In the sermon 'Too Far Gone?' based on Luke 8:26-39, Jason Dohm explores the narrative of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man in the region of the Gadarenes. The sermon emphasizes that no person is beyond the reach of Jesus' saving power, as demonstrated by the transformation of a man possessed by a legion of demons. Dohm contrasts Jesus' authority over the spiritual realm with the fear and misunderstanding of the townspeople, who ask Jesus to leave after witnessing the miracle. The sermon underlines that Jesus is Lord over all creation, including nature, disease, and death, showcasing His divine authority. Furthermore, it highlights the ignorance of humans regarding their best place in life and the importance of trusting God's will. The speaker encourages believers not to consider anyone too far gone for salvation, emphasizing God's ability to save and transform even those who seem most lost. The sermon concludes by urging believers to submit their desires to God's will, trusting Him to place them where He knows best.

The title of the message today is too far gone. It's a question. I'll answer the question. The person that you're thinking of is not too far gone. It's hard to think of a person being further gone than this Pagan, Gentile, demon-possessed man who's possessed by many, many people.

And yet, Jesus makes very short work of his salvation. We're going to find out this is a total spiritual mismatch, that Jesus will do the commanding and the enemy army will do the obeying in our text. It's actually quite refreshing to the believing soul. So enjoy it. In last week's text, we saw Jesus's authority over the wind and the waves.

They're about to be sunk by a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee. They wake Jesus up and He tells the wind and the waves, get still, and they get still. And they end up saying, who is this that commands the wind and the waves and they obey Him. This week we see Jesus's authority over the spiritual realm. There will be a demonic army that has possession of a man.

They control what he says, they control what he does, and Jesus will just send them away. And then in next week's text we'll see Jesus's authority over disease. A woman will have been afflicted with 12 years of internal bleeding. That will stop in the snap of the fingers. Then a little girl will be dead.

Jesus will exercise authority over death and bring her back to life. So the whole point of last week, this week, next week is Jesus is Lord. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He did take on flesh, but He is God in the flesh and He can act as God at any time in His life on earth. He was God from eternity past, He was God in the flesh as Jesus Christ, He is a God through eternity future.

So, praise the Lord. Let's pray and ask God to help us. God, you're so good to set these things before us that give us confidence that you have authority over everything in nature, that you have authority, complete authority in the spiritual realm, that you have authority over disease and even death. Jesus, You are God, and we praise You, and we trust You, and we rest in You. Thank you for these texts in Jesus' name.

Amen. Let's subdivide. I hope your Bibles are still open to Luke chapter 8. I'm going to reread verses 26 through 29. Follow along as I reread Luke 8, 26 through 29.

Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 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. 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.

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 demons into the wilderness." Here in these verses we have a most terrifying yet pitiable case. The case of this man is terrifying, isn't it? But it's pitiable too. If you have no pity for this man, you need to go back and read the text.

They started on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus is taking them to the east side of the Sea of Galilee. You don't have to walk around or sail across. They decided to sail across and they encountered this storm in the middle. This is just Jesus orchestrating these things to make disciples who will be able to turn the world upside down. Call them the storm.

They finish their trip across. They land on the east side, having gone from Galilee on the west to the country of the Gadarenes on the east. This is an area populated by the Gentiles. So Israel was one nation, and then they split apart. There was a civil war.

They had a north and a south, too. We had a civil war with a North and a South. Their South was Judah or Judea and the northern nation retained the name of Israel. The northern ten tribes were then conquered by the Assyrians. This was because they back slid into idolatry and as judgment God brought the Assyrians.

The Assyrians took the northern tribes into captivity and took other nations into captivity and brought them in and repopulated this area. So you know this of Samaria, which is part of where the 10 northern tribes were. And they're half-breeds. They probably have some Jewish blood in them. They've intermarried a hundred times over through the generations with the people from other nations that the Assyrians brought in and repopulated the area with.

Probably this is the case. There's probably pure Gentiles and then a mixture of people with mixed blood. A mutt, like me. What am I? I'm Welsh, German, Swiss, and some other things mixed in.

Probably you are too. These people were probably that way too. So they're not Israelites, pure blood Israelites, and it's paganism here. The boat lands, they get out of the boat, Jesus and the disciples, they're met by a man who is described as having had demons for a long time. So he's in this state and this is not a new state.

He's been in this state for a long time. He had demons, plural, for a long time. Probably years. He doesn't wear clothes, so he's completely outside of civilization, figuratively and literally. Literally, he's outside of the city, figuratively.

