Mark 5:1-20 – That’s Not Normal! – Bible study

Mark 5:1-20 Thats Not Normal! Do people break? Cars break. Washing machines break. Tire jacks break. Computers break. Cameras break. Cell phones break. Do human beings break? I. How do we know he was broke? If there was ever a human being that broke, the man in this story would be him. He was certainly not normal and the list of things wrong with him is long. \#2\ He had an unclean spirit, singular. We will later find that he had unclean spirits. \#3\ He had no home. We are also told that dwelt in the tombs, among the dead. \#3-4\ He was super strong. \#4\ He could not be calmed. \#5\ He cried out constantly. He cut himself. \#6-7\ He must have been very religious. \#Luke 8:27\ He was naked. \#Luke 8:29\ He was "driven of the devil into the wilderness." Not only is there what the Bible said of the man. There is also what the Bible did not say of the man. There is no mention of family or friends or help of any kind. He was alone. To me the most notable indicator of this mans broken condition was he was alone. II. What broke the man? A. Did his mind break him? 1. This mans mind was broke. He behavior indicates that he did not think properly. 2. Most believe that the mind is the key to having a successful human existence. a. We spend a lot of time in this country developing the mind. b. 12 years of school; 2 to 3 years of preschool; and for most anywhere from 2 to 8 years in post school. c. It is interesting that the Bible, a Book written to help people live the successful life, does not speak much of that kind of education. (1) The Bible speaks of training a childs morals much more than educating a childs mind. Pr 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (2) To train is to demonstrate a behavior repeatedly until the student can naturally do it. (3) It is the term we use when we are speaking of our pets. 3. I do not believe this man was broke because his mind was broken. Rather, I believe this mans mind broke because he was broken. 4. I believe it is some times hard for us to distinguish between the cause and the effect. a. People say that so and so cant learn and so they are going to have a hard time. b. I think some people are having a hard time and so they cant learn. c. You can educate people for 12 to 20 years if you want to; but if they are broken people, it wont do much good! B. Did the demon possession break him? 1. This man was definitely demon possessed. a. You can not have God without the devil, heaven without hell, or angels without demons. b. The Bible teaches them all! 2. \#2\ We are told the man had an "unclean spirit," but the demons tell us that there were MANY demons within the man. a. \#9\ They call themselves Legion for they were many. b. Legion is a troop of Roman soldiers, but the size varied through Roman history. c. I have read a legion was a many as 6,000 soldiers and as a few as 1,500. d. \#13\ There had to be at least 2,000 demons in this man for they occupied 2,000 individual pigs. 3. Do you realize that we have no idea how many demons and angels there are? how great their influence on us is? how intense the warfare between them is? 4. At least 2,000 demons possessed this one man!! 5. Was the demon possession what broke this man? a. Again, I dont think so. I know they did not help him, but I do not think they are what broke him. b. Again, I think the demons being in the man was another consequence of the man being broke. c. I cant prove my belief, but I have met peoplewho as far as I knewdid not have a demon in them and they were still broke human beings. C. Did the mans broken body break him? 1. His body was broke. It was not normal. 2. How so? a. He was naked. (1) I found out what makes a preacher old fashioned. (2) They are still fighting the battles of the last generation. (3) We would be a lot better off if that is where the battle field still lay. (4) Beyonces Half Time show has been headlining FB and internet news media. Some feeland apparently her staff has plainly said it was sothat her show supported the Black Panthers, a black terrorists group. (5) I dont know about that. What I do know is that the woman wasnt dressed decent. (6) That is NOT normal! b. \#5\ He was cutting himself. Self mutilation by cutting, scaring, or piercing the body is not normal. c. \#3-4\ He was super strong. 3. While broken bodies can break the person, I do not think that is the case here. a. As with the mind and the demon possession, I believe these were the effects of the man being broken and not the cases. b. This mans condition seemed to run deeper than the problems he was having with his body. III. So what broke this man? A. He was born separated from God. 1. All human beings are. Ro 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 2. It is hard to believe that the start of this mans problems is common to every infant ever born, 3. This condition has been bad side effects but two are: a. There is no way for a person separated from God to properly feed their spiritual nature. (1) Every human being is a body, soul, and spirit. (2) The body gets hunger and we feed it. (3) The soul gets hunger and we feed it. (a) Parents know to watch but feed curiosity of the mind. (b) Most parents know that a child needs to have pleasure and have fun. (4) But few parents understand that a child needs to know God. (a) That is why they ask questions like where did I come from? What is life all about? Is there a god? (b) Just as untaught children seek to find their own answers to questions about their bodies and minds, so they will about their spiritual questions. b. There is no way for them to know spiritual right or to resist spiritual wrong. (1) Without spiritual guidance, they are left to explore on their own. (2) This leaves the door wide open for him to explore the demons which are within his reach. 4. This is every human beings Achilles heel. Since we are all born as this man was, we can all become what this man became. B. He invited demons inside. 1. Demons are all around us and they desire to come inside of us to take possession and control us. 2. Most do it through a mix of ignorance and purpose. a. Few would purposely invite a demon to take control of them but some do. b. Most are introduced to demons through television, music, and friends. 3. Every behavior is a gateway to another behavior. a. Is marijuana a gateway to other drugs? Yes. Not because everyone who smokes marijuana will move to heavier drugs, but because the behavior of using a drug socially is in itself a gateway to using other drugs socially. It is the same people doing the same things in the same places. b. All behaviors are gateways to other behaviors. a. Beer is a gateway to drunkenness. b. Disobedience to parents is a gateway to rebellion. c. Rebellion is a gateway to wrong relationships. d. Wrong relationships are a gateway to a wrong marriage. e. A wrong marriage is a gateway to a divorce. 4. If you play with demonic things long enough, you will invite a demon to move inside of you. (And Im not sure that they travel alone.) 1Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; C. The man was conquered by his guest. 1. Have you ever had company that did not know when to leave? 2. Demons never do. IV. The broken man got fixed. Mark 5:15 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. A. Some thing has changed! This man is not broke any more. He is in control of himself and doing "normal" behaviors now. B. What fixed him? 1. The Bible does not say! 2. It describes a normal human being who has been fixed. C. What does a normal person do? 1. \#15\ He controls himself. a. He gets dressed. b. He can sit down, calmly. c. He thinks soundly. (1) He knows right from wrong. (2) There has never been a naturally born "normal" human being. (3) Normal has been re-defined to mean "what every body else is doing." (4) Normal means to do what you were designed to do. (5) To operate as the Creator created you to operate. (6) This man was thinking "normally" for the first time in his life. 2. \#18\ He followed Jesus. 3. \#19\ He obeyed Jesus. D. How did this man get fixed? 1. Some would say "Jesus cast the demon out;" however, that would indicate that people who do not have demons in the first place are not broken, but they are! a. Getting the demons out helped. b. It probably gave this man the ability to think rationally enough to fix his real problem. c. What was his real problem? He was separated from God. d. What did the man do to fix that? Matt 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. 2. He believed on Jesus as God, Savior, and Lord.