“He Has Done Great Things”
(Luke 8:26-39)
Series: Certainty in Uncertain Times
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson KY
(11-21-10) (AM)
- Take God’s Word and open to Luke, chapter 8.
While you are turning there, a number of you said you appreciated the visual budget presentation last week before the sermon and I’m really glad to hear that. This is the second year now where we have tried to budget intentionally with the 4 Cs in mind, budgeting to advance the Gospel in our Community, Commonwealth, Country, and Continents. I also shared a little bit about the Cooperative Program, the main channel through which our Southern Baptist Churches give to a number of missional causes. When I was in Lexington this past week for the Kentucky Baptist Convention I received this award on behalf of our church. It says here that we have given over $4 million dollars to the Cooperative Program. To God be the glory!
By the way, I shared last week about our new Hispanic ministry. They are meeting every Sunday from 9-10 downstairs in the “Wired” room. Pastor Antonio Santos and his family are leading this ministry. They also have a Friday fellowship and outreach of volleyball. We are helping them secure a place each Friday and I was blessed to go by and hang out with them for a few minutes this past Friday. We continue to thank God for this new missional outreach.
This weekend was also the weekend of D-Now, Disciple Now Weekend for our students in student ministry. They’ve had a challenging and fun time of ministry, culminating this morning and they will be in the 11 O’clock worship service. Continue to pray for our young people.
As we look at Luke, chapter 8 we read the first verse of the passage, verse 26, “Then they sailed,” and we are reminded of where we left Jesus and the disciples last time. They were in a fishing boat making their way East across the Sea of Galilee. You will remember that a windstorm came down suddenly upon the waters and the disciples began to fear for their lives. They called upon the Lord Jesus and Jesus calmed the waters in an instant. They were left wondering, last part of verse 25, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water and they obey Him!” Well, the boat is still sailing, but now on calmer waters. But as we’re going to see this morning, while the waters are now calm, things are not so calm on the land where they will disembark. Let’s read about it.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.
27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”
29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him.
31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them.
33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.
35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.
38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
- Pray.
Introduction:
Our message this morning comes from the statement Jesus makes to this newly cleansed and demon-free man there in verse 39, “‘Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.’ And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
He has done great things. I wonder whether we would be able to tell others what great things God has done for us? We sing of this phrase enough as we gather together for worship:
Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; Or:
He has done great things
He has done great things
He has done great things
Bless His holy name
But imagine a friend of yours asks this afternoon, “I was wondering could you tell me some of the great things Jesus has done in the Bible. And then I was wondering if you could tell me some of the great things that Jesus has done recently in your life just this week, because I assume that if you sing about the great things He has done then surely you are prepared to enumerate a few of them.” What would you say?
Our passage this morning helps us consider the great things our Lord has done. Let’s go back through the passage and let me give you these four words I jotted down in my study this week that helped me get a handle on the passage. They form a descriptive outline that helps us see the flow of the passage. Afterwards, when we have gone through the passage together I want to give you some practical things to do in light of what the text teaches us. This first word is:
I. Alienation (26-27)
We are introduced to a man in verse 27 who is alienated from society. He is demonized and marginalized by the people in the nearby town. They had kicked him out because of his being demon possessed. He wears no clothes, apparently because he cannot keep them on himself, forever running, forever falling, and forever being tortured by a number of demons that had possession of him. And verse 27 ends by telling us that this man did not live in a house but among the tombs in a graveyard outside of the town.
We mentioned last week that every one of us at any point of our lives is either in a storm, or we’ve recently come out of a storm, or we’re getting ready to head back into another storm. That is certainly the case here as the disciples, still reeling from the horrible storm in the preceding verses have to be like, “Whew! Glad we got out of that,” but no sooner do they cross the now calmer waters of the Sea of Galilee than they are met by this crazy demon possessed man in verse 27. Fortunately the Jesus who was “in the boat” with them in the storm remains right there with them now in the country of the Gadarenes. This man was experiencing alienation. Word two:
II. Confrontation (28-34)
The demon possessed man and Jesus now meet. Verse 28 says, “When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, ‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!’” It’s really interesting to me: the disciples’ question of the preceding passage, “Who can this be,” is answered now by the demon possessed man, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God.” I’m not sure the disciples were even prepared to confess as much about Jesus. Yet, this true statement about Jesus comes from the mouth of a demon possessed man, reminding us of James 2:19, “Even the demons believe and tremble.” The demons believe what the natural man does not, that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Most High God.
