A sermon preached on April 18, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Time for a Fresh Encounter
Dry Bones Can Live Again!
Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-10
It’s called “dry lightning” and it’s responsible for 80% of all wildfires in wildland areas. Dry lightning occurs during thunderstorms when the humidity is so low (the air is so dry) that rain evaporates before it reaches the ground. Even though the rain does not reach the ground, the lightning does and when it hits dry grass the results can be devastating. What occurs in nature with sometimes deadly results, is something that we need from a spiritual standpoint. When God sparks a dry and hopeless heart, new life occurs! God wants to spark the dying embers of our lives. He wants to renew our passion and love for Him and for others. As the hymn states, God wants to sweep “across the broken strings” and stir “the slumbering chords again” (Hymn, “He Keeps Me Singing”). He wants to bring dry bones back to life again!
In every age and with every people revival, a fresh encounter with God, is needed if the church is going to impact its culture with the Gospel of Christ. As we think about our upcoming series of special revival services that begin next Sunday, I want to share with you four critical conditions to be met for true spiritual renewal to occur. These four conditions constitute God’s plan for spiritual renewal and they are illustrated in Ezekiel 37:1-10.
In Ezekiel chapter 37 we find that the spiritual life of the kingdom of Judah had been depleted through years of captivity. The once blessed and prosperous nation is walking blindly through a dust storm and can’t seem to find their way out. They are in a place of dryness, despair, even hopelesness and they can’t seem to escape.
The spiritual condition of the people is portrayed with an unusual and vivid picture of dry bones. Ezekiel is commanded to preach to the bones and something extraordinary occurs. A miracle of new life sprouts, God’s people are revived, and standing before Ezekiel is a great army! It was a revival in a bone yard. In our day, we too need an outpouring of God’s Spirit to flood the dry valleys that dominate our lives. We need the inrush of living water to replenish the dusty deserts of our lives. We need dry bones to live again!
When will dry bones live again? When will we experience a fresh encounter with God? When will we see new life spring forth from death? Even though revival is a work of the “Sovereign Lord,” there are some conditions for experiencing a fresh encounter with God. Life Application: When God’s people meet God’s conditions, true spiritual renewal will occur.
Notice the first condition, there must be . . .
1. A Divine Confrontation (37:1-3)
God had Ezekiel do some unusual things in his ministry. He told him to eat a scroll (3:1-3); he had him make a model of Jerusalem and play war games to reenact its soon coming destruction (4:1-3); and he had him shave his head and beard (even burning his hair) as signs of judgement (5:1-3) just to name a few. Ezekiel was a prophet given to extraordinary visions and strange acts. In this unusual vision in chapter 37 Ezekiel is seized by the Lord (“carried away” NLT) and given a tour, led by the holy spirit, of a graveyard. The Spirit of God set him down in the middle of a valley full of bones (v.1). As he was led all through the valley he noticed that the bones were “very dry” (v.2).
In the immediate context this was a prophetic vision of the nation of Israel. In oppressive and unrelenting captivity, the people were like scattered and unburied skeletons. The people were drying up and dying and they saw no end to their judgement. They said “our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off!” (37:11). The people saw no hope of ever being resurrected as a nation but God says to them, their Dry Bones would Live again!
The reviving of the dry bones signified the restoration of the nation. The vision showed that Israel’s new life depended on the “Sovereign Lord’s” power (vv.5-6, “I will”), not outward circumstances. It would be the Lord who would open their graves and bring them into the land once again (37:12). So this actually was a vision of great hope and encouragement! Dry Bones Can and Will Live Again!
When you are in captivity for a long period of time you begin to lose hope. When you go through a dry spell, a time of extreme testing and difficulty, a time when it seems as if God is nowhere to be found, you wonder has God forgotten about me? Can God still do it? That’s how Israel felt, but if they would see their condition and what God was about to do, their lives would be full of hope. We too need our hope revived.
The first condition for being brought back to life is to realize that you are in a dry zone and need God’s spiritual life. We need a divine confrontation. Ezekiel needed to make an honest assessment of present realities and that is what happens in the presence of God, we come face to face with reality but also to the supernatural power of God.
A divine confrontation. Second, there must be . . .
2. A Faith Declaration (37:3)
In 37:3 God asks Ezekiel a question. “Can these bones live?” Why did God ask such a question? This was not a question seeking information. God wanted Ezekiel to put his faith to work and to see the possibilities before him. God knows that dry bones can live again, but He wants Ezekiel to believe that. All of God’s people had lost that hope. They didn’t believe it was possible. And God wants them to start believing not only that it is possible but that it is coming! He wants them to believe that dry bones can and will live again!
