to Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter 8. bit of an extended application of this morning's sermon. I didn't check with Cam to see if that was okay, but he had mentioned how Paul proves his point that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners by saying, of whom I am chief. Well, in Matthew's gospel in chapter 8, verses 28 to 34, we see Jesus' encounter with two demon-possessed men. And so these men were obviously destitute of any saving grace, they were destitute of any salvation from God, and the Lord Jesus saves them.
The Lord Jesus casts out these demons and demonstrates His power and His authority. So I'll read beginning in Matthew 8 at verse 28. When he had come to the country of the Gergesenes,
Demon Possession: Nature and Symptoms
there met him two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that none could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? Now a good way off from them, there was a herd of many swine feeding.
So the demons begged him, saying, if you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said to them, go. So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly, the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea and perished in the water. than those who kept them fled.
And they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to depart from their region." Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, we thank you for the power, the authority, the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that this one came into the world to save sinners. We thank you that sin, that depravity, those things are no match for our Lord Jesus Christ. His life of obedience, His death, His sacrifice, His resurrection from the dead does ensure the salvation of all those who call upon Him in faith. We ask that you would guide us now by your Holy Spirit, encourage our minds, our hearts, cause us to rejoice again in what Jesus Christ does for sinful men.
And we ask this in His most blessed name. Amen. Well,
Introduction: Matthew 8–9 Overview
in this particular section of Matthew's Gospel, specifically in chapters 8 and 9, we see a demonstration of the authority or the power of our Lord. If you go back to chapter 5, you'll remember that there Jesus teaches and He gives what's called the Sermon on the Mount. And at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, or the conclusion of it, in chapter 7 at verse 29, it says, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. So the Word of Christ comes with that authority.
And then in chapters 8 and 9, what Matthew displays is the works of Christ, or the acts of Christ, are authoritative and powerful. Essentially, what you have are three miracles of healing and restoration in chapter 8, verses 1 to 15, a general statement of His power in verses 16 and 17, a lesson concerning discipleship in verses 18 to 22, and three further demonstrations of His authority. over the storm, verses 23 to 27, over the demoniacs in verses 28 to 34, and over sin and paralysis in chapter 9, verses 1 to 8. We then see the conversion of Matthew himself, a notorious sinner, a tax collector, and one brought nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. After this question about fasting, Jesus then restores or rather returns to his exhibition of power.
A girl is restored to life and a woman is healed. Two blind men are healed. And then we see a mute man speak. And then the chapter ends with a demonstration of Christ's compassion and His encouragement to His disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out laborers into His harvest.
So that's basically an overview of chapters 8 and 9, a demonstration of the authority of Christ in His works. Now, when we look at this particular passage, there are parallels in Mark's gospel, chapter 5, verses 1 to 20, and then in Luke's gospel, in chapter 8, verses 26 to 39. Now, Mark and Luke only focus on one man, and here we have two men that are demon-possessed. That is not a contradiction.
Mark and Luke do not say, there was only one man. And certainly, if there were two men, then there was one man. What Mark and Luke are probably doing is highlighting the more notorious one of the two. And then RT France makes the observation, commenting on the fact that Matthew's account is much briefer than Mark's or Luke's.
And France says, Matthew, as usual, is less concerned with providing an entertaining story and includes only what will serve his purpose of underlining the unique authority of the one whom the demons instinctively recognize as the Son of God. And there's a close connection to the section preceding. Remember, Jesus calms or rebukes the winds and the sea, and in verse 27, the men marveled, saying, who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey him? Curiously, a few verses later, the demons confess Him to be the very Son of God Himself.
Not that the disciples never do or never will, but in this particular instance, they basically say, what kind of a man is this that can speak to the wind and speak to the waves and bring calm to them? So, as we approach this particular narrative,
The Description of the Men
I want to look first at the description of the men in verse 28, secondly the declaration of the men in verse 29, and then the salvation of the men in verses 30 to 34. Note first the location. We are told here in verse 28, It's the Gergesenes. The parallel passages in Mark and Luke call it the Gadarenes.
Your copy of Matthew, if you're using something other than the King James tradition, might have Gadarenes here as well. Basically, it is a small town on the east side of the Sea of Galilee opposite of Tiberias. And it was probably inhabited largely by Gentiles, which explains why there was swine or pigs. Jews were basically forbidden to have trough with pigs because they were unclean animals.
