Life Ministries

 “Demons Can’t Swim!”
Mark 5:1-20 and Ephesians 6:10-18   

    We have often heard of how many people who profess to be Christians can act at times… quite often not a good example of what the Christian life is all about. But, as I re-read this story for today’s message, I thought to myself; “What a pitiful example this man was if Satan was trying to attract new converts!”

    At one time or another, we have all seen those advertisements for everything from weight loss to hair loss… and, everything in between. Something that these ads have in common is the “before” and “after”…You know what I mean; “This is a picture of me before using Skinny-Minny body lotion…And, here is the after picture”…  “Here is a picture of my bald spot before the revolutionary “paint-on-hair”…And, here is a picture of me after using the one -and-only-revolutionary- paint on hair REMOVER!…”Do not use while breathing!…May cause brain damage! 
    What God is giving us here is a “before and after” picture of a close encounter with Jesus. “If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things pass away, and behold, all things become new” says 2 Corinthians 5:17 Many of us can identify with this man in our scripture. Not because we act like we are crazy, wild, or demon possessed, but because of the fact that “in Christ” we have a “before and after” testimony; or at least we ought to have!  Some people can’t seem to remember what they were like, how they acted, what they thought, or maybe they would just like to forget those things, but, they are part of our “before and after” testimony. I wasn’t born with a shirt and tie on and a Bible in my hand!  The problem is that there are far too many Christians whose after picture looks the same as their before picture, because nothing has changed; at least not on the inside.
    Let’s look at this man’s before picture: It tells us that he lived in the tombs…he lived in the cemetery! “All my rowdy friends are dead people!” Listen, if you want to be scared out of your wits, spend the night in a cemetery!  We had a “scavenger hunt” one time for family night, and one of the clues was hidden in a local cemetery. Also hidden in the cemetery were some characters from our church who’s only joy in life is scaring the wits out of people!
    It also says that “no one could bind him”…He was wild and possessed supernatural strength…but remember, he hasn’t met Jesus yet!  He had often been chained hand and foot (maybe to try and protect society or protect him from himself) because it says that “night and day he would cry out and cut himself with stones.” Of course, we soon find out that the problem stems from being possessed by a “legion” of evil spirits.
    I want us to see that this man represents a picture of the fallen world in which we live. You see, it says that they crossed the lake to the region of the “Gerasenes”…This was an area that for the Jew, was totally unclean. It was an area of the Gentiles. It was an area where they raised pigs! It’s a picture of a fallen world.
    There is great spiritual significance here. In our second scripture Paul says we are to take our stand against the “forces of evil in the heavenly realms”…The word for “heavenly realms” in the Greek means “of heavenly origin”. These are evil spirits or fallen angels who were once “of heavenly origin” but followed Satan. I believe there are still “legions” at work in our world today! But, aren’t you glad that God’s Word says; “greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world”!  Neither Satan nor his demons have any power over the child of God…We must remain in Him and He in us, and be filled with the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit…be-cause “Demons can’t swim!”
    In fact, they hate water!  In Matthew 12:43 it says that “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid (or dry) places seeking rest.” The New American Standard version translates that as “waterless places”…Why? Because demons can’t swim!  In the Bible, “dryness” represents one who is void of the Spirit of God. David said; “The rebellious dwell in a dry land.” Have you ever heard of a “dry” church?  A dead, dry, church is easy prey for Satan, but, the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit flowing among His people is Satan’s demise! Why did the demons in verse 12 beg Jesus to send them into the pigs?  Because pigs can’t swim, so that would be a safe place to be…Why did Jesus cause the pigs to run into the lake?…(Something they would not normally do) …because demons can’t swim! Do you want to know how many evil spirits were in this man? Notice that in verse 13 it says that “two thousand” pigs ran down the hill into the lake…And that’s just assuming one spirit per pig!
    Back up to verse 6 where it says; “When he saw Jesus, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him”…. It may be that this man (who represents the fallen world) knew that the only thing that could save him was the touch of God upon his life; or the demons that possessed him knew it was futile to resist the power and authority of the Almighty Son of God…I tend to think both are true.
    Let’s look at the after picture of verse 15 - Here we see this same - once demon possessed - man, changed, transformed, totally different  - “sitting” (calmly) “dressed” (where before he was probably half - if not totally naked) … “and in his right mind.”  I would suggest to you that these same three things happen to all who come to Christ.  “Sitting calmly” represents the peace that we receive in our lives that we never had before and we can’t really explain…Peace with God and the peace of God.  “Dressed” represents being clothed, covered, provided for by the precious blood of the Lamb. And, “in his right mind” - We experience a “renewing of the mind” that puts us in the right frame of mind to receive all that God has to freely give… It changes how we think, what we think about, and why!
    Now, just a couple of more things to pull out of this story and then we’re done…In verses 18-20 it tells us that the man begged Jesus to let him go with Jesus and his disciples; but, Jesus tells him to go home to his family and “tell them how much the Lord has done for you”. Then it says that this man not only went and told his family, but told of Jesus all over the “Decapolis” which would be like the state of South Carolina today! And, the story ends with the words “and the people were amazed!” I am sure they were! This man truly had a “before and after” testimony that was amazing!  Many people can’t understand the transforming power of God, but eventually they cannot deny it, and they are amazed by it!
    One last thing that you can take with you today; Back at the end of chapter 4 of Mark, verse 35 Jesus said to his disciples; “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake” - Then we have the story of Jesus calming the wind and the waves during the storm that we are all familiar with. - And, again, on the other side of the lake was the area our scripture calls the “region of the Gerasenes” an area of Gentiles, who’s business it was to raise unclean pigs…So, why would Jesus want to go there?  I think He purposely went there to save this man possessed by evil spirits.  I think he heard this man’s cry from the tombs, and he purposed to answer that cry.  You see, to Jesus, this man - just like you and I - was a child of God, and, no matter how dirty, how smelly, how possessed with evil he was, Jesus cared! Jesus wanted to have a close encounter of the divine kind with him…and save him!  It was an encounter that would transform this man’s life! Can you hear the cry from the tombs of your community?