Gospel—Stan Allan
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Could we also saying 47 in the appendix just the 1St 3 verses 47 in the appendix?
God in mercy.
Just ask God's blessing, our God and Father, we just come before thee at the end of these meetings and we thank Thee for the encouragement of all that has been said. And we were just praying now that if there's anyone here in the audience that has never accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.
But they might come to a saving knowledge this very afternoon.
We think of how we've had before us that God is for us only. No, blessed God, that thou would desire the blessing of every boy and every girl and every man in this and woman in this room. And Lord, we would just pray that thou would save souls this afternoon for thy glory and for their blessing. And so we would just pray that that would help us in the few minutes that we would speak, that it might be for blessing. And so we ask it now.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know this afternoon when we were reading in Romans 8.
It mentioned there that we are no longer in the spirit of ******* and I would like to look at a chapter in March where we have an example of a person that is in *******. And, uh, it was this particular chapter that was on my heart mark, Chapter 5. I won't, uh, attempt to read it. Our time is very limited, but uh, I've enjoyed this chapter.
In different ways.
We have at the beginning of it the story of a man that was very plainly in ******* to Satan, and then we have the story of a woman that had suffered greatly of a disease. And then we have the story of a girl who was found in death. And in every case the Lord Jesus came in, in a very special way to bless them and to bring them new.
And so we're gonna take a look at those three people because I know in this room there are men, there are women, and there are children. So we're gonna take a look at what it says here. I've enjoyed this too, that. Well, let's just read for a moment a few verses, umm, Mark chapter 5, verse one. And they came over, uh, onto the other side of the sea into this country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately they're messing 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 knot with chains, because they had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the feathers were 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. And when he saw Jesus afar off he ran, and.
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Worshiped 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. We won't read any farther than that. Well, here we have this man in a very, very sorrowful condition. He was obviously in ******* to demons. And uh, you'll notice here that it says that, umm, he was met. They met him out of the tombs, umm.
A man that had an unclean spirit, you know, you might say to, to me, why are you telling us this story? This doesn't have any relevance to us today, but you know, there's something that I wanna say and that is that this man, uh, Satan had taken possession of him bodily. But if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your savior, Satan has taken possession of your soul. And perhaps you don't know it. And that's why it says in Romans that there was a time when we.
Who are under the spirit of ******* if you don't know the Lord as your savior, you don't realize it, but you're in ******* to the enemy of your soul. You know it says in second Corinthians chapter 4 it says the God with a small G the God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not and if you don't understand the gospel or you don't appreciate it, it's because there's an enemy of your soul that is blinding you and it's.
Last thing, that this man here, it says that he was met out of the tombs. That's where he lived. In fact, it tells us in the next verse that his dwelling was among the tombs. And you know, I want to say that that is exactly the situation that you are in, because this world is surrounded by death. You know how often the psalmist said there in Psalm 23?
Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Isn't that what we find all around us, everywhere?
I have never forgotten, uh, when I was visiting my son Sean in New York City, we had occasion to go to the meeting in Brooklyn, NY, and we were traveling along the Expressway and we saw a graveyard that literally stretched on for a solid mile. It just seemed that it went on and on and on, reminding us that we're living in the valley of the shadow of death, and that's where this man lived. And not only that.
But it tells us that, umm, it says no man could bind him.
No, not with chains. Every time they tried to restrain him, he was able to break those chains. And you know, man has done much to try and control, umm, the sin that is within him. We know that God Himself gave the 10 commandments. How many people have kept those 10 commandments? We know some of them. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Thou shalt not covet. We've mentioned some of those things today.
We have broken those and the center cannot keep them. The same thing is true. Umm, even in natural surroundings, man has tried to umm, keep man under control. He says umm, you know he's putting pretty, he's put up prisons for people who have umm, who have broken the law. In fact, the very laws that govern Canada were put there to keep men under control. But what happens? Man breaks them.
And men have to be consigned to prison because they break them. Exactly the kind of thing that was going on here.
And so it says that umm, because 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. You know, I think that our brother Jim mentioned this just, uh, yesterday. That man, umm, has tried to introduce many programs to change people who have drug addictions or alcohol problems or violence problems, brought in many programs, but, you know, none of these.
Things have tamed man whatsoever. And so we find that was true of this person. And then it says in the fifth verse, always night and day. He was in the mountains and in the tombs. You know, the mountains might speak of man's pride. Doesn't man love to boast of what he has accomplished? You know, just in the last couple of weeks, they've announced that they're gonna try to build a Hyperloop from Toronto to Montreal.
A Hyperloop is a a super fast train that'll go something like.
700 miles an hour through a tube. And you know, man likes to think of the wonderful progress that he has made. He loves to be in the mountains, and yet at the very same time he's down on the tombs of corruption, the place where it stinks and there's all these terrible things going on. Umm, so that's the way man is. And yet the wonderful thing is that this man, although under the control of demons, he came into contact with the Lord Jesus and there was going to be a complete change.