So it could have been a Gentile territory or the pigs could have been owned by apostate Jews. It wouldn't be the first time that apostate Jews did something contrary to and in transgression of God's law and command to them. But that does explain why there was a herd of swine feeding. Notice then we get to this description of the men in verse 28b.
There met him two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs exceedingly fierce so that no one could pass that way. This is one of several instances in Matthew's gospel where Jesus casts out demons. He also bids his disciples to do the same thing when they go out to preach and to teach concerning the power of God's kingdom. But with reference to this description, there met him two demon-possessed men.
The Bible teaches that there are good angels, and the Bible teaches that there are bad angels. The Bible teaches that demon possession is when the evil angels, under the direction of Satan, will inhabit a man or will inhabit animals, as they do with reference to these particular pigs, take over them for the purpose to wreak havoc. There's a good little book on demon possession or Satanism, and I know that's not the happiest topic in the world, I did want to mention, when I was in high school, the big craze was backward masking. If you were my generation, you perhaps know what that means.
You'd play hard rock albums backwards. Albums were these round things that you put on a turntable, and they had a stylus, and they made noise. I know for you digitally-minded persons, that has no resonance in your mindset. But if you turned these things backwards, you'd get satanic messages from them.
Nowadays, it is openly promoted. Nowadays, it is openly flaunted. Nowadays, the music industry, Hollywood, a lot of the entertainment industry has this craze with Satanism and with demonism. At any rate, this book, it's called Satan Cast Out, a Study in Biblical Demonology.
It's by Banner of Truth. It's a fellow by the name of Frederick Leahy. And I just want to read what he says because I think it does make sense of the particular topic. He says, first, demon possession may be voluntary or involuntary.
Secondly, there is no essential link between the character of the victim and his possession. Three, possession may be permanent or spasmodic, the former case being illustrated in Luke 11, where the word translated dwell indicates permanent residence. Four, body and mind alike are affected. There is either a general suppression of the personality or the emergence of a kind of double personality.
In either case, the victim becomes the instrument of the demon. Consequently, it is the demon who speaks through the instrumentality the person possessed. Five, symptoms vary greatly, but frequently include, especially in cases of involuntary possession, mental abnormality, epileptic, or similar fits. Now, I should pause there to say that somebody who has a mental abnormality, epilepsy, or similar fits, it does not therefore follow that they are demon-possessed.
Don't read the interpretation that way. He goes on to say superhuman strength, suicidal tendencies, and a malignant attitude toward others. Sometimes there is an uncanny recognition of the presence of Christ and an acute awareness of His person and authority. And then he says, sixly, deliverance, when it comes, is sudden.
Again I think that helps us frame our minds with reference to what's happening with these two men in the Gadarenes or Gergesenes that are demon possessed. Notice that they dwelt in the tombs. They were coming out of the tombs. That right there is a miserable situation.
They're dwelling among the tombs. Nobody wants to dwell among the tombs unless perhaps you're And then notice it goes on to describe them as being violent. They were coming out of the tombs exceedingly fierce so that no one could pass that way. They were violent and territorial.
When we compare the parallel passages in Mark 5, we read that they had often been bound. Because He had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by Him, and the shackles broken in pieces, neither could anyone tame Him. Again, what we are met with is two very desperate situations, two men that are demon possessed with a legion as described in the parallel passages. Notice as well, they cried out and they cut themselves, not here but in Mark 5, 5.
And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. Again, that sort of suicidal tendency, that destructive tendency, that design that comes from the father of murder and lies himself. And then notice, they were naked and out of their minds. Again, Mark 5, 15.
Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legions sitting and clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And I just want to stop here to say for a moment, this Satanism and demonism is not glamorous. It's not exciting. It's not something that young people should seek out.
Warning Against the Occult
The Bible forbids necromancy. The Bible forbids sorcery. The Bible forbids witchcraft. It forbids a whole host of things, not because they don't work, but because they are lawless and transgress the commandment of God.
Whatever that witch at Endor brought up, she brought something up such that Saul was able to see it. There was a true apparition, there was a true appearance. So there is a spiritual realm, and I would encourage highly the young people to make sure you don't dilly-dally with those sorts of things. Again, back in my day, you had to turn records backwards.
In your day, All you have to do is click on your phone and you can see any number of exhibition of the glamorization of Satanism and demonism. In fact, this has been a recurring theme. In the history of music, for instance, there was a blues guitarist by the name of Robert Johnson. He lived from 1911 to 1938.
