Vol. 2

350 ST. LUKE." 36. And they were all amazed, and spake amongthemselves, saying, What a word is this ! for withauthority and power he commandeth the uncleanspirits, and they come out. 37. And the fame ofhim went out into everyabout."place of the country roundIt is a very beneficial and Christian practice, frequentlyto invoke upon ourselves,and upon personsengaged in uncleanness, the authority and powerwhich Jesus Christ has over the unclean spirit.Wehave all of us a living fountain of uncleanness in concupiscence;and the devil makes greater use of it thanwe imagine, in order to tempt us. It is a very greatoccasion for fear and trembling, to perceive, by themeans of bodily possession, how great the power iswhich the enemy of our salvation has over us ;butit is a very great ground of confidence, to see, by theempire which Christ exercises over him, how powerfulthe Author of our salvation is. We do not makesufficient use of that portion of this authority andpower which he has communicated to the church;and a sinner, or a just man tempted, would experience,to his advantage, how great it is, if he would,as one may say, exercise his heart in secret by theprayers of the church." 38. % And he arose out of the synagogue, andentered into Simon's house : and Simon's wife'smother was taken with a great fever;and they besoughthim for her. 39. And he stood over her,and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediatelyshe arose, and ministered unto them."Scarce has Peter begun to belong to Christ, buthis family finds the good effects of it immediately,