The Bible tells us that angels in heaven rejoice any time a sinner is saved.
So why isn't it the same here on earth? Shouldn't the assurance of eternal life be celebrated by everyone? Today on Truth for Life Weekend, Alistair Begg considers why the impact of the Gospel on someone's life isn't always welcomed with enthusiasm. We're looking at Luke chapter 8, focusing on verses 26 through 39.
The location is in the Gentile context of the Gerasenes. The condition of the man is that he is alienated, he's alienated from God, he's alienated from others, and he's alienated from himself. Now if you think about the doctrine of reconciliation, where Paul says, you know, we beseech you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, receive the reconciliation which God has provided for you in the Gospel. Who needs to be reconciled? Only those who are alienated. If you listen carefully, you will hear in the sounds of silence, the great cries of the demons, the great cries of lostness, the great cries of emptiness. And our response to them is not to shout, be quiet, but is to say, do you know that there is a reconciliation that has been provided in the person of Christ in the amazing nature of his death for sinners?
That's you see, what is going to be the key that unlocks the alienation of this man's mind? It is what Jesus is about to do when finally all of hell is unleashed against him, and every dark and demonic force is poured out upon him, as if that would be the end of him, rather than as it proves to be, the triumph of his might. So the confrontation is as recorded for us. I just distracted myself there a little bit, I'm sorry, but I think I'm back.
I'm back on track. What you have here is a combination, I think, of attraction and of fearfulness on the part of the man. Jesus, we're told, has commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. And the response that you see down there in verse 28 makes clear that the forces of evil knew the answer to the question the disciples had been asking in verse 25.
I like little things like this, I hope you do too. If you look at verse 25, Jesus has calmed the sea. He has come through the storm in order that he can meet this man in the tombs.
There is a great calm. They were afraid. Response of his followers to a dramatic display of his power was fearfulness. And they said to one another, who then is this, that he commands even winds and water that they obey him. So what they don't know, the demons understand.
We know who you are. It's a reminder of what James goes on to write in James 2, when he says, even the demons believe and they shudder. And given that they know who Jesus is and the power of Jesus, they say to him, please do not torment me. Demons are aware of the fact that in the presence of Jesus, destruction is their only prospect. We don't want to get sidetracked on this, but evil forces and evil spirits work for the destruction of the work of God. They seek to incarnate themselves to oppose the work of he who is incarnate God. You get that? So that evil spirits seek to find a place to inhabit in order they might challenge he who has inhabited time.
He who has incarnated in the person of the Lord Jesus. So you have this direct confrontation. Don't send us, they say. Please don't send us down into the abyss.
If you take a good concordance, you can work your way through that this afternoon, especially if it rains. But this is a reference simply to the abode of the dead. So the demon world is aware of the fact that one day in the judgment, their freedom is gone and their doom is sealed.
There's no question about that. And they understand that. Realizing that they are then, that is the demons, face to face with the judge. They are obviously afraid that he may choose now to cast them down into the abyss. The man's personality has been so destabilized by the demons that they have usurped the place of the self and they speak through him. That's why when Jesus in verse 30 says, What is your name? He said, Legion, for many demons had entered him and they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Again, what a tragic picture of this man. Hopelessness.
Absolutely unable to fix himself or to be fixed by anyone else apart from the intervention of he who is the Lord of all the nations. Well in response to their request, we have the destruction of the pigs. And it's a story that obviously gets everybody completely churned up in home Bible study groups. And then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and they drowned. How strange is this? Well it is quite strange. It's particularly hard for all pig lovers and some of you who have your own private personal pigs, I suppose, are completely unsettled by this.
But if you just hold your fire, I think you'll be okay. Calvin actually suggests in his commentary that the demon's purpose may have been to excite the inhabitants of the country to curse God on account of the loss of the pigs. In other words, just to make the confrontation even greater. And when we read a little section like this, as we do now, we have to be content to treat the account at the level it's offered and not try to address questions or answer questions that it doesn't address. This is the great tyranny, again, of those who in doing home Bible studies lose control of the thing at a section like this. And somebody asked the question, how can animals be possessed? And the whole Bible study goes completely out of the window at that point. Any notion of the transforming power of Jesus setting somebody free has gone completely south now because we're discussing the nature of the demon possession of animals. And someone says, well, you know, we had a German shepherd that I think was demon-possessed.
And you might as well just close the Bible and say, we'll try again next Wednesday, but for now it's over. Now, why would Jesus allow such use of animals? What happened to the demons?
Where are they now? Why did the demons feel compelled to indwell something and so on? Now, what do you do with this? What do you do with this?
Well, what is it? What is the gospel writer doing? What is the gospel writer set out to do? What is, what is, what is Luke set out to do in his gospel?