Ezekiel gazes out upon the scene of death and says “Lord, you alone know.” “From where I am standing it doesn’t look too promising but only you know.” Ezekiel’s response was somewhat guarded. It was not that he was doubting God. He was just simply saying “God, only you know.” “And only You can do it.” He is saying that from a strictly human standpoint it looks impossible. We can understand Ezekiel’s guarded response. After all he’s been preaching to a bunch of dry bones for a long time now and he hasn’t seen much sign of life.
Anyone who has ever preached or taught consistently to the same folks can identify with brother Ezekiel. Many times I have wondered as I gaze out upon the congregation, “can these bones live?” But God wants me to keep preaching and keep believing and keep trusting that dry bones can and will live again! What is the answer to the question? Of course man can not make them live but God can! God did not respond to Ezekiel but he did give him some instructions on how to raise the dead. A few years ago a book came out with the title 30 Minutes to Raise the Dead and that’s about what we try to do every week.
Dry Bones Can Live Again when we have a divine confrontation, and when there is a faith declaration - God will do it! A third condition, there must be . . .
3. A Biblical Proclamation (37:4-8)
In 37:4-6 Ezekiel is told to preach to the bones – to preach to the dead! What do you preach to dead people? “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” (37:4). Dead people need life and life is in the word! “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Rom.10:17). What was the word Ezekiel was to bring to the people? It is found in verse 5. Dry bones can live again! “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.” Here was a message of hope. A message of joy. A message of good news!
Here is our glorious mission! “To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.” The Word of God brings life (John 1:1; Phil.2:16)! It is the unchanging Word of God that will bring change to the world. The Word is life and there can be no revival without the Bible! Ezekiel obeyed the Lord and went to preaching to his congregation of dead folks (37:7). Notice what happened. When the dead came into a confrontation with God’s Word the dead folks started to make a little “noise.”
Now Ezekiel I’m quite sure was happy to hear a little noise or anything for that matter. One of our problems today is there isn’t enough holy noise in church. Now there’s a lot of noise in the church today but it’s not “holy noise!” The church is noisy with programs, with gimmicks, and with people making spectacles of themselves. New Testament churches are truly noisy churches. Noisy with life. Noisy with spiritual questions form new converts. Noisy with hurting people. Noisy with spiritual kingdom activity.
A miracle occurred as he preached. The dry bones began to come together bone to bone. Then flesh appeared and skin covered the flesh. Right before his eyes new life was coming in response to the preached word. This miracle happens in preaching. Dry Bones Can Live Again When There Is A Biblical Proclamation.
Fourth, there must be, . . .
4. Spiritual Inspiration (37:9-10)
The word is essential but there is no life without the Spirit of God! Verse 8 tells us that “there was no breath in them.” The word translated “breath” is the Hebrew word “ruach” and can be translated as wind, spirit and breath. It speaks of God’s divine activity. They were bodies with substance but still lifeless. They lacked the breath of God, the divine activity of God’s Spirit. So Ezekiel was now commanded to “prophesy to the breath . . . say . . . breathe on these slain, that they may live” (37:9).
What was God saying to Ezekiel? You recognize that it is my Spirit that gives life, Ezekiel. Ezekiel, you let Me fill you with my Spirit. Let Me empower you because only I can do it. “All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy one comes down; Brethren pray and holy manna will be showered all around.” Dry bones can live when we as God’s servants seek the Lord’s face in prayer and ask Him to anoint our lips, to empower our teaching, to open the hearts of the people we minister to.
When the Bible and the Spirit are in union there is birth and rebirth. Revival occurs! In verse 10 the breath of God came, life returned to the dead, and there was now standing “an exceedingly great army.” When we the church are revived that is what we will be - a mighty army of servants fulfilling God’s mission. When God’s people meet God’s conditions, true spiritual renewal occurs. Dry bones can live again!
Are you ready for a fresh encounter? For God to do what He alone can do? Are you ready for renewed joy, peace, a sense of purpose, hope? Dry bones can live again!
