And please, for our Old Testament reading, turn again to the book of Isaiah, this time to chapter 14. Isaiah 14, and our reading will be verses 12 through 23. And let us Give careful attention to this reading now, because this is the very word of God.
How you are fallen from heaven, O day star, sun of dawn. How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. Above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high. But you were brought down to Sheol. to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you.
Is this the man who made the earth tremble? Who shook kingdoms? Who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities? Who did not let his prisoners go home? All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb. But you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people. May the offspring of evildoers nevermore be named. Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth and fill the face of the world with cities.
I will rise up against them, declares the Lord of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity, declares the Lord. and I will make it a possession of the hedgehog and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, declares the Lord of hosts.
Now, in Isaiah’s day, that prophecy was uttered against the actual human kingdom of Babylon. But as we move through scripture, Babylon comes to represent something greater, something much greater, in fact, something spiritual. It represents the kingdom of this world, ultimately, and the kingdom, particularly, of Satan. And again, because the prophecy is spoken with direct and immediate reference to the king of Babylon. Nevertheless, those especially those early verses are, are a reference to Satan. What you have in those verses is a picture of Satan still dwelling in heaven and aspiring to become like the Most High, and God cast him down.
So there’s the spiritual and the the eschatological application to the text which we just read. And it flows into our New Testament text, which comes from Luke chapter eight. And here in our New Testament reading, we’ll find an outworking of the very things of which we just read in Isaiah. Luke chapter eight, and the reading will be verses 26 through 39. Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, what have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. Jesus then asked him, what is your name? And he said, Legion, for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.
Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened. And they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them. for they were seized with great fear.
So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
That’s the reading of God’s word. Let’s pray for his blessing upon it now. O Lord, make your word a swift word. May it pass from our ears to our hearts and then be expressed in our lives. Renew us by your grace and teach us. May your Holy Spirit himself be our teacher this morning as we come to the scriptures and the ministry of the word. We pray this for the honor and the glory of your Son, our Savior, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. So the account that we’ve just read is the second in a series of amazing and mighty works that the Lord Jesus performed, and they’re all recorded by Luke, the gospel writer, to reveal to us who Jesus is.
In the previous passage, he’d calmed a storm, which is astounding. He exercised power over the forces of nature and showed that he had control over them. And then in the passage we’re looking at this morning, he calms another storm, a different kind of storm. A storm just as violent, but this time, a storm within a man.
A man occupied, a man possessed, a man under the control of a legion of demons. And by casting out a legion of demons from a man, Jesus revealed himself as the Lord of all spirits. they’re all subject to him. Angels are his servants, but demons are subject to him, too. They’re subject to his power, to his authority, to his command.
You’ll see it in the text. But by casting a legion of demons out of a man, Jesus Christ revealed himself as the Lord of all spirits. Now, if you don’t believe that miracles happen today, look in your bulletin, because your outline is in there. I actually got the outline together in time for the bulletin to go to print. And so, you see it there. But these are my three points this morning.
Sin’s true nature, the Lord of Spirits, and gospel transformation. So, first of all, let’s consider what this passage teaches us about the nature of sin. sin’s true nature. Demon possession, as we see it recorded for us in the events of Scripture, demon possession gives us an illustration of the true nature of sin. Anytime you come across an account in one of the Gospels or even in the Book of Acts of someone who’s possessed by a demon, possessed by an unclean spirit, let that be a reminder of what sin really is, what sin is really like. Because the sad fact is sin to us is often alluring. Didn’t want to spend too much time dwelling on it, but I suppose there are some cases in which sin isn’t alluring, but so often sin is attractive to us. our fallen nature.
It’s because of our fallen nature that we find it so. If we weren’t fallen creatures, we would be repulsed by every expression of sin. But we’re not, because we’re sinful men and women, sinful children. And so therefore, things that in themselves are sinful sometimes are attractive to us.
And to add to that, there’s the frightening fact that sin is also deceptive. Sin never shows its true colors. when it’s tempting us. And it’s this alluring and also deceptive nature of sin that makes it so dangerous. That’s why we should dread it so much. When we see sin as it truly is, we will hate it. When we see sin as it truly is, it will grieve our hearts.
And this incident in the history of Christ’s ministry helps to show us sin’s true nature. Let’s consider how it does that, because Luke gives us here a living illustration of sin, a living illustration of sin in the person of this poor, demon-possessed man.
