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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.  And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that was done.  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.  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 depart out of their coasts.  And when He was come into 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 thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel (Mark 5: 1-20).

Let us beware of giving way to the senseless habit of jesting about the devil.  It is a habit which furnishes dreadful evidence of the blindness and corruption of human nature, and one which is far too common.  When it is seemly in the condemned criminal to jest about his executioner, then, and not until then, it will be seemly for mortal man to talk lightly about Satan.  Well would it be for us all, if we strove more to realize the power and presence of our great spiritual enemy, and prayed more to be delivered from him.  It was a true saying of an eminent Christian, now gone to rest, “No prayer is complete which does not contain a petition to be kept from the devil.”

We see, in the last place, from these verses, how complete is our Lord's power and authority over the devil.  We see it in the cry of the unclean spirit, “I adjure Thee by God, that Thou torment me not.”   We see it in the command, “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit,” and the immediate obedience that followed.  We see it in the blessed change that at once took place in him that was possessed - he was found “sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind.”  We see it in the petition of all the devils – “send us into the swine,” confessing their consciousness that they could do nothing without leave.  All these things show that One mightier than Satan was there.  Strong as the great enemy of man was, he was in the presence of One stronger than he.  Numerous as his hosts were, he was confronted with One who could command more than twelve legions of angels.  “Where the word of a king is, there is power” (Eccl. 8: 4).

The truth here taught is full of strong consolation for all true Christians.  We live in a world full of difficulties and snares.  We are ourselves weak and compassed with infirmity.  The dreadful thought that we have a mighty spiritual enemy ever near us, subtle, powerful, and malicious as Satan is, might well disquiet us, and cast us down.  But, thanks be unto God, we have in Jesus an Almighty Friend, Who is able to save us “to the uttermost.”  He has already triumphed over Satan on the cross.  He will ever triumph over him in the hearts of all believers, and intercede for those that their faith fail not.  And He will finally triumph over Satan completely, when He shall come forth at the Second Advent, and bind him in the bottomless pit.

And now, Are we ourselves delivered from Satan’s power?  This after all is the grand question that concerns our souls.  He still reigns and rules in the hearts of all who are children of disobedience.  (Eph. 2: 3).  He is still a king over the ungodly.  Have we, by grace, broken his bonds, and escaped his hand?  Have we really renounced him and all his works?  Do we daily resist him and make him flee?  Do we put on the whole armour of God and stand against his wiles?  May we never rest until we can give satisfactory answers to these questions.

We learn, for another thing, from these verses, that a believer’s own home has the first claims on his attention.  We are taught that in the striking words which our Lord addresses to the man who had been possessed with the devil - “Go home,” He says, “to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.”  The friends of this man had probably not seen him for some years, excepting under the influence of Satan.  Most likely he had been as one dead to them, or worse than dead, and a constant cause of trouble, anxiety, and sorrow.  Here then was the path of duty.  Here was the way by which he could most glorify God.  Let him go home and tell his friends what Jesus had done for him.  Let him be a living witness before their eyes of the compassion of Christ.  Let him deny himself the pleasure of being in Christ’s bodily presence, in order to do the higher work of being useful to others.

How much there is in these simple words of our Lord!  What thoughts they ought to stir up in the hearts of all true Christians!  “Go home and tell your friends.”  Home is the place above all others where the child of God ought to make his first endeavours to do good.  Home is the place where he is most continually seen, and where the reality of his grace ought most truly to appear.  Home is the place where his best affections ought to be concentrated.  Home is the place where he should strive daily to witness for Christ.  Home is the place where he was daily doing harm by his example, so long as he served the world.  Home is the place where he is specially bound to be a living epistle of Christ, so soon as he has been mercifully taught to serve God.  May we all remember these things daily!  May it never be said of us, that we are saints abroad, but wicked by our own fireside - talkers about religion abroad, but worldly and ungodly at home!

But after all, have we anything to tell others?  Can we testify to any work of grace in our hearts?  Have we experienced any deliverance from the power of the world, the flesh, and the devil?  Have we ever tasted the graciousness of Christ?  These are indeed serious questions.  If we have never yet been born again, and made new creatures, we can of course have nothing to “tell.”

If we have anything to tell others about Christ, let us resolve to tell it.  Let us not be silent, if we have found peace and rest in the Gospel.  Let us speak to our relations, and friends, and families, and neighbours, according as we have opportunity, and tell them what the Lord has done for our souls.  All are not called to be ministers.  All are not intended to preach.  But all can walk in the steps of the man of whom we have been reading, and in the steps of Andrew, and Philip, and the Samaritan woman (Jn. 1: 41, 45; 4: 29).  Happy is he who is not ashamed to say to others, “Come and hear … what He hath done for my soul” (Ps. 66: 16).

(Extracted from Grace Gems website)