Mark 5

… We would like to read tonight from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 5. I start reading with verse 1. And they came over unto 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. 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. But 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 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 besought him much, that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there, nigh unto the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us not into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. They were about two thousand, and 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 and closed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit 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. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men did marvel. And then we go on reading verse 25. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things with many physicians, that spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude songing thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy face has made thee whole. Go in peace, and behold of thy plague. All those who have been in this hall before will find out tonight, I hope, that even if the speaker is from another country, the message is the same we have always heard in this hall, the good old story of the cross of Jesus, and what he did for the salvation of men. The two words I'm mainly speaking about tonight are the words liberty and security. Two words which you will often find people talking about in the different spheres of society, politicians, philosophers, all kinds of people are talking about liberty and security. Everybody wants to have liberty and security. Talking about liberty first of all, the opposite of liberty is bondage. And that what we find in this man, we've read about in the Gospel of Mark, this man in the country of the gatherings where the Lord Jesus came. He found this one man there who had an unclean spirit, which shows us that he was under the bondage of Satan. Satan is there who keeps everybody who is still a sinner under his bondage. If we realize this, if we accept it or not, it is a fact which is shown us in the Bible more often. In John's Gospel, chapter 10, the Lord Jesus says in John 10, verse 10, The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. That's what Satan does. He gives anything, he takes everything and he puts people in bondage and he destroys. And here we find this poor man. And we are going to look at some of the features we find in his life. First of all, it says that this man had his dwelling among the tombs, the graveyards, these places where the dead are. This shows us that's the end where such a way will end. If you go on your way under the bondage of Satan, don't know anything about the true liberty you can find in the Lord Jesus, you are living in this way of the tomb. In the Old Testament, it says in the book of Proverbs, where this way will end. In Proverbs 21, you could read in verse 16, The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. There will this way end. But today there is still the possibility to get true liberty, to be freed by the Lord Jesus. No man could bind him. There have been many efforts to bind sin, to control it, but there is no possibility of doing this. Every effort was in vain. All the fetters and chains with which they had bound him had been plucked asunder and the fetters broken in pieces. It's absolutely hopeless trying to bind sin under bondage of Satan, to control it. And neither could any man tame him. Oh, how many efforts man has made to tame sin so that it is not to be seen in such a violent face. Culture, religion, theology, the law, all these kind of things have been tried to tame man. Perhaps for a time everything looks quite good and all right, but sooner or later sin will come to the surface again. It's absolutely hopeless trying to tame this man, to tame somebody under the bondage of Satan. And night and day he was in the tombs crying. Also some of the features of Satan, that he's always crying, making some kind of noise around. If you know a little bit about the background of modern music, you will find that there is a lot of satanic origin behind this, and all this crying, and all this noise, which some people consider to be music. This is something where Satan is behind. If you really take a deeper look, he tries to make people crying around, shouting, and doing all kinds of unsensible things. And this man was cutting himself with stones. This reminds me of a verb in Proverbs again, in Proverbs chapter 8, verse 36, where it says, but he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. Or as it could be translated, but he that sinneth against me doeth violence to his own soul. Of course, sin is always a sin against God, it's also doing violence to his own soul. He cut himself with stones, those people who are still under the bondage of sin. In the effect you will be doing violence to yourself, you will be hurting yourself in the long run. And this was the case with this man. We find some more features about him in the other gospels, in Matthew 8, it says about this man, in verse 28, so that no man might pass by that way. He was not only doing violence to himself, cutting himself with stones, but he was also a danger for others. No man could pass by that way. So Satan is also trying through sin and through the sinner to hurt other people, to bring other people into the same sphere of