And as the story goes, he was a mediocre guitarist. but then he went down to the crossroads and he met the devil there and the devil blessed his guitar. Blessed, I don't know if that's the right word, but the devil gave him the ability to play the guitar extremely well. This goes back to the 1400s to a legend in German folklore about Faust, and basically Faust was a well-read man, and he went to the crossroads, and he met the devil there, and he sought out worldly riches, he sought out more knowledge, and the devil granted this to him. So the glamorization and the celebration of the dark and the demonic and the satanic is not something confined to Matthew's gospel in Matthew chapter 8 or into the several demon-possessed persons that we meet in the New Testament that either Jesus or the disciples dealt with.
This is something forbidden by God. Suffer not a witch to live, is what God says. He doesn't say seek them out as an alternate means of revelation. Seek them out as another avenue to the supernatural.
No, it's forbidden. It is denounced. It is much described by God as wretched. And when we look at these men, we see anything but glamour.
We see anything but excitement. We see tombs, torment, suffering, violence, madness, self-destruction, and nakedness, which characterize the demon-possessed man. Much better in your youth to remember your Creator. Much better in your youth to flee to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Much better to go to God, to His blessed Word as revealed by the Spirit through the prophets and the apostles, and to lay hold of Christ by faith. much better to walk in the ways of righteousness and in light versus darkness. And ultimately when we come to this particular passage we see the authority of Christ, specifically the authority of Christ's kingdom over the kingdom of darkness led by Satan and his demons. So the description of the man is a brutal one. The description of the man is a very explicit one and
The Declaration of the Men
that brings us then to the declaration of the man in verse 29. Notice, and suddenly they cried out saying, what have we to do with you, Jesus, you son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? Now this confrontation, as I said, is between two spiritual authorities, light and dark.
And the scriptures are very clear that what Jesus does in salvation, Colossians 1, 13, He transfers us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love. And that is precisely what we're witnessing here in this tale of two demon-possessed men. Matthew has given two general statements concerning Christ's ability to cast out demons. He does so in chapter 4 and then again in chapter 8.
He has also shown us Christ's ability to heal, chapter 8, verses 1 to 17, and his power over nature when he speaks to the wind and he speaks to the waves. Here he shows us in detail the power of the kingdom of God to dispel the power of darkness with reference to the kingdom of Satan and to his demons. And notice,
Demons Recognise the Son of God
these men cry out, what have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? The idea is clear when they say, what have we to do with you? We have nothing in common with you, leave us alone.
We don't want anything to do with you, Jesus. Leave us alone." They do recognize Him. They do see that He is, in fact, the Son of the Most High. They recognize that He is, in fact, the Son of God.
The disciples wonder about His identity, as I mentioned in verse 27. So the men marveled, saying, who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him? And then we get to these two demon-possessed men. They come out of the tombs.
They're exceedingly fierce. The moment they lay eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they mention that He is Jesus, you Son of God. And when we see this, we recognize that the demons, they observe things that men don't. In fact, in Mark's gospel, in Mark chapter 1 at verse 34, then he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons, and he did not allow the demons to speak because they knew him.
That exorcism recorded, or the attempted exorcism recorded in Acts 19, verse 15, the evil spirit answered and said to these Jewish exorcists, these Jewish exorcists that claim to have the ability to cast out demons, to cast out evil spirits. They say, Jesus, I know, and Paul, I know, but who are you? So they recognize this. James tells us they know that God is, and they tremble before Him.
And so when we see this, we understand that in this kingdom of light, kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of darkness does recognize things concerning the light. They don't recognize redemptive religion, blood atonement. They don't confess Jesus as Lord. Jesus didn't take on angels, but He took on man in order to save us from our sins.
But they certainly understand and identify Jesus as you, Son of God, or Son of the Most High in the parallel.
Before the Time: Demonic Eschatology
Have you come here, not Decapolis, not Gergesenes, not Gadarenes, but to the earth? Have you come here to torment us before the time? So the reference to here means the earth. The demons have been given opportunity to trouble men before the end and they recognize that.
And then with reference to their request, have you come here to torment us before the time? I think the idea means is that at the end, and they're conscious of this, they will be cast off forever. Jude 6 mentions this. Revelation chapter 20 at verse 10 says that the devil is cast in the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet were cast as well.
