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MARK FIVE
The message of Mark chapter five is, Jesus Is Lord Of All. He is Lord
over Demons. He is Lord over Disease. He is Lord over Death.
LORD OVER DEMONS
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of
the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. Mark says that Legeon saw Jesus
from afar. That is a suggestion of what the devil will do in our case.
He wants to keep Jesus as afar off in any phase of life as possible. In
fact he would
rather blot Jesus out of our lives all together, but if you must consider
Jesus, do it from as far away as possible. Never, never, never get any
closer to the Lord than you have to. Always come early to services so
that you can be assured of getting a back seat. The unclean spirit cried
with a loud voice. Now listen to these demons as they hiss at the Lord,
"Torment me not." Matthew adds the time element to this request.
Art Thou come to torment us before the time? The devil hisses that message
to the unsaved. When Jesus shows up on the beach the demons thought that
He is going to start their torment ahead of time. Listen to the demons
as they hiss out their view of hell. The devil believes in hell. Many
people say they don't believe in it. Wonder what these people think happened
to the people who were drowned by the flood in Noah's day. When they were
drowned, if there was no hell, did God welcome them all into Heaven and
leave poor ole Noah on earth to battle with the flood. What do you think
happened to Hitler? If there is no hell, do they expect to see Der Fuhrer
goose stepping down the golden sidewalks of heaven? If there is no hell
what about those assassins who destroyed the twin towers? Did they go
to a heaven where they had a limitless supply of virgins? Where else could
they go if there is no hell? Remember; how the demons hissed out the truth
of the matter when they said, "Torment me not." Another message
the demons hiss is in regards to their number. Jesus asked him, "What
is thy name? Legion for we are many." There were many demons in this
one man. This fact indicates how vast the number of evil spirits there
are in the forces of evil. If the devil could spare that many to torment
one man, surely the forces of darkness are of an overwhelming number.
The philosophy of the demons was the same as many we meet every day. They
hissed, What have we to do with thee? They want nothing to do with Jesus
Christ either here or in eternity. If the unforgiven could go to Heaven
he would be so miserable that it would be hell for him and he would want
to leave and find peace in hell. They hate angels, they hate the Church,
they hate Jesus, and like Adam when he sinned he did not want to be in
God's presence. The demons made a request to the Lord. Since He was going
to cast them out they asked Him to allow them to enter into the hogs.
Jesus gave them leave and no sooner did they enter into the hogs than
all two thousand of them ran down a hill and drowned in the water. It
is a morbid thought and I do not like to dwell on it but we can't help
note that if the Devil ever gets control of your life he will rush you
as fast as he can into the lake, the lake of fire. This demon filled man
said that his name was Legion for we are many. What kind of a life style
does a person have whose life is controlled by the devil? For one thing
no man could bind him; no not even with chains and locks. He could break
these restraints like spider webs. People are breaking the chains of restraint
today. A description of modern man is found in the second Psalm. Let us
break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. People are
not going to be bound by any laws of God. Mankind has a feeling of kinship
with the worst criminals. That is why our nation has such a soft attitude
on punishment. We need bigger and better jails; serving hard time would
give the convict all the exercise he needs without barbells. We need to
bring back the electric chair, a high tech chair with bucket seats. It
is hard to understand these bleeding heart liberals. They want to kill
babies yet they don't want to execute rapists and murderers. That is about
the stupidest reasoning a sane person like myself can imagine. Many today
like Legion are crying out. Just turn on the radio and television and
listen to their unintelligible hissing as they bellow out the ballads
of Beelzebub. They cut themselves with something worse than stones. They
perforate their lungs by inhaling smoke. They destroy their livers by
drinking poison. They fry their brains by shooting cocaine. Mankind controlled
by the Devil of course lives like Legion. We live among the tombs. It
is impossible to drive around a city or countryside very long without
seeing a cemetery. We always hear the hiss of the serpent in every funeral
procession. When the towns people came out to investigate they found the
man sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right mind. In other
words before he came under the influence of Christ he was insane. A person
today to live without Jesus Christ is a real nut and that the kindest
thing I can say about it. Think too, of the fact that he went around naked.
