MPC, 10th September 2000.Mark 5:1-20 - Defeating the Dark Army
Phil Campbell MPC, 10th September 2000.
My friend Bryson Smith is the minister at Dubbo Presbyterian Church down in central NSW; you might remember he was here not so long back. And Bryson was telling me the other day that he had a visit from a group of CONCERNED CHRISTIANS - they came to the door of his house. And they told him that they'd had a vision. That there were seven churches in Dubbo that were going to be caught up in a SPIRITUAL BATTLE. That they had a map of the town, where they'd worked out were the seven places in Dubbo that were the FOCUS of the forces of evil. One of them was the Electricity Commission building - because part of the roof of the building was in the shape of a PYRAMID. That everyone knows was just put there to focus the DARK FORCES. And when you set out the 7 places on the map and draw lines between them, they form an occult star. So here was the plan. They said to Bryson, YOUR CHURCH is the SEVENTH CHURCH. The other six are in on it already. And what we're going to do, people from the SEVEN CHURCHES are going to GO TO THE SEVEN PLACES ON THE STAR... and HAVE COMMUNION THERE. Which will exorcise the evil spirits from the town; and everyone will be converted.
Now what do you SAY to that? I mean, given the fact that the devil is REAL, given the fact that the forces of evil are REALLY THERE... what's a Christian meant to do? There are all sorts of theories. All sorts of speculations. But what are the boundaries? Well, I want to say this morning it's something we've got to take seriously. And carefully. And most of all, I want to say, be careful most of all that you understand where the STRENGTH IS. Because it's not in YOU. If you're trusting Jesus, the strength is IN THE ONE YOU TRUST. And that's why you trusted him in the first place.
So let's take a look at Jesus in action. Against the forces of evil.
THE BATTLE LINES
We're in Mark 5; Jesus, face to face not with a man possessed with ONE evil spirit; but with HUNDREDS. A whole ARMY of them. A man so tormented, so violent, so physically strong... that nobody can BIND him or CONTAIN him or CONTROL him. Everyone's tried. And nobody's strong enough.
It's head to head. And we're going to see who's in control. Where the strength is.
But before we do that I want to step back a little; and take a look at something that happened back in Mark 3. Because it sets the scene. Jesus is in a house, teaching; surrounded by the usual crowd. And the TEACHERS OF THE LAW are there; they've heard what he's doing, driving out demons; and it seems bizarre, they accuse him of working for the PRINCE OF DEMONS.
Come back to chapter 3 verse 22. The teachers of the law have come down from Jerusalem, they say He's possessed by BEELZEBUB. By the PRINCE OF DEMONS he's driving out demons. And it's a theory, I guess. Think about what people were seeing. They were seeing Jesus TELLING DEMONS WHAT TO DO. Which can look very much like he's THEIR BOSS. Either that, or someone that demons are very, very scared of. And of course, the Teachers of the Law, they go for Option Number 1. They say, this is a VERY IMPORTANT DEMON. To which Jesus says this. And here's the picture I want you to keep in your head.
He says, you haven't got it right at all. He says, How can SATAN drive out Satan? (We're in verse 23.) He says, if a kingdom is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. He says, this isn't just about ONE DEMON telling another demon what to do. Not a territorial squabble. It's SATAN BEING DEFEATED ALTOGETHER.
IN FACT, verse 27, and here's the picture I want you to keep in mind; he says, "no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions UNLESS HE FIRST TIES UP THE STRONG MAN. Then... he can rob the house."
Arnold Schwarzenegger was a body building champion before he became a movie star. Muscles on his muscles. Arnold lives at 3110 Main St. in Santa Monica. I reckon you'd have to be a pretty bold burglar to turn up at 3110 Main St while Arnie's home and think you can just wander in and rob the place. I mean, Arnie's BIG. Arnie's STRONG. You'd need to be stronger.
Jesus says, it's not SATAN robbing Satan; it's someone STRONGER THAN THAT. He says, picture this. You've got to find someone who can OVERCOME THE STRENGTH of the strong man. You've go to find someone who can TIE SATAN UP. And it's ME. Demons don't quiver in front of me because I'm prince of demons. The reason DEMONS quiver is because I'M STRONGER. And I can bind him and walk through his house and set free who I want to.