Prayer
Father, some of us are in that dry valley of bones today and in need of renewal, a fresh encounter with You, the Holy One. Others of us need to take a spiritual tour through the bone yard of this world so that we can see clearly the needs all around us. Father, today would you take us to the valley of dry bones if needed so that we can see our true condition? Father, use Your word and Spirit today to spark the fires of revival, visit us from on high so that we may have a fresh encounter with You, O Sovereign Lord. Now, grant us the faith to believe you – to expect great things from you and then attempt great things for you. Empower us by Your Holy Spirit to preach and to teach and to share Your Word that changes lives and changes communities. May we be found faithful. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
No Limits! (Mark 6:1-6)
A sermon preached on April 11, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
No Limits
Scripture Reading: Mark 6:1-6
God is not limited in what He is able to do or what He will do, but God works accordingly in conjunction with our response to Him. Because of unbelief, Jesus’ mighty works were limited in Nazareth. He still did some works, but the response of unbelief hindered Him from doing a “mighty work” there. Because of the response of the people of Nazareth, one writer has called this account an “un-miracle” story.
Life Application: Responding to God in faith opens our lives to the amazing and unlimited power of God.
Varying Responses to Jesus
The parable of the soils in Mark chapter four is a story about how people respond to the Gospel. Some people respond positively, and in that sense, they are the good soil. The good soil is often found in unlikely places. A graveyard where a demon-possessed man found deliverance, a crowded street where a woman touched Jesus, a child’s room where Jesus healed a child of a synagogue ruler, a toll collectors booth where a weary outcast named Matthew found hope. Good soil pops up in some unlikely places.
However, other people responded negatively to Jesus. The hard, the rocky and thorny soil represents the hardened and unresponsive hearts of the people that rejected Jesus. Religious leaders who said he was demon-possessed, family members who wrote him off as crazy, and here in our text where his home town reception is anything but positive and characterized by faith. It’s said that you can never really go back home and this was certainly true for Jesus. Where there should have been good soil, positive responses – faith, there was unbelief. Jesus certainly wasn’t given the key to the city and there was no sign at the outskirts of town proclaiming “Welcome to Nazareth, home of Jesus the Christ.”
1. Home Coming (6:1-2a)
“To his hometown . . . he began to teach” “Hometown” is a reference to Nazareth (NLT). At this time, Jesus had become well-known as a teacher and He seems to be coming back in more of an official capacity as a Rabbi with disciples. We might say, “it’s home coming and Jesus is the guest preacher.” But this was no home coming celebration! The people were “amazed” or “astonished” (ESV) but the word here has a negative connotation. Amazed but unfazed!
2. Familiarity and Contempt (6:2b-3)
“Isn’t this the carpenter?” The response of the people? They were offended and would not believe in Him. Why were the people offended?
(1) Jesus did not have the proper credentials “Where did this man get these things?”
What the people are saying here is, “how could he have such wisdom and power seeing that he does not have the proper credentials?” Jesus did not study under their Rabbis. He had not been to their schools. He was not qualified! Do not ever feel that you are not qualified. Some Christians desire to be used by God but because someone has discouraged them, they are inactive. Remember, it is God that qualifies us (see Col. 1:12).
(2) Was a working man, a carpenter “Isn’t this
the carpenter?”
The people were ashamed of Jesus. “Carpenter” is “tekton,” which can be observed in the last half of the English word “architect,” although in that day it did not carry such a positive connotation. In biblical times it could refer to any kind of craftsman: mason, smith, shipbuilder, sculptor, and even physician. It is not certain that Jesus was a carpenter in the sense that we think of a carpenter; however, this was the understanding of the early church. About A.D. 155 Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 88, states that Jesus made yokes and ploughs. The point here in this account is that in their opinion, Jesus is just an ordinary craftsman perhaps like themselves. The NLT says, “They scoffed, ‘He’s just a carpenter.” The people of Nazareth despised Jesus because he was a working-man, “just a carpenter.” “Who does he think that he is? He’s no different than us.” Their physical knowledge of Jesus prevented them from having a spiritual knowledge of him.
(3) Jesus had a suspect background “Isn’t this Mary’s son?”
Because this was not the common way to refer to someone, some scholars believe that this was added later by scribes who changed it in order to lend support to the belief in the virgin birth. A simpler explanation is that this expresses the fact that Joseph had already died or an even better, that this expression reflects rumors that he was illegitimate and may have been a deliberate slur by the townspeople. It’s good to know that you don’t have to have a perfect pedigree to be used by God! He’s not concerned with your past and because of grace your past does not have to hinder your present.
(4) Familiarity with his family “Isn’t this . . . the brother of James, Joseph . . .?” The brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned here were not cousins (Jerome’s view) or Joseph’s children by a previous marriage. The children mentioned here were more probably children born to Mary and Joseph subsequent to the virgin birth of Jesus. James is prominent in that he later became the leader of the Jerusalem church and the author of the book of James. Judas is probably the same person mentioned in Jude 1. In Greek the names are the same. We know nothing of Joseph and Simon.
