Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
3 sermons cite this verse
… bound with shackles and chains and the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God. I implore you by God that you do not torment me. Okay, Jesus and the disciples are on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the eastern shoreline, a place called Gadara. It's Gentile territory. It is what Isaiah described as the Galilee of the Gentiles. That's because way back in the 8th century BC, the Assyrians swept in and took the people out and placed Gentiles from other countries in that region. And so that area is still known as Gentile region. There's a man there, it says, with an unclean spirit. What does that mean? It means he's demonized, demon-possessed. Verse 15, 16, and 18 will give us that designation. He was demon-possessed. That is, he is under the influence of a demon spirit. Now, demon possession is when one or more demons inhabit a human body and control the thoughts, the voice, the actions of that body. This man is demon-possessed, not just hassled by the devil, demon-possessed. If you were to compare this with Matthew's gospel, and I'm bringing this up, …
… Neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out, cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him. To me, that is one of the most extraordinary statements. That here's a man who has many demons. It never gives us a number. It just calls him a legion. and it's a great number, a host of the demonic that lives in this person's body. This man, demonized, tormented, controlled in measure, saw Jesus and ran and fell at his feet and worshiped him. let's just say a thousand demons, two thousand if that many demons can't keep one person from worship what keeps the church from worship? there's no excuse the error is not in the existence of the demonic or not the error is in a way of thinking that is valued above the standard of scripture and this is where the rub comes this is where the transformation either happens in our families in our neighborhoods, in our city, our state, or it doesn't happen. …
… neither could any man tame him. And always night and day he was in the mountain and in the tombs crying, and watch this, and cutting himself, and cutting himself with stones. He got in the tombs and cut himself in the tomb and cut himself over and over and over again. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him. Can you say amen? Let's pray. Father God, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your goodness. I thank you for your power. I thank you for your mercy. I thank you for what you prepared for us. I thank you for what you're going to do in us and through us and with us. Hell is nervous over our future tonight, and we stand on the integrity of your word. Thank you for all the souls that got baptized tonight. Thank you for those that got filled with the Spirit and set free tonight. Thank you that they're fresh and clean and set free, and they have come out of the tombs in the name of Jesus. …