569. Gospel of Luke - Chapter 8 (#4) - A Demon--possessed Man Delivered - June 6, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:15] I'm prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:00:26] Lord, I pray that you give everyone ears to hear and I heart to receive everything you have in store for them today.

[00:00:34] I ask this in Jesus name, Amen. This is Proverbs 6 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:41] My son, if you become surety for your friend, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, you are snared by the words of your mouth.

[00:00:53] You are taken by the words of your mouth. So do this, my son and deliver yourself.

[00:01:00] For you have come into the hand of your friend. Go and humble yourself, plead with your friend.

[00:01:08] Give no sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter.

[00:01:19] And like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the ant you slugged, consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain overseer or ruler provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.

[00:01:41] How long will you slumber, O slugged, when will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.

[00:01:54] So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler and your need like an armed man.

[00:02:02] A worthless person, a wicked man walks with a perverse mouth. He winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers.

[00:02:14] Perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually. He soes discord.

[00:02:22] Therefore, his calamity shall come suddenly. Suddenly, he shall be broken without remedy.

[00:02:31] These six things the Lord hates. Yes, seven are an abomination to him. A proud look, a line tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feed that are swift in running to evil.

[00:02:52] A false witness who speaks lies and one who soes discord among brethren. My son, keep your father's command and do not forsake the law of your mother.

[00:03:06] Bind them continually upon your heart, tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you.

[00:03:18] And when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp and a law, a light, reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

[00:03:30] To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart.

[00:03:41] Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread and an adulterous will pray upon his precious life.

[00:03:56] Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife,

[00:04:12] whoever touches her shall not be innocent. People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.

[00:04:24] Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house, whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding.

[00:04:39] He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy is a husband's fury. Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

[00:04:58] He will accept no recompense. Nor will he be appeased, though you give many gifts.

[00:05:28] And his feet not be seared. Friends, we will take a closer look at those two verses prior to closing today, but what I'd like to do is continue in our study of the gospel according to Luke.

[00:05:44] And this week we are on chapter 8. And we ended yesterday's podcast on verse number 25, and the wind and waves had obeyed Jesus.

[00:05:58] There had been a storm. Jesus has said, let us launch into the deep. In other words, let us go over to the other side of this body of water.

[00:06:09] And as they were rowing, a tempestuous storm arose. Now Jesus wasn't affected by this storm. A matter of fact, Jesus had fallen asleep.

[00:06:23] And I want you to think about that because in our world today storms come up. It may not be an actual storm, but let's talk about something that happens in your life that you were not expecting.

[00:06:40] And these things occur on a regular basis and depending on how we handle these storms of life are going to determine whether you have a successful life or not.

[00:06:55] But let's begin where we left off yesterday, and we're going to begin chapter 8 of Luke, beginning in verse 26.

[00:07:05] Then they sailed to the country of the Gatter Reigns, which is opposite Galilee. And when he stepped out on the land, there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.

[00:07:22] And he wore no clothes nor did he live in a house, but in the tubes. So friends, my first point today is Jesus confronts a man that has many demons.

[00:07:39] Now what I'd like for you to do for just a moment is pause and close your eyes for just a moment. And visualize what it is that Jesus had seen.

[00:07:54] This man had been possessed by a number of demons for many years. He didn't wear any clothes. That in itself is cause for alarm.

[00:08:08] That would be something you're not used to saying. Not only that, this man didn't live in a house, but he lived among the tubes. This was like a wild man who had absolutely no control of anything in his life. Let's go to verse 28.

[00:08:32] When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him. And with a loud voice said, what have I to do with you?

[00:08:45] Jesus, son of the most high god. I beg you do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him and he was kept under guard bound with chains and shackles.

[00:09:09] And he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. So my second point on today's lesson is Jesus delivers this man from the demons.

[00:09:26] Now friends, I am reading out of the Nelson study Bible and what I'd like to do is go to verse 28 and read the commentary. It says the demons confession of Jesus as son of the most high god recalls the angels announcement to marry in chapter one of Luke's Gospel.

[00:09:53] And the demonic confessions found in chapter four and in that particular case, there had been a demon inside person and they acknowledged Jesus basically as the son of god.

[00:10:11] They knew he had the power over them and they acknowledged it. Let's go to verse 30. Jesus asked him, saying, what is your name?

[00:10:27] And he said, Legion because many demons had entered him and they begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss.

[00:10:40] Now friends, the commentary for verse 30 says Legion. This name reflects the fact that the man was possessed by multiple demons.

[00:10:53] A Legion was a Roman military unit of about 6,000 soldiers thus the name suggests a spiritual battle.