Because the people judged him by his lack of credentials, because they were ashamed of him, because they thought that they knew him, the people “were deeply offended and refused to believe in him” (v.3, NLT). The word translated “took offense” (NIV, ESV) is “skandalizō.” In the NT the word was often translated as “stumbling block” and by Mark’s time was used to describe the Jewish response to Jesus’ crucifixion (1 Cor. 1:23; Gal. 5:11). From this word we translate the English word “scandal.”
Sometimes when familiarity should breed a growing respect it breeds an increasing and easy-going familiarity. The reason his own people did not believe in Jesus was that they thought they knew him so well. It was inconceivable to them that God could be at work in the commonplace, in the ordinary. Sometimes we are too near people to see their greatness.
3. Limiting God (6:4-6)
The words “relatives” and “house” (v.4) indicate that Jesus’ family joined with their neighbors in rejecting his claims (see, 3:20-21, 31-35). The unbelief of the people had a limiting effect on Jesus’ work in their midst. One of the great emphases of Mark’s Gospel is that Jesus performs his miracles in response to faith. Here there was little faith. It is not that God cannot work, he has chosen to limit his working in accordance with human response. This is not to say that we can somehow manipulate God; however, our responsiveness to God is a key to receiving from Him. And if I will not respond to him in faith, I will not receive from him either. It is still true that no man can be healed if he refuses to be healed.
Why do we reject those we are familiar with? And why do we not respond to God in faith? (1) We judge by past experiences and limited knowledge. We think we have people figured out. We size people up, we judge them and we think we really know them. We think we know all there is to know about a person. Because we think we know God, we’re not open to seeing him work in different ways, even ordinary ways.
(2) The human nature part of us disdains those who stand aside as different. Why? People who excel blow the cover off of mediocrity. Or we think to ourselves, “why can’t they just be like everyone else?” “Why do they feel that they are special?” Remember how Joseph’s brothers felt about him and treated him? They despised Joseph because he was a dreamer. So they tried to kill the dreamer. Jesus is the dreamer and the elder brothers are trying to silence his dreams.
A message to the church for we too can limit God. (Barclay) “There can be no preaching in the wrong atmosphere. Our churches would be different places if congregations would only remember that they preach far more than half the sermon. In an atmosphere of expectancy the poorest effort can catch fire. In an atmosphere of critical coldness or bland indifference, the most Spirit-packed utterance can fall lifeless to the earth.”
The clear indication in this text is that if they had believed in him, he could have done a great deal more. The spiritual climate of a congregation, its sense of expectancy, its openness to the power of God at work through Jesus Christ, will in fact have a great deal to do with how much God’s power can accomplish in that particular community.
Jesus is not discouraged by the response that he receives in Nazareth. He continues his ministry of teaching and healing. “And he went about among the villages teaching” (v.6, ESV).
No Limits Living
1. Keep intimacy with God at a high level. Intimacy with God (growing in Christ) destroys preconceived and inadequate notions of God.
2. Keep your heart responsive to God. Faith grows as we respond to him and as our faith grows, we see God’s “might work” in our lives.
3. Don’t allow others to limit what you can be or do in life. You’re not limited by your background, life circumstances, or what people think about you.
4. Don’t ever get discouraged when people do not respond to your ministry, others will.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
No Limits
Scripture Reading: Mark 6:1-6
God is not limited in what He is able to do or what He will do, but God works accordingly in conjunction with our response to Him. Because of unbelief, Jesus’ mighty works were limited in Nazareth. He still did some works, but the response of unbelief hindered Him from doing a “mighty work” there. Because of the response of the people of Nazareth, one writer has called this account an “un-miracle” story.
Life Application: Responding to God in faith opens our lives to the amazing and unlimited power of God.
Varying Responses to Jesus
The parable of the soils in Mark chapter four is a story about how people respond to the Gospel. Some people respond positively, and in that sense, they are the good soil. The good soil is often found in unlikely places. A graveyard where a demon-possessed man found deliverance, a crowded street where a woman touched Jesus, a child’s room where Jesus healed a child of a synagogue ruler, a toll collectors booth where a weary outcast named Matthew found hope. Good soil pops up in some unlikely places.
However, other people responded negatively to Jesus. The hard, the rocky and thorny soil represents the hardened and unresponsive hearts of the people that rejected Jesus. Religious leaders who said he was demon-possessed, family members who wrote him off as crazy, and here in our text where his home town reception is anything but positive and characterized by faith. It’s said that you can never really go back home and this was certainly true for Jesus. Where there should have been good soil, positive responses – faith, there was unbelief. Jesus certainly wasn’t given the key to the city and there was no sign at the outskirts of town proclaiming “Welcome to Nazareth, home of Jesus the Christ.”
