No Room For Jesus
By David J. Stewart | January 2016
Matthew 8:34, “And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.”
A demon-possessed man came to Jesus. Mark
5:1-17 tells us the full story. The man was insane because of the demons in
him. He cut himself with stones. He walked around without clothes naked. He
stayed up all night partying. He broke out of handcuffs made of chain and
fetters. This same amazing story is recounted in the Gospels of Matthew,
Mark and Luke. The Bible says the demons came and worshipped Jesus. Mark
5:5-9, “And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the
tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus
afar off, he ran and worshipped 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. For he said unto him, Come out of
the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he
answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.” The demons
worshipped Jesus! Legion means 6,000!!! Long story short, Jesus healed the
man. You can read the full story in Mark 5:1-17.
The main truth I want to point out in this true account is that the citizens of Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from out of their coastal city. They said to Jesus... GET OUT AND DON'T COME BACK!!! They had no room for Jesus in their city. They were afraid of the power of God after seeing the demon-possessed man healed. They were angry at Jesus because thousands of their pigs were drowned and dead. They valued money more than the precious Son of God. They valued their normal, quiet, life more than the power of God which changes sinner's lives.
This is so much like the evil world today, especially America, where we have plenty compared to many poorer countries today. People don't care about the Son of God. And those that do claim to love Jesus, prove themselves liars when put to the test, always choosing money over doing the right thing to honor God. Professed Christians often become greedy, cheats and thieves when they are put to the test with money. There's just something about money that obsesses people! Getting rich financially is usually the worst thing that can happen to a Christian, because it substitutes for their trust in God.
Here's a wonderful poem authored by Pastor Danny Castle about the three stages of life; It's called “NO ROOM FOR JESUS” . . .
NO ROOM FOR JESUS...
No room for Jesus when I'm young and free,
No time for the church, or a Bible for me;
No room for Jesus when I'm a grown man,
I'm busy making a living, doing the best I can.No room for Jesus, when I'm old and gray,
I've lived good enough, I'll make it my way;
Now as the time comes to die for me,
only it is now I am beginning to see,
When at Heaven's gates I stand and plea:
What a fool I've been, they'll be no room for me.SOURCE: Pastor Danny Castle; a poem from the awesome sermon titled, Do You Have Room For Jesus?
A Few Spiritual Lessons From Mark 5
There are some of my observations from this story:
First, demons can posses a human being, but only an unsaved person. Since the Holy Spirit indwells every born-again believer, a demon cannot live inside a Christian's body (Romans 8:9; 1st Corinthians 3:16-17). However, a believer can be adversely affected by demonic influences; such as television, dirty pictures, immoral music, gossip and worldly philosophy. Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” In other words, what goes into the soul must come out. The Bible warns us to guard what we allow into our heart, because it is from our heart that everything in our life emerges. This is why Hollywood continually
Second, we read in Mark 5:1-17 that the demon-possessed man cut himself with stones, broke free from handcuffs (chains and fetters), walked around naked in public, stayed up all night, and was out of his mind. When Jesus healed the man, he came into his right mind and it scared his neighbours. 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.” Amen, Jesus is the cure for a mentally sick mind! Jesus is the cure for drug-addiction, alcoholism, insanity, perversion, self abuse, nudity and a broken mind.
Thirdly, demons worship Jesus, because they know Jesus has the power to send them to Hell (Greek: Tartarus) immediately. Tartarus is a special place in Hell reserved just for the angels, in the Bottomless Pit (Jude 1:6).
Fourthly, unsaved heathen people care more about money and possessions than they do the only begotten Son of God. Jesus means nothing to them! Jesus healed the afflicted man. Perhaps you may wonder why Jesus granted the demon's request to go into the herd of swine, which immediately went insane and rushed down into the Sea of Galilee to die (they commit HOGACIDE!). Demon possession drives a person insane!!! Why did the Lord allow those ranchers to suffer a financial loss? Keep in mind that the Bible outlaws Jews from eating pork. Also, it was the demons and not Jesus who picked the pigs.
Fifthly, we learn here that demons can indwell both humans and animals. Interestingly, angels that God sent always had their own physical bodies. Why didn't the demons have their own bodies? Personally, and I would not be dogmatic on this issue, I believe the fallen angels became disembodied when God destroyed the earth in His fury, when Lucifer and one third of the angels rebelled against God (I believe Jeremiah 4:23-26 refers to this event, which happened before mankind was created. I believe in an old earth. I don't believe in evolution at all. I believe God remodeled the earth in Genesis 1:2-31). There was a literal six-day creation, but it was a remodeling of the original creation. The Bible greatly supports this truth. Mankind has only existed for the past 6,000 years. For a detailed exegesis on this subject, please read The Truth About Evolution: Or, Don't let Satan Make A Monkey Out Of You! (by Dr. Max D. Younce).
Sixth, without Jesus this man never would have been made whole. There is no hope for one's messed up life apart from the Son of God. Unsaved psychologists attempt to resolve people's insanity and mental problems with drugs, therapy and worthless New Age practices, yoga and transcendental mediation. Yet, in most cases people's real problem is rebellion against God's Word.
Seventh, if the Gadarene people had received Jesus instead of asking Him to leave, they would have been greatly blessed. They had no room for Jesus. Oh what blessings people forfeit because they disregard the Son of God. Do you have room for Jesus?
And let me close with this truth, the Devil's time is running short. Matthew 8:29, “And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” Satan and the demons are headed for eternal torment in the Lake of Fire, along with the wicked world today who reject Christ, and those who have been deceived by the Devil to trust in a substitute instead of the Gospel. There are many false substitutes for the Gospel; such as, religion, evolution, psychology, the occult, morality, Lordship Salvation and good deeds. Please listen to, Easy-Believism (an excellent MP3 sermon by Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold). If you've never made room for Jesus, please do so now by trusting Him as your personal Savior.
HELL FIRE (you'd better get saved before it's too late! by Pastor Danny Castle)
God Opens Doors!
When one door
closes He opens another. It's not that Jesus closes doors, but
He opens other doors! When Jesus opens a door, no man can shut
it! ...
Revelation 3:8, “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”