These teachers of the law, they've made a terrible mistake. Worse than the guy on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Two choices, they've picked WRONG. Saying JESUS IS ON SIDE WITH THE DEVIL means these experts in religion are committing the ultimate blasphemy. The UNFORGIVABLE SIN. Which is ironic when you think about it. We're about to see a guy whose personality is dominated by a legion of demons. Who ends up forgiven and following Jesus. And yet here are these experts in religious law - guilty of ETERNAL SIN. Because they're saying Jesus has an evil spirit. When the reality is, he's the one who's come to BIND THE STRONG MAN. And set his captives free.
So look over to the start of chapter 5, and you'll see it in concrete. Jesus just said I'm the one who can BIND UP THE DEVIL. And now you come to the start of chapter 5, we're on the other side of the lake, and you've got this man living among the tombs; so much under the influence of the devil that NOBODY CAN BIND HIM - not even with a chain. Jesus gets out of the boat, and this man comes to meet him; pick up in verse 3; : "This man lived in the tombs, and NO ONE could BIND HIM ANY MORE... not even with a chain. For he'd often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. NO ONE was strong enough to subdue him."
A problem too big; the power of a STRONG MAN TOO STRONG. And remember what Jesus said? He was talking about SATAN... and he said, nobody can rob the strong mans house unless he BINDS the STRONG MAN first. Who can do that? Nobody so far. And now here's Jesus. About to put his money where his mouth is. About to DO exactly what he said. Here's this poor guy howling naked in the hills at night, wandering round the graveyard cutting himself with rocks; too strong for anyone to deal with. I mean, imagine how scary this guy is. Kids, don't go near him. Stay away from the graveyards at night. Or Legion'll get you. But he comes running and falls on his knees in front of Jesus and he shouts at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD?" Swear to God you won't torture me." Begging for mercy. Because Jesus has just said to him, "Come out of him, you evil Spirit."
And Jesus says, "What's your name." And the guy says to him, My name's Legion... because WE ARE MANY. A Roman legion, 6000 soldiers; 6000 demons tormenting this guy, tearing him apart on the inside. 6000 demons ... begging Jesus for mercy. There's a herd of pigs grazing on this hillside. The demons say, "Send us there, send us there." Which he does. And verse 13 says the spirits come out of the man, go into the pigs, and the whole herd, two thousand of them, go rushing down the steep bank; and into the lake. And drown.
At which point the pig herders run screaming into town, and people come crowding out to see what's happened. Not all that pleased that they've lost their 2000 prize porkers; but at the same time amazed at what's happened. Because finally, this strong man's been SUBDUED. Not by chains round his legs. But by Jesus. Verse 15. When they came to Jesus, the people from the town, they saw the man who'd been possessed by the legion of demons SITTING THERE, dressed and in his right mind; and Mark says, they're AFRAID. Just like the disciples were at the end of chapter 4, we saw last week. Jesus speaks, the storm is subdued; they're terrified. Jesus speaks, the MAN IS SUBDUED; they're terrified. Afraid of the GREATER POWER than the power they feared before. And when they hear the full story, they beg with Jesus to LEAVE THE REGION. Verse 17; they've heard what happened - then the people begin to PLEAD WITH JESUS to LEAVE THE REGION.
Funny sort of place; the demons so much wanted to STAY THERE. The people there so much want Jesus to leave. This is the sort of place somehow demons feel at home, and Jesus isn't welcome. A place where the people prefer the EVIL THEY KNOW to the Jesus they DON'T KNOW. But even there, can you see Jesus has demonstrated HE'S IN CONTROL. This is GENTILE TERRITORY... Israel's borders are across the lake. God's bit of ground. Jesus has stepped over the line; come into the strongman's house. Bound the unbindable. All in a day's work. For the one stronger than the Strongman. For the ones the demon's know as the Son of the Most High God. And yet the people don't recognise who he is at all... and just want him to leave them alone.
Except for the man himself; whose name had been Legion. Who's now free. And as Jesus is leaving, the guy's there by the shore, begging to go with him. Wanting to be like the disciples. And Jesus says, NO, go back and tell your family how much God's DONE FOR YOU, how he's had mercy on you. And do you notice, here's a guy who's put TWO AND TWO TOGETHER... because when he tells people what GOD'S DONE FOR HIM, he's telling people what JESUS has done for him. One and the same. Jesus who's bound the strong man. And set him free. And all the people are amazed.