This is a naked man, He doesn't even wear clothes anymore. He's, he has no part in civilization. And he doesn't live in a house. He lives among the tombs. Children, tombs are like, they're graves.

It's where you put the dead. It would normally bury outside of town. And that's where he's living. So think of how even we would be nervous about spending a night alone in a graveyard. That's superstition, but I wouldn't be comfortable with that.

This man chooses to live here, or at least it's been chosen for him by the demons that have controlled him. He doesn't wear clothes, he's naked, he doesn't live in a house, he just lives among the dead, lives in the tombs. In Matthew's version, so we're in Luke 8. Matthew has a version of this in Matthew 8. Mark has a version of this in Mark 5.

I'll be sort of pulling from both of those. In Matthew's version, in Matthew chapter 8, Matthew says that this man was exceedingly quote, exceedingly fierce. So that no one could pass that way. So people don't even go this way anymore. Even if it's the shortest way to where you're going, you walk around this area because this man is exceedingly fierce.

This is a violent, fierce man. And so You don't go where he is because he is a terror to the region. You walk around, you give this area of tombs a wide berth so that you don't encounter this man. People stopped passing this way anymore. Many times the people had restrained him.

The people didn't want to be terrorized by this man. Many times they had restrained him. They chained him and they shackled him and they kept him under guard. This is what the text says. But he would break the chains and shackles and escape into the wilderness.

Now people can't do this. People don't break chains and shackles, but people who are demon possessed, and you can find testimonies of this today, people who are demon possessed have superhuman strength, strength that humans don't have, but people possessed by wicked spirits, unclean spirits, somehow they're able to give them strength that a human doesn't have and they can break chains that a human can't break. How does that work? I have no idea if you say you do. I think you're big for your britches.

Thank you Riley for introducing that phrase. You don't understand either, I don't think. It says that he would break the bonds and be driven by the demons out into the wilderness. So the demons who are indwelling this man drive him out of civilization. In Mark's version, Mark chapter 5, Mark 5 verse 5 says, And always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

So if you were near this place, you might hear this man, night or day, crying out. Like, what is that? What is that person crying out? It would be this man cutting himself with stones and crying out. This is the man we're encountering in our text.

So it couldn't be more clear. The demons have total control over this man. They control what he says. We're gonna see this in our text. It's really the demon speaking.

It's the man's mouth and vocal cords, but it's the demons who are speaking, and they control what he does. This is not a man who wants to cut himself and cry out, but he's being driven. Where he lives is being driven by the demons. What he does to himself is being driven by these demons. When this man sees Jesus, he cries out, and he falls down before Jesus.

And he says with a loud voice, what have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high? I beg you do not torment me." So this is so fascinating. We know so little about the things that are happening in the spiritual realm, but a little of the veil gets pulled back here and we actually get some data of some things that happen in the spiritual realm. The demons in this man, one, know exactly who Jesus is. Okay, so this is the demons testimony of the identity of Jesus.

Your name is Jesus, you are the Son of the Most High God. How does this man know this? He's possessed by demons and the demons know his name and his identity his name is Jesus he is the son of the most high God and they know what their future holds. Here's something we learn about demons. They know what their future holds.

Our text says, I beg you, do not torment me. Matthew's version, Matthew 8.29, the man says or the demons say in the voice of this man, have you come here to torment us before the time? In other words, the demons understand, Matthew's version makes it clear that the demons understand that there is an appointed time for their judgment and torment. So the demon says, are you here to torment me before the appointed time for my torment? They know that a time is coming when the demons will be condemned and tormented.

In Matthew chapter 25 verse 41, so still back In Matthew chapter 25 verse 41, Jesus says that He will say to unbelievers on the Day of Judgment, Depart from Me, you cursed, unbelievers remaining under the curse of your sins, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." So unbelievers on the Day of Judgment will be sent to the place. It's a place of everlasting fire, but it was prepared for Satan and his angels. These fallen angels who rebelled with the devil and were expelled from heaven together with the devil. This place of hell was actually prepared for them. So demons are fallen angels.

They rebelled against God, were expelled from heaven, they are under the authority of the devil, under the authority of Satan, and they do not and will not reign over hell. So expunge all the far-side cartoons from your mind where the demons are calling the shots in hell. That is not the Bible's testimony. Hell has been prepared for their torment. Unbelievers will be tormented for eternity there, and the devil and his angels, that is the place prepared for their eternal torment.