things, so that they also come under all the terrible influence of sin, of the bondage of sin. And Luke's gospel mentions another item, Luke 8, verse 27, it says about this man, he wear no clothes, he was living in the tombs, he wear no clothes. It's always been Satan's desire, since God has closed man, after sin came into this world, to revert this. And the moral standards in our society today, are just inspired by Satan, to do all the kind of things, which the word of God forbids, they are more or less accepted in our society, and we see how much Satan has people under his bondage. But this man, he came far off, he ran to Jesus, and then when we see this man, in the presence of the Lord Jesus, we find that sometimes, this poor soul is speaking, and sometimes these demons are speaking, which have possessed him. And first of all, we find that these demons say to him, what am I to do with thee Jesus, thou son of the most high God, I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. And if we turn to the other gospels in Luke 8, they say in verse 31, and they besought him that he would not commend them, to go out into the deep, and in Matthew's gospel it says, before the time. Oh then you, Satan knows that there is somebody who is stronger than he, there is somebody who has, brought the victory over him at the cross of Calvary. Satan is a defeated enemy, and he knows exactly that, what his future will be. In the book of Revelation, in chapter 20, you find what will happen to this enemy of the soul, and the enemy of the Lord Jesus. What it says in Revelation 20, and I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Here we find these four names of Satan, he's called the dragon, the destroyer, he's called the old serpent, the deceiver, he's called the devil, the accuser, and Satan, the opposer, but he will be bound, when his time has come, and his end will be in the lake of fire. But here, this was before the time, until these demons, who exactly knew what was going to happen to them, they asked the Lord Jesus, not to send them into this bottomless pit, before the time has come. In this passage we have read about this man, there are three people, groups of people, asking a question to the Lord Jesus, and two times, the Lord Jesus says yes, and one time he says no. This was the first question, they asked him, that they should not be sent into these deep, but should be sent into the swine. And the Lord Jesus says yes, he told these demons to leave the man, so that he was really free from all this bondage of the demons, and they went into the swine, and the swine went into the water, and were choked in the sea. Why did he say yes to this demand of the swine? Because the time has not come, that they should be all bound with chains. This was still future. But then, we see, that the people of the city, the owners of all these swine, that they came, to the Lord Jesus, because they had heard about this thing that happened, and when they came they found this man, and they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting and closed in his right mind. Oh they see a change in this man, he was sitting, Luke's Gospel says he was sitting, at the feet of Jesus. No longer in the tombs, this dark dreary place, but now he was sitting, at the feet of Jesus. He was true, liberal, true liberty, he was free of all this bondage now, he was sitting, quiet, peaceful, at the feet of Jesus. He was closed, no longer as before, running around, in the tombs, and having no clothes on. These clothes which speak of his testimony, he had around in this world, and in his right mind, or sensible, soberly, as this word is translated in other scriptures. Apostle Paul, writing to Titus, tells us that the grace of God, teaches us, among other things, to live soberly, and this man was sitting in his right mind. What he had done before, cutting himself with stones, and other things, was quite insensible, but now, he had this sound right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus. What a wonderful thing it was, to see that a man, who was so heavily under the bondage of Satan, was now free. How many people are there, who still are under the bondage of Satan, one way or another, and they think, there is no way, I can come free of this, or there is one way, you could come to the Lord Jesus. He has brought the victory over Satan, at the cross of Calvary, and he is going to accept everybody, who comes to him, with his sins, telling him all his sins, telling him everything, you have done, then he will accept this, he will be accepted as one of his sheep, he will take you in, trust in the Lord Jesus, we have sung in our hymns, it's the only thing you have to do, coming to him, trusting him, and confessing your sins, and accepting that he, who died on the cross of Calvary, the Lord Jesus, died for you, that he died in your stead, and that he was the victor over Satan, because that you could be free, from all the bondage of Satan. But these people, from the cities, they come, seeing the Lord Jesus, seeing the man sitting there, or we might say, they should be happy, that this man, who was so insensible, so wild, and such a danger, for everybody who was coming along, that they were happy to see him, and the change in his life, but no, they had a great material loss, they lost all their swine, and this was much more important, for them, and what happened with this man. And so, we read the second question, the second question, that is asked to the Lord Jesus, and they began to pray him, to depart