But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. (Mark 5:6-7)

Whenever  Jesus comes there is a commotion. No sooner does he set his foot on the horse ofGadara than he is at once assailed by the powers of darkness, and it is not long before the whole population of the district is affected by his presence.

However uninfluential other people may be. Jesus is never so. He is ever either “the saviour of death unto death” or “the source of life unto life” (2 Corinthians 2:16, KJV). He is never a savorless Christ.

Virtue is always going out of him, and that virtue stirs up the opposition of evildoers so that, straightway, they come forth to fight against him. You remember that when Paul and Silas preached at Thessalonica, the unbelieving Jews cried out, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6, KJV).

Was that a wonderful thing? Nay, rather, was it not exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ had prophesied when he said, “I came not to send peace, but sword” (Matthew 10:34, KJV)? He said that because of him, there would be division even in families, so that a man would be at variance against his father, and daughter against her mother, and a man’s foes would be those of his own household.

Christ must make a stir wherever he comes, and his gospel must cause a commotion wherever it is preached. Stagnation is inconsistent with life. Deathlike slumber is the condition of those who are dead in sin, but to be aroused to action is the same consequence of the gospel coming with power to anyone.[1]

Charles Spurgeon

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End notes:

[1] Charles Spurgeon, At the Master’s Feet [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005], May 30.

See also:

DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY FACULTY RECOMMENDS HENRY NOUWEN WITH HIS CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

T.D. JAKES’ WORD FAITH PASTORS AND LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2012

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HASN’T CHANGED ITS CONDEMNATION OF THE GOSPEL