Knox Chamberlain says they recognize Jesus' authority to torment, in other words, to destroy them when God's kingdom is consummated and final judgment executed. So again, they're operating at a level that the disciples didn't have when they saw the wind and the waves and they said, what kind of a man is this? The demons understood what kind of a man this was and they were fearful that he had come to torment them, to torture them, to cut them off definitively. And so that's the nature of their particular question.
The Salvation of the Men
That brings us then to the salvation of the man in verses 30 to 34. Note the request of the demons, verses 30 and 31. Now a good way off from there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged him saying, if you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.
Again the parallel in Mark 13 says that the herd numbered about 2,000. When Jesus speaks to the demon in Mark 5, 9, the demon identifies himself as legion for we are many. So I think this is very important for us to understand. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.
No Sinner Beyond Christ's Reach
Do you think that you're beyond salvation? I would submit that these two men, at least for all intents and purposes, would have appeared to be outside of the scope of redemptive religion. It is curious to me as well that in 1 Timothy 1.15, Paul says, of whom I am chief. Paul undoubtedly knew the stories of Jesus.
Paul undoubtedly knew the ministry of Jesus. Paul undoubtedly knew that Jesus had dealings with demon-possessed men, and yet Paul says, of whom I am chief. Could there be something in there about a religious pedigree, a religious background, what we should be and what we're not, versus the garden variety wretch, and in this case, the beyond garden variety wretch? We often look at the really bad sinners out in the world and we use them as the scare tactic for our kids.
Don't go down that path or you'll end up like that crack dealer. Brethren, there is as much stern admonition against the self-righteousness and the self-justified and the polished and the religious as there is the condemnation of those that we often condemn. Jesus told the disciples that harlots and tax collectors enter in before you, actually the religious leaders. Tax collectors and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before you.
In some cases, it may be more difficult to break somebody of their self-righteousness, of their arrogance, of their judgmentalism, of their looking down their noses at everybody, than for that guy who's at the bottom, that guy who's at the end of himself. I submit, I have biblical warrant for that statement. Luke 18, two men went to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and one a publican. And the Pharisee prayed thus with himself, thank you God that I'm not like other men.
Thank you God that I'm not an adulterer. Thank you God that I'm not an extortioner. Thank you God that I'm not like this publican. That guy's hard to fix.
Jesus said, I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. It's hard to fix those who have been, you know, sort of put into a concrete formalized religious setting versus at times the publican who won't even look up into heaven but beats his breast and says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Paul's able to say, of whom I am chief, knowing good and well the story of the Gadarenes and these two demon-possessed men that were exceedingly fierce, that were bound, that broke those shackles, that terrorized anybody that came their way, that dwelt among the tombs, that gashed themselves with stones, that cried out day and night, that wandered around naked, that were out of their minds. And yet he says, of whom I am chief.
Brethren, we're not supposed to, as Christian parents, to raise Pharisees. We're not supposed to raise that man to go to the church and to pray thus with himself. Thank you, God, that I'm not like these other people around me. Thank you, God, that I'm a step up.
Thank you, God, that I'm a leg up. I'm better than my fellows. And that's not easy. We want to teach them catechism.
We want to teach them Bible. We want to teach them morals. We want to teach them commandment. We want to teach them how to live.
We want to teach them how to walk. We want to teach them how to function and navigate and conduct themselves in this present evil age. We need to do so prayerfully. We need to do so with grace.
We need to do so always mindful of the cross, pointing them to Calvary, pointing them to that one who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, the apostle Paul says. So when it comes to parenting, we need to make sure that we're not just saying stay away from those tombs, but stay away from those whitewashed tombs as well. Stay away from that formalism. That constrained religious attitude, again that Luke 18 situation, let's just turn there because look at the occasion upon which Jesus taught this parable.
Luke 18, verse 9, also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. I think there's an inextricable link between those two things. Trusting in yourself that you are righteous usually, always, I don't know if I have warrant to say always, but a lot of times will lead to despising others. It's inevitable.
If you're self-righteous, if you're the measure of all that is good and holy, and you see the blemishes, the errors, the sins, the shortcomings, the messings up of your fellows and your companions, well, What does that do? It leads you to despise them. So Jesus, based on that situation, he told this parable, there were those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and inevitably they despised others. Two men went to the temple to pray.
The Pharisee trusted in himself that he was righteous, and what does he do? He despises others. Thank you, Lord, that I'm not like this publican. These are the perils of religious upbringing on either side.