out of their coasts. The answer of the Lord, you find in Luke's Gospel, Luke 8 verse 37, where it says, And he went up into the ship, and returned back again. If somebody, today in the day of grace, somebody says, no, I don't want to have anything to do, with the Lord Jesus, and sends him away, the Lord may go. It's all voluntary. You must come to the Lord Jesus, out of your own will. He's not forcing himself on you. If you send him away, he may go. In his grace, he will touch your heart, more than once. But you can send him away, today, and he will go. But then, a time will come, when the Lord Jesus, will say to you, I've never known you, and he will send you away, into the utter darkness. I hope that nobody is going this way. But you accept the Lord Jesus now, while he is still there, while he is still offering himself to you, while he is still offering you grace. May nothing, not even material possessions, wealth, prosperity, or whatever it might be, hinder you, in coming to the Lord Jesus. These people, in this country of the gatherings, they sent him away. And the Lord Jesus said, that he would go. And then, when he went to the ship, to leave the country, there comes this man, who had been possessed with the devil, who was now free, from the bondage of sin. And he prayed to him, that he might be with him. What a wonderful desire, he had to be with his Lord. But now, the Lord Jesus says no. The only desire, which was rejected by the Lord Jesus, he said, no, you're not going to come with me. Why not? Because, the Lord wanted him, to be a testimony of grace, so that others might learn, what he had experienced. That there was this change in his life, from a man, under the bondage of Satan, to somebody, who was now a follower, of the Lord Jesus. He said to him, howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things, the Lord has done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. He said to him, go home to thy friends, to thine own people, and tell them, how much the Lord has done for thee. Perhaps he could say, well, but I'm not a preacher of the gospel. But the Lord didn't tell him, to preach the gospel. He told him, just to tell other people, what the Lord has done for thee, and that he has had compassion on thee. Just telling simply, in a simple word of testimony, what he had experienced with the Lord. And where, should he start? With his own people. Go home to thy own people, thy family, thy parents, and brothers and sisters, children, or whatever. Go and tell them about it. If you are newly converted, if you are saved, your testimony begins, in your own circle, with your own family, with your own people. Telling them, oh, they will observe the change, taking place in your life, as the first, of course. And they might wonder, why there is this change? Why this man, out of the tombs, is now coming back home again? Why is this change? And he could give them, a testimony, and say, well, it was the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus, made me free, from all the bondage, of Satan. But, if we then, find what this man did, in Luke 8, we read, in verse, in verse 39, return to thine own house, and show how great things, God has done unto thee. And he went his way, and published, throughout the whole city, how great things, Jesus had done for him. Well, he had started, in his own family, but then he, was telling, in the whole city, what Jesus had done for thee. The circle has widened, not only his own family, now he told it, to the whole city, and here, in our gospel, in Mark, it says, he began, to publish it, in Decapolis, which is a region, of ten cities. So, he not only, told this good news, what had happened in his life, in Port Seton, but only, in the whole of East Lothian, going further around, to other cities, neighboring cities, spreading this good news, what happened to him. The Lord had only told him, to go to his own family, but there was this desire, in his heart, that others should know, what had happened to him, should see the change, in his life. And he went, and published it, in Decapolis, should see the change, in his life, and should learn, about the man, who had saved him, the Lord Jesus. How good it is, when we simply start, telling other people, what the Lord has done for us. It's not everybody's task, to preach the gospel, but everybody can be, a simple testimony, to his family. That's where it starts. Next, perhaps, to your neighbors, your colleagues, those at school, and then, further on to others, the Lord brings, along your way, telling them, what the Lord has done, for you. And now, we might, spend a few minutes, looking at the second incident, connected with the subject, of security, safety, for the joy, of our souls. There was this woman, this certain woman, that had, which had an issue, of blood, twelve years. All these illnesses, you find in the Bible, if it is a leper, a blind, a lame, or whatever it is, it's a picture, of sin, in, under different, conditions, and conditions, and conditions, under different, views. And here, this woman, with the issue of blood, shows us the sinner, as a man, a woman, who is unclean. According to the law, such a person, was unclean, in the eyes of God. What had she done? Oh, she had gone, to many physicians, to find help, for her poor, miserable state. She had gone, to many physicians. How many people, today, are going, to many physicians? I'm not talking, about the medical profession, of course, but about, those people, who try, to show you, what you should do, in all