ONE evening in the autumn I was talking to a friend, on whom I had called, when we were interrupted by the cat, ―a beautiful Persian, ―who had evidently got something he wanted us to see. At last―so importunate was Tom―my friend stooped down and found that he had got a bird, and after some little trouble she succeeded in taking it away from him. It was a pretty little robin, but the cat had used it so cruelly that it was in vain to think of doing anything for its relief. As it lay in her hand, panting, with its broken leg and drooping wing, she said, “What can I do with it?” A neighbor coming to the door heard her speak, and after examining the bird said, “You can’t do anything with it; better let me put it out of its misery,” and suiting the action to the word he wrung its neck. In that little bird, crushed and helpless, I saw a picture of myself when under the power of Satan. Too weak for any effort, powerless to save myself, I must surely have perished forever, had not One who was stronger than my captor come to the rescue. “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?” I was Satan’s lawful captive, for I was a sinner, and we read in John 8:34, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant [or slave] of sin;” and again, “Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage” (2 Peter 2:19).
The answer is given to the question propounded in Isaiah 49:24, “Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children” (Isa. 49:25); and it was Jehovah Jesus who bound the “strong man armed,” went right down into Satan’s stronghold, through death destroyed “him that had the power of death, that is the devil” (Heb. 2:14), and ascending up on high “led captivity captive.” “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph. 4:8, 9, 10. The One who said, “O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hos. 13:14), who “hath abolished death” (2 Tim. 1:10), and “spoiled principalities and powers” (Col. 2:15), is the One who has set me free.
Reader, are you free? If you are still in the strong man’s house, I would urge you to flee from it now. The Lord Jesus Christ has bound the strong man armed, and you may go free if you will. He who has “the keys of hell and of death’’ (Rev. 1:18) is for you. Poor sinner, escape while you may.
You who are sinking “in darkness and in the shadow of death,” there is light and deliverance for you. Oh, turn to the One to whom the Lord Jehovah could say, “In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee,... that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves” (Isa. 49:8, 9). The apostle Paul, quoting the above passage of Scripture, winds up with “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
Do you wish to know the way to flee? The Lord Jesus says, “I am the way” (John 14:6). Do you say, “How am I to be made free from the power of Satan?” By faith in Christ, who, speaking to Paul from the glory, tells him that He is sending him to the Gentiles, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).
When He was upon this earth, He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38). Poor weary one, so oppressed, hear His loving tender words,” Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
His heart is as full of love now as then. He is speaking to you now from the glory, and saying, “Come unto me.”
He might have gone back to the glory without dying, for death had no claim upon Him. He was the Holy Sinless One, but His holy spotless life alone would have left man where he was, or more hopelessly desperate; for He who was Light showed up the awful blackness of man’s heart. No; it must be through death, for man is sunk in sin, and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). He received the wages due to poor sinners; He died “the just for the unjust” (1 Peter 3:18). He came where we were. He, the Lord of life and glory, stooped to “Calvary’s depth of woe,” to reach those who were bound in Satan’s prison-house; and now, on the ground of His own most precious blood, He is proclaiming “liberty to the captive” (Isa. 61:1). Oh! hear His voice, dear reader, “If the Son, therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).