J.C. Ryle says this, these words are a striking proof that there will be a judgment and a hell. The devils believe this if men do not. So men can scoff if they will, but just know this, the devil's don't scoff. They know that a time has been appointed for their condemnation and torment and it is sure and they're terrified for it and they don't want it to happen before the appointed time.

If men do not believe this, devils believe it. James chapter 219, the author of James says this, James 219, you believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. So demons know a lot of truth and it makes them tremble. That's actually what's happening here, literally in our text.

You have demons trembling at the truth that they know is God's Word and knows must be fulfilled. So these demons, one, know who Jesus is, two, know what their future holds, and three, There is no hint of pretense that they have any option other than doing exactly what Jesus says. So there's no hint in the text of any pretense of the demons thinking for one nanosecond that they have any option other than to do exactly what Jesus says when Jesus says to do it. They beg Jesus not to be tormented here in verse 28, and they beg Jesus again not to be sent into the abyss in the next section in verse 31, and they beg Jesus again to be allowed to enter the pigs in verse 32. They're beggars.

Demons are beggars to Jesus, completely at His mercy. So there is not a spiritual battle happening here as we think of the word battle. So in some sense maybe there's a spiritual battle happening. But in the normal sense of what you think, like a contest which might be one by one side or might be one by the other side, That's not what's happening here. There is not a spiritual battle happening here in that sense.

There is certainly a confrontation between the two kingdoms. The kingdom of light comes to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and the kingdom of darkness falls at Jesus's feet and begs him. So there is a confrontation between these totally opposite and totally incompatible kingdoms. This man actually says, what have I to do with you? I'm from one kingdom, you're from the other, they are totally opposite, they are totally incompatible.

But there is no real fight. There is only the seeking of better terms in defeat. Can I get better terms? The terms of seeking better terms in surrender is what's happening here in our text. More on that in a minute.

One party is the master doing the commanding, one party is the beggar doing the obeying. In last week's text, verse 25, the disciples saw him command the winds and the waves and said, Who can this be? Now he's commanding demonic powers and they're begging. They have to be thinking, who can this be? Of course the irony is the demons know the answer to that question.

They're voicing the answer to that question. Who can this be that commands the wind and the waves, that commands demonic powers? It's Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, and they know it. I do want to remind us that we've seen this before in Luke. Look quickly back to Luke chapter 4.

Luke chapter 4. Just want you to see how similar, many of the same phrases are being drawn upon here. Luke chapter 4 I'll start reading in 31. Luke 4.31. Then he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.

They were astonished at his teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon and he cried out with a loud voice saying, let us alone what have we to do with you Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." Look at the students, the same phrases being used in our text. Verse 35, Jesus rebuked him saying, be quiet and come out of him.

And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, What a word this is! For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. And the report about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Skipping down to verse 40, Luke 4 verse 40, when the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, You are the Christ, the Son of God. And he rebuked them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that he was the Christ." So we see so many of the elements that we have in our text in Luke chapter 8. We saw there in Luke chapter 4. This is a most terrifying yet most pitiable case, is it not? This man terrorizes the area.

You would walk around this area rather than pass through it because this fierce, violent man is there, crying out, cutting himself, living in the tombs, running naked. He cannot be restrained, And he terrorizes himself, or he is terrorized himself. He terrorizes and he is terrorized himself. So it's terrifying to think of a man in this condition and what he can do and what he's like, but it's also pitiable because he's terrorized himself. Can you imagine someone being more terrorized than this man actually is?

No clothes, no home, always cutting himself. He's deprived of all the basics of life. He's been stripped away as this man's been terrorized by our great spiritual enemy. Luke chapter 8, let's look at the next section starting in verse 30. I'll read 30 through 37.

Jesus asked him saying, what is your name? And he said, legion, because many demons had entered him. And they begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now heard 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. And 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. And those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 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 in, in his right mind. And they were afraid.

They also, who had seen it, told them by what means he who had been demon possessed was healed. 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." Here in these verses we have Jesus' unqualified triumph over the demonic host. It's hard to imagine a more decisive victory than the one that we have in our text. Jesus speaks to the man. He asks him a question.

What is your name? The man answers, but it's really the demons who answer. It's the answer for the demons. They identify themselves en masse. They identify themselves as a group, as a host.

They identify themselves as legion. This is a military term. I use a military term. In the Roman world, a legion was a military unit of between 5, 000 and 6, 000 soldiers. This is a multitude of demons identifying themselves as a military unit of many many many.