your miserable state. And in our western societies, how many, things, are there available? Eastern religions, new age movements, esoteric, and occult things, they are all trying, to offer you an answer, to, the desire, of your soul. But, what you will experience, is exactly the same, what you will, what we find, with this woman. She, suffered, many things, of these physicians, and, it was not better, but rather, grew worse. You will suffer a lot, and the situation, will not get better any, but it will, grow worse. And, another thing, she spent all, that she had. All these people, they, want to have, your money, they let you pay, for all their treatments, they offer you, and the gospel, of the Lord Jesus, is absolutely free. There's not a penny, to pay for it. Once, there was a local, exhibition, in our town, and we had a, bible and book, stall there, distributing tracts, and brochures, and just opposite, there was, a stall, where they sold drinks, beer especially, and then, a gentleman came, and said to me, well, if you would be selling, this kind of stuff, you would have more customers. I said, oh sir, we are selling nothing. What we are offering, is absolutely free. Oh, he said, why? Oh, I said, because he couldn't pay for it. The grace of God, is absolutely free. Not because it is cheap, but because nobody, could pay for it. But the Lord Jesus, paid for it. He paid, the high price, of the cross of Calvary. The price that had to be paid, on the cross, he paid it. And so, the gospel is absolutely free, to everybody. There's nothing, you've got to pay for it. And this woman, in her miserable state, we read, when she heard, when she had heard, of Jesus. This reminds all of us, in this hall, who are Christians, this is our responsibility, that people, hear, about the Lord Jesus. How should, she have come to him, if she had not heard of him. But, this woman had heard, of the Lord Jesus. And, everybody in this hall, has heard, of the Lord Jesus. How wonderful it is, that the message, of the Lord Jesus, is still, proclaimed today. And I'm sure, it is right, what a brother, before we came to this hall, said in a prayer, that this time of grace, is closing fast. This opportunity, is not offered, before very long. But today, God is still offering, free grace, for everybody who would like, to come to him. And this woman, she had this simple faith, in the Lord Jesus, which we have sung about, in our hymns. She came to him, touched his garment, and said, if I may touch, but his clothes, I shall behold. She put all her trust, and all her faith, in the Lord Jesus. He is the one, who can help me. So I trust on him, I come to him. And that's what she did. And it says, straightway, the fountain of her blood, was dried up. And she felt in her body, that she was healed, of that plague. Yes, if somebody puts his trust, in the Lord Jesus, then he will not be disappointed. She said, he alone can help me. I come to him, and touch his garment. Trust in him. And what happened? Exactly what she had believed. She was healed. She felt in her body, that she was healed, of that plague. What a wonderful story, that this woman, who had, for 12 years, this miserable state, but now, she trusted in the Lord Jesus, and she was saved. But this, is not the end of the story. Because we will read now, Jesus, immediately knowing in himself, the virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, who touched my clothes? Well, the disciple said, well, there are so many people here, thronging thee, somebody might have touched you. Everybody who has been in a crowd of people, can easily understand the disciples. Because, if you are in a lot of people, among a lot of people, somebody will touch you, here and there. But, the Lord Jesus said, no, I have known, that virtue has gone out of me. And he wants to see her, and he says, and he looked round about, to see her, that had done this thing. In the Gospel of Mark, we read five times, that the Lord Jesus looked round about. And this is one of them, he looked round about, to see this woman, who had done this thing. Why? Why does he want to see her? Was it so important? She was healed already. Couldn't she have gone away, after she had been healed, by touching the garment of the Lord Jesus? Well, just let's imagine, she had gone away, after verse 29. She had gone away, after she had been healed, and the rest of the story, wouldn't be there. What would be the basis, of the security, of her salvation, and the joy of her salvation? It would have been, she felt in her body, that she would heal, of that plague. Her own feelings, her own experiences, were all she would have had. And we know, how it is, when we simply are based, on our own feelings. One day, she felt joyous, and happy about her salvation. The next day, she might be very miserable, and thinking, well I don't know, if I'm really saved. Perhaps the neighbors come, and say to her, well you don't know, perhaps this plague, is coming back again. And she would, all her life, have been in a very miserable state. And how many believers, are there, who have trusted the Lord Jesus, but have never had, a sure foundation, for their salvation. Because they always, trust only, on their experiences, on their feelings, their emotions, and so the Lord Jesus, wants to see her. Because now, when he based her salvation, and the security, of her salvation, and the joy, on his words. And this is the real, only basis. It says, that he looked for her, and then, but the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him, all