Demons are real. There is an ongoing battle between light and darkness, between God’s heavenly host of angelic beings and the Devil’s demonic host of angelic beings. This does not mean that we need to be worried and forever looking for demons in our living rooms or automobiles or coffee pots. Nor does it mean we should have an over-fascination with demons.
Just this past week, the Catholic Church drew a lot of attention when Roman Catholic bishops hosted a meeting on exorcism in Baltimore, Maryland. 50 bishops and 60 priests gathered together to learn how to discern whether a person was genuinely demon possessed and what to do if, in fact, they determined the person was. According to the Catholic Church only priests and those in the hierarchy of the church are capable of performing what they call the “rite of exorcism.” Well, the Bible mentions no such rite or ritual or sacrament of exorcism. Demons tremble at the name of Jesus Christ and His glorious presence. We must respect the power of demons, but we must also remember that James 4:7-8 says, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
And it’s always important to remember that a Christian can never be possessed by a demon. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God literally indwells us by way of the Holy Spirit. This is why John can say in 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” Christians can be tempted and oppressed, but they can never by possessed by a demon.
In verse 29 we read that Jesus had commanded the demon to come out of the man and then we read a little bit more about this poor man’s condition. It says there in verse 29 that the demon had often seized him so that, apparently, people of the nearby village would try to protect the man from harming himself, placing him in chains. But the man would break the chains and the demon would drive him into the wilderness. It really is quite a sight.
Verse 30 says that Jesus asked him his name. He answers, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. This helps us understand why sometimes the man speaks and sometimes the demon speaks and sometimes the demons speak as one voice and sometimes as many voices. The word “legion” is a word from the Roman Army, referring to 6,000 soldiers. And the point is that this man had a lot of demons taking over his body.
Now these demons know the power of Jesus Christ. They know He is more powerful than they so they beg Him, verse 31, that Jesus would not command them to go out into the abyss. The abyss is the final destination of Satan and his angels. You can read about it later in Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 20:1-3. So there is a herd of swine, a herd of pigs, nearby, revealing to us that the place where Jesus and His disciples are is a place largely populated by Gentiles. Pigs were off-limit to Jews (Leviticus 11:7). The demons know Jesus will succeed in delivering them out of this man. They do not want to remain disembodied spirits so they ask Jesus to send them into the pigs. Jesus concedes and verse 33 tells us that “the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned” and then, verse 34, “When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.” That would have been quite a sight, a large of herd of pigs squealing and running off the cliff and into the water.
There are many questions left unanswered in this passage and we’re not going to attempt to answer them nor will we pretend to know all the answers to them. Luke’s main point in recording this event is to demonstrate that this Jesus who has authority over the storm in the preceding passage has authority over the spirit world in this passage. That’s Luke’s main point. Jesus has authority and power over the demonic. Our first word was alienation. The second was confrontation. The third word is:
III. Transformation (35-37)
The man has been transformed, cleansed from the demons that possessed his body. Verse 35 says, “Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.” This is a different man. He has been transformed from a demon-possessed man to a normal human being. The word of Jesus Christ accomplished this. Transformation.
But the people from the nearby town do not like what they see. The last part of verse 35 says that these folks “were afraid,” and then verse 37, “Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.” This is not the kind of fear that leads to following the Lord, it is a fear of the unknown, a fear of something you can’t control. It may even have been a fear of losing financial gain or property. A number of these people valued pigs more than people. JC Ryle tells us here:
It has been remarked by many commentators, that these Gadarenes are an exact type of the men of this world. They saw the miraculous deliverance of a fellow creature from Satan’s power, and took no interest in it. But they saw the loss of their swine with deep concern. In a word, they cared more for the loss of swine, than the saving of a soul. There are thousands like them. Tell them of the successes of missionaries, and the conversion of souls at home or abroad, they hear it with indifference, if not with a sneer. But if you tell them of the loss of property, or a change in the value of money, they are all anxiety and excitement. Truly the generation of the Gadarenes is not yet extinct.
So Jesus leaves them. See the last part of verse 37, “And He got into the boat and returned.” That should alarm us somewhat. If we refuse to follow Christ one day, there is no guarantee the Holy Spirit will draw us to Him the next day. Jesus got into the boat and left these people in their sins. They were disinterested. They lost their chance to be as transformed as this man. Do not resist the Spirit of God Who tugs at your heartstrings this morning to draw you savingly to His side. Do not tell Him, “No.” There is no guarantee your heart will be warmed again by the Holy Spirit. Alienation, Confrontation, Transformation, the fourth word:
IV. Proclamation (38-39)
Verse 38, “Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.” That’s understandable, isn’t it? This man has been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. He wants to stay with Him! “But Jesus sent him away, saying,”—verse 39—“
‘Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.’ And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
Proclamation. The guy went on an evangelistic crusade, proclaiming what great things Jesus had done for Him. This is what all true followers of Christ do. Following Jesus Christ includes the responsibility of telling others about Him. Proclamation.
