A certain man who had devils long time
The demoniac in the tombs as he resembles the unconverted sinner
Observe the parallel that exists between this poor demoniac and the unconverted sinner.
I. PREVIOUS TO CONVERSION.
1. Possessed by an unclean spirit.
2. Living among the dead.
3. Disordered in intellect.
4. His own tormentor.
5. In a state of utter destitution and wretchedness.
6. Beyond the power of human assistance or restraint.
II. AT CONVERSION.
1. The means employed: the Word of Christ.
2. The influence exerted: the almighty power of Christ.
3. The effect produced:
(1) The unclean spirit expelled.
(2) The naked one clothed.
(3) The wanderer sitting at the feet of Jesus.
(4) The maniac in his right mind.
III. AFTER CONVERSION.
1. Desiring to remain with Jesus. How natural--wishing to forsake all, in order to be near the Great Physician.
2. Christ’s command, whatever it may be, is immediately obeyed. (J. J.Rew, M. A.)
Plain words with the careless
1. A man may know a great deal about true religion, and yet be a total stranger to it. There are no sounder theoretical believers than devils, and yet their conduct is not affected by what they believe, and consequently they still remain at enmity to the Most High God.
2. There are a great many bad prayers prayed in the world. The man said, “I beseech Thee, torment me not.” A sinner’s prayer for his own misery is often a grim and awful thing to look upon, from its horrible earnestness.
I. A VERY MISCHIEVOUS MISAPPREHENSION. It is currently thought among mankind, that to receive the gospel of Christ would be to cease to be happy, to give up all joyfulness and cheerfulness, and to doom one’s self to a life of melancholy.
1. Now, I will admit that if men will go on in their sins, the gospel will, if it gets at their consciences, make them miserable. It will act as salt to raw wounds, or as a whip to rebellious backs.
2. Again, I must make another admission, namely, that a great many people, at the time when they become serious for the first, and give themselves to Christ, are rendered, for a time, very miserable. The terrors of the Lord are upon them, and they are feeling the burden of sin--it is no wonder that a cloud hangs over their brows.
3. But, now that I have admitted this, I want to ask those who say that Jesus Christ would make them miserable, a question or two. I have admitted a great deal--now, be fair and open with me in return. You are afraid of being made miserable. Are you so mightily happy, then, at the present moment? Excuse me if I say that I rather question whether those Elysian fields of yours are so very delightful. A man cannot sin without bringing upon himself some sorrow even in this life.
4. There is another question I would like to ask you, and that is: If you reply that you are happy now, I should be glad to know whether the present, happiness which you enjoy, or say you enjoy, will last you very long? The leaves are now falling very rapidly from the trees, and they remind us that we, too, must die. Will your mirth and your jollity support you in the dying hour?
5. But now, we will go farther in dealing with this mischievous misapprehension. You have a notion that if Jesus Christ should come into your heart, you would have to give up your pleasures. Now, what pleasures? The pleasures of the hearth and family fireside? The pleasures of seeing your children growing up around you to call you blessed? The pleasures of doing good? The pleasures of discharging your duties as in the sight of God? The pleasures of a quiet conscience? None of these pleasures will Christ take away from you. Still you say, “If I were a Christian it would make me melancholy!” Make you melancholy to believe that you are on the way to heaven, and that when the trials of this poor life are over, you shall be with Jesus for ever? I cannot imagine it. Let not Satan’s lie deceive you.
6. One thing I will also say, and then have done with this point. You believe that religion is a happy thing, though you pretend you do not. You must confess, and you do confess, that you desire to die like a Christian.
II. A QUERULOUS QUESTION. “What have I to do with Thee?” This is a question which we have heard many times. Poor people often ask it. I heard a workman say, “Well, I have nothing to do with religion; I know it is all very well for my master, for parsons, and fine ladies, and aristocrats, and old womb, but it is of no use to me; I have to work hard, and I have a family to bring up, and it has nothing to do with me.” Now, give me your hand, my good fellow, and, believe me, you are quite mistaken. Why, there is nobody in the world whom it has more to do with than it has with you, for “the poor have the gospel preached to them.” But very often the wealthy say, “What have we to do with Thee?” Lavender kid gloves and the gospel are not always well agreed: the upper circles are none the nearer heaven because of their imaginary elevation. There are also certain learned gentlemen who are instructed in metaphysics and philosophy who patronizingly inform us that the restraint of religion is a very proper thing to keep the working classes in some kind of order, but really they themselves are several degrees above it. Thus they say, as plainly as they can, “What have I to do with Thee?” Oh, my brethren, educated, refined, wealthy, as you may be, the gospel of Jesus has everything to do with you. The giant minds of Milton and of Newton found ample room in the gospel; they delighted to bathe, like leviathan, in the ocean of Divine truth. There are two or three matters in which all of you have to do with Christ, whether you will or not.
