Mark 3:27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man… First, "the strong man armed keepeth his palace." For indeed it is "a palace" — that soul of yours — made to be a royal habitation; and well did the King of kings furnish it for Himself. He had supplied it marvellously with all that should be for royal use and royal glory, and He had decked it with the most precious ornaments, and He set a throne there. Is it empty? No. Who sits on it? Who is supreme there over the affections? Who is that that is holding his silken reins that are as bands of iron? "The strong one" — none know how "strong" but those who try to escape, and throw off his tyranny; so "strong" that his strength is unseen, while in stillness and in silence he holds his own; so "strong" that the greatest determination of the most strong-minded man, unaided, trying to break any one of those many bonds, would be as if he were to try to uproot a mountain. And well is that strong one "armed." Not in vain has he been reading the human heart for six thousand years; not in vain are all his vast experiences. Of amazing intellect is he — of immense power — a fallen angel of light, and he can wear all aspects, and he can bear all disguises. Awful the thought — that as the Lord Jesus had His "armour" so has that strong one — wherein he rightly trusts. There are the light, glittering "darts" of pleasure, that which has slain many a mighty one. And there is the heavy "sword" of unsanctified intellect to lay low the strong-minded. And there is the "breastplate" of selfishness, wrapping the heart round in its soft indulgences. And there is "the shield" of uncharitable controversy, which irritates without convincing. And there is "the helmet" of bold presumption, starting high in its false professions; and "the girdle" of infidelity — cramping, binding, girding the very loins of the man; and "the shoes" that walk roughly, and "the spirit" that takes converse only with itself. So, for years and years, "the strong one armed" rules, and so he "keeps" his captives quiet. And it is a weeping sight before the holy angels — those noble courts of man's immortality, so trodden down, and profaned, and desolate. But "the stronger" comes; and now the fighting begins. Go with me a little way; for, thank God! that that gentle One who is so tender with weak and child-like hearts that "He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax," is yet of such gigantic might that He, stronger than the strongest, can and will trample down all His enemies and ours under His feet, "till He brings forth judgment unto victory." See, then, how He "binds." A little while ago some straitening circumstance happened to you, and you felt strangely circumscribed. Perhaps you were confined to your house; perhaps you were laid on a sick bed — you were shut out from the scenes you loved so well — your spirit felt cramped — your life became as a galling fetter — and you chafed against the restraint which you felt, but could not overcome. You did not know or think at that time that this was the very way by which that "stronger one" was proceeding to "bind" that old, strong, self-willed, impetuous nature in you, which, rampant so many years, had done you such grievous harm — you, who were the slave of your evil passions! Or, a very heavy trial almost crushed you — not you, but the old habit — the old affection — the old man in you — which many a lighter means had been tried, and tried in vain, to subdue and to destroy. Or, a very deep humiliation visited your heart, and many a high thought of your youth was brought low — you felt it very hard; for you did not realize into what pride "the strong one" was lashing you, and what curbing that proud heart of yours needed before it could be broken. And remember, even the knocking off the prisoner's chains will give him pain, and the longer he has worn the chain the greater the pain of loosening. Now mark "the spoil." "He will bind the strong man, and then He will spoil his house." The habit of sin broken, the soul emancipated; Christ is free to claim His own property, which His own blood has purchased, and His own right hand has rescued. He had restored the property to its rightful owner. And wondrously, in His infinite love, He "divides the spoils" which He has taken. You, He gives to yourself, so that that is which was not before, nor ever could be — He has made you your own. Nevertheless, "you are not your own," but His — your own, because you are His. Your heart, which Satan bound, and He looses, He keeps all for Himself. Your fellowships, your sympathies, He allots for the Church. Your time, your talents, your energies, your charities for the world; your highest exercises of mind, for communion with Himself; your faith for the promises; your ambition for the extension of the truth, and the exalting of His own empire; your awe and love for holy worship; your soul, "bound up in the bundle of life," for heaven, and for eternity; your knees for prayer; your tongue for holy utterances; your ears for truth; your eyes to receive and emit sacred influences; your feet for mission; your whole body for saintly service. So He "divides the spoils;" and yet they are all the more one, because they are divided; for it is all for all; and all for all for Him; and all for all for Him forever. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. |
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