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cumstances, that when the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, the Son of man himself had not a place where he might lay that sacred head which with infinite mutual complacency and delight he had so often reposed in the bosom of the Father! May our zeal and love animate us cheerfully to take our part in his indigence and distress, if he calls us to it! May no considerations of ease or interest, or even of human friendship, lead us to turn a deaf ear to the calls of duty; or suffer us, when we once have engaged in his service, to think of deserting it, lest on the whole we should be judged unfit for the kingdom of God! May thy grace, O Lord, animate our souls, that nothing may prevent our faithfulness unto death, and so deprive us of that crown of life which thy grace has promised to such a character! (Rev. ii. 10.)

SECTION XXV.

MATTHEW VIII. 28-34. ix. 1. MARK V. 1-21.
LUKE VIII. 26-40.

AND they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes, and Gergesenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth out of the ship to land, there met him, out of the city, two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. One of them had devils a long time. And no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him: and he was driven of the devil into the wilderness: and he ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when they saw Jesus afar off, they ran, and fell down before him, and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? I beseech thee, I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the

man.) And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? and he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many. Because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him much, that he would not send them away out of the country, and that he would not command them to go out into the deep. Now there was there, a good way off from them, nigh unto the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and said unto them, Go. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine. And behold the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand,) and perished in the waters. And when they that fed the swine saw what was done, they fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing in the city, and in the country, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And behold the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and to see what it was that was done. And they came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom the devils were departed, and saw him that had the legion, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed, and also concerning the swine. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them, and out of their coasts; for they were taken with great fear. And he went up into the ship. And when he was come into the ship, the man out of whom the devils were departed, besought him, that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and to thy friends, and tell them how great things God hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and went his

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way, and began to publish throughout the whole city, and in Decapolis, how great things Jesus had done for him; and all men did marvel.

And he entered into a ship, and passed over again unto the other side, and much people gathered unto him, and gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him, and he was nigh unto the sea.

From the remarkable story which is here before us, we must surely see the most apparent reason to adore the good providence of God, which restrains the malignant spirits of hell from spreading those desolations among beasts and men, which would otherwise quickly turn the earth into a wilder ness, or rather into a chaos. But what matter of joy is it to reflect, that all their fury and rage is under a Divine controul, and that they cannot hurt even the meanest animal without permission from above!

The unhappy creature, whose state is here described in such lively colours, is an affecting emblem of those who are in a spiritual sense under the power of Satan. Thus do they break asunder the bonds of reason and gratitude, and sometimes of authority and even of shame; and, thus driven on by the frenzy of their lusts and passions, they are so outrageous as to injure others and to wound themselves. Human attempts. to moderate and reform them may be vain; but let us remember that the Almighty Saviour has a voice, which can put this worst kind of demons to flight, and restore those that have been agitated by them to their right mind, so as to place them at his feet in holy composure, and in calm rational attention.

We see here a legion of devils trembling before the Son of God, confessing his superior power, howling as it were in their chains, and entreating the delay of their torments. And can human pride stand before him, and rebellious mortals triumph over him? Happy souls, that are listed under his banners! They shall share the victories of the great Captain of their salvation, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under their feet shortly. (Rom. xvi. 20.)

But oh, how stupid and how wretched were these Gadarenes who preferred their swine to their souls, and besought him to depart out of their coasts, whose presence was their defence and their glory! May Divine grace preserve us from a temper like theirs! And may those of us, who have ourselves experienced the restoring power of Christ and his gospel, be engaged to adhere to our great Benefactor and gratefully to devote those powers to his service, which he has rescued from dishonour, mischief, and ruin,

SECTION XXVI.
MATT. IX. 17.

AND it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick; but go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Compassionate Redeemer! thou didst, as the great Physician of souls, willingly converse with objects that must have been most hateful to thy pure and holy nature! May we, each of us, have a due sense of the malignity of sin, that fatal disease of the soul, that we may with a becoming temper apply to Christ for a cure! May we also, like him, be willing to condescend to the meanest and vilest, if it may be the means of winning them over to true religion and happiness! ever preferring mercy to sacrifice, and choosing rather to govern ourselves by the dictates of a benevolent heart than by the maxims of proud and censorious men.

Christ would not discourage his disciples by over-rigorous institutions and it is unfit that his religion should be burdened with them. He suits the duties of his people to their

circumstances, and kindly proportions their work to their strength, with a tender regard to their weakness, till by degrees they may be fitted for the more difficult and humbling

services.

SECTION XXVII.

MATT. IX. 18-34. MARK V. 22-43.

LUKE VIII. 41-56..

WHILE he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was one of the rulers of the synagogue, and when he saw him, he fell down at Jesus' feet and worshipped him, and besought him greatly that he would come into his house, for he had one only daughter about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. And he besought him, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death, I pray thee come and lay thy hands upon her, that she may be healed, and she shall live. And Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples. But as he went, much people followed him, and thronged him. And, behold, a certain woman which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind him, and touched the border of his garment. For she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said unto him, Master, thou seest the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is

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