So an army, a military host. So this is a demonic host that had made this man their home. They reside in this man. Luke chapter 8 opened, chapter 8 verse 2, it says that seven demons had come out of Mary Magdalene. So we've already been introduced to multiple demons in a single person.

And this man has been home to many, many more than the seven demons in Mary Magdalene. The demons, this legion of demons, this military host of the enemy, that's how they've identified themselves, a military host of the enemy, beg Jesus. Here's the showdown. One Jesus and a military host and they are begging. This tells us something that we need to know about Jesus and about needing to be afraid.

Beg Jesus that he would not command them to go into the the abyss. An abyss is essentially a bottomless pit and this is actually exactly what we see in Revelation. The devil and his angels being thrown into a bottomless pit. So they know about these things, and they're begging Jesus not to do these things now. And then they beg Jesus to be permitted to enter a nearby herd of pigs.

Mark's account says that there were, quote, about 2, 000. So Mark actually numbers it. We get a size of the herd in Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5, verse 13, about 2, 000 in the herd. Now, what is this about?

Jesus has commanded this host of unclean spirits to come out of the man. Why don't they just leave? Why do we... Why do they desire to go out into the herd of pigs? It's mysterious and I don't really know.

But we at least have this in Luke 11. So turn to Luke 11. It at least gives us a little insight. So if you ask me that question, why do they want to go out into the herd of pigs? My answer is it's mysterious, I don't know.

But Luke 11 at least again peels back the curtain a little bit so we can at least get a glimpse of some of the things that happen here in the spiritual realm. Luke 11 I'll read verses 24 through 26 Luke 11 24 through 26 when an unjust this is Jesus Saying this When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest. And finding none, he says, I will return to my house from which I came. His house, this unclean spirit, is calling the man that he came out of his house. I'll return to my house from which I came.

Verse 25, and when he comes he finds it swept and put in order Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first." Does that keep it from being mysterious? No, it almost adds to the mystery. It draws out more questions maybe than it answers, but it gives us a little insight. First, I would say this.

It's very possible, I would say it's very likely that this man has experienced the dynamic that we see in Luke 11 second Jesus seems to be teaching that demons can have some level of rest when they inhabit a living home. How does that work? I don't know. It is mysterious. But this seems to be indicating that demons can have some level of rest, some type of comfort, when they inhabit a living host.

And that being evicted sends them into what Jesus calls dry places, dry places, where there is no rest for them. And so they seek rest by bringing more with them to overwhelm that host and indwell that host together. Jesus actually permits the unclean spirits to go into the pigs and they do and the herd charges down the steep slope. There's the stampede down the steep slope into the Sea of Galilee and they all drown. It says they violently, what's the exact term, they violently race down, something like that.

Violently is a word there. They charge down this steep slope into the Sea of Galilee and all the pigs drown. John MacArthur has a note in his study Bible that says, on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, there's a place that you can visit today that has ancient tombs and it's on a steep slope. It meets the description so it's very likely that today you can go to the exact place where this happens. It's not perfectly sure but it totally meets the description.

There are ancient tombs there and it's on a steep slope going right down into the Sea of Galilee. Amazing. Now, Chai GPT is fact-checking me live now in the US a mature pig sold for meat gets 300 to 800 dollars I'm just in the here and now. If you were raising pigs and selling to meat companies, you could sell a mature pig for $300 to $800. So that means at the very lowest end these 2, 000 pigs are worth about $600, 000.

This is a major loss for somebody. They're never named, we don't know. But just understand you could buy a nice house with what these pigs were worth before they drowned. It's a tremendous financial loss here. Did the demons intentionally kill these pigs?

The text doesn't say, but I personally doubt it. They're looking for living things to inhabit. They're asking permission for living things to inhabit. And my guess is, and this is just speculation, but my guess is that the demons entering and inhabiting These pigs is such a terror to these animals that they stampede. This is just a stampede to death.

You find stampedes into death, not infrequently in nature. So I think that's what you have here. I think these pigs are terrorized by what happens here and so they charge down the slope. Of course the report of these things gets out immediately. I mean imagine how fast the grapevine would move when something like this happens.

Those who fed the pigs fled, they ran away from these things into the, So they're telling the story in the city and in the country, far and wide. The people come from the city and the country to see for themselves. And what do they find? They find this man who had terrorized the area, who they could not restrain, they had tried to restrain but could not again and again, sitting at Jesus' feet, calm, clothed, Who knows the last time this man was seen clothed? And in his right mind.