No wonder he lived alone. Actually if the devil had his way we would all
take our clothes off. The devil hisses it is all right because everybody
else is doing it. The town's people wanted Jesus to leave. The reason
being Jesus was too expensive. I asked a farmer about the price of hogs.
He said a good rule of thumb would be a hundred dollars for a pig just
big enough to get to market. Now think of that. Two thousand hogs floating
belly up in the water would be worth about two hundred thousand dollars
if they only weighed a hundred pounds. That was quite a jolt in the local
economy. It was nice of Jesus to make this demoniac a good citizen, but
the price was too high. Jesus we can't afford you; get out of here. The
demons always hiss when money is mentioned regarding the ongoing of the
Church. They besought Him to depart from their borders. That is a haunting
statement. Depart from our borders. Jesus Himself will use the same words
some day to many when He says, "Depart from Me ye cursed into the
eternal fire." The parting word of the Lord to the man He delivered
from the demons was, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great
things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee."
And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus
done for him: and all men did marvel. Whenever a person has a personal
encounter with Jesus today, he like Legion will want to be with Jesus
all he can and will have a story to tell about the great things the Lord
has done for him. Remember this man had a legion of demons inside of him
who dominated his life, but Jesus was more powerful than all of them,
and thereby demonstrated that He is Lord over Demons. Next we note that
He is Lord over Disease.
LORD OVER DISEASE
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had
suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had,
and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she had heard of
Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. At last she
had found the right Doctor. She had found the Great Physician. Some Doctors
today specialize. Some are specialists in feet, some in eyes, some in
babies, some in brains. Some with people who have no brains. Jesus is
a specialist in everything. He is a good chiropractor. One time a woman
was bowed together for eighteen years and could not lift herself up. He
laid His hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified
God. One adjustment was all that was needed. He was a great eye doctor.
One time He healed a man from blindness who was born blind. He was a good
psychiatrist, with one look He could tell what they were thinking; He
knew their thoughts. He could heal deafness by putting His fingers in
their ears. How was that for laser surgery? In this case He demonstrated
that He was a great blood Doctor. The list of His specialties goes on
and on. This would be a real test for the Great Physician. Sick for eighteen
years and no one else could heal her. A doctor who could have healed her
would have been written up in all the medical journals of that day. He
would have been world famous. However there was no shot, or pill, or antibiotic,
or operation that could do her any good. This woman reminds me of many
who are spiritually sick. They try all kinds of spiritual doctors and
get worse all the time instead of better. Some people depend on Doctor
Feeling to pull them out of it. I overheard people talking at a nearby
table in a restaurant, and one of them was evidently a preacher. I heard
him tell the others that the Lord had told him five things He wanted him
to do after the first of the year. I wondered at the time, "How did
the Lord tell him? Did He call him on the phone? Did He fax him a message?
Or did He just holler it down to him from Heaven?" I suppose if someone
had asked him he would have said something like it was a subjective message.
In other words he just felt the Lord was talking to him. Many depend on
this approach. They tell you they are saved because they feel like they
are saved. Tell them that the Lord speaks to them from the Bible and they
insist, "Yes but I feel like I am all right." Doctor Feeling
has a wonderful bedside manner. I mentioned to a man one time that Jesus
said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," and
he said he felt he was> all right even though he had not done what the
Lord said. Some people spend all they have on Doctor Denomination. I heard
one man pray in a church service, "0 Lord, there are over three hundred
denominations in the Christian religion and I thank you for ever single
one of them." He must have been a very wicked man or a very ignorant
man considering the prayer that Jesus prayed when He said, "I pray
that they all might be one." How could anyone thank God for division
among people who love the Lord? Perhaps the greatest hindrance to unity
is denominational pride. Doctor Denomination will never heal a sin sick
world. Then there are some that worship Doctor Baptism. Remember the woman
that had the issue of blood reached out and touched the garment of Jesus.