We need to guard them from living amongst the tombs, but guard them from having truck with the whitewashed tombs that are all clean on the outside, but inside they're full of dead men's bones. So back to our text, the request of the demons. It's interesting. The demons begged him saying, if you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of the swine.
The casting out is not in doubt. It's only the destination. They know they've met the kingdom of light. They know that he is going to cast them out.
That's not the issue. The issue is cast us into this herd of swine. Spurgeon comments, devils would sooner dwell in swine than be in the presence of Jesus. Devils would sooner dwell in swine than be in the presence of Jesus.
It's pretty perceptive, and that's precisely what we see here. Have you come here to torment us before the time? If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine. The reasons for this, they seek a bodily home.
They hate God's creatures. They stir up animosity against Jesus.
Christ's Authority: One Word Suffices
Notice Jesus' response in verse 32. He said to them, go. in a section that is demonstrating the authority and power of the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of His works, He doesn't need to get into a long explanation. He doesn't need to get into a long justification. I remember many, many years ago I went to see one of these guys who branded himself as a caster out of demons.
And I mean, you had to be a rocket scientist to follow his plan. You had to, you know, read all his books and buy all of his, back then it was VHS tapes. I know that goes right over your heads too, kids. But, you know, you had to get all, you had to be, you know, skilled in the dark arts and all.
Go. What does James say when it comes to us and the devil? Go by Bob Larson's six-part VHS series on casting out the demon within you or resist him and he will flee from you. You can always tell the fakes and you can always tell the charlatans because they want to sell you something.
Buy this water, buy this oil, get this garlic, get this particular cross, hang these things up and you'll so barricade yourself from demonic influence that you're going to be okay. And just make out the check or do the e-transfer to my account. Jesus just says go. The authority of Christ is go.
Notice then the powerful result. Verse 32. So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea and perished in the water.
So the demons come out of the men, the demons enter into the herd of swine, and the whole herd runs into the sea. And France again says, the behavior of the pigs caused by the entry of the demons is recorded as visible proof that the demons have in fact left the men. This is exhibit A, that the demons have been cast out. They go into the swine and then the swine run and destroy themselves in the water.
Spurgeon again says this, swine prefer death to devilry. And if men were not worse than swine, they would be of the same opinion. Let me read that again. Swine prefer death to devilry.
And if men were not worse than swine, they would be of the same opinion. pretty perceptive as well. This is precisely what the swine do. And then intriguingly, we see
The City's Response: Fear and Rejection
the reaction of the city in verses 33 and 34. Then those who kept them fled, and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. It's an odd response.
We couldn't go in that area because these guys were exceedingly fierce. We couldn't go in that area to visit our parents' tombs because these guys attacked us. We couldn't go to do that because they were running around naked. Or we'd see them gashing themselves with stones, bleeding all over themselves, and crying out day and night.
Thank you for cleaning up our town. Thank you for dealing with this problem. Thank you for killing these men, perhaps? Thank you for restoring them.
Thank you they're clothed now. Thank you they're in their right mind. Thank you that now we bump into them at Walmart here in the Gergesenes, and we see them shopping for beans and rice. It's a blessing.
Thanks, Jesus. That's not it at all. Then those who kept them fled, and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.
Again, that right there, If we didn't have the rest of the verse, we'd conclude they thanked him. They gave him a key to the city. They named a street after him because he did this particular act that was so glorious, he cleaned up a neighborhood in their fair city. He ridded the riffraff from that part of the world by casting out the demons.
And when they saw him, they begged him to depart from the region. Listen to Ryle concerning the loss of the pigs. They had no heart to feel for anything but the loss of their swine. They cared not that two fellow creatures with immortal souls were freed from Satan's bondage.
They cared not that there stood among them a greater than the devil, Jesus the Son of God. They cared for nothing but that their swine were drowned and the hope of their gains gone. They ignorantly regarded Jesus as one who stood between them and their prophets and they only wished to be rid of him. bad take. It's a bad interpretation.
Not Ryle. Ryle's right. I'm talking about the town. Okay, you lost some pigs, but you gained two souls.
You lost some pigs, but you got back a neighborhood. You lost some pigs, but you don't have madmen running around, bleeding on themselves, crying out day and night. Carson says, in the light of verses 33 and 34, the loss of the herd became a way of exposing the real values of the people in the vicinity. They preferred pigs to persons, swine to the Savior.
Precisely it. I would submit that there's a fear in them. Behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to depart from their region. Mark 5, 15 says, and they were afraid.
