Sermon Tone Analysis

In his classic fable The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis provides a glimpse into the strategies of Satan’s demons.

An older and wiser demon named Screwtape is mentoring the younger Wormwood.

In his preface to the imaginary correspondence, Lewis writes, there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.

One is to disbelieve in their existence.

The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.

They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight.

(Lewis, Screwtape, 3)

Lewis is right, and the human race has fallen into both errors.

The materialists of the “Age of Reason” or Enlightenment were fooled into disbelieving in the existence of demons or any spirit beings.

New ageism and postmodern mysticism have been enamored with angels, demons, and spirits beyond this world.

Beginning in 1969 with Rosemary’s Baby and in 1973 with The Exorcist, Americans have been engaged in a peculiar fascination with the occult and the demonic.

Simply surveying Hollywood since then reveals this trend: Hostage to the Devil (1976); The Omen (1976); The Possessed (1977); Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977); The Entity (1982); My Demon Lover (1987); The Blair Witch Project (1999); Bedazzled (2000); The Little Vampire (2000).

Likewise, television series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and Touched by an Angel are ever before us.

Add to this the hotly debated issues of SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse) and Halloween, and you have a significant element of our culture awash in spiritism and the occult.

We need a good dose of biblical balance and sanity.

Mark 5 provides an excellent starting point.

Yes, Jesus believed demons were real, and that should settle for all of us the question of their existence.

Yet beyond this fact, we see in our Lord’s encounter with the Gerasene demoniac the power, mercy, and authority of the Son of God, who commands the demon with merely a word.

In this text we will see the purpose of Satan to destroy and the power of the Savior to deliver.

Whether it is a demonic man (5:1-20), a diseased woman (5:24-34), or a dead little girl (5:21-43), Jesus has the power to save.

1.

The destructive force of demons.

Mark 5:1-5

1.

The destructive force of demons.

"They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.

When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him."

(Mark 5:1,2)

This was an eerie event.

“Immediately there came to him a man out of tombs” imagine the scene.

b.

In chapter 4:35, 37 It was a stormy night.

(v.1-2)The boats pulled up on shore right in the midst of a seashore graveyard and immediately a wild acting man came running out from among the tombs.

Could you imagine the disciple’s state of mind, they were still in the process of figuring out who JESUS is, they were terrified and awed by what happen out on the sea.

Then this wild man came out from the tombs running towards them surely they wanted to run in the opposite direction out of terrifying gripping fear.

2. Mark gives a detailed description of the wretched condition of this man.

Mark 5:2-5

d. (v.5)The man lived among the tombs.

These were lofty, vault-like tombs, hewn out of the limestone hills The evil spirit caused the man to dwell in the darkest, most eerie place imaginable, and living in the dark and eeriness aggravated his condition.

He represents the man who loves darkness because his deeds are evil.

(John 3:19)

(vss.

3-4) The man was uncontrollable, unrestrained, untamed, wild, mad, violent tempered, often possessing super-human strength.

All human efforts to help him had failed.

He could not be helped, nor controlled, nor tamed.

He represents the uncontrollable evil or depravity of man and the helplessness of man to deliver or save himself.

The man was naked (cp.

Mark 5:15), stripped of all decency and all acceptable and righteous behavior.

He represents the old man who stands naked before the eyes of God and who desperately needs to be clothed with the righteousness of God and with the garments of the new man.

2. The fate of the evil spirit.

Mark 5:6-7.

1.

Who recognized Jesus was it the man or the demon?

2.Notice that the demon recognized Jesus as the Son of the most High God.

The man had no knowledge that Jesus was the Son of God he was under the strong influence of the demon.

But we also notice the demon begged not to be sent to hell.

Jesus never sends no man to hell- not in this life, not while still living.

a. Scripture teaches four facts about the devil and his angels (messengers, demons, evil spirits) that should always be kept in mind.

i.They believe there is One God and they tremble (James 2:19).

ii.

They have nothing to do with Jesus; that is, their nature is entirely different from the clean spirit of Jesus.

Evil and evil spirits are diametrically opposed to the purity and holiness of Jesus.

iii.The Son of God has come to destroy the works of the devil.

All evil and evil spirits are to be destroyed (1 John 3:8; cp.

Hebrews 2:14-15).

iv.They are doomed to everlasting torment (see Deeper Study #3, Everlasting Fire—Matthew 25:41).

v.All of these facts were involved in the behavior of the demon possessed man.

The evil spirit was trembling before the Son of God.

He cried out, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of...God?"

He was stricken with the purity and the holiness of Jesus.

He was forced to bow in reverence and to beg Jesus not to doom him—not yet.

Note something: the evil spirit knew that Jesus had come to destroy evil.

He knew that Jesus was going to cast him out and free the man, despite the man's utter, hopeless depravity.

How marvelous the love and power of Jesus, that He frees even the most defiled!

3. The delivering power of Jesus.

Mark 5:8-13

a.5:8-13

The demon possessed man was cleansed by the authority of Jesus.

Demons were fully aware of the power of the Son of God and were unable to resist Him.

They had no choice but to leave their human victim.

“Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

In the process of casting out the demon Jesus paused and ask for the demons name.

“What is your name?”

And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”

Legion is a military designation used to identify groups of soldiers.

At that time a Roman legion was around 6,000 soldiers, demonstrating how many demons were in this man.

Jesus demanded the name of these demons for one simple reason: to demonstrate the extent of His power over the realm of Satan.

He not only had the authority to cast out a solitary demon but even an entire horde.

Fallen angels, whether they numbered few or many, were under the control of His will and incomparable power.

b.

The spokesman for the demons, after divulging their name, began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

Luke 8:31 adds, “They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.”

Jesus could have exiled them to any place He chose this was not a sign of compromise nor compassion toward these evil spirits.

The Lord Jesus had another purpose for them to fulfill, and so He gave them permission to enter the swine.

As powerful as they are, Satan and his demonic forces can do nothing outside of what God either commands or permits them to do ce He wanted.

Their desire was to stay in that Gentile region, evidently to continue operating in and through the local culture and pagan religious practices.

c.

Does that mean God is the author of evil?

Certainly not, yet even the chaos and corruption produced by evil spirits fits within His Sovereign plan.

4. A negative response from the towns people.

Mark 5:14-17

a. Look at the response of the towns people, you would think seeing the miraclous deliverance of a crazy man should have brought joy, relief and worship to this community.

Just the opposite took place they were filled with utter fear just like wthe disciples were in the boat.