Mark 3:26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand but has come to an end. 27 But no one can enter into the house of the strong man and thoroughly plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will thoroughly plunder his house.
[Part 2 of 2]The Lord's word in verse 27 indicates that while He was preaching the gospel, He was binding the strong one in order to destroy his kingdom by plundering his house. In other words, the Lord's preaching was a plundering. Satan has captured all sinners and has placed them into his house, which is a prison. Hence, all sinners have become Satan's captives. But the Lord Jesus, who has the power of the Spirit, has come to preach the gospel. He has come to plunder Satan's house and to release his captives. If we did not have the Lord's word recorded in verse 27, we would not realize that when we preach the gospel we should plunder Satan's house. We may think that gospel preaching is simply a matter of soul winning, a matter of saving lost sinners. The Lord, however, has a different concept concerning the preaching of the gospel. His concept is that the preaching of the gospel to save sinners is the plundering of Satan's house to release his captives. To be sure, this plundering destroys Satan's kingdom. The word in 3:27 corresponds to the Lord's word to Paul in Acts 26:18: "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God." When Paul was called by God to preach the gospel, he was told to turn people from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God. The authority of Satan is simply the kingdom of Satan. Today when we preach the gospel to sinners, we also should turn them, Satan's captives, from the authority of darkness unto God and His kingdom. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 111-112. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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