would send them instantly into the abyss of hell, which is, and for ever will be, their appropriate abode, the devils requested per- mission to enter into the herd of swine ; and, having gained per- mission, they instigated the whole herd to rush down into the sea, where they were all destroyed. Probably the devils hoped by this to incense the owners of the swine against the Lord Jesus ; and in this they succeeded altogether according to their wish.]
2. The effects produced —
[The effect upon the Gadarenes, to whom the herd be- longed, was, to make them all, even the whole cityd, anxious, that our Lord should leave both the place and neighbour- hood. One would have supposed indeed that the mercy vouchsafed to the demoniac should rather make the Gadarenes anxious to retain our Lord, that they might obtain similar mercies at his hands : but a concern for their temporal inte- rests swallowed up every other consideration, and united them all in one request, that Jesus " would depart out of their coasts."
But how different was the effect upon the man whom Jesus had delivered f He followed Jesus to the ship, and entreated that he might be permitted to wait upon him as a constant follower and attendant. And, when Jesus, for wise and gra- cious reasons, forbade that, and told him rather to go home to his friends and relatives, and tell them what mercy God had vouchsafed unto him, he went home, and with fidelity and gratitude proclaimed to all around him the benefits he had received from his adorable Benefactor e.]
But, not to dwell on the events which then took place, I wish you more particularly to view them,
II. As renewed yet daily before our eyes —
Of these things we may be well assured :
1. Satan has still most dreadful power over men —
[He no longer, I apprehend, possesses, as he once did, the bodies of men : but he has not one whit less power than he had over their souls. See to what an extent the whole race of mankind are subjected to his controul. All men with- out exception are risen up in rebellion against God. Nor will they submit to any restraint either from reason or con- science. Every one follows his own will and his own way, even to the great injury of all around him, and to the certain destruction of his own soul. Tell men of their fearful respon- sibility to God, and of the terrors that await them in the
d Matt, viii 34. e ver. 20.