1. It is because of His intercession that you are alive tonight.
2. It is entirely owing to Him that you are now in a place where the gospel can be proclaimed to you.
3. At the last great day, if you have nothing to do with Him as a Saviour, you will have to appear before Him as a Judge. We must have to do with Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A Chinese demoniac
A short time ago our Christian servant had a great trial; but it resulted, as trials have done to some of the rest of us, in the strengthening of his faith in God. His brother became insane, was very outrageous, and getting worse every day. Our servant always said he was sure his case was similar to that of the man who lived among the tombs in Gadara. At length his mother grew quite tired of him, and, thinking his case hopeless, sent him to the Yamen to be killed. He was to be beheaded in two days. We joined in asking God to heal him. Next morning he was much better, and in a few days he was quite well. The underlings then refused to let him out, except they received a good deal of silver. We thought this unfair, as he had had no food from them, and we declined to assist. Again we unitedly brought him before God asking Him to bring him out. Next morning we sent his brother to ask the mandarin to let him out, which he did. He stayed four days with us, heard the gospel, and went home quite happy to his wife and family, 120 li from the city. (J. Smith.)
The Gadarene demoniac
On landing, after a night of storm, our Lord was met by one who was scarcely human. The contrast between the rugged shore and the calm sea was not so striking as that between the wild demoniac and the calm and peaceful Son of God. This was a meeting of the representatives of two different kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and that of light--of hate and of love; of misery and of peace. The Gadarene knew who Jesus was, yet, full of terror, he cried, “What have I to do with Thee?” and implored Him to depart. But the Lord had to do with him, and would not therefore depart, but commanded the demons to depart, and they did so; and then the wild man came to his right mind, and sat clothed at the feet of his Deliverer, meek and calm as a wearied child.
1. We have in this man’s history a most instructive evidence of the capacity of an immortal being to sink into the depths of sin and misery. What was essentially wrong in this man? It was his wrong mind. He was delivered from that by being brought to his right mind.
2. Look at the meeting of the demoniac with the Saviour. It was verily a crisis in the sad life of this miserable man. The inner conflict in this man’s spirit on meeting Jesus represents the struggle in many a heart, during a similar crisis in its history.
3. Observe the effects of this great act of love on the hitherto miserable demoniac. What outward force failed to accomplish, inward principle effected. His outward physical condition was the effect and sign of his inward reformation. Such will be the results, more or less, in every case where a soul is truly brought to the knowledge and love of God in Jesus Christ. Terror will give place to love.
4. Notice, further, that when Jesus cast out the demon, the Gadarene prayed that he might be allowed to follow Him. This prayer offered up by a true disciple was the only one, connected with the incident, which Jesus did not answer in the way requested. The demons prayed that they might be permitted to enter the herd of swine, and their prayer was granted. The Gadarenes prayed that Jesus would depart out of their coasts, and their prayer was also granted. Some prayers may be answered in judgment, and some refused in mercy.
5. But why did this man ask to be allowed to follow Jesus?
(1) It may have been personal love; or
(2) it may have arisen from a trembling fear lest the dreadful demons of the olden time should return with the departure of Jesus; or
(3) his prayer may have been offered from shame for his countrymen, who had asked the Lord of life and of peace to leave their coasts. But the worse the people were, the more they needed a missionary. And what a missionary this man would be! (Norman Macleod, D. D.)
Destructive power
On one occasion Christ’s power operated in a direction that was merely destructive. A legion of devils besought Him to let them enter a herd of swine (a terrible illustration of the intolerableness” of life in hell), and on obtaining permission the whole herd, to the number of 2000, ran into the sea, and was destroyed. Much has been said against the people who besought Christ to leave their coasts on finding their swine destroyed; they have been charged with sordidness, selfishness, and low ideas of the value of human amelioration. Though we may steal a cheap reputation for magnanimity at the expense of these unfortunate people, yet they were right after all in desiring such a man as they took Christ to be to depart from their midst. Their request was the expression of a great principle in the human constitution, implanted there by the Creator. Men cannot be benefited by mere power, but they are necessarily reduced to a meaner manhood by the presence of a power that is destructive. The history of despotism proves this. People never beg thunder and lightning to continue amongst them, but they often wish that summer would never go away. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Insanity is much nearer the kingdom of God than worldly-mindedness
Men with shattered reason felt the spell, while the wise and strong-minded too often used their intellect, under the bias of passion or prejudice, to resist the force of truth. In this way we may account for the recognition of Jesus by the Gadarene demoniac. (A. B. Bruce, D. D.)