First of all, we’re told he wore no clothes. The text says he hadn’t worn clothes for some time, for a long time is what it says. That’s how he lived. naked. Where did he live? He lived among the tombs. Text spells it out for us. He didn’t live in a house, so he didn’t live among society. He didn’t have companionship. He didn’t have fellowship. Where did he live? He lived in the tombs, the place of the dead.
Matthew in his gospel and Mark in his gospel also record this event. And if we consult them, we get additional information, which is helpful and adds to this living illustration of the nature of sin. Because in Mark chapter five, where we find actually the most extensive description of this man and of the events surrounding him, Mark tells us that this man basically spent all of his time crying out, shrieking. Day and night, he cried out, he ran among the tombs. And what else did he do? He would take sharp stones, and he would gash himself. He was a cutter, harming his own body. And that was the condition in which he lived for a long time.
So what does all that teach us about sin? What does that teach us about sin’s effects? Well, this idea of him not being clothed, he’s living naked, that teaches us that sin is shameful by nature. It’s shameful. Sin is a state of deprivation. You know, if someone lacks adequate clothing, what’s the best way, what’s the first way you need to minister to them? Clothe them. But he’s deprived of that. And sin is a state of deprivation. Our fallenness is a state of deprivation. It’s a state of shame. It’s also a state of exposure and vulnerability. That’s just the way sin is.
The fact that he lived among the tombs is very illustrative. Because first and foremost, for people living under the Old Covenant, Jews in the Old Testament, being near a tomb would cause defilement. The tombs are a place of defilement because they’re a place where dead bodies are laid to rest. And sin causes defilement. The fact that he lived among the tombs is a reflection of spiritual decay. It’s the path to death. Sin is the wages, or death is the wages of sin. And, you know, the dead things stink. But if it’s a dead animal, or a corpse, a human corpse.
So the fact that this man lives among the tombs just illustrates for us that what death is in the physical realm, what tombs are in this present age, sin is all of those things spiritually. And the fact that he cries out continuously, Really, that’s what sin causes our souls to do. One of the descriptions that Jesus frequently gives of the place of eternal torment, one of the descriptions that he gives of hell is that it’s a place where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth. And that’s essentially how this man spends his days, crying out in misery suffering bodily because of this spiritual possession. And again, the fact that he cuts himself shows that sin is self-destructive.
You see that in the illustration with the pigs, too. What happened the moment the demons entered the pigs? Well, they went insane. They stampeded into the water and drowned. I remember someone pointing out, many years ago, that if a flock of sheep escape somewhere, they start to stampede, I don’t know, sheep stampede technically, but if they start moving together as a group, they stay in a group, they stay together. Pigs don’t do that. Pigs, when pigs get driven out of a place, they go 100 different directions. That’s just what they do by nature, by instinct. But you notice how when these demons entered the pigs all together like sheep, they plunged down that steep precipice and into the water and they died.
What does that tell you about sin? So there’s this bitter irony that we see about sin. And that’s that the act of sin Whatever it may be, the act of sin is always a pursuit of self-indulgence, pursuit of gratification of the flesh, of the senses, of whatever. But its final results are always exactly opposite that. Our Shorter Catechism gives a really great and very, very biblically accurate and precise definition of what sin is. But another way you can define sin is self-indulgence now, S-I-N, sin, self-indulgence now.
That’s what sin is. Sin wants what it wants. It wants it now. And it wants it because it wants to feel good. It wants gratification. But its final results are never that. Sin promotes pleasure. Temptation promotes pleasure, but all it can ever deliver is pain and sorrow. That is sin’s true nature. You see it in the example of this man.
But the second thing we see in this passage is the Lord of Spirits. And of course, that’s our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Spirits. Jesus is Lord of all. including the spiritual realm. We don’t have time, but it would be profitable, perhaps, to reflect on the fact that all the things that we see around us in this present age, in this present world, all the things that we have access to by means of our senses, that’s one world. But then there’s this spiritual realm as well.
We can’t see into it. If we could, it would amaze us. It’s where angels are. It’s where demons are. It’s where they’re doing their activity. And Jesus is Lord of all that, too. Through his providence, he governs all of his creatures and all of their actions. And those creatures include angels and demons. He’s Lord of it all. Jesus is Lord of it all. He’s Lord over the spiritual realm, and that’s demonstrated powerfully in this text. Because you notice as we read through the passage, who’s calling all the shots? It’s Jesus.