1. Home Coming (6:1-2a)
“To his hometown . . . he began to teach” “Hometown” is a reference to Nazareth (NLT). At this time, Jesus had become well-known as a teacher and He seems to be coming back in more of an official capacity as a Rabbi with disciples. We might say, “it’s home coming and Jesus is the guest preacher.” But this was no home coming celebration! The people were “amazed” or “astonished” (ESV) but the word here has a negative connotation. Amazed but unfazed!
2. Familiarity and Contempt (6:2b-3)
“Isn’t this the carpenter?” The response of the people? They were offended and would not believe in Him. Why were the people offended?
(1) Jesus did not have the proper credentials “Where did this man get these things?”
What the people are saying here is, “how could he have such wisdom and power seeing that he does not have the proper credentials?” Jesus did not study under their Rabbis. He had not been to their schools. He was not qualified! Do not ever feel that you are not qualified. Some Christians desire to be used by God but because someone has discouraged them, they are inactive. Remember, it is God that qualifies us (see Col. 1:12).
(2) Was a working man, a carpenter “Isn’t this
the carpenter?”
The people were ashamed of Jesus. “Carpenter” is “tekton,” which can be observed in the last half of the English word “architect,” although in that day it did not carry such a positive connotation. In biblical times it could refer to any kind of craftsman: mason, smith, shipbuilder, sculptor, and even physician. It is not certain that Jesus was a carpenter in the sense that we think of a carpenter; however, this was the understanding of the early church. About A.D. 155 Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 88, states that Jesus made yokes and ploughs. The point here in this account is that in their opinion, Jesus is just an ordinary craftsman perhaps like themselves. The NLT says, “They scoffed, ‘He’s just a carpenter.” The people of Nazareth despised Jesus because he was a working-man, “just a carpenter.” “Who does he think that he is? He’s no different than us.” Their physical knowledge of Jesus prevented them from having a spiritual knowledge of him.
(3) Jesus had a suspect background “Isn’t this Mary’s son?”
Because this was not the common way to refer to someone, some scholars believe that this was added later by scribes who changed it in order to lend support to the belief in the virgin birth. A simpler explanation is that this expresses the fact that Joseph had already died or an even better, that this expression reflects rumors that he was illegitimate and may have been a deliberate slur by the townspeople. It’s good to know that you don’t have to have a perfect pedigree to be used by God! He’s not concerned with your past and because of grace your past does not have to hinder your present.
(4) Familiarity with his family “Isn’t this . . . the brother of James, Joseph . . .?” The brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned here were not cousins (Jerome’s view) or Joseph’s children by a previous marriage. The children mentioned here were more probably children born to Mary and Joseph subsequent to the virgin birth of Jesus. James is prominent in that he later became the leader of the Jerusalem church and the author of the book of James. Judas is probably the same person mentioned in Jude 1. In Greek the names are the same. We know nothing of Joseph and Simon.
Because the people judged him by his lack of credentials, because they were ashamed of him, because they thought that they knew him, the people “were deeply offended and refused to believe in him” (v.3, NLT). The word translated “took offense” (NIV, ESV) is “skandalizō.” In the NT the word was often translated as “stumbling block” and by Mark’s time was used to describe the Jewish response to Jesus’ crucifixion (1 Cor. 1:23; Gal. 5:11). From this word we translate the English word “scandal.”
Sometimes when familiarity should breed a growing respect it breeds an increasing and easy-going familiarity. The reason his own people did not believe in Jesus was that they thought they knew him so well. It was inconceivable to them that God could be at work in the commonplace, in the ordinary. Sometimes we are too near people to see their greatness.
3. Limiting God (6:4-6)
The words “relatives” and “house” (v.4) indicate that Jesus’ family joined with their neighbors in rejecting his claims (see, 3:20-21, 31-35). The unbelief of the people had a limiting effect on Jesus’ work in their midst. One of the great emphases of Mark’s Gospel is that Jesus performs his miracles in response to faith. Here there was little faith. It is not that God cannot work, he has chosen to limit his working in accordance with human response. This is not to say that we can somehow manipulate God; however, our responsiveness to God is a key to receiving from Him. And if I will not respond to him in faith, I will not receive from him either. It is still true that no man can be healed if he refuses to be healed.
