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^nked the ferer ; and it left her : and | immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him ; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to
roeak : for they knew that he was Christ.
42 And when it was day, he depart- ed and went into a desert place : and the people sought him, ana came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also : for therefore am I sent.
44 And he preached in the syna- gogues of Galuee.
We should notiee, in this passage, the ckar religious knowkdge possessed by the devil and his agents. Twice in these verses we have proof of this. " I know thee who thou art, the holy one of Q-od," was the language of an unclean devil in one case. — " Thou art Christ the son of God," was the language of many devils in another. — ^Yet this knowledge was a knowledge unaccompanied by faith, or hope, or charity. Those who possessed it were mise- rable fallen beings, full of bitter hatred both against God and man.
Let us beware of an unsanctified knowledge of Christi- anity. It is a dangerous possession, but a fearfully common one in these latter days. We may know the Bible intellectually, and have no doubt about the truth of its contents. We may have our memories well stored with its leading texts, and be able to talk glibly about its leading doctrines. And all this time the Bible may have no influence over our hearts, and wills, and con- sciences. We may, in reality, be nothing better than the devils.
Let it never content us to know religion with our heads only. We may go on all our lives sajring, "I know that, and I know that,'' and sink at last into hell.
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with the words upon our lips. Let us see that our knowledge bears fruit in our lives. Does our knowledge of sin make us hate it ? Does our knowledge of Christ make us trust and love Him P Does our knowledge of God's will make us strive to do it P Does our knowledge of the fruits of the Spirit make us labour to show them in our daily behaviour P Knowledge of this kind is really profitable. Any other religious knowledge will only add to our condemnation at the last day.
We should notice^ secondly, in this passage, the af* mighty power of our Lord Jesus Christ, "We see sick- nesses and devils alike yielding to His command. He rebukes unclean spirits, and they come forth from the unhappy people whom they had possessed. He rebukes a fever, and lays his hands on sick people, and at once their diseases depart, and the sick are healed.
We cannot fail to observe many like cases in the four Gospels. They occur so frequently that we are apt to read them with a thoughtless eye, and forget the mighty lesson which each one is meant to convey. They are all intended to fasten in our minds the great truth that Christ is the appointed Healer of every evil which sin has brought into the world. Christ is the true antidote and remedy for all the soul-ruining mischief which Satan has wrought on mankind. Christ is the universal phy- sician to whom all the children of Adam must repair, if they would be made whole. In Him is life, and health, and liberty. This is the grand doctrine which every miracle of mercy in the Gospel is ordained and appointed to teach. Each is a plain witness to that mighty fact, which Kes at the very foundation of the GospeL The