Normal! Like he's sitting at Jesus' feet. This is just the sign of a disciple. This is now a disciple of Jesus. He's sort of blending in with the twelve, I guess.

And he's clothed, he's in his right mind. Totally transformed. How could you get a description that is more different than how he's been described up to this point? I mean you're talking about the two poles, the two ends of the continuum. Totally transformed.

Before he was totally dominated. The things that he said were said because the demons were saying it. The things that he did, he did because the demons were driving him to it. And now he is sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed in his right mind. Instead of making these people rejoice, it makes them afraid.

It's one of the sad things in our text. There are some sad things in our text and this is one of them. They should be rejoicing, but instead they're afraid. They don't have eyes to see. David Garland says this in his commentary, they are clearly more at home with the presence of the demonic in their midst than the presence of a power that can drive it away.

They're more comfortable with the way things were than with the disruptions caused by the power that could drive out all those demons. Isn't that sad? Jesus and what he's doing is too disruptive for them I mean the demon possessed man was disrupt this disruptive but this six Demon-possessed man was disruptive, but this? $600, 000 worth of livestock charging down into the sea? This is terrifying.

So don't think for a second. If unbelievers could just experience a miracle, they would believe and embrace Jesus. That's all they need is to see what you've seen. That's not true actually. They have to be spiritually raised from the dead.

In our text, the eyewitnesses have told the multitude exactly how the demon possessed man was delivered and healed. So they have eyewitnesses account from people they know, people who live near them, live in their community, have told them exactly how the things that have happened have happened. Instead of rejoicing, they're terrified, and instead of saying To Jesus, stay forever. What should they have said? Oh, please stay forever.

Please never leave, they say. Please leave. The multitude asks Jesus to depart. Matthew's version, Matthew 8 verse 34, they begged Him to depart. Oh, we beg you, please leave.

Mark chapter 5 verse 17, Mark's version, they began to plead with Him to depart. They began to plead with Him to depart. Please leave! Please leave! They want Jesus gone.

Then we read these brutally sad words. It goes without comment. You're just left to think about how brutally sad these words are. And he got into the boat and returned. They begged him to leave, and he left.

They wanted Jesus gone, and He gave them what they wanted. I'm unable to say it better than J.C. Ryle. J.C. Ryle says, and why did our Lord Jesus Christ grant the request of the Gadarenes and leave them?

He did it in judgment to testify His sense of the greatness of their sin. It seems an eternal law of his government that those who obstinately refuse to walk in the light shall have the light taken from them. If men persist in refusing his counsel, he has nowhere promised to persist in forcing it upon them. People who have the gospel and yet refuse to obey it must not be surprised if the Gospel is removed from them. They said to Christ, depart from us, and He has taken them at their word.

Here's the payoff line. Listen to this last sentence. Of all states of soul into which we can fall, none is so fearful as to be let alone. Of all states of soul into which we can fall, There is none so fearful as to be let alone. But if God were just to leave you alone, leave you to your own inclinations, leave you to the thoughts that naturally occur to you, the impulses that come naturally to you, and God just leaves you there.

What then? Matthew Henry says this, Those lose their savior and their hopes in him that love their swine better. You lose your savior and you're hoping your savior if you love your swine better. Final two verses. Luke 8, 38 and 39.

Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, 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. These two verses we get, the mission of the new disciple. Jesus has a new disciple, and he's given a mission, and he actually executes the mission.

This man who had been in the worst kind of bondage but now is free wants to be with Jesus. Of course he wants to be with Jesus. He begs Jesus that he might be with him. That Jesus sends him back to his own town, back to his own house. This man's been living in the tombs, demon possessed for a long time, but he used to have a house.

He used once upon a time, He lived in the city in a home. Jesus says, go back to that city in that home. Tell the people what great things God has done for you. In Psalm 66 verse 16, the psalmist says, I will declare what God has done for my soul. Jesus says to this man, go do that, Go declare what God has done for your soul.

That's exactly what this man does. He goes throughout the whole city and proclaims what Jesus had done for him. Jesus will send the disciples out to preach in the next chapter. Jesus has already sent somebody to go preach. Good news.

Listen to Mark 5, 19 and 20. This is Mark's version. Mark 5 verses 19 and 20. Jesus said to him, go home to your friends. Hey, you used to have friends too.

You used to live in a home in this city and have friends. Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. Go to your old friends and tell them that the Lord has had compassion on you. Mark continues, and he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled. So he does tell the story and people marvel when they hear the story.