We sometimes use the words of Paul regarding baptism when he said in the
book of Romans. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into
death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." While
it is important to practice the right mode of baptism, it needs to be
pointed out that a person can be buried in the water and at the same time
never be buried with Christ. Simply being buried in water just won't cut
it. The woman with the issue of blood touched His garment. When you were
buried in baptism were you buried with Him? Was repentance involved? If
not then you had the shell without the kernel. Without repentance you
went down into the water alone, got wet, and came up alone. At baptism
you reach out and touch the cross, you touch the blood; you touch the
garment, the Wedding Garment of Jesus. When you touch the garment that
is when Paul's words in Galatians become reality. "For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Reach
out today and touch the garment and be made whole. It is at this point
that Jesus will say to you as He said to the woman the issue of Blood.
"Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole
of thy plague." Jesus is Lord of all. He is Lord over Demons. He
is Lord over Disease. And now in the place He is Lord over Death.
LORD OVER DEATH
And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by
name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and besought him greatly,
saying, "My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee,
come
and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live."
The majority of people turn to thoughts of religion at the time of death.
They may never show any interest any other time, but when a loved one
dies
many will turn to a preacher. So it was in this case.
We have often said, "Don't wait for the hearse to bring you to Church.
If
you do they will bring you right up front. You won't sing, pray, or take
the
Lord's Supper. Your fellowship will already be in progress somewhere
else."
It may never have actually happened and then again maybe it did. A
preacher
had talked to someone about attending services and the promise was "I
will
come when I get straightened out." Time and time again the same excuse
was
given and then one day the man died and enough the family brought him
to
the
Church for the memorial service. The preacher wanted to say something
comforting regarding the corpse and said, this man was a truthful man.
He
always said he would come to services as soon as he got straightened out.
I
will have to say that he is just about as straightened out as he is ever
going to be.
Usually the religious feeling is short lived. In a few days it is back
to
business as usual. If death makes people think of spiritual matters it
is
well that the preacher take advantage of the situation and preach the
gospel
at the moment when those in the audience are more attuned to eternity
than
at other times.
What would you think of a doctor who examined you and knew that you had
cancer, but to make you feel good told you that you were in the best of
health? People may not want to hear the truth, but they need to hear it
anyway. They expect you to preach their loved one to the front row of
heaven
with a crown on his head and a harp in his hand regardless of his
relationship with Christ.
Many listening to me at this time may feel as the audience did about Jesus
in this case before us. When He said that the damsel is not dead but
sleepeth they laughed Him to scorn. They laughed at Jesus, so we are in
good
company when they laugh at us.
Jesus told Jairus, "Be not afraid, only believe." Only believe.
That's
it.
That is the secret for unity of all that would be united in Christ. Only
believe. Just only believe what Peter told you to do in the name of Jesus
Christ when he said, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the
name
of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. . ." If everyone would only
believe
that, there would be no division on the matter of how to be saved. "Be
not
afraid, only believe." Try that formula on any thing where the Lord
has
spoken. Only believe.
And taking the child by the hand, "He saith unto her Talitha Cumi
Damsel
arise." And straightway she arose and walked for she was twelve years
old.
He commanded that they should give her something to eat. That is a good
thing for the church to remember. Whenever there is a baptism and a person
is buried with Christ and raised to walk in a newness of life give them
something to eat. Give them the Lord's Supper on every first day of the
week
and feed them the bread of life in the teaching and preaching of the word
of
God, which is the bread of life.
This was the same argument for the resurrection that He would later use
on
the Apostles concerning His own resurrection. "Have you any thing
to eat?"
And they gave him a honeycomb and a piece of broiled fish? By taking food
there was no doubt that He was not just a Spirit but in fact a resurrected
body. When Jairus's daughter came out of the room she was eating a Big
Mac
with fries, and sipping a classic Coca-Cola through a straw, there was
no
doubt about her resurrection. This was the real thing. Jesus is indeed,
Lord
over Demons, Lord over Disease and Lord over Death.
> Ed Bousman Evang. Assoc.
> "GOD IS JUST A PRAYER AWAY"
> Ed & Naomi Bousman
> P O BOX 511
> LYNCHBURG, OH 45142 USA
> ACTS 2:38 and MARK 16:16
> Web site: www.gijapa.org
>
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