The cruelty of Satan appears in the miserable condition of the unhappy man, of whose body he had possession. We read that he dwelt " among the tombs," that " no man could bind him, no, not with chains" — that no man could tame him — and that he was " always night and day in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cut- ting himself with stones," naked, and without clothing. Such is the state to which the devil would bring us all, if he only had the power. He would rejoice to inflict upon us the utmost misery, both of body and mind. Cases like this are faint types of the miseries of hell.
The poiver of Satan appears in the awful words which the unclean spirit used, when our Lord asked, " What is thy name ?" He answered, saying " My name is Legion : for we are many." We probably have not the faintest idea of the number, subtlety, and activity of Satan's agents. We forget that he is king over an enormous host of subordinate spirits who do his will We should probably find, if our eyes were opened to see spirits, that they are about our path, and about our bed, and observing all our ways, to an extent of which we have no conception. In private and in public, in church and in the world, there are busy enemies ever near us, of whose presence we are not aware.
The malice of Satan api>ears in the strange petition, " send us into the swine." Cast forth from the man, whose body they had so long inhabited and possessed, they still thirsted to do mischief. Unable to injure any more an immortal soul, they desired leave to injure the dumb beasts which were feeding near. Such is the true character of Satan. It is the bent of his nature to do
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harm, to kill, and to destroy. No wonder that he is called Apollyon, the destroyer.
Let us beware of giving way to the senseless habit of jesting about the devil. It is a habit which furnishes awful 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 ex- ecutioner, then, and not till 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 com- plete 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 com- mand, " 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 leinons of angels. " Where