There’s much talk today about being on the left or right side of things. We certainly see it in our political landscape. As Bible believers we can’t help that for the most part, the Right are the more godly, more patriotic than those on the Left, whom we see as about two miles past crazy. Did you know there might even be a Bible verse on this subject . . .
“A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left” (Ecclesiastes 10:2).
And after all, does not the Lord put the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left? Well, that and I suppose we can prove anything with Scripture if we don’t mind misusing it just a dad.
Bob Jones Sr. said that if you stay on the right road, you’ll end up in the right place. He also said to do right until the stars shall fall. To be in your right mind, according to the natural definition is to have control of your actions and be able to understandably communicate with others. That’s being in your right mind.
As a Christian, I understand this as God is right always. What He says to do is right always. And what He says not to do is right always? Yea. The world can define what is ‘right’ and it does, but it doesn’t check with God’s Word one time about it. Therefore, an American citizen obeying the laws of the land can be in their right mind—and communicate with others—and yet be in the wrong mind with the things of God. That is what is hard for people to understand.
“Well, it’s not illegal!”
A lot of things are becoming, ‘not illegal.’ Where are you going to draw the line? And always remember that what we do as parents, you’re eventually going to look back and see your kids and see where you failed in their lives at different areas. It’s going to be inevitable. And we know we have to go on, but you can see when you made certain decisions, you made them, not based on the Word or the understanding of that Word, but you did either for emotion or appearance or whatever else was going on, and later you look back when they are grown up—and you see that. That’s why it is necessary to do what? To pray. Tell God He’s right, and don’t make excuses. If you are wrong, you are wrong. Tell God you are sorry—I blew it. And when your kids come around, man, I wish I would have taught you this better—I wish I would have taught you that better.
I mean, you go on with your life and serve God—we are human, we are frail. The preaching of the Word of God is just to bring your mind to a state of where you accept what God says—and by faith you accept that—and let God worry about everything else. And if there are arguments about what He said, I would stay on His side, because these arguments aren’t thought through. And some stuff can happen 15 or 20 years later, but we have gone on a different journey when we go away from what God says. We have to understand that.
So, as a Christian, I am to understand this.as God is right, always. What He says to do it right always, and what He says not to do is right always.
“And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met 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, not with chains” (Mark 5:1-3).
Where did he live? —the tombs, what did he like? –dead things. Those spirits gravitate to dead things, to dark things—that’s just what they do. That is where he was found. Other people may have been as wicked as him, but guess what, they weren’t going in there. They were in the city, or in towns. It’s amazing to me that even chains could not hold him. If I was him, I would have gone to wherever I wanted to go. But apparently, whatever was in him was keeping him where he was at.
“Because that 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. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones” (Mark 5:4-5).
And always, night and day, he is in the mountains and in the tombs crying—and look what it says—cutting himself with stones. There is an epidemic. One preacher I know is moved by all that. He deals with teens all the time. He still gets the razor blades and all that. And still that stuff is still going on. I feel sorry for those kids, when you think about that, it is going on—it’s not getting less. It’s just some characteristics of the time in which we are living.
“But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him” (Mark 5:6).
From afar off, he ran and he worshipped Him. Far off—he ran to Him. And when I look at that, the demons are not cast off yet, so, whoever is inside of this dude—recognized Who was on the scene—they saw the spirit world, right? They knew Who Jesus was, and they worshipped Him. And Jesus did not, not take worship—He took it. So, these demons were looking at Him from what we could say the Father’s side, but as Christians we are looking on the man side of Jesus Christ. And we are noticing that something took place here that is unusual at this time. But, it was Legion, as we are going to see, that came and worshipped Him. If the devils took this man into the mountains and in the tombs, cutting himself and everything—if they didn’t want him to go and worship—he wouldn’t have gone. Unless the Lord stopped him. This is for our admonition and for our learning to see when he showed up. He got worshipped. But the other part is the part that is going to release us and what we tell other people about—and that is the Lord Jesus Christ and the power to save—and to break the chains that hold them, and to make them evil spirits to flee. The Blood of Jesus Christ can do that.
“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” (Mark 5:7).
“What have I to do with thee, Jesus. . .” … that’s not the fleshly part, that’s something on the inside. You got that? That’s why I said what I said at the beginning, so in case you didn’t know it, you need to read the whole context.
“I adjure thee by God . . .” … What in the world is that? You see how confused these Suckers are? He’s saying, “Hey man! I’m telling you, in the name of God.” He ain’t talking about the Devil, he’s talking about God. “Stop messing with me!” You say, “What in the world is going on here?” What in the world is going on here, these devils knew that it wasn’t there time yet. They’re plugged into the unseen world over there—they’re part of that thing—and their daddy is the stinking Devil.
“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” (Mark 5:8-9).
“And he asked him, What is thy name?” When I read it up to this point, I said, ‘an unclean spirit, fine. I get it. But why would Jesus ask him his name?’
Because He is showing you what a person can be able to have inside of him. And when you read the Bible you are going to find out that these spirits of whoremongering and different other things like that can attack you and me. It’s the unseen thing. You wonder why a particular thing, a weakness that you have, keeps being emphasized. There is probably a spirit that goes with that, that is attacking you. And when you realize that, then it dawns on you, ‘Oh God, I need some help! Help me, Lord!’ And the Lord takes care of business. And you get relief from that and you know it was Him!
