“Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. And when he saw Jesus he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee torment me not.”
Here is the devil’s confession of faith. The devils believe and tremble, while men make a mock of sin, and sport on the brink of eternal ruin. To many of the human race, Christ appears as a root out of dry ground. They see in him neither form nor comeliness, and there is no beauty in him that they should desire him. Some said he was the carpenter’s son, and would not believe in him; others said he had a devil, and that it was through Beelzebub the chief of the devils, that he cast out devils; some cried out, Let him be crucified—let him be crucified; and others said, Let his blood be on us and on our children. As the Jews would not have him to reign over them; so many, who call themselves Christians, say that he is a mere man; as such, he has no right to rule over their consciences, and demand their obedience, adoration, and praise. But Diabolus knows better—Jesus is the Son of God most high.
Many of the children of the devil, whose work they do, differ very widely from their father in their sentiments respecting the person of Christ.
“Jesus commanded the legion of unclean spirits to come out of the man.” They knew that out they must go. But they were like Scotchmen—very unwilling to return to their own country. They would rather go into hogs’ skins than to their own country. And he suffered them to go into the herd of swine. Methinks that one of the men who fed the hogs, kept a better look out than the rest of them, and said, “What ail the hogs? Look sharp there, boys—keep them in—make good use of your whips. Why don’t you run? Why, I declare, one of them has gone over the cliff! There goes another! Drive them back.” Never was there such a running, and whipping, and hallooing; but down go the hogs, before they are aware of it. One of them said, “They are all gone!” “No, sure not all gone into the sea!” “Yes, every one of them, the black hog and all! They are all drowned!—the devil is in them! What shall we do now?—what can we say to the owners?” “What can we say?” said another. “We must tell the truth—that is all about it. We did our best—all that was in our power. What could any man do more?”