THE STRONGMAN and US
Now I want to ask you, then, where's all this leave us - when it comes to dealing with the forces of darkness. Maybe not something you think about too much. Maybe though, for some of you, something you think about TOO MUCH. Which it's quite possible to do. According to an ad in the last North West News, there's going to be an EXPO at the showground - stalls, where you can rediscover WICCA, the ancient religion of witchcraft. Stalls where you can find out about PAGANISM. And Rituals. And pentagrams. And spells.
And sometimes you might want to respond to that the way that group did I mentioned at the start. Who came visiting my mate Bryson, with a PLAN. A plan that somehow seems to be taking on the power of the occult on its own terms. That puts them, this brave little group of Christians, right at the leading edge. Which seems bold. Except Bryson said to me, the funny thing was as they came to visit, the funny thing was as they spelled out their plan for these seven churches to go into battle - they didn't ONCE mention JESUS. Or the CROSS. Which is where if you keep reading in Mark's gospel, the REAL BATTLE IS FOUGHT AND WON.
And Bryson said, they never even mentioned the fact that what we're meant to be doing is just getting on with the business of PREACHING THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION of JESUS. The ONE WHO'S STRONGER THAN the devil. They were all worked up ready for HAND TO HAND BATTLE with the forces of evil by marching around together doing little rituals. But they'd left behind the place where the authority was. Which is dangerous stuff, isn't it. Because as we read what happened here in Mark 5, it's JESUS who binds the strong man. Not US. It's all about the POWER OF HIM. Who's come to do battle with the strong man and bind him and set people free from his power.
So I just want to say if you're ever faced with this sort of stuff, make sure you're standing behind JESUS. Make sure your weapon is the weapon of the GOSPEL. And not some overinflated idea of the power of YOU.
I saw in the paper the other day the story of three frenchmen, who in1875 wanted to see how high they could go in a hot air balloon. They had a friend who was a doctor - he said, make sure you take some pressurised oxygen. And they did. But by the time they reached 7500 metres a strange thing happened. Hypoxia. Delusions. A strange sort of light headed feeling. Only one of the three survived. He said you get up there, you just want to rise and rise. I wanted to PULL OUT THE OXYGEN TUBE, but I couldn't lift my arm to do it. But he watched as the other two dumped more and more ballast to go higher. And threw out their oxygen equipment with it. And died.
Thought they could do it without help. Deluded. Which WE CAN BE if we forget where our strength is. And it seems to me that's what happens with Christians who get this strange sort of fascination for evil spirits and the devil, who come up with plans. Of what THEY'RE GOING TO DO. Leaving Jesus right out of the picture. When the fact is, HE'S THE ONE - who came to bind the strong man. Who nobody else EVER COULD.
Here's how the apostle Paul puts it later on in Ephesians. It's the little section printed on your service sheet. It's from Ephesians 6 And he says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in HIS mighty power. The power we've just seen Jesus DEMONSTRATING. Verse 11, Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It's true. You mightn't see it. But it's there. So here's what to do. He says in verse 13, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. And here's the armour... from verse 14.
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Now I don't know if you got that. But you know the funny thing? The thing you're NOT EXPECTING TO HEAR when it comes to taking on the POWERS OF DARKNESS? See, you're expecting to hear, "have an exorcism. March around and CLAIM THE CITY. Draw up a map and find the occult PENTAGRAMS. Do the right RITUALS. And instead of that he says, the armour is this. Truth. Righteousness. And most especially the GOSPEL OF PEACE. As we stand behind our FAITH IN JESUS. And then you just PRAY. Pray for the gospel as it spreads.
See, same recipe as always. Hang onto the truth. Trust Jesus. TELL PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT HE'S DONE... preach the good news of the cross. Where sin was taken and paid for. And PRAY. Not quite as glamorous as marching around the city with your map. But Bryson said to these guys who came to his door, when they said God's told us your church is going to be the seventh church, he said, you'd better go back to God and check again. Because we're in the same battle. But we're just going to keep doing what we've always been doing. Trusting Jesus; telling the gospel. Because HE'S the one who came to bind the strong man. And we can still trust him to do that - we're just spreading the news.