Why do we reject those we are familiar with? And why do we not respond to God in faith? (1) We judge by past experiences and limited knowledge. We think we have people figured out. We size people up, we judge them and we think we really know them. We think we know all there is to know about a person. Because we think we know God, we’re not open to seeing him work in different ways, even ordinary ways.
(2) The human nature part of us disdains those who stand aside as different. Why? People who excel blow the cover off of mediocrity. Or we think to ourselves, “why can’t they just be like everyone else?” “Why do they feel that they are special?” Remember how Joseph’s brothers felt about him and treated him? They despised Joseph because he was a dreamer. So they tried to kill the dreamer. Jesus is the dreamer and the elder brothers are trying to silence his dreams.
A message to the church for we too can limit God. (Barclay) “There can be no preaching in the wrong atmosphere. Our churches would be different places if congregations would only remember that they preach far more than half the sermon. In an atmosphere of expectancy the poorest effort can catch fire. In an atmosphere of critical coldness or bland indifference, the most Spirit-packed utterance can fall lifeless to the earth.”
The clear indication in this text is that if they had believed in him, he could have done a great deal more. The spiritual climate of a congregation, its sense of expectancy, its openness to the power of God at work through Jesus Christ, will in fact have a great deal to do with how much God’s power can accomplish in that particular community.
Jesus is not discouraged by the response that he receives in Nazareth. He continues his ministry of teaching and healing. “And he went about among the villages teaching” (v.6, ESV).
No Limits Living
1. Keep intimacy with God at a high level. Intimacy with God (growing in Christ) destroys preconceived and inadequate notions of God.
2. Keep your heart responsive to God. Faith grows as we respond to him and as our faith grows, we see God’s “might work” in our lives.
3. Don’t allow others to limit what you can be or do in life. You’re not limited by your background, life circumstances, or what people think about you.
4. Don’t ever get discouraged when people do not respond to your ministry, others will.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Easter Before And After (Mark 5:1-20)
A sermon preached on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Easter Before and After
Consider life before Easter. Peter, ashamed of Jesus denied his Lord three times. Thomas could not believe that Jesus was alive. After the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples were huddled in fear that they might be next. And the woman, devoted followers of Jesus came to the tomb that first Easter morning not knowing it would be the first Easter. Their thoughts were centered on how they would move the great stone that secured the corpse of Jesus. The last thing on their mind was seeing Jesus alive. But after Easter things were different. Peter renewed by the resurrected Jesus and full of fresh courage proclaimed the crucified risen Christ and thousands were converted. Thomas confessed Jesus as Lord, disciples once huddled in fear were dispersed to love others, and the women who went to the tomb that day left filled with God’s presence and great joy.
Easter changes everything! In Mark 5:1-20 we have the story of Jesus healing a man of his demon possession and giving him a new direction in life. It’s a great before and after story. It illustrated life before and after Easter. Jesus transformed this man with just a word. The same Lord who walked the Galilean seashore is still the living Lord who is in the life changing business!
No Case Too Hard
In this passage we see that No Case Is too Hard. The Psalmist declared, “What God is great like our God? You art the God who works wonders” (Psalm 77:13b-14a). Truly with God all things are possible. Nothing is too hard for our God. Here before us is a man who is possessed by negative, destructive, demonic, and anti-life forces. He had been driven away form his family, friends, community, and society itself. All normal contacts with other human beings had ceased. Here before us is a man engulfed in tragic loneliness being driven by demonic forces to the brink of insanity. Here before us is a man who has been written off as a lost cause, a hard case, no a hopeless case! But with Jesus there is no case too hopeless, too far gone, too hard! No one is hopeless who hopes in God!
Dead Man Walking
Mark tells us four things about “Legion,” the Demon-possessed man. Here is why we need Easter!
1. Spiritually Dead (vv.2-3)
First, He made his home in the graveyard - 5:2-3. Luke 8:27 tells us that “He lived not in a house but among the tombs.” He is a man who is the living among the dead. But although he was alive physically he was dead already spiritually. In fact this is the spiritual condition of humanity apart from God (see Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 2:1-15). Apart from Christ we are all dead men walking. This man was so wild and anti-social that he could not live among the living. Legion needed to be raised from the death of sin and demonic possession.
2. Without Hope (vv.3-4)
Second, Legion could not be bound - 5:3-4. His own people did not know what to do with him. Their only cure was to lock him up but that didn’t work. The world could not help this man. He who was possessed by supernatural powers would require supernatural intervention. The world still has no cure for what truly ails us. “What can wash away my sin,” the hymn writer wrote. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” was the reply. There are some things in life that only God can do. Only God can heal our deepest hurts. Only God can forgive our burdensome guilt. Only God can restore our broken relationships. Only God can mend our broken hearts. Only God can bring hope to the hopeless.
