her, prevent her from practising the same deceits in future ! Yet it did dispossess her of talents with which she had before been endowed, and deprived her masters of all hope of further gain from the exercise of those talents a. This is a clear proof, that she had really been possessed by an evil spirit ; and that that spirit had imparted to her powers, different from any that are common to the rest of mankind. Without stopping to enter into the general question of Satanic possessions, which we consider as sufficiently deter- mined by the fact recorded in our text, we shall con- fine our attention to the account here given of the damsel that was possessed ; and shall notice,
I. The testimony she bore respecting them —
In considering her testimony, we notice,
1. The design of it —
[We doubt not but that it was intended to bring the Apostles into disrepute, and to induce a suspicion that they
were in confederacy with the devil This was a scheme
which Satan had long before practised in relation to our Lord himself, who, knowing his subtle intentions, repeatedly interposed with authority to prevent his further exercise of this device b ]
2. The substance was perfectly correct —
[The testimony itself; the Apostles were " the servants of the Most High God ;" and their one employment was, " to shew unto men the way of salvation." The same is true also respecting us : for though we are not called precisely in the same way as the Apostles were, nor have precisely the same commission given to us, yet we are truly " servants of God," sent by him, as his ambassadors, to bring men into a state of reconciliation with him ; and we trust that, as it is our office, so it is our delight, " to shew unto men the way of salvation." " We come, preaching peace by Jesus Christ." We declare that " Christ is the ivay, the truth, and the life ; and that no
man cometh unto the Father but by him" On the
other hand, we declare, that God " will cast out none who come to him" in that way ; and that " Christ will save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him" ]
However gratifying we might suppose such a
a ver. 19. » Luke iv. 33—35, 41.