The Tupelo journal., 1904-04-29

XAkMFE[&R~- bho
1Nss coming trans
formed a life. 1t made a lark II al
ficted home one of brightness n JOY. IL
brought sladness to the mans circle ol
friends and it eXerted its lnhu-
ence upon the multitude thai saw
and heard of the miracle. II Is ho'
hard 10 picture that home before Jesus
came. There was sorrow there; there
was trouble there. The skeleton IN the
closet was that demon-possessed mah'
We do not know how long he had been
in hat condition. We do not kno"
whether it was the son of aged par
ents or the father of the nome. but
we do know that it was darkeneo by
a black shadow. All, how many such
homes there are! The fair-halred BOY
has grown to manhood, and instead OF
bringing gladness and pride TO the
hearts of his parents, he has .yleloeo
himself 10 the evil influences about
him until at last he has become pos
sessed of a wicked and dissolute spirit.
Or it may be the husband and father
of the home has forgotten his sacred
marriage VOWS, he has stified the inner,
nobler. manlier feelings which came
when the first baby nestled in his arms
and seemed to crow with delight be-
cause of its sen.e of security and pro-
lection in his strong embrace, n as
a result of his hayward course, the in
diligence of his baser nature, the light
has gone out of his wife's eyes, the
bloom has left her cheeks, and instead
of the song upon the lips there are the
heavy heart and aching head. Yea, and
aching and sore body and limbs, too,
perhaps. where the cruel blows have
fallen. And the children ROUGH and
tremble when they hear the heavy
tread of the fathers feet. All, how
MANY. many. homes there are in this
fail land where the Devil has found
his abode in the father or son, and the
black shadow of sin has driven out all
the 10y and gladness. Somewhere in
Galilee there was such a home< And
there are still such homes to-day
thousands and thousands, scattered
through city, town, village and ham
let.
OH. WHAT a bondage Satan is able
" to lead into! Strand by strand he
forms the rope OF habit until it is too
strong for any human will to break.
Link by link he FORCES the chain that
will drag'the soul to hell if the power OF
God is not invoked to break it. 1t has
been said that every home has its skele-
ton. But however true or false that may
be. il is true that sin and Satan are the
partners that have artlculated every
bone in it's hideous body. Certain it is
that God has no part in building the
dark closet and placing therein the hide
Gus sorrow that blights the home. 1t is
the Devils work. He blighted that Cali
leean home. He got such a hold upon
that mar that he was made blind n
dumb. And the Devil is busy at his
wicked work to-day. He makes people
blind to everything that is good and true
and beautiful. He makes their lips
dumb so that no kindly word is ever
spoken. From the testimony of the
Scriptures it would appear that there
was a special manifestation of the Dew
lis work at the time when God was so
wonderfully manifesting the light of His
Son to the world. 1t may be that we have
no such aggravated cases of the demon
possessed as those with which Jesus
came in contact. But be that as it may,
it is certain that the work of the Devil
remains to this day. But there are homes
where sin has wrought its terrible work;
where the Devil has taken possession of
some member of the home to such an ex-
tent as to bring the dark shadow. And
when we speal. Of the Devil as taking
possession we do not roll upon him the
burden of responsibility and let the one
possessed go free of blame. Scripture
says of Judas, the %betrayer: after the
sop, then entered Satan into him."
But Judas was responsible for permit
ting Satan to get into his heart. And
SO it is with people to-day. The Devil
does take possession, but it is only be-
cause sin, sin, sin, has paved the way
over which he rides into full possession.
DLIND and dumb! Devilish blind
- ness! Devilish dumbness! This
case was peculiar for that very rea-
son. There were other blind per-
sons brought to Jesus for healing.
There were those who were deaf
and dumb who were made to hear
and speak. But the blindness, the I'M
responsive ear and the palsied tongue
were not the direct and special work
of the Devil as in this case before us.
This man was blind and dumb because
the Devil was in full possession. 1t
was a condition for which the man
himself was undoubtedly responsible.
And for this reason there wal seeming
ly the least right to expect compass
sion and Divine mercy. At least SO
might the friends and relatives OF this
man have reasoned. They might have
felt that it was easy to enlist the in
terest and sympathy Of Jesus in such
cases as Jairus' daughter, whose death
had brought such sorrow to that Jew
fish rulers home, or the blind beggars
by the wayside, Oh the outcast lepers,
or the m%ultitudes of others who were
sick or afflicted, but this man with
the devilish blindness and dumbness,
what right had he to come; what right
had he to expect the Lord to deliver
him from that for which he was direct
1v responsible? And how many, many
desperately needy ones such reasoning
keeps away from Jesus today-men
and women who have sunk to the very
lowest depths Of the Devils dominion!