Part 2 Man As Blessed By The Son Of God.
(Read Mark 5)
IN our previous paper we looked at the contrast between the state in which God made man and that in which Christ found him; we note now another contrast between the difference of the condition in which Christ found man, and that in which He left him.
The Lord Jesus found the demoniac dwelling among the tombs, wearing no clothes, untamed and untameable. Then the Lord commanded the demons to come out of the man. They sought his permission to enter into the swine, an unclean animal according to the Jewish economy. The swine under their influence ran down a steep place, and perished in the sea. Then they that kept the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country. They were afraid of this conflict between spiritual powers.
Then the people went out to see what was done, and they that had seen it told them how it befell to him that was possessed of the devils, and also concerning the swine. “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” (vs. 15).
There is the contrast! The man as Christ found him was possessed of a legion of unclean devils, in the place of death, having no rest, no clothes (righteousness), and of unsound mind. He was now in the place of life at Jesus’ feet, sitting there at rest, clothed, that is having righteousness, and in his right mind.
The first thing here is, the man is
IN THE PLACE OF LIFE.
He is sitting at the feet of Jesus. The entrance of the word of the Lord had not only dispossessed him of the demons, but had communicated life to him. He who, energized by Satan, besought the Lord to depart from him, now sat at Jesus’ feet like Mary and heard His word, that word which had been to him the word of life. He could say with Peter, “Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68,6968Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (John 6:68‑69)). A wonderful place!
In Christ was life, and the life was the light of men. It had shone in the darkness, and the darkness had not comprehended it. The world His hands had made did not know Him; His own people would not receive Him; but this man had now received Him, believing in His name, and was born of God. This is what is figured here! The blessed Lord’s word of power had made the difference in this wretched creature! By the incorruptible seed of the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, he had been born again.
The darkness of death in the devil’s seat, the world, is dissipated, and the light of divine life illuminates the spirit at the feet of Jesus-a place where none can die. A poor woman once said, “I’ll throw myself at the feet of Jesus, and, if I perish, I’ll perish there!” Happy woman! None ever perished there; it is the place of life. And though amid apparent defeat where the body may die, death may say to the Christian—
“Let losers talk, yet thou shalt die;
These arms shall crush thee.”
The Christian can make answer—
“Scare not, do thy worst.
I shall be one day better than before:
Thou so much worse, that thou shalt be no more.”
Here in this place of life and light the man finds
REST.
He is sitting—the posture of rest. The people who came out to see what had happened, saw him sitting at the feet of Jesus. Had he been at rest before? No! he abode in no house but always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones; the poor creature had no rest in a scene of sin and death. Satan leads man on in an ideal state of things. “Man walketh in a vain show.” He is looking for rest, but there is none here, nothing to satisfy. Each one must find it so, even the youngest.
The only real thing here is the unrest of sin, with the sorrow of it; but when Christ comes in, what a change Rest is found in Him, at the feet of Jesus alone. It is offered to every soul. See the change in this man, once so restless, now sitting at the feet of Jesus. Is not that enough?
Let me ask, dear reader, Have you found rest there? In this fair land of Australia many have thought to find rest, but this is part of the same world where sin and death and unrest reign. True, some have succeeded in getting into easy circumstances, but that has not brought rest even on earth. He heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. The cupidity of his fellows would deprive him even of these, and rest of conscience they can never bring him.
Only at the feet of Jesus can we find rest of conscience, followed by rest as to circumstances, and both only preliminary to the rest of God, which remaineth for His people.
The next thing indicated in our picture is
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The man is clothed; that is a figure of righteousness. Before, he was a shame to himself and his neighbors; now he is clothed with that which sets forth God’s righteousness. He, who had delivered him, had also clothed him. The one who under the devil’s power besought Christ to leave him, now comes and sits in the presence of the God whom his own lips had recognized, and is at peace there. Mark he is in the presence of God without fear, for righteousness gives boldness. Love gives confidence; righteousness, boldness.
The righteousness of God with which the believer is invested gives boldness in God’s presence. It is a status of righteousness with which a believer is invested, which can never be exhausted while Christ is upon the throne of God, and no power can pluck Him thence.