Luke 8, 37, for they were seized with great fear. It's kind of like the response of the disciples in 827. What kind of a man is this? Who can talk to the waves?
Who can talk to the wind? What manner of man is this? In fact, in Mark's account of the calming of the sea and the wind, Mark 4.41 says of the disciples, they feared exceedingly and said to one another, who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him? They're in the presence of one.
Now, the demons understood he was son of God, most high. They didn't understand that. They saw him as one who cast out this legion of demons into this herd of swine. The swine then goes and disposes of themselves handily.
But what kind of a man is this? This fear was not the right kind of fear. The people of the city were confronted with one who had supreme authority in the spirit realm. He had it in the natural realm, hush, wind and waves.
He had it in the physical in terms of healing people. He had it over these demons. The Son of God had greater power than the two men that no man could tame. And the fear of God causes either A, a man to run to God, or B, a man to run from God.
And that's what the Gergesenes did. They come out, they hear, and they say, get out. We want nothing to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High.
Application: Flee the Occult, Trust Christ
Well, in conclusion, the wretched condition of the men. I can't reiterate this enough or say this enough. Stay away from the occult. Stay away from those things that are condemned by God.
Stay away from those things which are contrary to the Word of God. And if you haven't read 1 Samuel 28, do so at some time. Saul was in a wretched condition, which by the way, 13 was when it all began. It's not compulsion that drives worship, it's commandment.
I felt compelled, said every heretic in the history of the church, said everybody who's twisted and distorted the worship of God in the history of the church. I just felt that this was the way to do it. Samuel said, you were supposed to do what you were told. You were supposed to obey.
Obedience is better than sacrifice. That will be brought home in further gravity in Saul's case in 1 Samuel 15 when he's dispatched to go kill Agag and the Amalekites and he doesn't do it. And he tries to blame the children of Israel. What does God do?
God confirms what He says in 1 Samuel 13, I'm cutting you off. 1 Samuel 15, I'm cutting you off. And He says it's better to obey than to sacrifice. By the time you get to 1 Samuel chapter 28, Saul is in a desperate condition. Saul knows he's got to go to battle against the Philistines and God ain't talking to him.
He doesn't want to go battle against the Philistines without some revelation, without something outside of himself to sort of give him encouragement. He had banished witchcraft from the land, and he goes and fetches the witch at Endor. And as I've said, that woman brought something up. There's debate whether it was really Samuel or not.
Men are divided on that particular subject. But she brought something up, and Saul saw it. And again, when God in Deuteronomy 18 forbids seeking out soothsayers and necromancers, those are those who communicate with the dead, those who go after witches, those who go after warlocks, those who go after some sort of revelation outside of themselves but not from God, what does God say to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 18? I've given you priests and I've given you prophets.
That is your means. That is the ordained way to get direction from the Most High. Stay away from those things. Stay away from that wretchedness.
Stay away because it is a sin against God and it will only trouble your soul. Dwelling amongst the tombs, being exceedingly fierce, wandering around naked, gashing yourself with stones, bleeding on yourself and crying day and night is not a way that anybody ought to want to live. And the glamorization of this, the celebration of this Satanism and demonism is godlessness and wretchedness. Secondly, we see the power of the Son of God.
We see it in the salvation of Paul. We saw it very clearly this morning in 1 Timothy 1.15. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. But you see it here with these men.
You see it here with these brothers. You see it here with these guys that were in this wretched, horrible condition, dwelling among the tombs, gashing themselves, the whole litany of things. Calvin says, what compassion then was it to rescue from so many deaths a man who was more than a thousand times ruined? It was a magnificent display of the power of Christ that by his voice not one devil but a great multitude of devils were suddenly driven out.
It is a display of that power. It is a manifestation or a declaration of that ability to save. such that you ought to come, you ought to believe, you ought to look and live. You might say, well, I'm not demon-possessed, I don't dwell amongst the tombs, I'm not quite that bad. You're bad, and you need Jesus to save you from your sins.
As well, they were saved from the power of the devil. I mentioned Colossians 1.31. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. We see that in John 12.
We see that in Acts 26, Colossians 2, Hebrews 2, 1 John 3, Revelation 20. What do we see in the power of Jesus? But to deliver us, yes, from our sin, but also from the dominion of the devil himself, to transfer us from the kingdom of darkness. Christ does that through His precious blood, through His blessed life, through His active and passive obedience.