A Saviour and not a tormentor
We may be sure of this, that just as the Saviour did not land on the coast of the Gadarenes to torment them, but to save them from the demons and sins that were their real tormentors; so He did not come into the world to torment us, but to save us from evil passions and desires, than which there are no worse tormentors. This, however, is what some people do not believe. They think that the religion of Christ is a tormenting religion, and that it torments in two ways:
(1) By putting restraint upon our conduct; and
(2) by taking up all our time. As to the first--in comparison with slavery to self the service of Christ is perfect freedom. As to the second--it takes no more time to do everything to the glory of God, than to do everything to God’s dishonour. (E. J. Hardy.)
Hell on earth
1. We may learn from this account that evil spirits are real persons. There is a notion got abroad that it is only a figure of speech to talk of evil spirits, that all the Bible means by them is certain bad habits, or bad qualities or diseases. When I hear such language--and it is very common--I cannot help thinking how pleased the devil must be to hear people talk in such a way. How can people help him better than by saying that there is no devil?
2. We have no right to believe--we have every right not to believe--that these evil spirits can make us sin in the smallest matter against our own wills. (Charles Kingsley.)
Legion
If we yield to temptations whenever they come in our way, we shall find ourselves less and less able to resist them, for we shall learn to hate the evil spirits less and less. We shall give place to the devil, as the Scripture tells us we shall; for instance, by indulging in habitual passionate tempers, or rooted spite and malice. And so a man may become more and more the slave of his own nature, of his own lusts and passions, and therefore of the devils who are continually pampering and maddening those lusts and passions, till a man may end in complete possession. Few men in England, of course, would be fools enough to indulge the gross and fierce part of their nature till they became mere savages, like the demoniac whom Christ cured; so it is to respectable vices that the devil mostly tempts us--to covetousness, to party spirit, to a hard heart, and a narrow mind; to cruelty, that shall clothe itself under the name of law; to filthiness, which excuses itself by saying, “ It is a man’s nature, he cannot help it”; to idleness, which excuses itself on the score of wealth; to meanness and unfairness in trade, and in political and religious disputes--these are the devils which haunt us Englishmen--sleek, prim, respectable fiends enough, and truly, their name is Legion. (Charles Kingsley.)
Spirits in possession of a man
I. THE CONDITION OF THE DEMONIC.
1. The extent to which he was possessed.
2. The effects of the possession.
II. THE DEMONIAC CURED AND CLOTHED.
1. He is brought to his right mind.
2. He appears in his right place.
3. He displays a right demeanour. (A. A. Ramsey.)
A genuine case;
The area which an unclean spirit is permitted, in taking possession of a man, is probably, in the present day, more limited than it was during our Lord’s personal ministry on earth. But the effects are not less disastrous, if less extraordinary, than they were then. Let me supply an example from within the range of my own observation. He was a choice young man, son of a wealthy citizen in the metropolis. Favoured by birth, distinguished by amiability of disposition and superior natural talents, clever in business, skilled in the sciences, he was the acknowledged centre of a wide and admiring circle of relatives and friends. One day an evil spirit, which for weeks previously had been hovering about his path, whispering in his ear, and injecting thoughts of envy, evil, and unbelief into his mind, took possession of him. It was while, at an evening party, he sat before the piano, discoursing exquisite music to an eager, enthusiastic group of friends. Suddenly there came upon him what he afterwards described to me as an irresistible impulse. It instantly detached him from the most agreeable associations. He glided out of the glittering room, rushed from beneath his father’s roof into the dark street, and almost before his absence from home was noticed, he was “among the tombs,” gnashing his teeth in a frenzy of lustful passion, rending those beautiful garments of virtue which cannot easily be repaired, and wounding himself with weapons which inflict a deeper scar in the conscience than “stones” do in the flesh. There, in the sepulchral regions of vice, in the charnel-house of the morally dead, he “dwelt night and day for years.” Neither could any man tame him. Again and again the task was tried and failed. Faithful reproofs, cogent reasonings, urgent entreaties, tender persuasions oft-repeated, were utterly fruitless in regard to his reformation. “Fetters” most strong and sacred were used to bind him. Fetters forged in the white heat of a mother’s burning devotion. Fetters skilfully woven out of the deep treasures of a pious sister’s heart. But they proved as ineffectual as did the seven green withes on the limbs of Samson. It was in an hour of direful wretchedness, when, in a paroxysm of mingled rage and remorse, he was rushing to the riverside, defiant of all that is holy and true, and seeking self-forgetfulness in the suicide’s grave, that Jesus met him, arrested his steps, cast out the demon that so long had led him captive, and constrained him to turn his face homeward, penitently and tearfully saying, “I will arise and go to my father.” (A. A. Ramsey.)