SERMON IV.

THE CHRISTIAN'S CREED.

MARK ix. 24.

"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

GREAT indeed has been the controversy respecting the doctrine of demoniacal possessions. By some critics it is urged, that the Jews, before the time of our Saviour, entertained various superstitious notions about the agency of evil spirits. Many of their opinions were derived from heathen mythology, and by no means had the warrant of the canonical Scriptures.

Many learned divines, within the last two centuries, have maintained, that the holy Evangelists, in speaking of demoniacs, only used the popular language of the times and country in which they lived; and that in

using such popular language, they complied with the general custom, in order to make themselves understood, and by no means meant to sanction any superstitious or metaphysical notions. By others it has been supposed, and with very great authority, that the demons with which men were possessed were actual beings; because they have performed personal actions, and because our Saviour is recorded, not to have healed or cured the demoniac, but to have cast the devil or evil spirit out.

66

A farther argument, and indeed a very strong one, may be brought in favour of this opinion. In the 5th chapter of St. Mark we have an account of a man who was possessed with devils, not only with a devil, but with very many devils. "My name is Legion," said the man, "for we are many." This unfortunate sufferer had his dwelling in the tombs, and no one was able to bind him, no, not with chains. However, maniacal, fierce, and uncontrolled as he was, "when he saw Jesus, he

came and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God?" Here we have a man, though possessed with devils, believing,-what the Jews in their reason could not believe-Jesus to be the Son of God. We also read of the devils (not the men who were possessed, but the devils) believing and trembling, a fact which strengthens the idea of those devils possessing an actual entity.

It is not, however, worth our while, on this occasion, to enter deeply into this subject, especially as it does not form any part of our Creeds, or Articles, nor is it recognized under any particular mode of interpretation in our Liturgy. We are perfectly satisfied that those who were possessed with devils suffered the most excruciating pain, and that it required a miracle to perform an instantaneous ejection.

The account given in the chapter from which our text is taken, will give some idea

of the agony of the sufferer. We have here one of the multitude who followed Jesus, bringing unto Him his son, who had a dumb spirit. And he thus describes its nature. "Wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away." And when the father brought his son before Christ, "straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed, foaming." Our Lord was moved with compassion, and asked the father, "How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him; but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." In answer to the faith of the father, our Lord performed the miracle, and cast out the evil spirit.

Now, before we apply this text to ourselves, we have to observe the conduct of the father of him who had been the object of the miracle. Application was first made to the disciples of Jesus, but they were unable to do that which our Lord performed. But why? Our Saviour's answer to the disciples sufficiently unfolds the cause. "This kind," said he, "can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." It is not for us to declare, that had the poor man, connected with the miracle before us, been wanting in faith, our Lord would not have cast out the evil spirit; but we must observe, that He invariably inculcated the principle of faith, and that, whenever He met with one faithful, He never passed on without effecting a cure. The woman who touched the hem of His garment was made whole; by what? by the power of Jesus, through faith. "Thy faith," said He," hath made thee whole;" which was a sentence often used, in answer to the