THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 1 - Verse 26

Verse 26. And when the unclean spirit, etc. Still malignant, though doomed to obey -- submitting because he was obliged to, not because he chose -- he exerted his last power, inflicted all the pain he could, and then bowed to the Son of God, and came out. This is the nature of an evil disposition. Though compelled to obey, though prevented by the command and Providence of God from doing what it would, yet, in seeming to obey, it does all the ill it can, and makes even the appearance of obedience the occasion for increased crime and mischief.