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October 16, 2007
Mark 4-5
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Mark
Chapter 4
And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
The sower soweth the word.
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?
For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
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Mark
Chapter 5
And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
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Thought for the day:
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The first twenty verses of Mark 5 deal with Christ's healing of the demoniac who lived in the tombs of Gadara. This man lived a wild existence apart from his countrymen. He spent his time in the graveyard surrounded by death. He caused himself physical harm. The demons that possessed him gave him incredible strength so that he broke loose from any chains that he was bound with. His life was painful and destructive, and undoubtedly he was feared by the people of the community.
All that changed when Jesus came to the area. The man ran to Jesus, worshipped Him, and referred to Him as being the "Son of the most high God." Though there are differences of opinion on this point, I believe that the demons are causing him to do this, because even though they are in rebellion against God they know Who He is and they knew that Jesus was God. James 2:19 tells us,
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."
Of course, this is not the same thing as saving faith, for the demons chose to sinfully rebel against God, and there is no salvation for them because Christ died for mankind, not the angelic host. Demons would know that they were to be subservient to Christ, and they would behave in that fashion. Another probable reason why the demons were doing this was because they knew that Jesus was about to cast them out of the man. The man cried out under demonic leadership begging that the Lord would not torment him. Certainly this was not the human spirit of the possessed man, for he was already tormented. This was the voice of the demonic oppressors, and we see this spelled out even more clearly in verse 9 when the unclean spirit gives its name as "Legion: for we are many." Thus we see from this event that demons are real, that they can posses people, that they are bent on the ultimate destruction of those whom they possess, and that they know that Jesus is God and that He controls their destiny. One last thing that we see about demons from this story is that many of them are not currently in Hell, nor do they wish to go to Hell. Luke 8 :31 tells us that the wish of the demons was that Jesus not send them "out into the deep." The word "deep" here is the word "abyss", and is the word used in Revelation for the "bottomless pit". Thus, it is clear that these demons did not want to be cast into the torments of Hell. They will be sent there eventually, and some are already there (II Peter 2:4), but these were sent by Jesus into a herd of swine who stampeded and drowned.
It is important to see the reactions to this miracle. The townspeople were stunned, and begged the Lord to leave their community. Isn't it interesting how the unsaved mind is more concerned about the money gained from raising pigs than it is about the salvation of a soul and its liberation from demonic power? For all their talk about love, most unsaved people really do not care about the spiritual, eternal, or physical welfare of those around them. What is a blessing to see in this passage is the response of the delivered man. When the citizens came to see what was going on, they found a man "sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind." This tells us some things about what Christianity does to a person. First of all, it places him under control. The man is no longer wild, but is able to sit and restrain himself. Second, the man who is saved develops a sense of modesty. After years of running around naked, upon salvation this man realizes the importance of keeping himself modestly attired. Third, his mind was right. When a man gets saved his thinking ought to change. The things that used to interest him should fade away and be replaced with new thoughts concerning spiritual issues. Fourth, the man wanted to be with Jesus. When the Lord prepared to leave the area the man asked to come with Him (18). When a person is a believer he ought to want to spend as much time with the Lord as he can. Finally, when the Lord told him to stay behind and witness to his friends, he obeyed (19-20). There ought to be a desire in the heart of every Christian to do what the Lord says and share the message of salvation with those who we know.
Demons are real, but God is stronger than they are. We need to be serious about spiritual issues, realize who our enemy is, and then follow the One Who has saved us.
Mark
Chapter 5
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And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
- And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
- And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
- And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
- And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
- Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
- And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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