AN ACT OF POWER

‘And there was in their synagogue a men with an unclean spirit.’

Mark 1:23

All unobserved, a poor demoniac had entered the synagogue at Capernaum when our Lord was speaking with authority. Perhaps he came thinking it to be a sanctuary, where for a moment he might be soothed by memories of Sabbath days passed away for ever. Suddenly the air is rent by his shriek of terror; each worshipper is struck dumb with fear. The crowd heard the shriek, they saw the ghostly vision of the unclean demoniac, but were helpless. In tones almost of anger, but with a word of power, the Lord bids the unclean spirit come out.

I. The interest which the miracle evoked.—The little flock gathered there was filled with admiration and enthusiasm; no wonder that forthwith His fame spread abroad throughout all that country.

II. The effect upon the men of Capernaum.—It seemed that their whole heart had been conquered. Their amazement knew no bounds, their conviction was absolute as the demoniac lay before them healed.

III. Yet in a few days all was forgotten, and they who had the unspeakable blessedness of hearing Christ’s words spoken from His own lips, they who beheld one of His most startling miracles, heard soon after that most awful woe, ‘Shall be brought down to hell.’

IV. Let us be warned by the sad history of Capernaum so often repeated. The mere enjoyment of hearing God’s voice, or joining in services or sacraments, will not do anything for us save increase our condemnation, unless we join together earnest prayer to God the Holy Ghost and stern resolution of a braver, truer, higher life, and begin at once to do the will of God.

Rev. Canon T. B. Dover.

Illustration

‘The miserable victim to this awful malady would seem to have been at the mercy of many evil spirits, now speaking in the plural, now in the singular number. The special characteristic of the possession was impurity. The demon recognised Jesus at once as the “Holy One of God.” His one desire was to be let alone, undisturbed in his tyranny, with a shuddering consciousness that in the end this awful mastery of evil was to be put a stop to. See here the close connection between mental and moral disease. Trace back any sin of the intellect and you will generally find that it has its spring in a sin of the heart. See also how the one thing which impurity hates more than any other is holiness. We can find parallels more or less exact to this demoniacal possession now. In heathen lands travellers and missionaries come upon appalling cases of demonism. In our own land doctors who are constantly dealing with mania are brought face to face with triumphs of wickedness over the body, the mind, the whole moral nature. Body, mind, and moral nature are all parts of one whole. The unclean heart, the enslaved intellect, the torn body, all witness to the power of sin. The trembling demon, muzzled (for such the word used in Mark 1:25 means), and driven out, leaving the victim at peace once more, all witness to the greater power of Christ.’

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