A Miracle In The Graveyard
Luke 8:26-39
Luke 8:26-39 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes,
which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there
met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time,
and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with
a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of
God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded
the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had
caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he
brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion:
because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him
that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there
was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they
besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he
suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into
the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the
lake, and were choked. When they that fed them saw what was done,
they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. Then
they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the
man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of
Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. They
also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of
the devils was healed. Then the whole multitude of the country of
the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they
were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and
returned back again. Now the man out of whom the devils were
departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him
away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things
God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.
Introduction:
A. It must have been a wonderful thing to go around with Jesus
during His earthly ministry, and see him perform His mighty
miracles.
1. It would be something to see Him turn the water into wine; to
walk on the water; to calm the storm; to open the blind eyes, and
deaf ears; to straighten out broken and twisted bodies; and to even
raise the dead.
B. We may not have the privilege of seeing all these things happen
today; but one thing I have learned and that is, if you follow Jesus
you'll get to see Him do some things that to say the least, are very
unusual. Following Jesus is exciting.
C. In the book of Luke chapter 8 we see Jesus performing one of His
most unusual and strange miracles. There are some tremendous lessons
for us to learn from this.
I. His Terrible Condition (vs 27-30)
A. He was possessed with demons (v 27).
1. He had not always been demon possessed.
2. Somewhere along the way he had opened up his life to these evil
spirits.
3. Demons are real. They are looking for a body to get into so they
can work. Just as the Holy Spirit requires a dedicated body of a
Christian to work thru, so demons require a dedicated body of an
unsaved person to work thru.
B. He took his clothes off, and went naked.
1. People are still taking their clothes off. This is what Satan
wants. We have the nudist colonies, the topless dancers, and the
many pornographic literature, and shows, which promote the disrobing
of the body.
C. He would not stay at home.
1. Here is another thing the devil wants to do: tear down the
family.
2. Any more the house is no more than a dispatch center. It is
almost impossible to visit in a home. Nobody is ever there.
3. Families ought to spend time together:
a. Eat together
b. talk together: have family conferences.
c. Plan together.
d. Work together.
e. Play together.
f. Worship God together.
4. He lived among the tombs.
a. The tombs, or graveyard, is a place of gloom, doom and despair.
Out of touch with reality.
b. Have you noticed how much interest is being taken today in such
matters? Séances? Witchcraft? Re-incarnation? Necromancy?
(communicating with the dead). A prime example of this is Mrs.
Clinton claiming to communicate with Mrs. Roosevelt.
5. He could not be bound with chains (v 29).
a. We are coming up with all kind of chains these days to try to
curb violence, disease, and perversions, and addictions. The truth
is, things are getting worse by the day. No one seems to know what
to do. The jails are full. The hospitals are full. Education has
failed.
b. We need to learn that we are just not capable of controlling
Satan with our abilities.
6. He was miserable
a. Never has there been a time when people were as unhappy as they
are these days.
II. His Truthful Confession (v 30)
A. He admitted his condition.
B. He confessed that Jesus was the Son of God.
C. He fell at Jesus' feet.
1. When a person falls down at Jesus' feet, he or she is on the way
up.
III. His Transforming Conversion (vs 31-37)
A. The demons departed from him.
1. The only answer to the problem is total release from the evil
spirits.
B. He sat at Jesus' feet.
1. Clothed.
2. In his right mind.
IV. His Thrilling Commission (v 38-40)
A. He wanted to be a disciple.
B. He was sent back home to tell what Christ had done for him. He
got a crowd to hear Jesus. This is the best way I know of to build a
church. Get people on fire for Jesus, and see how they come out.