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Well, you know, I wanna say this too, that the very same kind of thing that we're talking about in Mark 5 even happens today, literally. You know, I was just talking to our brother, Dave Van Holstein. He was over in India and I forgot. I don't know if I have the story fully straight, but apparently there was some man that lived in a a remote jungle village and he came out and he heard the gospel and he was saved.
And you know, he said back where I come from, people don't know anything about Jesus whatsoever.
In fact, we live under the control of demons and people are afraid all the time. Would you please come to our village and preach the gospel? And so the brethren, they went into this very remote area and the gospel was preached. I think there were five families in there. And these people heard the gospel for the very first time and they were so happy to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. And you know, Dave said the wonderful thing was.
That the demons that were in that village, they all fled. These people had no peace whatsoever until the gospel was preached. Now that the gospel has been preached, those demons have disappeared. That has happened in the year 2016. You say this can only happen back in the days of the Lord Jesus. No, it can't. It can happen today and it is happening. The Lord Jesus can deliver from the power of seasons. He can deliver from the power of sin.
And if there's anyone here, boys and girls, teenagers, have you come to the Lord Jesus? Have you been delivered from that life of *******? Well, look at the change that took place in them. I know our time is running away. Verse 15, and they come to Jesus and see him. Excuse me.
That was possessed with the devil and had the Legion sitting and clothed in his right mind. Isn't that wonderful, this man who had been rest a restless wanderer?
Going here and there what happens? He umm, it says here that he was sitting, he was at peace and you know we have that wonderful vote, wonderful verse in Romans. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a change in this man. The second thing it says here that he was clothed. We have that wonderful verse.
Umm in Isaiah 61 That says that we are clothed with the garments of salvation.
And here was this man who had been naked, no doubt, for many, many years, and here he is clothed and in his right mind. What a change has taken place. And the Lord wants to make that change in your life. Maybe you're not the vile kind of person outwardly that this man was, but the Lord can bring a change in your life. You know, I'll tell you another story. This story was told by Ravi Zacharias just a couple of weeks ago, I believe.
And uh, he was visiting down in the the Philippines.
And there was a, there was a movie actor down there that was well known throughout the islands of the Philippines. They all thought he was wonderful. But, umm, sometime later they discovered that he lived a very debauched life and the sins and the wickedness that he carried on with, uh, were exposed for everybody to see. And so he went from being the most popular person to the most despised person.
But you know, the wonderful thing was that, umm, he came and he listened to Ravi Zacharias when he was down there.
And he got saved and there was a complete change in his life. And Ravi said, you know this man who had lived such a terrible life and was so despised, he now wanted to travel with me and help in preaching the gospel. There was a complete transformation. And dear young people and children, the Lord can change you. Maybe you have no desire to please him, but he can give you a life that wants to please him.
And he wants to bless you, and he wants to bring encouragement to you. We have that this afternoon. God is for us. Isn't that wonderful?
Well, we see here a man who was delivered, umm, delivered from demons. Now we go on in the chapter and we find a woman who was delivered from disease. Take a look at umm, adverse umm, umm UH-25 and a certain woman which had an issue of blood 12 years and had suffered many things of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered but rather.
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Worse, when she had heard of Jesus, and came and the press behind, and touched his garment, For she said, If I may touch, but his clothes I shall behold. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she fell 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 me, and.
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 face hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and he and be whole of thy plague. Well here was this woman.
By the way, I just want to make another comment when we were doing that, looking at that man who was delivered from the demons.
I counted 12 Things that were true of him. And I've enjoyed this, that when we come now to this girl, this woman, she had had this disease for 12 years, 12 years. Just imagine, you know, if you had looked at her walking down the street, you'd think she was no different than anyone else. Uh, she probably would appear just as healthy as anyone. But what had happened? She had been suffering from this issue of blood for 12 years.
She had done everything possible to get rid of it. She consulted many physicians.
And they weren't able to help her whatsoever. And you know, I believe there's an application here because there are many people who perhaps aren't like this demoniac that we've been reading about. On the surface, they look like anybody else. But inwardly, they have aching hearts. They're plagued by guilt on the inside. Many of them, umm, end their lives in suicide because they're so depressed. I know there's a man that just is back where I come from.
47 years old, found hanged in a barn.
He was just, he had nothing to live for and he gave up his life. Well, here was this poor woman for 12 years in desperation, wanting help. And, uh, the wonderful thing is she heard that the Lord Jesus was, uh, going through town and what did she do? Did she say, oh, well, I think I'll just wait until maybe next week and maybe I'll, I'll be better. No, she didn't. She didn't hesitate. She came right away.
And, you know, her face was very small. She didn't go up to him and try to get him to try to speak to him. She said if I can only touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. And so she went up there.
