The Pulpit Analyst Mark 5:1-20 And they came over to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.… I. SOME ASPECTS OF SIN. 1. Its contagiousness. The man was "possessed." Evil is always reaching beyond itself for something of which it may lay hold, and which it may drag downwards. 2. Its anti-social tendency. "Neither abode in any house, but in the tombs." Iniquity isolates men, as ferocity does the wolf, the tiger, the eagle. 3. Its embrutalization of character. (1) Evidenced in the man; naked, dwelling like a beast amongst the caves: "about two thousand" demons dwelling in one man! (2) Evidenced in the evil spirits. Spirits, who had been inhabitants of heaven, fallen so low that they desire to take up their abode in the swine I 4. Its dread of righteousness. The devils cry out when Christ draws near. Always vice fears and hates virtue. II. SOME ASPECTS OF SALVATION. 1. It is begun in the expulsion (not repression) of evil principles and desires. 2. God accounts as nothing whatever material loss may be incurred in its effectuation. Souls are more to Him than swine. 3. Its moral and spiritual results have a counterpart, and external evidence in improved material and social condition. "Clothed," etc. 4. The surest proof of the reality of its accomplishment is renunciation of personal preferences in obedience to Christ's command. "Not my will, but Thine be done." (The Pulpit Analyst.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.WEB: They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. |
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