What, what is the, if you like the pivotal point of departure in the unfolding drama of the gospel of Luke? I suggest to you, it is Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth, where he grew up being given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah from which to read, reading these words, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, all that phrase, liberty to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Now, so he's reading, he's reading the Old Testament. And he rolled up the scroll and he gave it back to the attendant and he sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Sits down in the position of the teacher. He didn't stand to teach, he sat down to teach. He sits down, he is read from the Bible, the congregation looks at him and says, I wonder now how he's going to expound this passage from Isaiah.
And none of them could have been ready for what he said. And he began to say to them, today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing, has been fulfilled in your hearing. Now, from that point on, in the development of Luke's gospel, Luke is showing us the way in which that is true. So here in this dramatic confrontation, what you have is a sneak preview, if you like, of the messianic power over evil that one day will be consummated when the lion lies down with the lamb. Therefore, it would be highly, it would be very, very strange if he who then possesses power over all of the forces of nature should not at certain points along the way give evidence of this. Whether it is in coming through the storm and in silencing its raging power or in confronting this demoniac, unhinged and alienated as he is, and magnifying the greatness of his might. So whatever else might be said, we can see that Jesus judged the life, the sanity, the wholeness, the conversion, if you like, of this man to be of significantly more value than that attached to a herd of pigs.
Right? It makes me think of a quote from Smeaton, his book on the atonement. It goes something like this, the conversion of a single soul is of greater significance than the eradication of temporal evil from an entire kingdom. The conversion of a single soul is of greater significance than the eradication of temporal evil from an entire kingdom.
That's one for coffee for you to think out. So the very fact that people would actually have a conversation about 2,000 pigs in relationship to the eternal destiny of an unhinged man speaks more to our preoccupation with animals than it does and indicates how little is our grasp of the nature of the gospel itself. And that is not to be unkind to any wonderful animal lovers that are here.
I love animals too, provided they stay in their proper place. Well, let's just say something concerning the reaction of the people. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.
It's a bit like yesterday, isn't it? The lady goes and she immediately rushes off to let everybody know the dramatic power of Jesus. And then as in John 4, when the people came out of Sychar to see what was going on, the people come out here to see what had happened. And they came to Jesus and they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right mind. And as a result of that, they decided that Jesus should stay and have an evangelistic campaign over the next two or three days.
No. And they were seized with great fear. And they decided that he should leave the region. Well, it's quite an indication, isn't it, of the fact that the impact of the gospel in a life is not immediately met with alacrity, is it? When somebody goes back into his office or goes back into the lab or goes back into the classroom, once a sort of completely out-of-control character in one direction, and now he has come or she has come back in and clearly changed.
And the response of people so often is not to say, oh, do tell me how this happened to you. This is a wonderful thing. But it's to be seized by fear and to encourage one another to stay away from her. She's gone loopy. She's gone strange. The fact that she was loopy and strange before and has now come to another kind of strange apparently doesn't matter at all. No, but you see, it isn't normal for people to be changed like that, isn't it?
It was sort of weird that this man, who had been so weird, would now be so normal. You would expect that people would say, somebody who can do something like this for this man that nobody could help, we would like to know this man. But that's not what they say. They don't want to immediately plan a men's event.
Somebody says, well, this is fantastic. We can make a buck off this. We've lost some money on the pigs, but we can recruit. We'll sell tickets for this. We'll have a men's event, and we'll put up posters speaking tonight at the Garrazine Men's Banquet is Tommy the Tomb-Dweller, Naked Neil. He will be there in full Technicolor to let everybody know what has wonderfully happened to him.
No, it's not happening like that at all. He who had been demon-possessed is now the one from whom the demons have departed. He who had been naked and out of his mind is now clothed and in his right mind. He who had fallen down and shouted in verse 28 is now sitting purposefully at the feet of Jesus.
And what has happened? Well, it's the fulfillment of the prophet's words again in the synagogue in Nazareth. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to release the oppressed. Despite the unambiguous evidence of God's power, the townsfolk have no interest, save that of ridding their region of this radical Jesus. It gives the lie, doesn't it, to the idea that if you just sort of position everything, then everybody will be running out to find out what's going on.
No, they're not. Men and women by nature do not seek God. We run from God.
The story of the gospel is not the story as the media represent it to us routinely at the high holidays, as it were, of religious festival. Namely, they will always come up with a story about people are out looking for God and God has gone on vacation and they were finding him somewhere out in the nether regions and apparently his phone is off the hook or he has no service out there on his iPhone. But nevertheless, they're looking for God. This is the great story of religion. Man is out there looking for God.