And it's actually not just in this city, it's in Decapolis. Decapolis is a word which literally means 10 cities. So it's a region of 10 cities and this area is part of it. But Pliny, you might have heard of Pliny, he's a famous Roman historian. Pliny names the 10 cities of Decapolis and Damascus, Syria is one of them.

So this is not ten small towns. Damascus Syria is one of the ten. Philadelphia is one of the ten cities. So this man is an evangelist in Decapolis. Maybe he told these things in the streets of Damascus.

That's possible. David Garland says this, The townspeople want to keep Jesus at a safe distance, but the word about Jesus cannot be placed in quarantine. Amen to that! You can tell Jesus to go away, but he left a monument. He left a trophy of his compassion there in that community and told him to speak of these things.

Matthew Henry says, so it might be a blessing to his country as he had been a burden to it. Think of what a burden this man had been to this region. And now, he's the one bringing good news. This is so sweet. Applications, let me give you four.

Four applications. One, understand what our spiritual enemies have in mind for the image bearers of God. So think of the continuum. The one who God claims for His own and God does the most work in, whoever that is. And then on the farthest end, the one Satan has claimed for his own and done the most work in.

That's what the devil That's what the devil has in mind for image bearers. The devil hates God and so he hates all of the bearers of the image of God. He hates every human being. And if He could strip you of your clothes and make you cut yourself and cry out every day and live in the tombs, He would do it. Never fear the devil inordinately as a believer, but also just understand what he has in mind for the for image bearers.

We get to see where he'll take you if he can in this text. Number two, for the believer he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. That's John's way in 1 John 4 verse 4. John's way of saying, God the Holy Spirit indwelling you is greater than the God of this world, Satan. This text, today's text, exists to teach this to the disciples of Jesus.

We are indwelled by a spirit that is greater than the spirit that possesses certain people and strips them of everything. So, unbelievers, you are Terribly exposed to an enemy who will do this to you if he can. Unbelievers, you are terribly exposed. And believers, though you still have terrible enemies, they've been conquered by your master. He's the master, He'll do the commanding, they're the beggars, they'll do the obeying.

Rejoice, believers. Never forget who the devil is, what he'll do to you if he can. But never forget who your master is, who will restrain him. Number three. Jesus is still saving people that we suspect are too Far gone.

Whoever it is that pops into your mind when I say the words, too far gone, Jesus could save them and make short work of their salvation. We should be careful not to think of people as too far gone. It's hard to imagine a man more far gone than this. Jesus makes short work of his salvation. Jesus conquers every enemy.

They will all be his footstool. Well, whatever is holding the one back that we think is too far gone, all that will be subjected to Jesus. This was a pagan, Gentile, demoniac. Jesus makes sure it works for salvation. Have you ever read the Bible and thought, I'm getting the sense that God likes to show off, not in a bad human way, but like he likes to display His ability to do above and beyond all that we think or imagine.

Maybe the people we think are too far gone. God's just waiting to do something beyond what we even think is possible and make us ashamed of our small thoughts of Him. I hope that's true. I hope the people that I've considered too far down the wrong track for God to save, that God is wanting to humble me by just showing off His greatness and His goodness by saving them. Number four, finally, God knows best and it is His right to deploy His people however and wherever.

God knows best. He knows better than you about your own life, about the life of everyone who He's claimed to be His own, and He has every right to deploy them however and wherever. This was a man who wanted to be with Jesus. Jesus knew better. He's gentle with this man, but he doesn't let him do what he wants to do.

He deploys him elsewhere. He's still Jesus's disciple, and he has an amazing ministry in these cities. Here's what J.C. Ryle says, There is a lesson of deep experimental wisdom in this little incident which all true Christians would do well to lay to heart. That lesson is our own utter ignorance of what position is good for us in this world, and the necessity of submitting our own wills to the will of Christ.

The place that we wish to fill is not always the place that is best for us. Let us be fearful of choosing for ourselves in this life without Christ's consent. Let us ask the Lord to choose everything for us. Let our daily prayer be, give me what you will, place me where you will, only let me be your disciple and abide in you. Amen.

Let's pray. God, thank you for your power on display in our text. There's nothing you can't do. As Connor was praying earlier, your arm is never too short to save. No one is so far gone that you cannot save them.

I do pray that you would place us where you will, give us what you will. Only let us be your disciples and abide in you. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Thanks for watching!