world is part of the dominion of darkness. Most of the world, while they may not be demon-possessed, are heading in this same direction. Now we see here the legion, a further description of what's going on, verses 30 through 35. Jesus then asked him, what is your name? And he said, legion, for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of man and entered the pigs, and a herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it to the city and in the country. When people went out to see what had happened, they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at his feet, clothed, and in his right mind, they were afraid." You ever heard anybody say the Bible's boring? That ain't boring. That is high drama. That's good literature. I mean, were you there in your mind with this? You got this whole herd of pigs thing going on here? This is a fascinating story, witnessed by hundreds of people. So Jesus gets into a dialogue with this demon-possessed man. He says his name is Legion. Of course, a legion is a military designation of the Roman army. A legion consists of 6,000 soldiers. Now, whether they were 6,000 or not, we don't know, but at least it's hyperbole for a lot. Two dozen pigs died. Unless there's a herd mentality, maybe it was at least that many demons here. But legions also kind of talk about their warlight intentions. They were violent, violent, violent demons they wanted to destroy. They wanted to sow salt in the fields of their enemies. As one commentator says, this was an army of evil living inside of this man. They begged him not to commit them into the abyss here. Maybe they felt like they still had work to do. They had to keep this side of the late pagan worshipping idols. You know, the Apostle Paul says false worship is the worship of demons. And maybe they were trying to keep that active. They still had work to do. They didn't want to face the boss. And while they got cast out, what do they do? And then they kind of settle on this, this idea. They're kind of bargaining with the Lord, trying to get them to show some mercy, to maybe throw them into the pigs. And Jesus, it's interesting, Jesus, notice it says, so he gave them permission. Jesus is in complete control of this situation. You can have confidence in Jesus in this warfare between good and evil, light and darkness. He is in complete control of the situation. They have to ask permission for these things. He goes into this pigs and there's a lot of ink spilled on why the pigs. I think there's several reasons. One is it's stunning undeniable truth that this man is now fixed. These demons are gone. They've been cast out so that there could be some evidence here. That's interesting. You might think, I mean, you businessmen are kind of starting to calculate in your mind how much pig was wasted on those cliffs going into the ocean. That's one reason why you attend here at Christ Reformed Church. I have an answer for you. I preached this sermon several years ago when we're going through the book of Gospel of Mark. And we had we actually had a pig farmer who was a member of our church. So I called Steve Ellis. Steve, what's the value of 2000 pigs? Well, come to find out a pig in today's market. Now, of course, this is before the recent administration where food has doubled in price. But back then, it was $700 each for a pig. So do the math. Josiah Ricewig's already done it. $1,400,000 worth of pork just went flying off of that cliff. So people think, well, that's cruel to the pigs. Well, that's so valuable and everything. But isn't that typical of people? They're more concerned about the pigs than they are the poor demoniac that's been running around naked in the tombs and has nowhere to go. And this is the hypocrisy that we see in our nation. I actually looked up the Bald Eagle Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. 668-668D, enacted in 1940. If you take a bald eagle feather, it can be a $100,000 fine. And yet, we now have available at CVS and at Walgreens an abortion pill that you can get probably for free. So we protect a bald eagle feather with 100,000... I'm all for protecting bald eagles. Bald eagle feather for $100,000 and yet you can abort your baby. So when the culture starts complaining about Jesus and the pigs, we look to what happened and how this demoniac was freed. So the herdsmen saw this, they saw the whole encounter, they run to the town. I mean, everybody knew this guy. He was like local celebrity in a bad way, right? He was the Otis Campbell of Mayberry of this particular town. He was always in trouble, always creating issues and everything. They come back, the whole town comes out. They want to see this for themselves. There's all these bobbing pigs. I mean, it's just a crazy scene. And there's the man, calm in his right mind. And what's he doing? He's sitting at the feet of Jesus, calm and in his right mind. The demons are gone. This man's being converted. He's now a Christian. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come. That's true for every one of you. But boy, is it true with this man, no longer identified with Satan, but with Christ, no longer a son of hell, but a child of God. And like you, he's sitting at the feet of Jesus. Teach me. I submit to your authority. You are my Lord. I know what I know what it's like working for Satan. I want to devote my life to you." He's clothed and he's in his right mind. The work as every time Jesus does a healing is complete. This is the greatest transformation you actually see in all of Holy Scripture. And what's the people's response? this is great. Look at him. Look how good Bill looks, you know. Let's help him get back. Tell us about what happened here so that we can worship the Lord. That's not what happened, is it? They were afraid. They were terrified. In some ways, they were more frightened now than they were when this guy was running around having to be chained and screaming and that kind of thing. So you got here in this dramatic, maybe one of the most dramatic stories in all scripture, lessons lost and lessons learned in verses 36 through 39. And those who had seen it told them how the demon possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. And