He’s got complete control in this narrative. He gave a command to the evil spirits in verse 29. It just sort of says in passing, Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him. He didn’t ask. He didn’t beg. He didn’t entreat. He commanded. And then the possessed man, speaking of him in the singular at that point, not multiple as in this legion of demons, but the possessed man, he’s the host.
He’s got this legion of demons inside of him. And with his human voice, he’s speaking in behalf of the legion of demons and he’s begging says he begged Jesus not to torment him because he recognizes that Jesus has the power to torment him if he wants to, and he has the authority to do it. So again, you read through this passage and you see Jesus is the one that’s giving orders. The demons are the ones that are begging and pleading. This demon-possessed man recognizes Jesus’ authority.
And how does he address him? What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? By the influence of these demons within him, this man knew exactly who Jesus was. While Jesus’ disciples are trying to connect the dots and put together the puzzle pieces and answer the question, who then is this? This demon-possessed man knew. Why? Because he’s filled with these demons who used to live with Jesus.
They dwelt with him in heaven for a time before they were cast out. They knew who they were looking at. They knew exactly who Jesus was. And when they saw him, the moment they saw him, they knew that he was too strong for them. There was no one who was strong enough to restrain this man while he’s under the influence of the demons. They tried. They locked him up. They put him in chains. They bound him with shackles. But he was too strong for any human being to restrain because of the power, the sheer power of these demons. But as soon as Jesus appeared, these powerful beings in the spirit realm knew. He’s in charge. He’s the Almighty.
At the sight of Jesus, the demons tap out. They give up. Which makes sense, doesn’t it? When we read in James, when James says the demons know that there is one God, and what do they do? They tremble. And so there you have a massive army of demons, and what are they doing?
They’re begging Jesus, begging him not to send them into the abyss. Now that word abyss is actually basically right out of the Greek. That’s a transliteration of the Greek word there, and it only occurs a couple times in the New Testament in the ESV as abyss, but it occurs numerous times in the book of Revelation, and what is usually translated as there is the bottomless pit. So as you read through the book of Revelation, and you come across this place called the bottomless pit, and you see certain beings coming out of it, certain other beings being cast into it at certain times in the narrative there in Revelation, that’s the word abyss. It’s the same word that these demons are begging Jesus not to send them into.
What is it? It’s a prison for Satan. It’s a prison for all his demons, all of his fallen angels. It’s not where they’re going to spend eternity. It’s kind of a holding cell. They’re going to spend eternity in the lake of fire. But in this present age, Satan has been confined during the thousand years to this very place. And the Legion of Demons begs Jesus not to send them there.
Not yet. They know there’s coming a time when they will be tormented forever. But they also have this vague understanding that the time hasn’t come. So one of the other gospel writers records them as saying, have you come to torment us before the time? They know that time is coming.
But then the Legion of Demons begs again. They beg Jesus to allow them to enter the pigs. Notice again, they beg. And what does Jesus do? He gives permission. Jesus gives the orders. Now, the interaction between Jesus and the spiritual beings in this text illustrate Jesus’ authority, but his authority is further illustrated by the reactions of the peoples. here. The inhabitants of this region asked Jesus to depart.
They couldn’t make a demand. They didn’t bring out the governor of their city and say, we require you to leave. They asked. And the word, it’s translated asked in your ESV, but that word can also have the nuance of begging or pleading. And then the formerly possessed man begs Jesus By the end of the narrative, he’s begging Jesus that he can be with him. Now, Jesus grants the request of the people. They say, leave, please. And he does. This poor man, whom Jesus had liberated, says, please let me be with you. And Jesus denies him his request.
More on that in a moment, but Christ is clearly the one in control here. Christ is clearly the one in charge. He’s the one in authority. He commands the winds and the water, as we saw in the last passage. Now we see him commanding a legion of demons, which ought to lead to the question, who then is this? And the answer is he’s the son of the most high.
And with all that power, he comes with gospel grace, and that gospel grace brings transformation, and that brings us to our final point. Gospel transformation. The gospel transforms lives for Christ’s glory. It does that. It makes people new creatures. And you’ve seen advertisements on television and in print and in annoying ads that you get on your phone, ads with before and after pictures. Before, after.
