DISCOURSE XXV.. THE DEMONIAC. LUKE viii. 37. Return to thine own houfe, and fhew how great things God hath done unto thee. A MAN who had before been poffeffed with a legion of devils, was fet at liberty by our Sa viour, and fitting at his feet cloathed and in his right mind, when obferving his merciful Deliverer about to enter into a fhip, and to depart from that country, intreated him to let him go along with him; but our Saviour, for his own wife and beft reafons, would not suffer it then, but faid to him, in the words of the text, "Return to thine own houfe, and fhew how great things God hath done unto thee;" or, as St. Mark relates it, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compaffion on thee," Mark v. 19. There was fomething very fingular in this man's diforder, the manner of his cure, and deliverance, as well as in our Lord's not fuffering him to go with him, of all which I purpose to confider a little, before I fpeak directly of the words of the text., We have no room to doubt of many wonderful poffeffions befides this and others in the time of our Saviour, in the firft ages of the church, in the days of the reformation, and even now in our own time. Exorcifins F 2 Exorcifms were frequently ufed among the primitive chriftians; with faftings and prayers they fought the deliverance of fuch people, and certainly found the prayers of faith availed much in fuch cafes. I fee no reason why the gift of cafting out devils, and difpoffeffing evil fpirits in the name of the Lord Jefus, fhould not now be given, as well as formerly, unless on account of the incredulity of this finful and adulterous generation, who atheistically would either mock at the cure, as if it was mere imposture and art, or pretend it was a natural difeafe and no poffeffion of the devil; or if fuch immediate cures fhould be wrought in our times, if the miracle could not be denied with any good ground, they would fay it was forcery, conjuration, and dealing with the devil; for fo it went of old, and hindered our Master from doing many mighty works in his own city Nazareth, because of unbelief. By whatever means a foul in the hands of fatan is released, it must be confeffed our Saviour is the caufe. He only can preach deliverance to the captives, and loose them that fatan hath bound in body or foul. He alone has the right to fay, it fhall not ftand, when a covenant is made with death and a league with hell, Ifa. xxviii. 18. At his word, and in his name, a host of devils, and legions of wicked fpirits must fly. With a word he can release a foul, let its cafe be bad and deplorable as it will. Though fome are in a particular manner poffeffed of the devil, and it is above the reach of any human creature to account for their disorder and behaviour, &c. yet in another fenfe I efteem all distracted and mad people poffeffed; and this has been alfo the mind of many children of God, and learned and pious men, and has fome ground in the fcripWe read of a certain father who befought Chrift for his fon, who was lunatic, and when the child was brought to him he rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him, Matt. xvii. 14, &c. But all the behaviour of Dæmoniacs or poffeffed perfons, of which we have often long accounts in the gofpel, anfwers to that of lunatics, or mad people, in our times. I will only observe, in a few inftances, how nearly they resemble each other; 1ft, their being able to break their chains; 2dly, loving to roam in folitary places among tombs; 3dly, going naked; 4thly, not being to be tamed eafily; 5thly, cafting themselves into the fire and water, cutting themfelves, and uttering blafphemies and fuch words as must come immediately from the devil. And farther, we may observe daily, that however unapt perfons have been to do any of these things before, after they have been once turned in their heads, as the expreffion is, they do it all eagerly, and another fpirit rules, and fomething fupernatural fhews itself foon; they can endure hunger, cold, and hardships furprisingly, and travel, rage, labour, and speak on without fleeping, to a wonder. All this I have faid, as my reafons for thinking lunatics poffeffed people; and I have obferved, the generally known caufes of madnefs have not been any humility, meekness of fpirit, or even a religious difpofition, but rather an extreme love of the creature, or, I would fay, luft; alfo often an intolerable pride in the learned, who will account for every thing, and comprehend like God. Sometimes an excess of anger and fury, or a known and abhorred felf-conceitednefs, fondnefs of fine cloaths, of riches, of beauty, or honour, and often a being awakened in a legal manner, and in attempting to make themselves perfect and righteous, and to attain to certain lengths in their own strength and by their own works, is a means of fome peoples' falling into this unhappy condition. F 3 condition. But here it must be obferved, that felfrighteoufnefs is at the bottom of all; for who have heard of a poor finner's coming into fuch diftrefs, I mean one poor in fpirit, who is confcious of his loft eftate and incapacity to help himself, but who finks before our Saviour, under a fenfe of his own wants and miferies, and yet is well convinced no one can help or ease him befide Jefus, fuch an one does not rage because he cannot atchieve high things, nor. grow impatient because he cannot cleanfe himself; but he rejoiceth that the Lamb has loved finners and will receive them; he is glad of the fountain of his blood and washes there; and though he may have been greatly withstood by the enemy, and has felt the weight of his guilt like a heavy burden, and, like Paul, could neither eat nor drink for want of mercy, this must not be looked upon as madnefs; (would to God all the world were fo mad!) no, this is quite a different condition; no wild fire rages here, no blafphemous fpeeches come out of the mouth; no, all is the effect of a real hunger and thirst for righteoufnefs, and a longing to be forgiven, and fuch fhall furely obtain their wishes; let them tarry the Lord's leifure, and he fhall comfort them; let them wait upon him, and he will help them, and not one of them fhall perish. But though I have faid fo much, I would not be mifunderstood, as though I thought all fuch poffeffed or mad perfons fhould be loft. I have far more favourable thoughts, and hope rather these may poffi. bly be fome of those who are given over to the devil for the deftruction of the flesh, that their fpirits might be faved in the day of the Lord Jefus. Perhaps fuch heavy chaftifements may have befallen them here, that they may find mercy hereafter. I will now proceed to speak of the man in the text, whom I look upon, in his worst estate, as a Evely picture and emblem of every carnal and natural man. : When our Saviour landed in the country of the Gadarenes, a man met him who for a long time had been poffeffed of deviis; he wore no cloaths, he dwelt in no house; no bonds or chains could bind him, but he brake all, and abode in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with ftones this is the defcription of his fad eftate, and how nicely does it agree with the spiritual fad estate of a natural man? He wears no cloaths before God, but, as long as he is without Chrift's righteousness, as long as he is not made all glorious within, nor covered with the covering of God's Spirit, he is naked; all his fins and fecret uncleannelfes, all his falls and corrupted nature is open and naked before the Lord and all the angels, and except Jefus and his righteoufnefs cover his fin and hide his iniquity he will find himself in a fhameful ftate, when God's eyes of fire try the fecrets of all hearts. May I not alfo fay, he has an unclean fpirit? Do not his impurities and lufts rule him? Are not his eyes full of adultery, his lips, full of unclean fongs and jefts? His hands and heart are they not unclean? And may it not be faid with all propriety, he has been poffeffed of devils a long time? For ever fince the fall, fatan has had us all, as it were, in his hands and in his poffeffion; but especially is he in his hands whom no laws of God can tame, no commandment nor threatenings bind, no loving intreaties keep within bounds, but he breaks all, and at all events and hazards is a bond-fervant of the devil. His will, his defires, his appetite, his affections and lufts, his pride and paffions break through, and no man can tame him. He dwells in no houfe of God, is not in the fold of the good Shepherd, nor does he nor can he love them that are. He lives |