It is not a certain amount of righteousness paid to a sinner’s credit, against which he may after all heap up sins that exhaust it. Righteousness “imputed” (Rom. 4:2222And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:22)) to us should read “reckoned”; the truth is more clearly shown in the passage, “By the obedience of One shall many be constituted [N.T.] righteous” (Rom. 5:1919For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)).
Christ is made unto us righteousness, as well as all else. The wedding garment, and the best robe, are figures of Christ.
Oh! the joy of sitting at the feet of Jesus, in the confidence of love, at rest, and with holy boldness before God, because clad in His righteousness!
There is yet another point of contrast; this man is in his
RIGHT MIND.
He is intelligently enjoying all the blessing that have been brought to him. He has nothing to boast of as to how he overcame the devil and escaped his toils, but his boast is in Christ. He came in grace, He grappled with the foe; He bowed His own blessed head in death and conquered the enemy in his last stronghold; He annulled his power there, and rose again triumphant. All glory be to Jesus, the risen, victorious, ascended Lord!
Reader! Will you be offended if you are asked, Are you in your right mind? Intelligent enough no doubt as to earthly things, but if unsaved, scripture does not accredit such as in their right mind. To reject Christ as your Saviour, is that to be in your right mind? To be accounting some paltry trifle here of more value than the rich treasure of His love, is this to be in your right mind? All the wealth of God’s love is laid at our feet in the Son of His bosom 1 What folly to leave this for the evanescent pleasures of this world. “Man’s life is as the grass.”
Note the points of contrast through the word of Christ, life, rest, righteousness, and a right mind. Are they yours?
The hope of all, who are thus delivered, is to be
FOREVER WITH THE LORD.
No wonder this man besought Him that he might be with Him; that is a sign of life. The heart of the believer goes up with a bound to Him; it only wants to be with Him. To reach Him “were a well-spent journey, though seven deaths lay between,” as Samuel Rutherford says.
But the Lord says, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things God hath done for thee” (vs. 19). And immediately he departed declaring what great things Jesus had done for Him. To him now Jesus is God! The God of love!
True God He was in Bethlehem’s manger, on Calvary’s cross, and at every stage of manifest weakness that lay between. He is God of glory now, and the hope of His people is to be forever with Him there. His promise is, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am there ye may be also” (John 14:33And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3)).
“With Him” is the goal; whether to depart and be “with Him,” or to be changed and caught up to be “forever with the Lord.” “With Him” satisfies the heart This was the desire of the man in our chapter. This satisfied the heart of the thief on the cross. The heart of the great apostle counted to depart and be “with Christ,” far better; absent from the body was to be present “with the Lord.” It is, however, good to be here till He bid us come that we may tell our friends how great things He has done for us, and can do for them.
In the swine and the demons, we have a picture showing that finally
THE WILLFULLY UNCLEAN AND DEVIL-POSSESSED PERISH!
It is an awfully solemn warning to all, for it is what befell Israel and is what awaits Christendom. The demons besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep (see Luke 8:3131And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. (Luke 8:31)). The word for “deep” here, means “the bottomless pit.” They feared the lake of fire! They further besought Him that He would suffer them to enter into the swine and He suffered them. What then became of the swine? The whole herd ran violently down into the lake, and were choked in the waters. Seeing this the people besought Jesus that He would depart out of their coasts. Just what the man had done at the first. They valued their swine more than the deliverance of their fellows from the devil! How true this will be found of many a rejector of the truth, and of Christendom at the last!
For such nothing remains but the lake of fire forever with the devil and his angels. And as with the swine, judgment is, alas! expedited by themselves! Many a soul will then say, There was a time when God was offering me salvation, but for the sake of illegal gain I rejected Christ, and I never had another opportunity. Christendom too, for its rejection of Christ, and for its illegal traffic in even the “bodies [marginal reading] and souls of men” (Rev. 18:1313And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. (Revelation 18:13)), will be judged, and find its portion with the devil, who deceived her. Christendom will say, “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways” (Job 21:1414Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. (Job 21:14)). He will take them at their word, and departing from them, will leave them alone. Fatal word!
Reader! Will you have deliverance at the hands of Christ? Or damnation with the devil from those same pierced hands? Your life’s blood is ebbing; there is no time to Lose. Let me beseech you, receive salvation NOW! G. J. s.