Too Far Gone

Have you ever felt like you were too far gone?

Have you felt like you have done too much for God to save you now?

If that’s you, then ponder this: You are in good company.

Do you know that the idea of being “too far gone” is a worldly concept, NOT a Biblical concept? In fact, the Bible has a distinct ABSENCE of this idea. The Word tells us over and over again that NOTHING is too difficult for God! The Bible is FULL of stories about people that the world had written off. Folks that were beyond help. They were too far gone. It was too late for them.

But God.

The Story of Legion – Mark 5:1-20
In Mark Chapter 5, we are told the story of Legion. This man was possessed, literally, by a LEGION of demons.

The man’s name wasn’t Legion, but when Jesus asked who he was, one of the demons answered and said, “Legion, for WE ARE MANY.” Do you know how many are in a LEGION? A legion of soldiers is somewhere between 4000-5500 men. Can you imagine what it must have been like to have that many demons?

The word says he lived “among the tombs” – one can only guess that no community or home could deal with him. Get the picture here, he wasn’t living in a graveyard like we think of today. He was living in caves – caves filled with bodies and bones. In that day when you died, the Jewish law said you had to be “buried” within 24 hours. So they applied oils and different herbs and incense to the body, wrapped it up in cloth, and laid it on a shelf of stone carved into the wall of the cave. A year later they would come back after the body was decomposed, take the bones and put them in a box. The box was left on another shelf in the cave. THIS was where he was living — among decomposing bodies and boxes of bones.

Clearly, the people who dearly loved Legion couldn’t even deal with him anymore. He had been out there in the tombs a WHILE, y’all – not just a few days. We are told that he was so strong that not even ropes or chains could hold him, he snapped them. He walked among the tombs day and night, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

This guy was miserable. He was crazy. (If anything could drive you out of your mind, a few thousand demons would do it.) It’s easy to look at the life of Legion and see parallels with a story of addiction. Nobody could get close to him. He had run everybody off, and he was about as alone as you can be while living with a legion of demons.

When Jesus came, Legion recognized him immediately (even demons have enough sense to know the Son of God when they see him, y’all!) Any NORMAL PERSON would have taken one look at Legion and said, “Let’s just move along to the next one, there is no hope for this guy. The wheel might be turning, but look at him, the hamster is DEAD.” Thank God that my Jesus isn’t ‘any normal guy!’

“Out!! Get out of that man!”

Jesus delivered Legion from the demons and sent him home to his family. Think of the shock, surprise and sheer delight of his family when he arrived back at home, coming through the front door,  completely delivered from all of that. I imagine there were a lot of happy tears, and hugs. For months, his Mama was probably walking by and just laying her hand on him and kissing the top of his head on her way through the living room.  She was just so glad he was home that she needed to touch him to make sure it was real.

The world said he was irredeemable, but Jesus said otherwise.

The Story of Lazarus – John Chapter 11
Think of the story of Lazarus. He was dead four days. FOUR DAYS, y’all.

I don’t know how many of y’all are from the country, but have you ever seen anything that’s been dead for four days? It ain’t pretty.

Jesus KNEW what kind of shape Lazarus’ body was in. He KNEW that Lazarus was dead. Not even Lazarus’ family, who knew the power Jesus held, would have given a plug nickel for Lazarus’ life at this point. As far as they were concerned, Lazarus was gone. In fact, in John 11:39 NLT it says that when Jesus told them to roll the stone away from the door, Martha, Lazarus’ sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” The King James Version says that Martha said, “…by now he stinketh.”

So how far gone are you? Are you as far gone as Lazarus?

Do you stinketh? (If not physically, spiritually?)

Are you so deep in sin and despair that you take a deep whiff and you can’t even stand yourself?

There are people that have done things in their lives that they think they can’t come back from. They think they are too far gone. They think they have done so much that grace doesn’t apply to them. They are pretty sure they stink.

“COME FORTH!”

COME.  OUT.  OF.  IT!

That’s what Jesus said.

He commanded Lazarus to come forth, OUT of the grave.

To come forth OUT of what had held him captive.

To come forth OUT of what was holding him back.

To come forth OUT of what was makin’ him STINK, y’all!! JESUS SAID, “COME FORTH!!”

Does that mean that Lazarus didn’t have to take a few steps? Nope. He did. He had to STEP OUT of the grave. Jesus took the sting of death from him, but Lazarus had to make the decision to come out of the grave.

Jesus delivered Legion, but Legion had to make the decision to get dressed and stop living among the tombs.  He had to step out.  He had to stop living with dead and rotting corpses.  He made the decision to seek LIFE!

The Story of YOU!

So how does that apply to us? To you?

Is there death all around you? Maybe you are with some folks that are dead and don’t even know it.

Maybe you are hanging out with folks that are spiritually a box of dry bones. Are you are mired down in sin?

Have you have done so much that you think it’s all over, this is your life, this is your fate…  If you think you are too far gone for grace to make a difference with you… If you think you stink – Jesus is able to deliver you from that. He has ALREADY paid the price to take the sting of sin and eternal damnation from you. But YOU GOTTA STEP OUT OF THE GRAVE, just like Lazarus did.  Quit living in the caves with the dead bodies and the bones, like Legion.  You have to step out in faith. Step out into abundant LIFE!  Get a hold of that LIVING WATER y’all!!  Jesus does the big work, but you still have to do take some steps.

The Word is filled with people, like these, that were written off by the world: For example, three Hebrew boys that were thrown into a furnace. Daniel, a captive that was sent into a den of lions. Samson, a strongman whose eyes were gouged out, strength was taken, and was put on public display. Jonah was sucked up by a huge fish. Joseph was sold into slavery and presumed dead. The list goes on and on and on… We serve a God of second chances. We served a God of comebacks – and not just your garden variety comebacks – but MIRACULOUS comebacks. We serve a God that says no matter how far you’ve gone, he will leave the 99 and come after you – it’s not too far.

If you are not saved and want to be, go here and read about how to become saved. Or go to your local Bible-believing church, or even to a friend that you know is a Believer. You are NOT too far gone. You are NOT beyond redemption.

Let the blood of Jesus cleanse you from your sins and break the power of sin in your life!

Jesus turns ‘TOO FAR GONE’ into ‘ONLY JUST THE BEGINNING’ if you let Him.

Jeremiah 32:27, ESV   Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

1 John 1:9, ESV   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Matthew 18:12-14 ESV   What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

John 4:14 ESV   “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

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