Because God's Word is holy and infallible and sharper than any two-edged sword that cuts to the bone and to the marrow and even cuts through our very hearts, we are to give God the honor by standing as we read His Word. So if we can, as we turn to Luke 8, let's stand as we read Luke 8, starting at verse 26. This is God's holy and infallible Word, starting at verse 26. Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when he came out into the land, he was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons and who had not put on any clothing for a long time and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before him and said in a loud voice, What business do we have with each other, Jesus, the 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 seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. Yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. And Jesus asked him, what is your name? And he said, Legion. For many demons had entered him. They were imploring him not to command them to go away into the abyss. Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons implored him. to permit them to enter the swine, and he gave them permission. And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. The people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened. Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well, and all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear. And he got into a boat and returned. But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging him that he might accompany him. But he sent him away saying, return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you. So he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. Let's pray. Our glorious Father, we ask that you would help us to receive and believe this your word, that we could go our way rejoicing and telling others of the wonderful things that you've done for us through your beloved Son, even Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen. Please be seated. An ungodly, unrighteous dread of God can make you want to tell God, even the person of Jesus come in the flesh, go away from us. We find that in today's text, but those who know the love and compassion and the mighty work of God, receive him and believe him as we find here in today's text. So last Lord's Day we looked at the glory of Jesus Christ as the Lord of creation. Jesus was in the beginning as the eternal son of God through whom the worlds were created, that he is the creator and the sustainer of all things. And knowing that Jesus Christ is this creator and sustainer of all things, it shouldn't surprise us that he has power to speak into the winds and to the waves and to the storm and rebuke them and say, be quiet and be still. and that they obey him. Then the disciples wondered, who is this? And we know that he is the Lord of creation, God who has come in the flesh through the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. And today's text in verse 26, it says that they were still in the boat, and then as they came sailing on, they went to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. Again, Sea of Galilee, which is not really a sea, but a lake. I know this is a weird question, but you might ask yourself, well, what in the world are all these pigs doing in the promised land anyway? Isn't this, the land of the Jews who forbid eating of pork according to Leviticus 11. That was an unclean animal, was not to be tolerated in a Jewish diet. So what are they doing here in the promised land? To get back to that, you have to go all the way back to Judges. Let's keep our place in Luke, but let's look back at Judges chapter one. Starting at verse 27. If you look at verse 27, it says that Manasseh did not take possession of the land that they were given. If you skip down to verse 29, Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer. Verse 30, Zebulon did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron. Verse 31, Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Akko. Verse 33, Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Okay, we find repeated references to these Gentiles that were not driven out of the land. God promised to give the people a land flowing with milk and honey and that they should have. driven out the inhabitants of the land, that they would have a nation. Yet instead, we find out that they are intermingled with the Gentiles who later on provoked them to worship idols, false idols. And the reason why we have those folks here called the Gerasenes eating pork and raising pigs was rooted all the way back in Judges chapter 1. But there's some special promises for these Gentiles in Galilee. In Isaiah 9, so again, these Gentiles being back in Galilee goes all the way back to where Isaiah even prophesied in Isaiah 9.1 that Galilee of the Gentiles would become glorious. Jesus, who was promised to be born of a virgin, was promised to be born in Bethlehem, which is a great deal south. But here in Galilee of the north, there's a promise of glorious work that the people who walk in darkness shall see a great light. Verse 2 again of Isaiah 9. The light that is promised to them is through the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, even Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Prince of Peace, who came into this land and today's text is a fulfillment, just a fulfillment, but is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah in chapter nine, of that light shining in Galilee of the Gentiles. As we focus on today's text, the main focus here is that Jesus proved himself as the eternal Son of God and victor over legion. We'll see this in two main points. Jesus casts out legion, and secondly, two opposing responses. So let's look at this first main point. Jesus cast out legion. Verse 27 and 28. And when he came out into the land, he was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons, who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him and said in a loud voice, What business do we have with each other? Jesus, Son of the Most High God, I beg you, do not torment me." Now, if you ever had a neighbor who was kind of peculiar, I don't think you had a neighbor like this. Instead of dwelling in a house, dwelling naked in the tombs, he was a very peculiar man because he was demon-possessed, not by a demon, but by demons, we're told early on. But notice this, that even this demon knew who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus