Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-02-08
TIE FIERCE DEM0N1AC.
LESSON VI, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, FEB. 10.

ma IONAl SehIGSy fGb. ".
Text of the Lesson, Mark v, 1-2O-Commit |
Verses 1920 - Golden Text, Mark v,
10 Commentary by the Re-. ID. NJ.
Stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by per-
mission Of H. S. Hoffman, publisher, Phila
delphial
After speaking the seven parallels which
are fully recorded in Matt. xiii, one Of which,
as given by Mark, was our lesson a week
ago, He went the same day at evening into
boat to cross the sea Of Galiiee to the other
side, and as they sailed He fell asleep, but
great storm arising, they awoke Him, and
with a word peace, be still" He rebuked
the winds and the sea, and there was great
calm. He also said to the disciples, "Why
are We SO fearfuli How is It that ye have no
faithr' Now, IL the spirit Of Christ is in us,
why, indeed, is it that we are so often fear
full instead Of peaceful, and seem to know so
little Of His poweri The question comes to
us with all the more pertinence since we have
now the Holy Spirit as they had not at that
time Is it due entirely to our lack of faithi
Let each one answer
l. "And they came over unto the other
side Of the sea, into the country OF the Cad
arenes." The ruins Of the city of Gadara
are about two miles in circumference; it was
on the east of the sea Of Galilee, sixteen miles
from Tiberias, and was captured by Vespa-
sian on the first outbreak of the war with the
Jews, its inhabitants massacred and the town
reduced to ashes The most interesting re-
mains of Gadara are its tombs, which dot
the cliffs for considerable distance round
the city. (See Smiths Bible Dictionary
The Saviour certainly knew what He was
crossing the sea for, and inasmuch as this
fierce demoniac seems to have been the only
one directly benefited, He must have gone
there to rescue him as a trophy Of his power
over the adversary. We do well to remember
that this great enemy, the devil, is as active
as ever today in seeking to destroy both souls
and bodies, and that the Son Of Man is the
only one who can deliver from him.
2. "Immediately there met Him out Of the
tombs man with an unclean spirit" The
prince Of the power Of the air had withstood
Him on the sea and now meets Him on the
land but "the Lamb shall overcome" Mat
thew says there were two possessed with
devils who met Him; it may be that Mark
and Luke speak only of the worst of the
two. We have read Of the unclean spirit in
the synagogue who knew Jesus and cried
LET us alone;" also Of others who when they
saw Him fell down before Him and CRIED
saying, Thou art the Son of God" CHAP. i,
"a; iii, 1D; but this seems to be the worst
case of demonism on record, and yet Jesus
was victor.
3-5. Here is description of the man, his
dwelling place and his conduct.
g. "When he saw Jesus afar off, he ran
and worshipped Him" The man in his afilic-
ton seems to know that here is help for him,
and he runs to seek it and not in vain. Many
afflicted ones who are troubled by spirit Of
anger, or envy, or unrest, or lust, and are
being consumed and destroyed thereby yet
longing in vain to be delivered, would soon
be healed and delivered if they would only
run to Jesus
Z. s. "What have to do with Thee Jesus,
Son of the Most High Godi' The man ran to
Jesus, but the spirit in him cried out against
Him. 1t is often the case, perhaps in some
measure always, that when one would come
to Jesus for salvation, or deliverance from
besetting sin, the evil spirit within cries out
against it and still says ~ will not have TO do
with Jesus"
81 adjure Thee by God that Thou torment
me not" Matt viii, 90 says, art Thou
come hither to torment us before the timer
They are reserved unto judgment III Pet. H.
4; Jude viz and they seem to know it.
8. MY name is Legion, for we are many
A legion in the Roman army numbered, al
its full complement, six thousand; the word
here evidently signifies very large number
Ii a legion possessed this one man, how many
must there be altogether Babylon of the
last days will be full of them. REV. xviii, g.
10. HE besought Him much that He
would not send them away out Of the coun
try" Luke viii, 81, says that He would moi
command them to go out into the deep.
Now, if by the deep they meant the Sea Of
Galilee, their request and after conduct would
seem strange indeed; but the Revised Yer
sion helps us by translating "abyss" insteac
of "the deep" The word is used seven tme
in Revelation Rev. tx, l, 2, IL; XII Z; xvii, 8
Xxx, l, 81 and in Lukev iii, 81; Rom XII Ii
the r. V. it is in all these places translated
abyss" in the A. V. it is everywhere il
Revelation "bottomless pitt" and in the othel
two places 1.-The deep" The request of tn,
demons, then, was that Jesus would not shu
them up in the abyss or bottomless pit.
IL, H. "All the devils besought Him, say
ing Send us into the swine" They prefer
human residence to bestal, but a bestia
rather than the abyss
Ii. "And forthwith Jesus gave then
leave" Matt. viii, 80, says that He said unit,
them Go" Luke viii, SO, says that III
suffered them" The devil and all his de
mons are only servants after all; they canno
move without permission, and must ODE.
when Jesus speaks.
ii. "And they that fed the swine fle,
and told it." They were now out of jot
and went Off to tell how it came about; the,
told it as they went along and in the city
and they seem TO have lost no time about il
When Jesus finally destroys the works of tn
devil, what host there will be out of EN-
ployment; but those who follow the Lam
shall serve Him day and night forever an
ever.
l4-l7. "And they went out to what
was that was done, and they come t
Jesus" Matt. vii, "a says that the Who'll
city came out to meet Jesus. What a sigh
this is; here is multitude of men, wome
and children who have for the time ben
left everything and gathered unto Jesus
their Creator, ready to be their Redeemel
and will surely be their Judge, but the
know Him not. In the midst, at the feet c
Jesus luke vii, 35, is the man known an
feared by them all, the terror of the place
l,,t hat l..i cit nd tbea