These Poor Swine by J.R. Miller A man with an evil spirit
came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs,
and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he
had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains
apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough
to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs
and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Mark 5, 2-5. In this demoniac,
we have a sample of the work of Satan when he gets full control
in a man. He destroys every beautiful thing
in the life and leaves only ruin. No chains could bind this demoniac. When sin is on the throne, all
other influences and constraints become like spider's threads
in comparison. No chain is strong enough to
bind the man who has yielded himself to the sway of the evil
one. The love of a godly mother is
a strong bond, but many a child tears off this holy chain and
rushes into wayward and evil paths. Home ties are strong,
but these too are broken asunder by the victim of Satan's ungodly
rule. We see that the demoniac cut
and gashed himself with stones. This illustrates what, in many
ways, Satan's captives do. They may not literally go about
cutting their flesh with knives or bruising their bodies with
stones, but they do gash and bruise their souls. Sin always
wounds the life, and one of its fearful consequences is the self-destruction
it works. Every sin one commits leaves
an ugly scar. We grieve God by our wrongdoing,
and we harm others when we sin against them, but we always injure
ourselves by every evil word we speak, by every wrong act
we commit, even by the evil thoughts we think in our hearts. The self-hurt
of sin is one of its saddest consequences. Demons find pleasure
in working mischief and in ruining lives. Godly men count that day
lost in which they have done no act of kindness to another. Demons count the day lost in
which they have stained no pure soul or led no one into sin. We ought to tear off Satan's
mask and show him as he is. Evil comes to us pretending to
be a friend. It holds flowers in its hands
and whispers entrancing words, promising rich rewards. Only
do this and it will bring you pleasure, honor, wealth, and
joy. That is the way sin talks. But
this is all false. Sin is never a friend to man,
it never does good to anyone, but always harm. However plausibly
Satan may present his temptations under the guise of pleasure,
his secret aim is to destroy the soul he tempts. Nothing gives
the evil one so much pleasure as to see a fair and beautiful
life stained and debauched. It is most comforting to us to
find that Christ is able to dislodge even the more obdurate and persistent
demon. No one could bind this demoniac,
nor resist his superhuman strength. But at his word, the foul spirit
was compelled to leave the man he had possessed for so long. No human hand can break the chains
of sinful habits. No mere resolution can free one
from Satan's bondage. Only Christ can set the devil's
captives free. Those who have long been trying
in vain to reform, to break away from evil practices, see in Christ,
the Friend who alone can deliver them and save them. No demon
power can resist His command, only Christ can free the poor
slaves of Satan and save them from his terrible sway. The evil
spirits came out of the man and entered the swine. The herd,
about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into
the lake and were drowned. Mark 5.13 In the swine, under
demoniac possession, rushing down the steep cliff and perishing
in the lake, we have another illustration of the end of all
Satan's ruinous work. It is with men, as it was here
with the swine. It never yet has been known that
Satan impelled anyone upward to a better life, or to anything
noble and lofty. He always drives down sin's steep
ways into choking floods. God's ways leads upwards, it
is always uphill to Christ and to heaven, but the devil always
drives downward. Those poor swine, demon-possessed,
rush down the steep bank into the lake and perish. Just so
do human souls, demon-possessed, rush down sin's precipitous course
and perish. It would be well to keep this
dreadful picture in our mind when we are tempted in any way
by the devil, for if we follow him, this is the way it will
surely end with us.