So use this acne medicine and then your face is going to clear up and you’ll look like this. Or you use this diet program, and even though you may be overweight, then you’re gonna look like this. Look at this guy who used our program. See how fat he was? Now look at him. Before, after. Whether it’s weight loss, or whether it’s a workout program. You might be a hundred pound weakling right now, but you can look like Arnold. With our exercise equipment. Or my workout program.
Well, here in this text, we have a man who had been possessed by demons. And as a demon-possessed man, he was a depiction of deadness in sins and trespasses, but through Christ, a transformation took place in his life. Complete transformation, a dramatic one.
And it’s all summed up in verse 35. Look at it with me again. Then the people went out to see what had happened. And they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. That’s the transformation. Look at this guy’s before and after pictures. Before, you had him shrieking day and night among the tombs, cutting himself. After he’s seated, he’s at rest.
And he’s at the feet of Jesus. Before he was naked and experiencing both physically as well as spiritually all that entails, all the shame, all the deprivation, the exposure, the vulnerability. Now he’s clothed. clothed physically, but also clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Before we might, in modern terms, be inclined to describe him as psychotic, insane, the picture of insanity, a case study in utter madness after The text says he’s in his right mind. He’s under control.
In fact, he’s showing self-control, which is fruit of the Spirit, isn’t it? One thing that doesn’t change is that in his before picture and his after picture, he’s begging. What changes is what he’s begging for. Before, he’s begging the Son of the Most High not to torment him. Now, he’s begging, oh, please let me be with you. Let me follow you. I’ll follow you wherever you go.
He was completely transformed, in other words. And that’s what the gospel does to sinners. It makes them new creatures in Christ. It transforms every area of life. The old passes away, new things come. It’s such a dramatic thing that elsewhere in Scripture, and even by our Lord and Savior Jesus, it’s described as being born again. That’s gospel transformation. Now, there’s a parallel in this passage to the previous one.
I mentioned it last week briefly, Remember when Jesus and his disciples were in the boat out on the Lake of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee, and that storm came. His disciples, many of them very experienced on the water, they were afraid. They feared for their lives in that storm. But when Jesus, by his authority over the winds and the waters, calmed the storm, then they were even more afraid. The people in the country of the Gerasenes, no doubt, were afraid by this maniac living in the tombs, this man and all this terrifying behavior, and this superhuman strength that he had when they tried to bind him with chains, he’d just break them. This restless evil among them, that had to have been frightening to them. But when Jesus liberated the man, when he calmed that demonic storm, then they were seized with great fear.
They’re more afraid now that this man has been exorcised. And they asked Jesus to depart. Why would they do that? Here’s why. is because these people were terrified by the presence of overwhelming holiness. They felt a sense of what Isaiah felt when he saw the Lord high and lifted up. The presence of the Holy One terrified them. It was more frightening than a demon-possessed man. So, sadly, these people essentially rejected Christ.
But Christ didn’t give up on them. Did you see? He didn’t give up on them. He sent them a missionary. He sent them an evangelist. This very man that had come from among them, this man from their city. He sent him back to them. Verse 39, return to your home, Jesus said. Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
I hope you’re listening to that because that’s your assignment too. That’s my assignment, to go to our home, and tell everybody what Jesus has done for us, to be his witnesses, to be evangelists. William Hendrickson said, true missionary activity begins at home. That’s what Jesus called this man to do.
Jesus then has all power. He has power over the very forces of nature, and he has power in the spiritual realm. Angels and demons are nothing to be trifled with. They’re powerful. Even just one demon, one, is powerful. This man that we just read about was inhabited perhaps by thousands of them. Mark says that there were about 2,000 pigs that plunged into the water. So maybe that many demons were dwelling inside this poor man. He was inhabited by perhaps thousands of demons, but they were no match for Jesus, and they knew it.
Because Jesus is Lord of all spirits. This all-powerful One, awesome in holiness, is your Savior. This is your Jesus, the one who has power over the winds, power over the waters, power over the demons. Just as he came into the country of the garrisons to free that poor man, it is a trustworthy statement. He came into this world to save sinners. That’s what he does with his great power.
Let’s pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your great salvation. We thank you for our great Savior, the Lord Jesus. Father, we, like that man, want to be with him. And thank you that now he has ascended to your right hand and sent forth his spirit. We can do both. We can be with him, and we can go home and tell everyone how much he’s done for us. Give us grace to do that, we pray. And we pray that Christ will receive all the glory for it We pray it in his name, amen.