And we know the story so well. She touched the hem of his garment. And you know, the Lord turned around and he said, Who touched me? And the disciples and nose around, they almost laughed and said, what do you mean? Who touched you? Look, everybody's bumping into you. But you know, I think of that verse. All things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do. He knows not only what you look like.
How you live. He knows how you think inside. He knows everything about you.
And he knew that this woman had touched him in faith. And so you'll notice here it says in the 33rd verse, the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done to her are like that, you know, once she had taken that step of faith.
She knew immediately that she'd been made whole. Not that our salvation is based on our feelings, but this woman here, she knew that she had been made whole. And so since she came and fell down before him.
Isn't that nice? You know, it's a wonderful thing when we can kneel at the feet of the Lord Jesus and acknowledge that he has done something for us. And that's what she did. It says here she told him all the truth. She didn't try to hide. And all I want to say, dear friend, this afternoon, if you want to come to Jesus, don't try and hide your sins. He knows all about you. He knows everything. Just acknowledge that you're a Sinner. Just confess him as your Lord and Savior and.
I am that uh, you wanna be saved. Well, the Lord here, what does he say to her? He says, daughter, thy face have made thee whole go in peace and umm, behold of thy plague. What a wonderful verse daughter be umm, how's it go daughter, thy faith have made thee whole. What a wonderful thing. You know, she didn't have to doubt. She didn't have to say, well, maybe this issue of blood will come back tomorrow or next month. No, he said, your faith has made.
You hold. And she took it and she accepted it and she was made whole. Well, then we come to the last person and we're almost done here. We find the next one was a child. The 1St man, we said there were 12 Things about him that we noticed. The next one, uh, the lady was, uh, suffering from this disease for 12 years. Now we come to this child who was 12 years old and uh, I'm not gonna say an awful lot here except this.
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That her father was very concerned for her.
She was very sick. He knew that she was on the verge of death And uh, he comes to the Lord Jesus and he says there, umm, in verse, umm 23, he besought Jesus greatly saying, my little daughter lieth at the point of death, I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her. I just want to say this particularly to the boys and girls, maybe even someone older.
You know that if you have a mother or father that is saved.
I have no doubt they've been praying to to the Lord for you. They have spent many hours on their knees asking the Lord to save you. You know, they're concerned. This father here, he was concerned about his daughter and umm, she, she was on the verge of death. In fact, we know she did die and you know, it seemed like her situation was hopeless when the father came home to the house, they said, look, don't even.
Worry anymore? She's gone. She's dead.
There's nothing that any more you can do, but you know the Lord Jesus had been invited by the Father to come and he comes and umm, what does he say in verse 41? He took the damsel by the hand and said unto her to Lithukumai, which is by being interpreted damsel. I say onto the arise. Just imagine the Lord not only can deliver from demons, He cannot only deliver from disease.
He can deliver from death and you know the day is coming.
The day is coming when he's going to say, like he said to the damsel here, I say unto thee, arise. Just take a look at a verse in John chapter 5 for a moment.
Umm John chapter 5 and verse 28. This is Jesus talking. He says marvel not at this for the hour is coming.
In the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice. You know that verse applies to every single person that has died from the days of Adam right up to March 2016. The dead are going to hear the voice of the Son of God. Those who have died in the Lord we know from the first First Thessalonians chapter 4.
That they're going to arise, those that accepted Jesus as Savior, and they're going to be caught up together with us to meet the Lord in the air. Those who have never accepted the Lord as Savior, they'll remain in their grace for another thousand years. And then the day will come, as we're told in Revelation 20, that the dead will rise and they'll stand before the great white throne and the and the dead will be judged, judged according to their works.
And the Lord will have to say to them, Depart from me, for I never knew you.
What a solemn day that will be. But the wonderful thing is the Lord wants to give you new life. Now you know, it says in Ephesians chapter 2 verse one, and you have he made alive who was dead in trespasses and sins. So you know, before you're saved, you're really dead towards God. You're morally dead, but the Lord Jesus can give you life and this afternoon he wants to give you life.
Are you willing to acknowledge Him as your savior?
You know we're living right at the end. The Lord is about to come. Boys and girls, you might not have another opportunity to be saved after this afternoon. Why don't you just bow your head and say, Lord, I know I'm a Sinner. I know I deserve to go to hell, but I know you died on the cross. I know you. You shed your blood to put away my sins, and I accept you as my personal savior. Are you willing to do that?
Why don't you do it this afternoon, right as we bow our heads now and ask the Lord for His help?
Our God and Father, we just come before Thee and again, thank Thee for the happy time we've had these last three days.
But O Lord, our hearts are burdened for any boy or girl or teenager or man or woman here this afternoon who have never taken this step and acknowledge that they are sinners and accept that they as their personal Savior. We pray that this afternoon.
They might come to thee, and Lord Jesus, confess thee as Lord and Savior. We know this could be the very last opportunity, and we just pray that that would come in and blessing.
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To boys and girls and men and women this afternoon. We ask it now in the worthy and precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.