The Washington herald., 1922-10-28

separate evil spirit which dwelt
within and At times took posses-
sion Of the oerson. Whatever the
nature of the disease, II was well
recognized. and the casting out Of
the evil spirit called attention to
the extraordinary power that Christ
possessed.
A man with this spirit Of an un-
clean devii' was in the synagogue.
He interrupted Christ as He was
teaching on the Sabbath day. say
ing. Let ua alone: what have we
to do with thee, thou Jesus Of Naz-
areth? Art thou come to destroy
us? I know thee who thou art: the
Holy One Of God"
During the same day, Christ heal
ed the mother of Simon Peters wife,
whose disease Is described as a
great fever" Luke the physician
represents Christ as standing over
her and rebuking the fever.
Knew No Limitations.
AS the sun was setting all that
had any sick with divers diseases
brought them to Him and He laid
hands on every ione of them and
healed them. 1t is worth while to
notice that He dealt with divers
diseases" and healed them all.
every one"
Omnipotence knows. no limita-
tions. = Man has specialties; one
physician treats one form of disease,
another is skilled In the treatment
of another kind of disease, but
Christ knew no difference between
those who suffered. Before the full
ness of His power Affections of
every kind vanished
He frequently used this power to
ease the body, to turn attention to
the graver Affections that were
spiritual in their nature: but 1t was
harder for the people to understand
the forgiveness of sins than 1t was
to comprehend the purging Of the
body of disease.
Illustrating Christian Love.
For this reason the medical mis-
sionary Is invaluable to those who
carry the Gospel unto heather
lands. His power to heal. even
though due to his superior skill
rather than to supernatural power,
has brought many a sinner to
Christ. :.
The relief that is felt awakens
gratitude and also suggests ques-
tions that lead directly to the
source of sympathy. Why do these.
trained men leave their homes and
bury themselves among distant peo-
Pile? How can they draw satisfac-
tion from kind acts and helpful
service?
These are the questions that the
physicians ministrations awaken
and the answer discloses the love
that lies back OF Christian effort.
The medical missionary brings con-
verts into the kingdom because he
illustrates Christian love.
So Christ's power to heal was
noised abroad and brought SO many
to Him that He was urged to re-
main in Capernaum But having
restored to health all who had been
brought within His reach He de-
parted. saying that He must preach
the kingdom Of God in other cities
also.
Promise to Simon Peter.
At one place. as he stood by the
lake of Gennesaret, the people so
pressed upon Him to hear the word
Of God that He entered into one of
Simon's ships and, with the boat as
His pulpit. spoke to the people on
the shore. This was the beginning
of a very important incident in the
life of Simon Peter.
Simon and his brother Andrew,
together with James and John, had
been fishing all night and had
caught nothing. At the conclusion
of His address to the people on the
shore Christ advised Simon to
launch out into the deep and let
down their nets.
While Simon seemed to think that