5 Revival Insights We Learn From the Demonic Force 'Legion'

The demon-possessed man was bound and dwelling in tombs.
The demon-possessed man was bound and dwelling in tombs. (Valentine Svensson/Flickr/Creative Commons)

In Mark 5:1-13, it gives us a remarkable story of a man that was set free from 1,000 demons by the power of God through Jesus Christ. I want to dig deeper into this story and reveal to you a blueprint of revival for a city!

They went to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gadarenes. When He had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. He lived among the tombs. And no one could constrain him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. But he had pulled the chains apart and broken the shackles to pieces. And no one could subdue him. Always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran up and kneeled before Him, and cried out with a loud voice, "What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me." For Jesus said to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

Then He asked him, "What is your name?"

He answered, "My name is Legion. For we are many." And he begged Him repeatedly not to send them away out of the country.

Now there was a great herd of swine feeding near the mountains. All the demons pleaded with Him, asking, "Send us to the swine, so that we may enter them." At once, Jesus gave them leave. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. And the herd, numbering about two thousand, ran wildly down a steep hill into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

Here are five events that will spark a flame of revival in a community or city as pictured in this story.

1. The demon-possessed man was bound and dwelling in tombs.

Many Christians today are bound in compromise and complacency or even demonically oppressed of the enemy and have made their dwelling in Dead churches and hang with spiritually dead people. The longer you and I are out of the presence of the Lord and absent from the light of the Word of God the more comfortable we will become with the darkness. We will purposely avoid other believers that convict us. We will avoid going to church, reading the Word and being in the presence of God. Sin and bondage will drive you from God and not to God.

Years ago, I went to a cave in Kentucky and the tour guide showed us fish that were blind because they had spent so much time in the absence of light that the darkness had penetrated them to the point of them losing their eyesight. Many believers have drifted from the light and without being delivered from the tombs, and the dead environment they are in they will soon become spiritually blind to the truth.

2. Men tried to bind him with chains and fetters.

Many dead churches that are full of religion and void of the Spirit of God will continually attempt to bind people with their formulas, programs and traditions of men rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to operate in their services. What this ends up doing is creating a congregation full of people with addictions and bondages that no one has any power to set them free from.

When Jesus entered the synagogue in Luke Chapter thirteen there was a woman that was present that was bound with a "spirit of infirmity" for 18 years and was set free by the power of God! think about that! First off, the woman was not a sinner! She was a "Daughter of Abraham," and secondly, she went to the same place of worship week after week for 18 years, and no one was present who had the power to set her free! Why on earth would anyone want to attend a place where there is no moving of the Holy Spirit. Was there no power and no anointing to break every yoke? Paul warned that the time would come when men would have a "form of godliness" but deny the power thereof!

3. The man cried out day and night.

This brings me to the next point. Many people that are in bondage are crying out day and night for deliverance and looking for a real anointing and move of the Spirit that will set them free. Many of these people are sitting right beside us in church every week, and we don't even realize it. Despite what many people believe, there are a lot of people who want out of their cycles of sin and bondage but have no one to come into agreement with, no church to run to and no pastor who has the power of the Holy Ghost to lay hands on them and pray for them to be set free in Jesus name!

4. The man was cutting himself.

Many people who are "cutters" and who self-afflict themselves are in deep depression and even demonic bondage. They are desperate for deliverance and peace. They are in need of someone like the "Daughter of Abraham" to come along and loose them from their bondage! There has been a huge rise of young people over the years that have fallen victim to this.

There are estimates of about 1 percent of the total U.S. population, or between 2 and 3 million people who exhibit some type of self-abusive behavior. But that number includes those with eating disorders like anorexia as well as those who self-injure.

5. When Jesus showed up, the man immediately was delivered and in his right mind. 

Notice that immediately when the presence of Jesus showed up that the man was set free from the demonic power and even requested to follow Jesus! Could you imagine that? Someone comes into your church bound by a thousand demons and lived in the graveyards and gets set free in one of your services?. I'm pretty sure this would result in a full blow revival in the church and even the community.

The next thing I want to show you here is that Jesus insisted that the man returns to his household and city in which he was from and share his testimony and no doubt this man's testimony turned the city upside down when they saw him set free.

However, many of the people were struck with fear and insisted that Jesus leaves their region. What's sad is how many churches have rejected a move of God out of fear. Fear of the power of God, fear of the supernatural, fear of the "normal" being turned upside down! You see real revival will turn you upside down, and not everyone embraces that. When a church allows the Holy Spirit and the gifts to operate in the church, there will be deliverances of this example. When the Spirit of God is allowed to flow into a church or an individual's life, whatever is dead will be made alive again. Notice this man went back to share his testimony of what the Lord had done.

If you want revival in your church or home let God have his way and ask for the Power of the Holy Ghost to invade your home and church, and soon all will say "Surely the Lord is among you!"

This article originally appeared on End Times Headlines.


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