was the Son of the Most High God, in verse 28. A lot of solid theologians mention that saving faith is understood as having three parts, knowledge, assent, or like agreement with, and trust. This demon had a knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ, but he did not agree with the Holy Gospel or want to put his trust in him. So this demoniac had a knowledge but not a saving knowledge. In a like fashion, we have to be careful that we ourselves don't merely have a knowledge concerning who God is. God demands that we have an embracing faith that agrees with and receives the gospel and the purifying, cleansing work of Christ for ourselves. The ascent of the gospel means that we receive it for ourselves, that we own it for ourselves, that we can say Jesus is my savior. But also we should pray for a vibrant trust to trust God with the lives that we live in faithful obedience to him in light of the holy gospel as we are able, not perfectly, but still shining forth his lights in this dark world. So this possessed man feared Jesus. Why did he fear Jesus? Because he knew that Jesus had the power and the authority to cast him into the abyss or to torment him. This was something that was going to happen to both Satan and all of Satan's minions, that they were going to suffer torment at the judge of the world, even Jesus Christ, Son of God in the flesh. In Matthew 8, 28, a parallel passage to this, it says, have you come to torment me before the time? See, he's not sure, this legion, this group of demons is not sure whether they're going to be tormented before the appointed time or not. They know that there is an appointed time. for when Jesus returns, it comes as judge, to judge the living and the dead, and then he will cast those who do not believe into the lake of fire. Revelation 20. says that after the resurrection of the just and unjust, death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. So notice that. It's not just the devil and his minions cast into the lake of fire. Those who are not written in the book of life, those who do not receive and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they likewise will be cast along with demons and with the king of the demons, the devil himself, into hell forever. I find it interesting. Unbelievers suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness that there is no hell. Well, after all, some say, well, evolution has disproven the spiritual and the eternal because we all came here by accident, supposedly, by some great big bang in some random process. Therefore, the spiritual of this world is not true. But they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. But even the devils know better. They know their time is coming, and they dread it. Martin Luther, in this classic hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, he wrote this. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him, His rage we can endure, for lo, His doom is sure. Not just Satan, but all of his minions, they know that their doom is sure. They might threaten us, but we know where they're headed, along with those who reject Jesus Christ. But notice how Jesus then frees this demon-possessed man. Verses 29 and following. For he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of man, for it had seized him many times. And he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. And yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. And Jesus asked him, what is your name? He said, Legion. for many demons had entered him. They were imploring him not to command them to go into the abyss. Now there was a herd of swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons implored him to permit them to enter the swine, and he gave them permission. And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. Imagine what it's like to be possessed by a demon. Don't have control of your own tongue. You don't have control of your own hands and arms and body because the demon drives you. That would be maddening. But imagine being possessed by a legion of demons. That is a living horror. And that's what this man was faced And we don't know how long, but we can imagine that from the way the story is told that it was likely months or maybe even years that this guy was suffering from this possession of many demons. Jesus didn't cast these demons into the abyss, which is a place of a prison, you could say, a deep place according to the Greek, but he was permitted to them to then enter the swine because it wasn't his time to cast them into the lake of fire until his return as judge. Now, we don't know why demons can control a man, but they couldn't control pigs. But it's evident, maybe because they were quadrupling up and maybe because you had 20, 30, 40, 50, whatever, demons all teaming up on one man so he's able to drive them any way you want. But when they each get set in, each in an individual pig, they can't control themselves and they're then going down this steep hill and then cast into the sea. So obviously, for some reason, we don't know why, but they weren't able to control the actions of these pigs, and then they ended up drowning. But this text, in reply to this miracle of Jesus, brings us to two responses. They're two diametrically opposite responses to the work of Jesus here. You would think everyone could agree that casting out demons would be a good thing, but not everyone agreed here. So look at the fearful, unbelieving Gerasenes, verses 34 and following. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. The people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed in his right mind, and they became frightened. Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked him, that is Jesus, to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear. He had gotten into a boat and returned." You can imagine the Losing this entire herd of swine could have been a great loss for many. For the owners of the swine, it could have been maybe even financial doom, not just a financial burden, but that might have been almost their entire livelihood cast into the lake, the Sea of Galilee. What about the herdsmen? What kind of occupation are herdsmen going to do with no herd because they've all been cast into the sea? But despite these losses, they couldn't have any joy, it seems, for a man who had been freed from demons, who had been tormented, but was now sitting clothed and in his right mind. Dr. Michael Reeves says something that was very, very enlightening in his DVD series on the fear of God. And he says, sinful fear drives one away from God. Sinful fear can help us to rationalize unbelief. And that's what these people were doing. They were fearful, you could say fearful of the unknown, but they rationalized their unbelief because they had an ungodly dread. They didn't want to know this Jesus as savior, therefore they rather feared him and cast him away. Because of the great power and authority that Jesus displayed, their fears may have been wondering, what would Jesus do next? Maybe they knew they were sinful, maybe they would be cast into the lake next. We don't know. But they asked, because of great fear, they asked for this Jesus, the Messiah, to flee from their region, to go away from their region. Although this is a very strange event, you have to admit. But you ever thought of the wonderful kindness of God in casting out the demons into the pigs and then drowning them in the lake? Would it have been better to let the demons be cast out of this man and then let legion know, then go and inhabit all the people of the garrisons? Man, that would have been horrific, wouldn't it? The whole, all of the garrisons, instead of one man, all of the garrisons get possessed by this legion. But instead, he allows them to go in the pigs. And I think it's a wonderful thing that he drowned these pigs. Can you imagine being a farmer, taking care of demon-possessed pigs? Can you imagine having to direct a group of hurting, demon-possessed, erratic pigs? And I don't know if you've dealt with boars before, but boars can be very dangerous. It can hurt you, and it can kill you. Much more a demon-possessed pig. If you ever heard of this movie, Night of the Living Dead, it was done in the 60s, but redone in 1990. This would've been like Night of the Demon-Possessed Pigs. It would have been horrible. It would have been like a horror movie or worse. It's a wonderful mercy that God, through Christ, cast these demons, indwelling the pigs, into the lake. But rather than wanting Jesus to go away from him, the man who was delivered, the freed man, wanted to follow Jesus. Verses 38 through 39. But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging him that he might accompany him. But he sent him away saying, return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you. See, Christ was not a terror to him. Christ was not to be dreaded. Christ was to be loved and adored and worshiped. It says he was at the feet of Jesus. We don't know for sure, but maybe him being at the feet of Jesus was in worship of Jesus for a time. Some sought to follow Jesus because of his miracles. We have the case in John's Gospel where a man, Nathanael, believed Jesus as the Son of God and followed him because Christ told him this. He said, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. And then Nathanael goes and says, you are the Son of God, the King of the Jews, because Jesus said he saw him under a fig tree. I think this man delivered from a legion of demons had even greater cause to believe and to trust this Lord Jesus. You don't blame him for wanting to follow him. He had much greater showing and cause because Christ showed a much, much greater power of deliverance than what was shown to Nathanael. You kind of wonder if this man had been allowed to follow Jesus, what would have happened? He probably would have been willing to even be crucified beside him, knowing what he had been delivered from. But Jesus had a very special, loving motivation in what he said next. He told this man in verse 39, return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you. Yes, the Gerasenes were fearful. They feared Jesus, but Jesus did not want to leave these people without a Christian witness. So the son of man came to seek and save the lost, but in so doing, he sent the freed man, the man delivered from demons to be a witness of the gospel unto those in his community, to be a faithful witness. Notice that this man who was delivered, he went above and beyond what Christ told him to do. Christ said in verse 39, return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you. So he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city, what great things God had done for him. Jesus said, tell the people in your household. But he went and told the whole city. and probably even more of what great things God had done for him. Brothers and sisters, you have great things that you can tell others of, that God has helped you, that God has delivered you from, of how God has freed you from sin and unbelief, from the pains of hell, from eternal torment, that he has forgiven you of your sins, and you can go and tell others of the peace and comfort that you have through the holy gospel. You can likewise tell others of what great things God has done for you. Put your faith in this Jesus. Put your faith in this Jesus who has revealed himself as the eternal Son of God, the one who had power and authority over legion, as victor over legion. Jesus Christ cast out legion and He can cast from you the many burdens, the many burdens that you might bear in this life. Whatever troubles and trials you have, Jesus can relieve you of those things, but especially of that burden of the wrath of the Father to come for sin. Notice the two opposing responses. You had the unbelieving Gerasenes, because of an ungodly fear told Jesus, the only Savior of the whole world, told Jesus, the only Savior of the world, to get away from them. Then you had the man who was freed, who gladly followed Jesus and willingly, didn't have to be given compulsion of any sort, but willingly went and told all others what Christ had done for him. Pray that God gives you a willingness and a gladness to tell how Christ has saved you from sin and from the wrath to come and has given you life and peace through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Let's pray. Our glorious Father, thank you for your love for us through Jesus, our Lord. Thank you that you have given your perfect, holy, and sinless Son to suffer and die for sinners such as us. Help us to live not for ourselves, but for him who died and rose again for us. And give us, we pray, your praise upon our lips that we would gladly tell others of what you have done for us through your beloved son. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Let's stand and sing our closing hymn, 417. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun. Let's stand and sing 417.