MATTHEW xii. 29. "Or else, how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house."

In this parable we are taught that Satan, having taken possession of this world as his house or palace, looked upon the souls and bodies of men as his goods. How awful, how fearful the thought! Satan, as "a strong man armed "-armed with all the powers of darkness, with temptations by which he works on man's weakness; with sin, by which he raises up a host of evil passions in his breast; with fear, by which he so works on sinful men that they despair of pardon-armed with all these dreadful powers, Satan, the strong man, thought to keep his dominion over his house and his goods in peace. But blessed be the Most High God, this his kingdom of darkness, of sorrow, and of sin, was not to last. In the very hour when Satan took possession of the world as his own, when, through the weakness of the woman, he claimed her and her children-the whole race of man, as his property; in that very hour the decree went forth that he should not continue to enjoy his unlawful dominion in peace; that there should be a constant struggle between the good and the evil, and that at last a seed of the woman, stronger than he is, should overcome him and destroy his power.

The hour was come, "the stronger than he," had appeared; Jesus himself, the seed of the woman, born of a virgin, had entered the strong man Satan's house, and all now could see how the struggle had begun; for the power of Satan was fast giving way before Him, and that struggle shall never cease till the kingdom of God, brought by Christ into the world, shall entirely be established. No day passes over our heads without, if we think of it, our being reminded of the terrible truth that Satan looks upon this world in which we dwell, as his own; and that, through the weakness and wickedness of men, he is strong

to do evil. From him came "the wars and fightings" that fill the earth with woe; for he stirs up the evil passions of men against each other, and he rejoices to see that they still "desire to have, and cannot obtain." (James iv. 12.)

But blessed be God, this shall not last. The promise is express-Christ, the "stronger than he," has already overcome him; he no longer keeps his goods in peace, for in some degree he is already bound. Wherever the religion of Christ is the religion of a nation, the cruel and barbarous spirit which makes men delight themselves in deeds of savage cruelty is drawn out, and nothing is more striking than to mark the difference between the laws of Christian nations and the customs of the heathen kingdoms of the earth. It is true that much goes on, even in Christian nations, which tells that Satan still struggles for the mastery; but among the heathen, his rule is complete, the strong oppress the weak, and the weak have none to help them; revenge is believed to be a virtue, and the blood of man is shed without hesitation, if one stand in the way of his fellows. This shall not last. In the end Satan, the strong man of sin, shall be completely bound, so that he shall "deceive" and oppress "the nation no more," (Rev. xx. 3, 10,) and "the armour wherein he trusted" shall be taken from him, for he shall lose all power to tempt mankind to their destruction.

This parable of the Lord Jesus may be said to have in it the history of the world; the time past, the time present, and the time to come. We know that Christ shall reign, and that the time shall come when all shall willingly serve him. It is written, "In the day of thy power shall the people offer thee free-will offerings with an holy worship: the dew of thy birth is of the womb of the morning, (Psalm cx. 3,) for the birth of Christ was as the first ray of the morning sun, that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day, driving away all darkness, till in the end His kingdom of light be established. The Lord Jesus, by His parable of the strong man armed,

who kept his palace, and his goods were in peace, till a stronger than he overcame him,-shewed to the Pharisees and to the people who might have been misled by them, that in casting out devils He was plainly binding Satan and destroying his power; therefore there was no sense in the wicked pretence, that He used Satan's power to do His mighty works. He adds a warning to all the Jews, who, as God's people, should have been on His side in the struggle with the strong man of sin; and to the Scribes and Pharisees in particular, who, as the teachers of God's people, should have been the first to see and acknowledge God's truth. This was the warning He gave, and it will be well if we also take heed to it.

MATTHEW Xii. 30. "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” By these words we are taught that, if those, whose appointed duty it is to teach the people, do not lead their minds and affections to Christ, they are leaving them in the power of Satan, and are doing all they can to hinder the kingdom of God.

Prayer.

O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that thou, being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath bound the strong man of sin, so that he can no longer keep in peace the dominion over our hearts. Save us from his power, save us from listening to the temptation of the evil one, and let thy Holy Spirit rule in our hearts and minds, so that we may have "a right judgment in all things, and evermore rejoice in his holy comfort." Amen.

* Collect for 4th Sunday after Trinity.

† From Collect for Monday in Whitsun week.

XXVI.

MATTHEW XII. 31. MARK III. 28. LUKE XII. 10.

The Lord Jesus knew, and had answered the wicked thoughts of the Pharisees. Gently and kindly He had reasoned with them, shewing them that it was impossible that Satan, the spirit of evil, would join Him to do good, and to destroy His own kingdom of darkness. Now He speaks to them in words of solemn warning. Their hatred to Him, and to the lessons of holiness He taught, had led them even to such a point of wickedness, that wilfully closing their eyes against the truth, though it was proved to be truth by such wonderful works as God only could perform, they tried to force themselves and others to believe that these very wonderful works were wrought by the devil himself. Jesus warns them to beware. As yet all should be forgiven; and all that the blindness of their rage against him, the Messiah, should lead them still to do, He would forgive; but let them beware. They were not ignorant even now; they should be still more fully taught, and let them beware how they received the ministration of the Holy Spirit, which shortly would be given to the world. Let them take heed that they received not His ministry with taunts and blasphemies, as they had received the Son of man, or no more hope would remain for them.

MATTHEW xii. 31, 32. "Wherefore I say unto you, Al manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”

This warning was spoken by our Lord in solemn kindness to the Pharisees, who were coming very near a point in wickedness, which if they passed, they would become hardened to all repentance, and thus be lost for ever. All the wise and good men who have written on this subject, seem to have agreed that to warn these Pharisees was the meaning of our Lord and St. Mark himself adds, "Because they said He had an unclean spirit."

This warning, so kindly and so solemnly given by our blessed Lord to the Pharisees, to stop, before their rage against him should so harden their hearts, and blind their eyes, as to make it altogether impossible that they should ever be received into the kingdom of God, has been made by many a trembling believer a cause of great fear and anguish of soul. Many, very many, have been tempted to believe that they have committed this dreadful sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and that they could not hope for pardon, and so they have gone on for a time in mourning and misery. Yet their very fears and grief are a sign that they have not so sinned against the Spirit of God as to cause him to leave them; for had He left them, they would have known nothing of this sorrow and self-upbraiding. "Whoever grieves himself with the notion that he may have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit, proves already by his grief, and by his readiness to accuse himself, that he has not done so,"* for then would he have been dead to all such feeling. He who is given up by the Holy Spirit, can feel no more sorrow for sin. The dead man cannot lament that he is dead, neither can he who has sinned away the Holy Spirit of life from his soul, lament his deadness in sin. Let each mourner who weeps over these words of our Lord, think of his loving-kindness, of his tender pity. He spoke them, awful as they are, in kindness, for He would save, even these, His bitter enemies, from blindly rushing on their own destruction.† Will He be * Olshausen, Vol. II. p. 107.

+ St. Chrysostom, when speaking of this warning of our Lord to the Pharisees,