[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 22nd of June, 2025. A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]
“Faith” is a word we banty about a little too easily sometimes. Like when we’ve got a really difficult task facing us and someone says, “You can do this – I’ve got faith in you.” But what if we can’t do it? What if we fail? Was that person’s faith misplaced, or was there any real faith to begin with?
The author of the Book of Hebrews claims that “faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1 (NET)). Someone may hope that we can complete that task, but can they really be sure of it? No, they can’t, because we humans are imperfect. Anything we do, anything we make, is subject to fail. We too often disappoint others, and ourselves, when we can’t do something they, or we, think we should be able to do.
No, we’re not perfect. But our God is, and so are His Son and His Spirit. Anything they set out to do, anything they promise, gets done. We see evidence of this often, especially from Jesus in the accounts of the men who walked with Him during His short ministry. He healed people of all manner of illnesses and infirmities, even raising some from the dead. He made the lame to walk, the blind to see, the dumb to talk, the deaf to hear. And He freed tortured people from their demons and evil spirits.
Most times these miraculous feats were met with wonder and awe, even from His disciples who had seen Him do wondrous signs many times now. There was one time, though, when the people reacted quite differently. Please listen and follow along to this report of a rather frightened crowd, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in the 8th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 26 through 39, and I’ll be reading from the New English Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…
26 So they sailed over to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met Him who was possessed by demons. For a long time this man had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and shouted with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I beg You, do not torment me!” 29 For Jesus had started commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so he would be bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. But he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they began to beg Him not to order them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and the demonic spirits begged Jesus to let them go into them. He gave them permission. 33 So the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd of pigs rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned. 34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside. 35 So the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus. They found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized with great fear. So He got into the boat and left. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare what God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole town what Jesus had done for him.--Luke 8:26-39 (NET)
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, thank You for inspiring Your Son’s followers to take note and write down many of the things Jesus said and did while He walked among us. And thank You for saving them for us today. Through these records, we can see how our faith in Jesus will never be misplaced. He can do anything, and will always keep His promises. You and Jesus ask so little of us, yet we often fail to follow through with what You command. Too many things in life distract us, trying to pull us away from You. Please forgive us our lapses, Father. Help us more closely follow Your word so we can grow ever closer to You and our Lord Jesus.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better grasp the message You have for us this day. Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, our worship, and our service. And please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times. This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
St. Augustine is said to have written that, “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.” And at some point he added, “Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.” That’s two rewards of faith, one now, and one later. Our faith helps us understand those things we cannot see, and if we keep our faith strong and vital, when the end of our days on this earth comes, we will see, face-to-face, the One in whom we believe.
One of the benefits of that enhanced understanding through faith can be seen in this statement by J. G. Machen who said, “The more we know of God, the more unreservedly we will trust Him; the greater our progress in theology, the simpler and more childlike will be our faith.” It’s that childlike faith Jesus is looking for, the unquestioning, simple yet assured faith of a child.
And I think George Muller adds some solid logic to our discussion when he says, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends.” If God only did things any human could do, where would be the reason for glory? We don’t necessarily glorify each other for the things we can do, unless we’re trying to butter someone up.
And to give a little more insight into this subject of faith, some now unknown person once noted that, “Little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.” As believers, we are assured that our soul will head to heaven when we’ve breathed our last. But ah how sweet it would be, to have heaven in our soul right now, while we still draw breath. So let’s keep our faith strong.
So, you may be thinking that our scripture reading didn’t have much to do with faith. In one respect, you’d be absolutely right. Usually, when Jesus healed someone or cast out an evil spirit, it was because of faith in Jesus, faith that Jesus could heal them or rid them of their demon, the faith of that person or of someone who loved them. This wild man of the Gerasenes didn’t exhibit much faith in Jesus, nor did anyone else come forward and plead for him. Yet Jesus knew he was afflicted and immediately, as soon as He stepped ashore, started ordering the evil spirit to leave the man. The man respond with a plea that Jesus leave him alone and not torment him. We don’t usually think of Jesus tormenting anyone – well, maybe the Pharisees – but we have to remember that it was the demon speaking through the man.
Now here’s a very interesting and extremely important point that we must not miss. The demon in the man cried out, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God!” Did this demon believe in Jesus and acknowledge Him as the Son of God? Yes, most definitely! So by believing in Jesus, is the demon assured salvation? Absolutely not!
I’ve tried to stress before that we need to be careful with that word “believe”. To believe in Jesus involves more than just acknowledging His existence, or even recognizing His parentage. If we truly believe in Him as the Son of God - as God - then we will do as He commands us, we will follow Him and His example. Demons won’t do that, even though they know who He is, and what He is.