3. Self-Destructive (v.5)
Third, Legion cried out and cut himself with stones - 5:5. He had a reputation for frightening others and hurting himself with his self-destructive behaviors. His condition drove off anyone who might pass his way. Satan had him completely isolated and in self-destruct mode. No one could stand to be near him and he could not even stand himself. That is how many people are. Their sin has caused them to repel those who would help them. Their sin has caused them to loathe even their own life. This is a vivid picture of sin’s effects. Sin leads us into isolation. Sin leads us away from life and into death. Sin causes a person to be in bondage to self-destructive behaviors.
4. No Real Life (v.15)
Fourth, Legion wore no clothes - 5:15. Luke 8:27 explicitly tells us “for a long time he had worn no clothes.” He had no sense of shame about his nakedness. This reveals how far gone he was. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they became aware of their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). A human being covering his or her nakedness has become a universal symbol of civilization. Evidently, this man was so out of touch with reality, and with civilization, that he was unaware of his nakedness.
Sin has a way of blinding a person so that they are not in touch with truth or reality. The freedom to sin and do as I please philosophy today that is put forth under the guise of the new enlightenment is really only old darkness. Sin will not build a new civilization it will only destroy the present one. Sin doesn’t bring people into the light it keeps them in darkness. Sin doesn’t free people it enslaves them. Sin doesn’t make people happy it only robs them of true peace and joy. When human beings stoop to the level of fulfilling their every desire then they revert back to barbarians and animals.
5. Bound by Fears
The man’s multi personalities are driving him to the brink of insanity. He’s bound up by fears and his life is characterized by chaos.
Jesus The Tomb Raider
Here before us is a man who is most certainly a hard case. And yet here is a picture of where many of our fellow citizens are. For many people life is running out of control. Many are filled and dominated by fears, guilt, lust, greed, sorrow, and despair. Many are possessed of destructive habits and attitudes that enslave. Many are abusing themselves like Legion. Many are enslaved by alien powers driving them even to the point of insanity. Yet no case is too hard for Jesus! No one is so much a slave to Satan that Jesus Christ of Nazareth cannot make him or her a son or daughter of God.
Because of Easter, because the tomb is empty countless lives have been changed. Jesus is the great tomb raider and tomb shaker! He has come to bring freedom to the prisoners and to release the oppressed (Lk. 4:18). He can set us free from any bondage for He is the bondage breaker! As He Himself said, “if the son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:31).
Can you imagine your life different? Free from sin? From purposelessness? From fear? Jesus made the difference in this man’s life and what God did for him He will do for you. Only Christ can cure you. Only He can break the cycle of bondage that is enslaving you right now. It might be drugs, alcohol, lust, or greed. It also might be destructive attitudes like bitterness, a poor self image, or confusion. Will you let Jesus break the bondage in your life that is enslaving you? Jesus is ready to cast down and to cast out the demons and sin tormenting you and robbing you of God’s best for your life. You can be free and if Jesus sets you free, you will be free indeed! Are you ready to experience Easter? “Turn your eyes upon the cross – He’s all you need.”
Pastor Joe
Easter Before and After
Consider life before Easter. Peter, ashamed of Jesus denied his Lord three times. Thomas could not believe that Jesus was alive. After the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples were huddled in fear that they might be next. And the woman, devoted followers of Jesus came to the tomb that first Easter morning not knowing it would be the first Easter. Their thoughts were centered on how they would move the great stone that secured the corpse of Jesus. The last thing on their mind was seeing Jesus alive. But after Easter things were different. Peter renewed by the resurrected Jesus and full of fresh courage proclaimed the crucified risen Christ and thousands were converted. Thomas confessed Jesus as Lord, disciples once huddled in fear were dispersed to love others, and the women who went to the tomb that day left filled with God’s presence and great joy.
Easter changes everything! In Mark 5:1-20 we have the story of Jesus healing a man of his demon possession and giving him a new direction in life. It’s a great before and after story. It illustrated life before and after Easter. Jesus transformed this man with just a word. The same Lord who walked the Galilean seashore is still the living Lord who is in the life changing business!
No Case Too Hard
In this passage we see that No Case Is too Hard. The Psalmist declared, “What God is great like our God? You art the God who works wonders” (Psalm 77:13b-14a). Truly with God all things are possible. Nothing is too hard for our God. Here before us is a man who is possessed by negative, destructive, demonic, and anti-life forces. He had been driven away form his family, friends, community, and society itself. All normal contacts with other human beings had ceased. Here before us is a man engulfed in tragic loneliness being driven by demonic forces to the brink of insanity. Here before us is a man who has been written off as a lost cause, a hard case, no a hopeless case! But with Jesus there is no case too hopeless, too far gone, too hard! No one is hopeless who hopes in God!
