Luke 8:38-39 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed sought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,… I design to use the text to set forth the duty of exemplifying religion in the family and immediate domestic relations. I. THIS IS THE PROPER PLACE TO COMMENCE ALL OUR EFFORTS TO DO GOOD. 1. The dearest relations of the world are there. 2. The family is the place of our most powerful and constant influence. II. PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY BACKWARD TO PERFORM THIS DUTY. IS not this the very point of defect in the family training of many professing Christians? Do we not here come at the main reason, so far as human agency is concerned, why, in the domestic circles of some eminent Christians, there occur instances of sad indifference to Divine things, and of open profanity and irreligion? III. The direction of the text demands our special attention, because it contemplates a sphere where SOME PECULIAR DIFFICULTIES EXIST, which are apt to interfere with the exemplification of high religious consistency. The very intimacy of the domestic intercourse is often a snare and a hindrance to one who does not religiously govern himself and watch against temptation. The freedom of family intercourse, also, is apt to take off restraints to the indulgence of our passions, and to the display of our real dispositions, which are felt in more public scenes. Let us be mindful, that the greater the impunity with which we may transgress, the greater the danger. (T. E. Vermilye, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, |
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