Getting back to our passage, faith in this case is the total lack of it. The legion of demons in the man – by the way, the name “Legion” probably alludes to a Roman legion, which was comprised of a thousand men, and we’re told that this man was possessed by “many demons”. Anyway, the demons in the man, once they realized that Jesus was going to command them out, begged Jesus to let them go into the herd of pigs feeding on the nearby hillside. Jesus agreed, He called the demons out, and they entered the pigs. And immediately the whole herd ran downhill into the sea and drowned. So much for the demons.
The pig herders who witnessed all this ran away and told everyone they came across what had happened. The townsfolk came out to see for themselves, and rather than being grateful that the formerly wild man was now calm and coherent, they were afraid. I can understand that the herdsmen might be a little upset, for their livelihood had just stampeded into the water and drowned. But why the townspeople? Why were they so frightened of Jesus that they asked Him to leave them, to leave the region? Why did Jesus scare them so much? Because they had no faith. Faith had not come to them. He made what they thought was impossible possible, and it scared them.
The thing is, faith is a gift from God. It’s not a trait or characteristic that we just have, it is given to us. What we do with that gift is up to us. We can use it, exercise it, let it grow and thrive, or we can ignore it, set it off to the side, and watch it shrink to nothingness. But either way, faith came to us from our generous Father God, who in His mercy chose us to receive it.
The Apostle Paul tells us of the time before God bestowed this gift upon us. Hear what Paul wrote in the 3rd chapter of his letter to the Galatians, in verses 23 through 29…
23 Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female — for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.--Galatians 3:23-29 (NET)
When Paul writes of the law being our guardian, he is using the term like we would speak of the legal guardian of a young child. Before faith came to us, we were subject to the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments along with all the extras, the law that it is impossible for us to fully obey and follow (otherwise we wouldn’t have needed Jesus). But now faith has come, and we no longer need a legal guardian because God has adopted us – we are His children, we are one with Christ Jesus. We are united through Jesus.
Paul also notes that even we Gentiles can count ourselves among the descendants of Abraham, heirs to God's kingdom, joint heirs with Jesus, because we are all one with Him. This is what faith, that wonderful gift from God, does for us.
Faith and trust walk hand-in-hand. Our faith in Jesus allows us to trust Him, to trust in His promises. When we trust Him, we put everything in His hands, we quit trying to do everything on our own.
There’s a saying: “Let go and let God”. That’s trust. That’s faith. Faith is our ticket to heaven. Let’s not lose it. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Almighty God, thank You for this wonderful gift of faith. You knew we fallen humans could never fully obey Your law as handed down through Moses, so You sent Your Son to wash us clean of our sin and provide a path to salvation. And You gave us the faith to believe in Jesus and accept Him as our Lord. It saddens us, Father, when we think of all the souls who will never recognize Jesus as Your Son or obey Him as their Lord. There are many who have not heard of Jesus, have not been told of all He did and taught. And there are even those who deny Your existence, and the existence of Your Holy Spirit. We admit that we have not done as good a job as we could reaching out to these people. Too often we find excuses not to carry out our mission of making more disciples. Sometimes we’re too busy, too distracted. Sometimes we’re just too hesitant, too afraid of getting it all wrong and doing more harm than good. Please forgive us those times, dear Father. Please help us reach out to the lost, to anyone who does not know Jesus as their personal Savior. Help us be more like Your Son in our love and our ways. Help us show Your love to others by giving of ourselves, giving of our love freely, unconditionally, sacrificially, just as Jesus gave of Himself for us. And please help us share our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.
Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own. Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live. And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what comes our way.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, we know You are the one true Son of the Most High God and we accept You as our Lord and Master. You left Your home in heaven to come to earth to redeem us of our sin. Thank You, Jesus, for giving Your all for us. Lord, we know it disappoints You, but sometimes we struggle to do as You commanded us. You told us to love others, even our enemies. But it's so hard to love all people, to give of ourselves to those who don’t care about us. It’s not even all that easy to love some of our fellow believers. It hurts to admit it, be we let too many simple, foolish things get in the way of our love. And too often we hesitate to witness to You and the Gospel, making more disciples. Please help us in our struggles to show You to the world. Help us be more like You, loving all others, even those who hate us and wish us harm, without any concern for reward or recognition or even being loved in return. Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love. Give us the words to say, show us the deeds to do to lead the lost to You.
Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises. Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares. Help us see though his temptations. Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer. All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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