spirit d. This evil spirit took advantage of his natural infirmities, and impelled him, on the returns of his disorder, to rush into the fire, or into the water e: he moreover tare and rent the youth with most excruciating agonies f, and deprived him of the powers of speech and hearing g. Thus had Satan tormented him even from his very childhood11 : so that, in the very bloom of life, the youth pined and languished in the extremest misery \]
This scene too justly describes the invisible influence of Satan over the souls of men —
[We have reason to rejoice that his power over men's bodies is now greatly contracted, if not wholly destroyed. What a miserable world would this be, if the malice of that fiend were not restrained ! but his power over the souls of men is as extensive as everk. He still takes advantage of our con- stitutional propensities l ; and impels us to the commission of of the most self-destructive actsm. Doubtless much of our wickedness must be ascribed to our depraved appetites ; but our malicious adversary concurs with them, and actuates us by them11. While we continue to walk after the course of this world, and of those who are of the same age and station with ourselves, we are altogether his vassals0 ; and the whole world, if viewed in a spiritual light, exhibits little else than such wretched spectacles as that before usp.]
With such scenes, however, Jesus was continually conversant — II. The application made to Jesus on his behalf —
The father of the youth had in vain applied to the Disciples for relief —
[The Disciples had been endued with power to cast out devils q; but in this instance they were foiled in their attempt to exercise that power. This disappointment afforded to the unbelieving Scribes much occasion for malicious triumph1. Our Lord, being asked afterwards by his Disciples in private, assigned the reasons of their failure. They had not made the attempt in the full exercise of faith8. Had they truly believed, nothing should have been impossible to them. They had
d Luke ix. 39. e ver. 22. f ver, 18.
s ver. 25. h ver. 21. { ver. 18.
k 1 Pet. v. 8.
5 Some he stimulates to the pursuit of vain amusements, others to the gratification of grosser lusts and pleasures.
m Acts xiii. 10. n Compare John xii. 6. with Luke xxii. 3 — 5.
0 Eph. ii. 2. p 2 Tim. ii. 26. i Matt. x. 8.
r ver. 14. s Matt. xvii. 20.