No, he's not. The great story is that God is out there seeking for man. Jesus, my savior to Bethlehem came, born in a manger to sorrow and shame. Oh, it was wonderful. Blessed be his name, seeking for me, for me.
The man on the bed, Nick at night, the woman at the well, the guy in the tombs. Same story. Same wonderful story. Is it your story? Not a story about religious expectation or hopes or dreams or turning over a new leaf or engaging with God or finding yourself or feeling more spiritual.
No. No, the radical invasion of God himself, turning our lives upside down, which since they are by nature upside down, is then to be turned the right way up and suddenly we look at the world in a different way. Well, finally, notice the commission that the man received from Jesus, which ran counter to his request. Jesus granted the demon's request and he let the demons go into the pigs.
He acceded to the request of the townspeople, go away from here, but he refuses to grant this man what he asks. It's no surprise that the man is desirous of sticking with Jesus, staying close to Jesus. After all, he was the one who had brought clarity out of a life of chaos, but we're told quite strikingly that Jesus sent him away. But Jesus sent him away.
The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away. But I think it's a much better idea if I stay with you, Jesus, and Jesus sent him away. Oh, but Jesus, oh, but, oh, but, get out of here. But Jesus, I thought you were a nice person. If you were a nice person, you'd let me stay with you.
Get out of here. You see, in the providences of God are seldom self-interpreting. This man tried to understand his experience in that moment. It made perfect sense to him that he should stay with Jesus, but actually in the providence of God, he was the first missionary now. He was the missionary that was left behind. He had met Christ on the hillside, but he was now going to go back to his, stay in his neighborhood and tell others about him. So Jesus leaves, but he leaves him behind, one whose transformation would be absolutely obvious to all. He also, when he thought about it, and when the evil one would come to him and say, you know, maybe you still are demon-possessed.
Legion, Legion. Wow, what a wonderful, visible picture he had. Because there, he said, no, Jesus drowned all the demons. He drowned them, everyone. You ask me why I'm happy, and I'll just tell you why. Because my sins are gone. And when I meet with others who ask me where they are, I say, my sins are gone. They're underneath the blood of the cross of Calvary, as far removed as darkness is from dawn. In the sea of God's forgetfulness, that's good enough for me. Praise God, my sins are gone. And Jesus gave him this fantastic, visible reminder.
So when the evil one came and accused him, he said, no, no. And Jesus has given to each of us a fantastic, visible reminder. Upon that cross of Jesus, my eye at times can see the very dying form of one who suffered there for me. And from my smitten heart with tears, two wonders I confess. The wonder of redeeming love and my own worthlessness.
That's the story and I'm sticking to it. You're listening to Truth for Life weekend. That is Alistair Begg exploring the radical impact of an encounter with Jesus.
Alistair returns to close today's program in just a minute. Here at Truth for Life, our passion is to build your confidence in the reliability of scripture and the faithfulness of God. In addition to the teaching you here on this program, we love recommending books that will do just that. And today we're suggesting a book to you titled Covenant Foundations, understanding the promise keeping God of the Bible. Most of us don't use the word covenant very often, but the Bible is filled with covenants. These are God's promises to his people throughout history, recorded in scripture. Understanding these promises can help you better understand God's plan of salvation. The book Covenant Foundations explores some of the Old Testament promises God made to his people like Noah, Abraham, Moses. It's a short book that pieces together these Old Testament covenants showing how they connect and what they teach us about our promise making, promise keeping God. If you're in a difficult season right now or you know someone who is, this book serves as a great reminder that God's promises to us are certain.
Find out more about the book Covenant Foundations when you visit our website at truthforlife.org. Now here's Alistair to close with prayer. He was enslaved and so are we, turned in upon himself and so are we.
No one was capable of breaking his bonds, nor can we. Only Jesus grants deliverance and only Jesus gives us a story to tell. What a wonderful thought that Jesus went through the storm in order to meet a man whose life was in shreds, in order that once changed he could be an evangelist in his hometown. Father, thank you for the love that drew salvation's plan, for the grace that brought it down to man, for the mighty gulf that you, O God, did span at Calvary. Thank you that we do, as we sang on Sunday morning, have a story to tell to the nations that will turn their hearts to the right, a story of peace and gladness, a story of love and light. And as we read these gospel records, we see again and again the way in which you, the Lord of glory, the King of kings, the Sovereign One, establish your power so that one day at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of you, O God our Father. Bless us then as we ponder these things, as we take them to ourselves, as we learn how to be better equipped to articulate them in a way that is not cruel or bombastic but is sensitive and is kind, and yet at the same time is absolutely clear. For we ask for your help in Christ's name. Amen.
I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for studying God's Word with us. Next weekend we'll learn about a corrupt man who wanted to see Jesus and got far more than he bargained for. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.