the truth. What a wonderful sentence. She told him, all the truth. I hope that everybody in this hall, has come to such an experience, with the Lord Jesus. To tell him all the truth. To open your heart before him, and tell him everything, that's in your heart. And that's what she did. And then he said unto her, daughter, as far as I know, the only time, the Lord Jesus uses this word, daughter, which in her heart, she might have this joy, of knowing he's speaking to me. He says, daughter, there's a relationship. And then he says, thy face has made thee whole, go in peace, and behold of thy plague. Now she had a sure foundation. The word of God. If now, somebody came and said, well you never know, if this plague is not going to come, again, then she would say, well, the Lord Jesus has said to me, go in peace, and behold of thy plague. He has said so. It's in his words. And that's the basis. And this is so important, to have this sure basis, in the word of God. And just let me mention, at the end, I think this is a very important matter, especially, for children brought up, amongst Christian families. Who are saved at a very early age. How good it is, if the children of the saints, get saved at an early age. Why are they saved? Because they have such a deep impression, of what sin is? Surely not. This will happen later in their life. While their fathers and mothers, and Sunday school teachers, have told them, you must come to the Lord Jesus, you must tell him all your sins, otherwise, when the Lord Jesus comes, your parents, and all the others, will go to heaven, to the Lord Jesus, and you will be still left here. And perhaps, it happened to some of them, as it happened to me. You came home, and your parents were not there, nobody was at home. And you said, now the Lord Jesus has come, and I'm still here. Fortunately, the parents came back, after some time. But now you started really thinking, about this matter, and got saved. But then, when you get older, the question arises, that you think, well, was it enough? Am I really saved? Then these doubts come up, in your mind. A friend of mine, once said to me, I had a period in my life, when I got converted, every Saturday night. Of course, this is not possible, but every day, when Lord's Day approached again, he was unsure, if he was really saved, and he once again, confessed his sins to the Lord. And this goes on and on, till you really have a basis, for your salvation. Till you really realize, it's not a question, of how seriously, and earnestly, you have experienced, a kind of salvation experience, but simply, you turn to the Word of God, and then the Word of God tells you, that if you come to the Lord Jesus, with your sins, that everybody who comes to me, I will not cast out. I will accept him, his arms are still open. And more than once, we have told, especially young people, such Bible verses, and then put their names in, at the place, where their personal pronouns are, and telling them, we read this verse, very personally for you, that if you trust in the Lord Jesus, confess your sins to him, then you are saved. And the moment, you really are based, on the Word of God, you said, it is in the Bible, and therefore I know it's true, then you will experience, real joy of salvation. You will have peace in your soul, which is so necessary. The Lord does not want, that anybody who is saved, goes on, in an uncertain state, not knowing if he's saved or not. You find believers, and you talk to them, and ask them, if they are saved, and say, oh you never know, you couldn't know about this, you must wait. But this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible is quite clear, about this matter. As soon as you trust in the Lord Jesus, put your trust in him, then you are saved. And the Word of God, is the basis. He says so, like he told this woman, thy face has made thee whole, not any activity on my side, not any experience, but the face, the trust, you put in the Lord Jesus, that's what you need. And he says, daughter, thy face has made thee whole, go in peace, and behold of thy plague. And may the Lord, give us, even today, that we trust the Lord Jesus. If you have not trusted him now, you have the opportunity, the door of grace is still open, to come to him, tell him all the truth, as this woman said. Or perhaps you have done so, but whenever sure, if it was enough, then let you be reminded, what we heard today, that the basis of all this, is the Word of God. Not looking into yourself, inside, but looking outside, looking on the Lord Jesus, and his Word, what he says, and if you have truly trusted him, you can be sure, that you are saved, for time, and eternity. And the basis for all this, is what the Lord Jesus has done, on the cross of Calvary. There he died, for you, and for me. And the only thing we have to do, which is left for us to do, is come to him, and confess our sins before him, and accept in him, as our saviour. And we could do nothing else, but invite you, to accept him, as the Lord Jesus, is doing still. Come to me, he has said, and he's still calling you, to come to him. The time, when he is sending away people, and saying, no, I've never known you, go away, this time is still future, but not long ago, the door of grace will be closed. So, we might earnestly, once again, ask you, to come to the Lord Jesus, and accept his grace, as long as it is possible, in a simple faith, as this woman has done, trusting him, and knowing, if I come to him, he will help me, and not cast me away. …