By the way, don’t miss this in verse 39. Jesus says, “Tell what great things God has done for you.” Then we read, “He went his way and proclaimed what great things Jesus had done for him.” See the connection? Jesus has the same status as God. To speak of Jesus is to speak of God, God who became man, coming to us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Never let anyone try to tell you the Bible nowhere teaches the full deity of Christ. He is God.
Now let me give you a few actions to take in light of the passage. Think of these actions as tools for your toolbox this week. When you go through life this week you carry this toolbox with you and when you get in a bind, you open it up to help you fix the various things you face. So here’s the first one, number one, this passage teaches us:
1) Remember Jesus is bigger than your Struggles
If you are an honest follower of the Lord Jesus Christ then you will admit to struggling in your spiritual growth. The unbeliever knows no such struggle. Many people can come and listen to the preaching of the Word and feel smugly that they are okay. “This preaching seems to be for everyone else. I’m okay; I’m a good person, no worries here.” This is how the unbeliever talks. He thinks he is good enough to get into heaven. She thinks the preaching of the Word is for everyone except her.
We must always come to worship prepared to hear a Word from God. It’s “not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord. Speak to me, Lord, Your servant is listening.” If we come to worship this way, God will, indeed, speak to us. So we come humbly, broken. We admit we are weak and in need of God’s Word. We need the instructive and correcting power of the Word of God because we all—each of us—struggles in our spiritual growth.
The good news is that the same power that frees the man of demons can free you from whatever binds you. Whatever your struggle, know that the same power that frees the man of demons can free you. Jesus is bigger than your struggles.
We said earlier that no Christian can be possessed by a demon, but a Christian most certainly can be oppressed by a demon. An unhealthy attitude, an addiction, a mental preoccupation—all of these are ways in which the prince of this world seeks to rob us of our joy in Christ. He wants us to feel defeated, demoralized, and dirty. He endeavors to make us feel we are of no use to the Lord, that because of our continual struggle against the flesh we are unspiritual and ungodly. But we need to remember that one little word from our Lord Jesus Christ will defeat the enemy’s hold on us. God loves us and will deliver us from that which binds us. Paul says in Romans 8:37, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
I don’t know what each of us battles, but I know that if we have a pulse that every one of us battles something or other. Remember that Jesus is bigger than your struggles. Be encouraged by the words of James we noted earlier, James 4:7-8, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Continually draw near to God and ask for the aid of His power to defeat the things that war against you. Remember that Jesus is bigger than your struggles. Number two:
2) Remember Jesus is bigger than your Sorrows
Apart from the power of Jesus Christ, this man was marginalized by society, alienated from others, living a life full of nothing but sorrow and darkness. But Jesus has a divine appointment with this man. He crosses the storm-tossed sea to come to this man to deliver him from his sorrows. And then Jesus sends the man on his way. He tells him in verse 39, “Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you.”
The man went home changed. I imagine how his must have reacted when a new husband entered the door. I wonder what it was like for the children when a new daddy stepped inside. Jesus changes us and delivers us from our sorrows.
Henry David Thoreau said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Many of us this morning may feel a sorrow we are sure no one else will understand. We have a battle on the inside known only to our Lord. This same Jesus, who traveled across the Sea of Galilee to heal a man tormented by alienation and separation, comes to you this morning to deliver you from the same plight. Trust in Him this morning to deliver you from your sorrows.
Remember Jesus is bigger than your struggles and bigger than your sorrows. In a word, number three:
3) Remember Jesus is bigger than your Sin
This man pictures what conversion looks like. The man pictures what it looks like to be saved from our sins. Before he meets Jesus he is running around all over creation. But after he meets Jesus he is sitting at his feet. Before he meets Jesus he is naked, lost, and his mind filled with the things of the world. But after he meets Jesus he is clothed and in his right mind. This is a changed man.
Has our Lord Jesus Christ changed you? Of all the “great things that He has done” can you say that He has saved your soul? Are you clothed in the righteousness of Christ this morning? Are you in your right mind this morning, living in accordance with Romans 12:2 which says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind?”
If Jesus has crossed the Sea to come to you this morning, do not turn him away. Don’t push him back into the boat and watch Him sail away, never to return. Come to the One who comes to you first. Come to Christ and be saved.
- Stand for prayer.
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