him, and are found with him in the way of duty, he is ever watchful. True, as man, he was asleep : for he had taken upon him the weakness of our nature. But as God, he is ever waking: "he that keepeth his people, neither slumbers nor sleeps;" nor shall one of his little ones ever perish, through want of his protection or failure of his care. This was soon seen, when at the call of his disciples he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. As it happens sometimes in life, when prayer has a gracious answer, and sorrow is turned into joy, or troublesome opposition ceases, or some apprehended danger is unexpectedly removed.

Having thus assured them of their safety, he gently reproves the alarm of his disciples. Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? As much as to say, have ye not seen enough of my kindness and enough of my power, to believe that you must be safe when you are in my hands? They had witnessed many of his miracles; they had heard his gracious promises; they knew the services which they were chosen for, and destined to perform; yet, in the hurry of the present danger, all these thoughts vanished from their minds: as too often, when the hour of temptation arrives, we forget every thing we have heard, and every thing we have believed, and every thing we have determined. And well might the Lord say, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have so little faith? Has it not been promised, "Fear ye not, for I am with you;" "My grace is

sufficient for thee;" "My strength is made perfect in weakness;" "As your day is, so shall your strength be!"

Christians have learnt to expect this, by the recorded experience of their brethren. It was new to those who witnessed it; and they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

They might well be struck with awe and wonder, who knew not what manner of man he was. But we cannot wonder, to whom it is revealed, that by Him God made the worlds, and "without Him was not any thing made that was made." It is really no wonder that the thing created should yield to the power of its Creator; that he who "fixed the bounds of the sea by a perpetual decree," should say, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."

Our chief lesson is, however, that Christ may be trusted to deliver us both from outward and from internal enemies. Outward difficulties, which seem to threaten our course, are often turned aside when we meet them in the strength of the Lord. And so are the far worse and more dan. gerous hindrances, which arise from our own bad passions. Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith! There is one to deliver us from "the body of death" within, from "the law of sin which is in our members." Commit yourselves to Him, "who is able to save to the uttermost." Seek of him strength against the sins that most easily beset you. He shall rebuke the winds and the waves, and there shall be a great calm and men shall marvel and say,

What manner of religion is this, that the most stubborn passions, and the most rebellious lusts obey it? Even the disciple shall be a marvel to himself: that passions which had tossed him all his life, and against which he had vainly struggled, have been calmed and made to cease by the word of the Son of God.

LECTURE LXXXIV.

THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS CAST INTO THE HERD
OF SWINE.

MARK V. 1-20.

1. And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into Matt. viii. the country of the Gadarenes.

28-34. Luke viii.

2. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately 26–37. there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,1

3. Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no not with chains:

4. 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.

'Matthew speaks of two. Probably the one here described was more generally known.

5. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,

7. And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have 1 to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

8. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

9. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

10. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

We have here the description of a man in a lamentable state of insanity, dangerous to himself, and dangerous to others. And this state, which we should otherwise have referred to natural causes producing disturbance of the brain, we are here taught to ascribe to an unclean, or evil spirit. This spirit, like that mentioned in chap. i. 24, recognizes the Lord Jesus, and cried with a loud voice, 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.

It is indeed a fearful question, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God! This unclean spirit was not one of those beings whom Jesus came "to seek and to save." He is aware of this, and says, What have I to do with thee?

That which was the deep calamity of the evil spirit, is a calamity which need belong to none of the race of mankind to whom the way of salvation is made known. But it is a state in which

some wilfully place themselves. By their careless indifference to the gospel, or by their open hostility to its commands, they seem to say, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? By stifling in the birth the suggestions of conscience, by closing the avenues at which truth might enter, by rejecting the occasional warnings which they hear, they almost seem to say, I adjure thee that thou torment me not. Suffer me to pass through the short interval which remains, in ignorance and apathy.

It was thus that our Lord complained and lamented over the Jews his countrymen, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life."

Jesus seizes the occasion, to show that he was Lord of those evil spirits which are the enemies of mankind.

11. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

12. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

13. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd run violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand,) and were choked in the sea.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. And they that saw it told them how it befel to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.