“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: 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. 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. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave.
And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea,” Mark 5:1-13.
I was made to think of this portion of God’s inspired Word when I heard of the horrific events in Southport, England, on Monday 29th July. It was widely reported in the press. Here is a BBC report.
Southport stabbing: How the knife attack unfolded
In truth, no news report could ever fully convey the distress and heartbreak that followed this horrendously murderous attack by a teenager, a son of immigrants. The culprit has been arrested. He has been described as being ‘reclusive’!
However, that would not account for his actions and for the actions of the many, many other examples of similar murderous incidents in recent times on the streets and in the homes of the United Kingdom! Hundreds of murders take place each year, the most of them animalistic attacks almost void of any tangible motive.
In these days of apostasy from God and His truth by the mainline churches, the impact of this rebellion upon the nation is the releasing of the floodgates of lawlessness and defiance of all that the Lord has commanded men to obey!
It is that spirit that is epitomised by ‘the man of Gadara’! (more…)
“Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” Matthew 18:7.