II. THE DEVILS, 1. Their request. The Lord ha.cl said, "Come out of the man. thou unclean spirit." They feH hie power; they must obey. Bnt they lingered. If they oould no longer torment the men who bad been so long their victims, they would, if possible, torment other creatures; the lower, if they were driven from the higher; un- clean beasts, if the heart of man WIIS to be cleansed from their defiling presence. And there seems to have been another strange, mysterious reason for their entreaty. They must be cast into the abyss if they could not harass men or animals with their cruel presence. 2. TM Lord's permission. He utters one word of command, simple in its majesty-" Go." They must obey him now. They were left free to enter into the swine if so they pleased. We know not why; we know not why they had been allowed to torment the two poor men; we are very ignorant of the whole subject. The per- sonality and power of Satan, the very existence of evil, involve dark mysteries into which we cannot penetrate, difficulties with which we cannot grapple. (1) The poor men were saved from their tormentors; the departure of the evil spirits was manifested to the sight of men. Perhaps the strange wild rush of the maddened swine into the waters of the lake helped the men to realize their deliverance-it may have made that deliverance easier ; and men are of more value than many swine. (2) Sometimes the wicked obtain their evil desires; it turns to their destruction. Satan was allowed to harass the holy Job; Satan was confounded. Job was more blessed in his latter end than at the beginning. The devils were permitted to enter into the swine; it led, appllrently, to that which they feared-to the abyss. III. THE EFFECTS OF THE HIRAOLE. 1. Upon the keepers of the swine. They fled. They were frightened by the power of our Lord, not touched by his goodness. They had seen it all, but they were simply terrified. Terror does not save the soul; men fear death, they fear the judgment, they fear the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched. But this mere terror is only selfish; it has nothing really religious in it. Sometimes, by God's grace and mercy, it is made the means of drawing men to Christ. But it is love that saves, and not fe!l,r ; the love of Christ, not the fear of hell. 2. Upon the inhabitants. They listened to the strnnge story of the keepers of the swine; they came; they saw the man who had been in such grievous bondage, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. He was their fe\low-creaturo, perhaps their countryman. He was saved, but the swine were lost. And, alas! they thought more of the swine than of their fellow-citizen; more of their loss than of their own souls. If they were Jews, they had broken the commandment in keeping these unclean animals; but they did not recognize the loss as a punishment-their heart was not softened. The whole city came out to meet Jesus. They all saw the gracious face of the Redeemer; they knew his power and love. But, alas I "they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts." He took them at their word. He departed; they saw him no more. Let us learn to hate selfishness; let us value, above all things, the glimpses of the Saviour's presence which he from time to time vouchsafes. And, oh! let us shrink from the awful danger of driving him from our hearts by worldliness and selfish greed. LESSONS. 1. The devil is a cruel master: pray to be saved from his power. 2. The demoniacs came to Christ; the keepers of the swine fled from him. Oh that we learn to come and never leave him! 3. How awful to drive Christ away for the sake of worldly gain I Rather let us, like St. Paul, count all things else as dross, that we may win Christ.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 1-4.-The leper. This incident follows immediately after the sermon on the mount. It is questionable whether any of the great words of that discourse reached the leper, who could only have stood beyond the outermost ring of the crowd. But thouah at first he was quite shut away from Christ, his opportunity came while our Lord°was cominrr0 down the hill; then he could claim the beggar's privilege and stand by the wayside, Jesus speaks to multitudes, but he cares for individuals. He is not so taken up with the crowd as to have no timo for special DP.eds. Thus the gospel story repeatedly records the transition from public utterance to private kindness. 'l'hese moro private scenes best reveal to us the heart of Jesus. Let us look at the story ol MATTHEW, z 338 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MA'l"l'HEW, [oH, vm. 1-34.