Dead Man Walking
Mark tells us four things about “Legion,” the Demon-possessed man. Here is why we need Easter!
1. Spiritually Dead (vv.2-3)
First, He made his home in the graveyard - 5:2-3. Luke 8:27 tells us that “He lived not in a house but among the tombs.” He is a man who is the living among the dead. But although he was alive physically he was dead already spiritually. In fact this is the spiritual condition of humanity apart from God (see Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 2:1-15). Apart from Christ we are all dead men walking. This man was so wild and anti-social that he could not live among the living. Legion needed to be raised from the death of sin and demonic possession.
2. Without Hope (vv.3-4)
Second, Legion could not be bound - 5:3-4. His own people did not know what to do with him. Their only cure was to lock him up but that didn’t work. The world could not help this man. He who was possessed by supernatural powers would require supernatural intervention. The world still has no cure for what truly ails us. “What can wash away my sin,” the hymn writer wrote. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” was the reply. There are some things in life that only God can do. Only God can heal our deepest hurts. Only God can forgive our burdensome guilt. Only God can restore our broken relationships. Only God can mend our broken hearts. Only God can bring hope to the hopeless.
3. Self-Destructive (v.5)
Third, Legion cried out and cut himself with stones - 5:5. He had a reputation for frightening others and hurting himself with his self-destructive behaviors. His condition drove off anyone who might pass his way. Satan had him completely isolated and in self-destruct mode. No one could stand to be near him and he could not even stand himself. That is how many people are. Their sin has caused them to repel those who would help them. Their sin has caused them to loathe even their own life. This is a vivid picture of sin’s effects. Sin leads us into isolation. Sin leads us away from life and into death. Sin causes a person to be in bondage to self-destructive behaviors.
4. No Real Life (v.15)
Fourth, Legion wore no clothes - 5:15. Luke 8:27 explicitly tells us “for a long time he had worn no clothes.” He had no sense of shame about his nakedness. This reveals how far gone he was. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they became aware of their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). A human being covering his or her nakedness has become a universal symbol of civilization. Evidently, this man was so out of touch with reality, and with civilization, that he was unaware of his nakedness.
Sin has a way of blinding a person so that they are not in touch with truth or reality. The freedom to sin and do as I please philosophy today that is put forth under the guise of the new enlightenment is really only old darkness. Sin will not build a new civilization it will only destroy the present one. Sin doesn’t bring people into the light it keeps them in darkness. Sin doesn’t free people it enslaves them. Sin doesn’t make people happy it only robs them of true peace and joy. When human beings stoop to the level of fulfilling their every desire then they revert back to barbarians and animals.
5. Bound by Fears
The man’s multi personalities are driving him to the brink of insanity. He’s bound up by fears and his life is characterized by chaos.
Jesus The Tomb Raider
Here before us is a man who is most certainly a hard case. And yet here is a picture of where many of our fellow citizens are. For many people life is running out of control. Many are filled and dominated by fears, guilt, lust, greed, sorrow, and despair. Many are possessed of destructive habits and attitudes that enslave. Many are abusing themselves like Legion. Many are enslaved by alien powers driving them even to the point of insanity. Yet no case is too hard for Jesus! No one is so much a slave to Satan that Jesus Christ of Nazareth cannot make him or her a son or daughter of God.
Because of Easter, because the tomb is empty countless lives have been changed. Jesus is the great tomb raider and tomb shaker! He has come to bring freedom to the prisoners and to release the oppressed (Lk. 4:18). He can set us free from any bondage for He is the bondage breaker! As He Himself said, “if the son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:31).
Can you imagine your life different? Free from sin? From purposelessness? From fear? Jesus made the difference in this man’s life and what God did for him He will do for you. Only Christ can cure you. Only He can break the cycle of bondage that is enslaving you right now. It might be drugs, alcohol, lust, or greed. It also might be destructive attitudes like bitterness, a poor self image, or confusion. Will you let Jesus break the bondage in your life that is enslaving you? Jesus is ready to cast down and to cast out the demons and sin tormenting you and robbing you of God’s best for your life. You can be free and if Jesus sets you free, you will be free indeed! Are you ready to experience Easter? “Turn your eyes upon the cross – He’s all you need.”
Pastor Joe
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