“A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left” (Ecclesiastes 10:2).
And after all, does not the Lord put the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left? Well, that and I suppose we can prove anything with Scripture if we don’t mind misusing it just a dad.
Bob Jones Sr. said that if you stay on the right road, you’ll end up in the right place. He also said to do right until the stars shall fall. To be in your right mind, according to the natural definition is to have control of your actions and be able to understandably communicate with others. That’s being in your right mind.
As a Christian, I understand this as God is right always. What He says to do is right always. And what He says not to do is right always? Yea. The world can define what is ‘right’ and it does, but it doesn’t check with God’s Word one time about it. Therefore, an American citizen obeying the laws of the land can be in their right mind—and communicate with others—and yet be in the wrong mind with the things of God. That is what is hard for people to understand.
“Well, it’s not illegal!”
A lot of things are becoming, ‘not illegal.’ Where are you going to draw the line? And always remember that what we do as parents, you’re eventually going to look back and see your kids and see where you failed in their lives at different areas. It’s going to be inevitable. And we know we have to go on, but you can see when you made certain decisions, you made them, not based on the Word or the understanding of that Word, but you did either for emotion or appearance or whatever else was going on, and later you look back when they are grown up—and you see that. That’s why it is necessary to do what? To pray. Tell God He’s right, and don’t make excuses. If you are wrong, you are wrong. Tell God you are sorry—I blew it. And when your kids come around, man, I wish I would have taught you this better—I wish I would have taught you that better.
I mean, you go on with your life and serve God—we are human, we are frail. The preaching of the Word of God is just to bring your mind to a state of where you accept what God says—and by faith you accept that—and let God worry about everything else. And if there are arguments about what He said, I would stay on His side, because these arguments aren’t thought through. And some stuff can happen 15 or 20 years later, but we have gone on a different journey when we go away from what God says. We have to understand that.
So, as a Christian, I am to understand this.as God is right, always. What He says to do it right always, and what He says not to do is right always.
“And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met 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, not with chains” (Mark 5:1-3).
Where did he live? —the tombs, what did he like? –dead things. Those spirits gravitate to dead things, to dark things—that’s just what they do. That is where he was found. Other people may have been as wicked as him, but guess what, they weren’t going in there. They were in the city, or in towns. It’s amazing to me that even chains could not hold him. If I was him, I would have gone to wherever I wanted to go. But apparently, whatever was in him was keeping him where he was at.
“Because that 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. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones” (Mark 5:4-5).
And always, night and day, he is in the mountains and in the tombs crying—and look what it says—cutting himself with stones. There is an epidemic. One preacher I know is moved by all that. He deals with teens all the time. He still gets the razor blades and all that. And still that stuff is still going on. I feel sorry for those kids, when you think about that, it is going on—it’s not getting less. It’s just some characteristics of the time in which we are living.
“But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him” (Mark 5:6).
From afar off, he ran and he worshipped Him. Far off—he ran to Him. And when I look at that, the demons are not cast off yet, so, whoever is inside of this dude—recognized Who was on the scene—they saw the spirit world, right? They knew Who Jesus was, and they worshipped Him. And Jesus did not, not take worship—He took it. So, these demons were looking at Him from what we could say the Father’s side, but as Christians we are looking on the man side of Jesus Christ. And we are noticing that something took place here that is unusual at this time. But, it was Legion, as we are going to see, that came and worshipped Him. If the devils took this man into the mountains and in the tombs, cutting himself and everything—if they didn’t want him to go and worship—he wouldn’t have gone. Unless the Lord stopped him. This is for our admonition and for our learning to see when he showed up. He got worshipped. But the other part is the part that is going to release us and what we tell other people about—and that is the Lord Jesus Christ and the power to save—and to break the chains that hold them, and to make them evil spirits to flee. The Blood of Jesus Christ can do that.
“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” (Mark 5:7).
“What have I to do with thee, Jesus. . .” … that’s not the fleshly part, that’s something on the inside. You got that? That’s why I said what I said at the beginning, so in case you didn’t know it, you need to read the whole context.
“I adjure thee by God . . .” … What in the world is that? You see how confused these Suckers are? He’s saying, “Hey man! I’m telling you, in the name of God.” He ain’t talking about the Devil, he’s talking about God. “Stop messing with me!” You say, “What in the world is going on here?” What in the world is going on here, these devils knew that it wasn’t there time yet. They’re plugged into the unseen world over there—they’re part of that thing—and their daddy is the stinking Devil.
“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” (Mark 5:8-9).
“And he asked him, What is thy name?” When I read it up to this point, I said, ‘an unclean spirit, fine. I get it. But why would Jesus ask him his name?’
Because He is showing you what a person can be able to have inside of him. And when you read the Bible you are going to find out that these spirits of whoremongering and different other things like that can attack you and me. It’s the unseen thing. You wonder why a particular thing, a weakness that you have, keeps being emphasized. There is probably a spirit that goes with that, that is attacking you. And when you realize that, then it dawns on you, ‘Oh God, I need some help! Help me, Lord!’ And the Lord takes care of business. And you get relief from that and you know it was Him!