Kenneth Copeland - Do It Love's Way
"When he was come out of the ship immediately, they met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. One devil had possessed him. One. Now that fits right there, right? A ruler of the darkness of this world. One... Who had his dwelling among the tombs. No man could bind him. No, not with chains because that he had been often bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been plunked asunder by him and the shackles broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him".
Now, this man doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep. There's no way that he's strong physically. Sampson was not a great big powerful man. That people couldn't understand how he was so powerful. Well, this is Sampson in reverse. That demon... They'd put chains on him, that demon, and that demon power would just flowed through him and tear chains. Just rip him all. Because he'd been often bound, neither could any man tame him and always night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying, cutting himself with stones. If there's any cutters watching or listening to me right now, you listen up. You listen up. This is your day of deliverance. This is your day of deliverance.
When he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him and cried with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, now, son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that you torment me not". For he had said unto him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit". And when Jesus said that, that devil retaliated. And he asked him, "What is your name"? And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion, for we are many. Don't send me away out of this country". A legion is 3,000 to 6,000. This gives you an idea of the capacity of a human being. Now, this one devil possessed him. These 3,000 to 6,000 devils were controlling this whole area of the Gadarenes, making it dangerous for anybody to even come close. Cause he allowed to kill you. Now, there was there nigh under the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding.
Now, everybody there heard that conversation between Jesus and the spirit in this man. They heard that. Now, only Jesus heard this in the Spirit. So, they're just standing there big-eyed. They don't have any idea what on earth is happening, and they're already afraid of this man. He never sleeps. He cries and screams all night long. They know. And they think he's something supernatural. They had no understanding of this. And another thing that frightened them, that herd of hogs, those that were keeping them, those pigs were food for the Roman army. And somebody's going to have to report that their pigs all drown. And it ain't going to be me. I'm getting out of here. I'm not going to tell this. Ain't nobody going believe it, anyway. All them hogs just decided to go jump in the lake.
Now, he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now, the devil... There are parts of the country that the devil assigns demons. Oh. Anyway, I don't have time to get into all that. That's the reason in this country, being relatively young, and the foundation of this nation, we have, relatively speaking, very few demon possessed people. Now, I'll call you the remembrance in the Book of Matthew, the eighth chapter, where Jesus fulfilled that which was spoken by Isaiah, the prophet, saying he took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. But, now, when he... Jesus left synagogue that night and came to Peter's house for supper, saw Peter's wife's mother, "I want to find out her name, too", laid sick of a fever. Now, Luke said he rebuked the fever and touched her hand. Matthew said he touched her hand and the fever left her immediately. They brought many possessed with devils. He cast out the spirits with his Word and healed all that were sick... fulfilling what Isaiah said.
See, there were many possessed with devils right there... Right there by Peter's house. Many. Many's not one or two. A lot. And everywhere he went, there's one of them screaming out at him. Well, of course there's going to be a lot of devils stationed there. This is Jerusalem, this is Capernaum, this is the heartland of the spiritual life of this planet. That all of the demons that the devil could get in there. Anything to stop the Jew, anything to stop Jesus, anything... Anything it takes. He didn't have it then, and he doesn't have it now. Jesus broke him. He broke him, broke him in hell itself. Scripture said he was manifested in the flesh. That's when he was born in Jerusalem. Made alive in the Spirit, that's when he was born again in hell. That's exciting stuff. And came up out of there with the keys. Glory to God. Glory.
So, now, all the devils besought him saying, "Send us into the swine that we may enter into them". Forthwith, "Jesus gave them leave, and unclean spirits went out and entered the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. There were about 2000 and they were choked or they drowned in the sea". Unclean spirits, the devil himself, cannot adequately express themselves without a human body, a human voice and a human mind. The Holy Spirit of God cannot express Himself without a human body and a human mind. I was in prayer one day and I didn't have... Somebody asked me, he said, what's your background? I said, sin brother. I didn't know anything. I got born again and I didn't know anything as a scriptural illiterate. And Gloria was raised in a church famous for believing nothing. And, so, she didn't... They never mentioned the new birth and she didn't go to church much, anyway. She didn't want to.
She said, I've heard her preach this, she told this to me. She said, "I had a little friend that she just went to church every Sunday". And she said she was a good girl. And she said, "I want to be a good girl. I want to go to church every Sunday". But she said, "I'd go over there". And she said, "It was so dry. I don't go back over there". Well, the Lord just protected her. So, this rank and file of unclean spirits didn't want to just go to the dry place, seek rest, and find none. They needed a body. They'd accept the body of a hog, but then the hogs just went wild. Those devils got in them and they just went screaming. I can't imagine what 2000 of them... 2000 demon possessed hogs would sound like. Dear Lord, have mercy. No telling... No wonder it just scared the daylights out of everybody out there. 2000 screaming hogs running into the... And they all choked. They saw things that day they didn't know what to do with. They just wanted him out there, just get this man off this place... Get him off the... Get him out of here. We don't want any more to do with him. We don't know what he's all about.
