Luke 8:26 says, And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. Verse twenty-seven adds, 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 Jesus and the disciples got to the land of the Gadarenes, they got off the boat and were met by a demon possessed man. The man had been demon possessed a long time, was naked, and lived in the tombs. There are people in the world today who are almost as bad, even if sometimes their demon is drugs. Verse twenty-eight continues, 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. Even in his demon possessed state, the man, recognized Who Jesus was, the Son of God, though it was probably the demon himself who recognized Jesus, and asked what Jesus had to do with Him. When we recognize Who Jesus is today, we may question what He would have to do with a sinner such as we are. The man asked Jesus not to torment him, and as sinners who come to Jesus, we may feel that He deserve His torment, but if we truly come by faith in Him as our Savior and Lord, we know He is only here to forgive us and restore us to spiritual wholeness. Verse twenty-nine states, (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.) This tells us that Jesus had commanded the demon, which had controlled the man many years and made the man uncontrollable by anyone else, to come out of the man. We may not be as bad as the man, but until we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we are following the devil. Verse thirty adds, And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. Jesus asked the demon his name, and he said Legion, because many devils were in the man. Some people today have many demons they fight against, or sometimes just give in to, but Jesus is able to cast them all out if we only allow Him to by accepting Him as our Savior and Lord. Verse thirty-one continues, And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. These devils knew Jesus was more powerful than they were and begged Him not to throw them into the deep. All they had the power to do then is all they have the power to do today when confronting Jesus, and that is to beg. Verse thirty-two says, 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. The demons saw a herd of many swine nearby and asked Jesus to allow them to enter the swine. Though Jesus could easily destroy all the demons, until He returns in the final judgment, they will still be allowed to exist, which is why we must continually put our faith in Him. Jesus allowed them to do as they requested. Verse thirty-three adds, 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. The demons left the man, went into the swine, who ran violently down the steep place, and drowned in the sea. The demons escape from death was short lived, and no matter how long they may be allowed to roam free in the world, all demons will one day face everlasting punishment. Verse thirty-four states, When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. Those in charge of the swine fled into the city and the country and told what had happened. It doesn't say whether their emphasis was on the healing power of Jesus and the restoration of the man to wholeness or on the destruction of the swine. Some people today who see a miraculous work of Jesus saving someone from their sins are only going to focus on what it may cost them materially. Verse thirty-five continues, 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. The people came to see what was happening and found the man who had been uncontrollable clothed and sitting at Jesus's feet. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we should be found at His feet spiritually, learning daily from Him. Those who had witnessed what had happened told those who came to see what had happened. The people who cam were afraid, but we don't need to be afraid when we come to Jesus. Verse thirty-six says, They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. The witnesses also told the others the method by which the man was healed. We need to tell others that we come into contact with the way that we were healed as followers of Christ, and that is by putting our faith in Jesus alone. Verse thirty-seven adds, Then the whole multitude of the cousntry 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. Instead of accepting Jesus by faith, they asked Him to leave out of fear, and He got into the ship and left. We should never let our fear of what it may cost us to keep us from inviting Jesus into our heart as our Savior and Lord. Verse thirty-eight continues, Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, The man who had the devils cast out wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus sent him away. This does not mean that Jesus rejected the man, but that the man had another purpose. We today must seek God's purpose for us as Christians and realize that it may not always be what we may think it would be. Verse thirty-nine concludes, 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. Just as Jesus sent this man to his own house to tell the people there what great things Jesus had done for him, so should we begin where we are to tell people the great things that Jesus has done for us when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord. The man did as Jesus asked, and so must we as Christians today.
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