And the men were saved from the power of their own sin. I was talking to somebody recently, my son-in-law, and we're talking about exorcism. He heard it on a podcast. And that's just what everybody listens to nowadays.
There was an exorcist. And I've been thinking about this since. If I met a demon-possessed man, I wouldn't call a Roman Catholic exorcist. I'd preach the gospel to him.
I'd preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. Remember that blind man who went to the temple to pray, and he, you know, saw Peter and John as they went to the temple. There's a Children's Sunday School that's escaped my mind at this point song. Peter and John went to pray.
They met a lame man on the way. He asked for alms. He held out his palms, and this is what Peter did say. Silver and gold have I not, but such as I have, give I thee.
I don't have the holy water. I don't have the crosses, I don't have the garlic, I don't have any of that, but what I have I give Thee. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
He has the power to transfer us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the sun of His love. And I think that Acts 19 demonstrates this. You can turn there. Acts 19, Paul and Ephesus.
It's a brief section, verses 13 to 17. Well, picking up in verse 11. That always just struck me funny. It probably shouldn't, but it just kind of strikes me funny.
Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you guys? Itinerant Jewish exorcists that no doubt rejected the Messiahship of Jesus are invoking the name of Jesus to cast out demons? That sounds pretty disingenuous. That sounds pretty charlatan-ish.
That sounds fake. Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came, confessing and telling their deeds.
Also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all, and they counted up the value of them, and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." Yeah, the apostolic ministry. They were invested with power. They were invested with that authority.
It's the word of the Lord that the emphasis of the accent falls on. It's the preaching of the gospel. Again, I'm not going to stand up here and sell you six lessons on VHS on how to cast out demons. I think the Bible is very simple.
Resist him and he will flee from you. In your personal truck and dealings with the devil who roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him and he will flee from you. It's the promise of God.
And in terms of meeting somebody that you suspect might be demon possessed, don't go to the phone book and look up exorcists. Preach Jesus to him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That's the bottom line that we have.
Silver and gold have I not, but such as I have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ. Rise up. And I would suggest, finally, the men had come into the presence of the Lord Jesus. They dwelt among the tombs.
They were out of their minds. They were exceedingly fierce. They terrorized the citizenry. They brought property values down, to put it in modern parlance. and now they sat clothed in their right minds at the feet of Jesus.
Mark 5.15. Then they came to Jesus, this is the city, the Gergesenes, Gergesenites, then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind. Luke 8.35, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. Demons cast out, sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Demons cast out, put clothes on. No more cutting yourself. No more living amongst the tombs. No more having truck with those spiritual powers of darkness.
I would suggest and submit that what Paul says in 1 Timothy 1.15 is proved. It is confirmed. of whom I am chief." And now we have two other specimens in Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 8. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Solomon describes men this way.
He says, this is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil. Madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. Madness is in their hearts while they live.
That's sin. That's depravity. That's transgression. That's lack of conformity.
Solomon says elsewhere, the way of the transgressor is hard. Living amongst the tombs, naked, crying out day and night? Who at 15 says, you know, when I grow up, I want to move to the tombs, I want to get rid of all my clothes, I want to cut myself, and I want to cry day and night and victimize anybody that comes around. Nobody does that because it's madness.
What's the remedy for that madness? It's this Jesus. They were clothed and sitting in their right mind. The man then comes to Jesus at the end of the account in Luke's gospel and wants to follow Jesus.
And Jesus says, now go tell everybody what great things God has done for you. So you know what he does? He goes back and he tells what great things Jesus had done for him. He saw the divinity of our Lord Jesus through those works of authority and power.
That's Matthew's purpose in 8 and 9. May God indeed bless and encourage us when we are wayward and prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love to remember 1 Timothy 1.15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We're redeemed, but we still got a lot of blemishes. We're redeemed, but we still got a lot of...
Yuck. We're redeemed, but we still have a wandering heart in some ways. May God help us, keep us on the straight and narrow by his spirit, according to the word of truth. But when we sin, we need to remember that he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, based on the one who has the power over the kingdom of darkness.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word, we thank you for this authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, even over the demons, and we praise you for your so great a salvation. We praise you that this gospel is being preached throughout the world, that you are blessing it, and that many are coming out of that darkness into marvelous light, confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. Give us wisdom as parents to bring up our children and grandchildren in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Give us grace to not breed Pharisees and those who are righteous in their own eyes, who despise others, but may we always point them to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And we ask this in his most blessed name, amen.