"They that fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country. They went out to see what it was that was done. They came 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. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to get out of their coasts..". Get, go on, get out of here, please. "And when he was come in to the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil, prayed him, that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, 'Go home to your friends, tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and has had compassion on thee.'" You go home and preach. "He departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. He began to publish in Decapolis, the 10 city area, the great things that Jesus done for him and all men did marvel. And when Jesus was passed over again into the other side, much people gathered unto him" and so forth.
Now what is what casts out fear? Love. Compassion. He called this man to preach. Did he not? Now, if we think the woman with the issue of blood was emaciated, what do you think about this fellow? He must have been the nastiest looking guy. You talking about skin and bones. Cutter. Nasty looking. Naked. Well, he can't send him home naked. "They came to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil, had the Legion sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind. And they were afraid". Chap... Where'd they get the clothes? Did Jesus say, "Hey, boy, Phillip, take your clothes off. Put it..". Come on, man. No, no. Faith had to have corresponding action beforehand. So, what do you think? So, Jesus, knowing what he was going to do... representing God, the Father, must have said, "Alright, we're just going across the lake".
As you know, everybody knew there's a man over there. In fact, if you read the scripture, there were two of them. But, it's obvious he called this one to preach. So he must have said, "Now, listen, he is nasty. He's skin and bones. And I'm going to send him home. We can't send him home like that. He's got to go home looking good. He's... I'm calling him to preach. It's going to take a little while for him to get some meat on his bones, but he's just since he's delivered now. And he's anointed with my anointing. We going to have to get him some good looking clothes". "And, so, let's go shopping". "Let's go buy... We're going buy the best we can find". This man is going to leave there in custom suits. And he's going to go home and say, "Look what the man, this man, I met this man. I met a man. I met a man"!
And when he finally got home and Mrs. Legion ran out there, "Where have you been"? "Well, sweetheart, let me tell you. Now, you're going to have to fatten me up, but I got some nice clothes here, right? This man gave him to me and he called me to preach. And he called me. He told me to preach compassion and, oh, you should see his eyes. And you should hear his voice. And I could hear... I could hear your voice. I could hear my friend's voice in his voice, and his eyes. And then he had clothes for me. Sweetheart, I was naked. I was terrible looking. Look at this. And now I'm a preacher of compassion".
Now check it out. I'm not going to do all your studying for you. Check it out. Jesus went right back to that same place. And the same people couldn't get enough of what he had to say. And it was because of this man that he called and put clothes on him and sent him out to preach. Praise God. So, thank You, Jesus. He departed and published throughout Decapolis the things that Jesus had done for him and all men did marvel. Jesus came again to the other side, much people gathered and he's coming home now to Capernaum. Go through the New Testament... Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and everywhere you find the word Capernaum, write "home". It was... Not only did he get run out of Nazareth, but it was prophesied that he would leave Nazareth. So, he set up his headquarters and you find scriptures like, "and he was in the house". When the breakup of the roof, that was in his house.
Now, when it was excavated... When they found it, they thought it was Peter's house because it was so big. But, then, they found out it belonged to Jesus and it was not only his home, it was his headquarters. And you look right out the back and there was the Galilee. So, he could sit out, he had a home on the lake. Lake front property, thank you. Then he could see the docks and he could see the fishermen. And he could see the people. So, he just walked down there and just worked his way through the crowd and asked Peter for his boat. Now, don't get all excited about the broken net. Read it carefully. Oh, it was a net breaking, boat sinking load. It was a boat sinking load. Jesus told him to cast his nets. He said, "I will cast a net". Willful disobedient. Cause he didn't want to have to rewash these nets. And he said it, "You can't catch anything on this lake in the daytime, it's too clear and the fish run from the net".
So, he got one old rotten net that he wouldn't have to rewash and it broke. The only account of ever breaking net was that one. And at the last record, after Jesus was raised from the dead, they had their fish. Their net was so full of fish, they couldn't drag it and it didn't break... One net broke. But, from then on, even when Jesus told him to go down and take a hook, no bait, "Oh, right away. I'm going down there and take up the first fish". That meant, go ahead, don't quit. Just keep catching. That first fish going to have money in his mouth, but don't get so money-minded, just keep... bring lunch and supper with you when you come. You getting anything out of...?
Well, "he went with him and a certain woman, which had an issue of blood 12 years, there she is, suffered many things of many physicians, had spent all that she had, was nothing better, but rather grew worse. When she'd heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, 'If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.' And straightway, the fountain of her blood was dried up, and then she felt in her body she was healed of that plague. Jesus immediately, knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, turned him about in the presence and said, 'Who touched my clothes?' And his disciples said, 'Thou seest the multitude thronging thee and sayest thou, who touched you.' He looked around about her, but the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, told him all the truth. And he said unto her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Go in peace and be whole of that plague.'" A day in the life of Jesus.