the man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with them. But Jesus sent him away saying, return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. What an end to this story. So basically they got this eyewitness accounts and everything and they're seeing this idea and you think, well, I mean, why wouldn't they get converted? Why wouldn't they get saved? Why? Well, because they're seized with great fear. Phobia is what they are experiencing. Why? Because Jesus is so good and Jesus is so holy. because sinful people before a holy God are terrified of the holy God. You know why they killed Jesus? Not because he was so bad. They didn't have any evidence of any sin he'd ever committed. They killed him because he was so good. You know why they persecute Christians? Not because you're so bad. It's because you're holy. You're associated with Christ. So you've got you've got this terrible situation here. where the whole town is missing this living sermon that's happening right there. J.C. Ryle, the Anglican bishop, says this, they cared nothing for Jesus but that their swine were drowned and their hope of gain was gone. They ignorantly regarded Jesus as the one who stood between them and their prophets, and they only wished to get rid of them. English poet John Axenholm said this in a line of poetry. Rabbi be gone, thy powers bring loss to us and ours. Our ways are not as thine. Thou lovest men, we swine. How sad. The economic loss made them lose their opportunity for eternal salvation. So they move away from him. They don't like him because he's holy. And what do they do? Well, they said leave. And Jesus left. Jesus left. In Revelation, chapter three, Jesus says, Behold, I stand at the door at knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him. And he with me, the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. Jesus is there. Old Testament scriptures tell us that for those who earnestly seek him, they will find God. He's there. He's there. But there's a time when he stops knocking. There's a limit to repentance. A lot of especially young people, they think, yeah, yeah, I can see the value of church and settling down and all this kind of stuff. But I'm not done sinning yet. They don't say it that way, but that's what they mean. I want to I want to sow some wild oats before I get settled down. You may never have that opportunity. Besides, that sin is actually making things worse and could even end up killing you. The time of salvation is today. The time of salvation is here. Don't be like these people and chase Jesus off because you are more concerned about the swine than you are your own soul. Then we see that's the lesson lost. Then we see the lesson learned here. The man begged. It's interesting here that the demons begged Jesus not to torment him. The people begged that he leave. And now this man is begging to go with him. And this is confusing to us, right? I mean, I mean, talk about your missionary opportunity here. OK, here's a guy that was demon possessed and he's part of the team now. Let's make him one of these apostles, right? But Jesus had a better plan. Ministry begins at home. He says, no, you stay here. You've got a testimony. That testimony will diminish the further away from you get from home. You stay here and you share the gospel. And he says he went away throughout the whole city and telling everybody what Jesus had done for him. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Isn't that part of our testimony? We're telling people what Jesus did for us. What a wonderful, wonderful thing it is. The people rejected him, this demon-possessed man who will never be considered that again, but a Christian gave him his entire life. James Montgomery Boyce of the 10th Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia said this, We may not be possessed by demons, literally, but we are possessed by an evil spirit of sin, that is, of our own evil natures. Our sin leads us to various acts of violence, as the demons did in the case of these poor men. It drives us from the company of other human beings. It is even right to say that we are dying people living among the dead people, for life apart from Jesus Christ is a graveyard. There is no natural hope of being saved unless Christ comes first. Mark adds at the end of his story, and everyone was amazed. I bet they were. What a precious account. So, We gotta keep thinking about our own situation. Scripture tells us we need to be honest about our fallen nature. Romans 8 says that we're hostile towards God. Ephesians 2 says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. 2 Corinthians says that the God of this world has blinded the minds of evil, blinded the minds of unbelievers. And yet, we can have power over Satan. We can have power over hell. We can have power over all of the demons in Jesus Christ. I think about how this story captures the point in Charles Wesley's famous hymn, And Can It Be That I Should Gain. I've been singing this hymn for 30 years, and I get choked up every time I come to this point, because I remember my days living in the fraternity house, living for the flesh, living for the weekend, living for Saturday night instead of Sunday morning. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I awoke, the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I arose, went forth and followed Thee. Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? If you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, you're on the side of the demoniac and all those demons. If you want to become a Christian today, come see me after the service of worship and let's talk about how you might be set free as well. Father, we do love you and we praise you for the truth of Holy Scripture, God, the account witnessed by myriads of people. And we will meet this man one day, a man saved in a radical way. Most of our testimonies are not as dramatic, praise God. And yet it is still no less a miracle that you would save any of us. We thank you for the light that comes, the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I pray that that light would shine and this church would be a lighthouse of this kind of hope in Christ's name. Amen.