[00:11:05] And friends, may I suggest that each of us is facing a spiritual battle as well. There are very few days where Satan, our adversary, is not going to come into our lives sometime during the course of the day and try to speak to us and tell us that we need to do this.

[00:11:32] And we need to do this. And we are not interested in doing that. He wants us to do evil. He wants us to follow him. He does not want us to be righteous and to do the things of God.

[00:11:51] Let's look at verse 31. The abyss is an illusion to the underworld and the destruction of judgment.

[00:12:01] Now let's go to verse 32. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain, so they begged him that he would permit them to enter them and he permitted them.

[00:12:19] Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

[00:12:34] And a friend, one of the things that I want to point out is the fact that these demons recognized the power of Jesus. They understood that they actually had to ask Jesus for permission to go in to the swine.

[00:12:57] Let's go to verse 34. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus,

[00:13:24] and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Now friends, I feel I'd hate to pause at this point in time. What I want you to do is imagine how these towns people felt about everything that had just happened.

[00:13:45] This man had been in this type of environment and he had been carrying on for years. And he probably was like a wild man and people knew that he could not be tamed so to speak, and he would run around naked.

[00:14:07] They probably were afraid to go out of their houses because they thought he might be coming near their house. And this guy was just totally out of his mind. He never was in his right mind and he was demon possessed.

[00:14:24] And all of a sudden they want to come, they hear that what has happened, they hear it and they come. And when they come, they see this man that has been totally out of control sitting at the feet of Jesus.

[00:14:44] And in his right mind, that is why they were afraid. They're thinking what has happened to this man and they wanted an explanation.

[00:14:58] They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the gatherings asked him to depart from them.

[00:15:16] Or they were seized with great fear and he got into the boat and returned. Let's go to verse 38.

[00:15:26] Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him. Now, friends, once again, I'm asking you to put yourself in this story.

[00:15:43] If you were the person who had been demon possessed and Jesus came and delivered you from this situation that you had been in for years, would you like to just let Jesus go away?

[00:16:04] Or would you want to become one of his followers? Would you want to be one of his disciples? His life was going to change from this moment forward.

[00:16:19] So we ask Jesus to consider allowing him to follow Jesus. Let's go to verse 39.

[00:16:29] But Jesus sent him away saying, return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you.

[00:16:42] And you let us weigh and proclaim throughout the whole city. What great things Jesus had done for him. So number four, Jesus tells the man to be a witness in his own region.

[00:17:01] And friends, I believe this can apply to any of our lives today. If you have been delivered of anything, say for example, alcohol and you no longer are an addict. You no longer have that need to drink alcohol all the time or you've been delivered from drugs.

[00:17:28] Or you've been delivered from anger or whatever your issue is that you use to have because once you receive Jesus into your heart, you can be healed of anything. Nothing is impossible with God. I want you always to remember that.

[00:17:52] So friends, before we close today I'd like to go back to our proverb of the day and we were in proverb number six. Let's go to verses 27 and 28.

[00:18:06] Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared?

[00:18:19] So friends, in the context of this particular proverb, these verses are talking about a seductress, a whore if you will. Someone who tries to throw you off your game and have sex with them.

[00:18:40] But friends, I don't want to talk about that right now. What I'm going to talk about is any sin if you are enticed by anyone, maybe a friend, maybe someone you know about doing anything that you know is not right.

[00:19:03] My question to you is this and this is actually going to be my call of action. How close do you allow yourself to go in to sin or whether you should, or should not indulge in sin?

[00:19:25] And once again, I'm talking about any kind of sin. And these two verses are talking about don't allow yourself to get so close to it, where you are tempted so much that you may not be able to get out of it.

[00:19:45] Do not get close, do not allow yourself near temptation more than you are willing to bite off. In other words, you don't want to get that close that you almost have to give in. Hopefully that makes sense to you.

[00:20:10] Once I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:20:18] If there is anyone listening today, you've never taken that step. I invite you to say a simple prayer after me today.

[00:20:26] Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and indeed of a Savior. I recognize you as the Son of God. And I believe you can deliver me from anything that I'm going through.

[00:20:40] I ask that you come into my heart. I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point in my life, from here on out. I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:20:54] If you said that prayer, I invite you to go to my webpage, wisdom today, bek.com. There is a contact tab. If you would simply click on that contact button, let me know your name.

[00:21:12] Let me know you said that prayer and I want to get back with you. Welcome to the family of God. Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:21:28] The Lord lifter is countenance upon you and give you peace. Friends, please join me in tomorrow as we close out the week with wisdom today.