Binding and Plundering the House of the Strong Man

The devil is a liar and he kills with lies. This was true all the way back in Genesis, and remains true today.

• If he can convince us that God has good things but is keeping them from us, then we will rebel against God and he will win.
• If he can convince us that God’s Word is not true, or that we can make our own truth, then he will win.
• If he can convince us that he does not exist and that we have no need for repentance, then we will will not see our need for repentance and he will win.

Instead, we need to listen to the words of Jesus when he says that he has “bound the strong man”. Satan has been defeated, and his goods are open to be plundered.

But what does this mean to us? The “strong man’s goods” are…us. Jesus defeated Satan at the cross, and now He is gathering us, His church. We, who were lost in our sin, have been set free from our captor.

Today’s sermon text is from Mark 3:

²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ²³And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Mark 3:22-27

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