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Spurgeon said, “I believe that the [sickness] of this woman was not only physical but spiritual: her outward appearance [showed] her deep and long continued depression of mind. She was bent double as to her body, and she was bowed down by sadness as to her mind” (C. H. Spurgeon, “The Lifting Up of the Bowed Down,” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Pilgrim Publications, 1972 reprint, volume XXIV, p. 421).

I am not giving Spurgeon’s introduction, and only a couple of paragraphs from the body of his sermon. I will simply bring out two points from the passage – this woman was bound by Satan, but she was loosed by Christ.

I. First, she was bound by Satan.

There is a hint of that in the text, which says she “had a spirit of infirmity” (Luke 13:11). But farther down in the passage Christ said that “Satan hath bound” her (Luke 13:16).

Most people here in the West don’t believe in Satan or demons today. That doesn’t bother Satan at all. In fact, I believe he is pleased by their unbelief in him – because now he can do his evil work secretly. People will attribute Satan’s work to material forces and will be blind to the real source of their temptations and spiritual bondage. But the Bible shows us the reality of the Devil and his work.

The Bible tells us that every unconverted person is under some degree of influence by Satan, “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). I am not saying that every one of them is demon possessed, though some are. I am saying that every unconverted person is to some degree deluded and influenced by Satan.

Unless a pastor knows that, he will be discouraged and wonder why many of those he baptizes turn out to be so mean and divisive in his church. Such a pastor doesn’t realize that,

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Also, lost people should be made aware that many of their thoughts are not their own. They are “the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16). The Scofield center note adds “one.” The fiery darts of the wicked one are the thoughts he puts into the minds of the unconverted when they hear Gospel preaching. Luther said, “[The Devil] shoots terrible thoughts into the heart.” He also “shoots” many false ideas into the hearts of unconverted people. That is why the Bible says, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26). He who trusts his own thoughts is called a “fool” because the Devil easily manipulates his thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The only safe thing to do is to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

The poor woman in our text had been bound by Satan for eighteen years (Luke 13:16). Some of you here tonight have been bound by the Devil for years as well. When Jesus met her, she was in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, hearing the reading of God’s Word. But she was still bound by Satan. Some of you have been in church for months, and even years, and you are still bound and blinded by Satan. The Apostle Paul said,

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ...should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:3-4).

Dr. John Gill (1697-1771) said of those verses, “Satan…is here [called], ‘the god of this world,’ just as he is [called] by Christ, ‘the prince of this world,’ John 12:31, and John 14:30…because of his influence over the…greatest part of the world; which lieth in wickedness, under the power of this wicked one” (John Gill, D.D., An Exposition of the New Testament, The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989 reprint, volume 2, pp. 777-778; note on II Corinthians 4:4).

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ…should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:3-4).

The Gospel of Christ is preached here every Sunday. We tell lost sinners that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took their sin upon Himself and died on the Cross to pay the penalty for their sins. We tell you that the Blood of Christ can cleanse you from all sin. We tell you that Christ rose physically from the dead and ascended back to Heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of God. We tell you to turn from sin and come to Jesus by faith. And yet, after all this time, you still refuse to come to Christ. Why is that so? It seems clear to me that you are in “the snare of the devil [and] are taken captive by him at his will” (II Timothy 2:26). We go over and over the Gospel of Christ, but you are still bound up by Satan, as this poor woman was for all those 18 years. That is the first point of this sermon, but it is not the whole story.

II. Second, she was loosed by Christ.

“And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:12-13).

When Jesus put His hands on her, she immediately straightened up and glorified God! Amen! “When Jesus Comes.” Stand and sing that chorus!

When Jesus comes, the tempter’s power is broken;
   When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away,
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
   For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.
(“Then Jesus Came” by Dr. Oswald J. Smith, 1889-1986).

You may be seated. Verse 12 says,

“And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him…”
       (Luke 13:12).

I will now give you two of the paragraphs from Spurgeon’s sermon on this text. Spurgeon said,

      We have seen the woman bound by the devil, but here comes the Liberator, and the first thing we read of him is that he “saw her.” His eyes look round, reading every heart as he glanced from one to another. At last he saw the woman. Yes, that was the very one he was seeking. We are not to think that he saw her in the same common way as I see one of you, but he [saw] her character and history, every thought of her heart, every desire of her soul. Nobody told him that she had been eighteen years bound, but he knew all about it – how she came to be bound, what she had suffered during the time, how she prayed for healing, and how the infirmity still pressed upon her. In one minute he had read her history and understood her case.
      “And when he saw her, he called her to him” (Luke 13:12). Did he know her name? Oh, yes, he knows all our names, and his calling is therefore personal and unmistakable. “I have called thee by thy name,” saith he, “thou art mine.” See, there is the poor creature, coming up the aisle; that pitiful mass of sorrow, though bowed to the earth, is moving. Is it a woman at all? You can hardly see that she has a face, but she is coming towards him who called her. She could not stand upright, but she could come as she was – bent [over and sick] as she was. I rejoice in [Christ’s] way of [saving] people, for he comes to them where they are…He bids them to approach him as they are…May my beloved Master this morning look on some of you till you feel, “The preacher means me”…and then may [you hear] “Come to Jesus just as you are.” Then may you have grace to reply –

“Just as I am – poor, wretched, blind,
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee I find,
   O Lamb of God, I come.”

(Spurgeon, ibid., p. 428).

Please stand and sing “Then Jesus Came.” It’s number 8 on your song sheet.

One sat alone beside the highway begging,
   His eyes were blind, the light he could not see.
He clutched his rags and shivered in the shadows
   Then Jesus came and bade his darkness flee.
When Jesus comes, the tempter’s power is broken;
   When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away,
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
   For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.

From home and friends the evil spirits drove him,
   Among the tombs he dwelt in misery;
He cut himself as demon powers possessed him,
   Then Jesus came and set the captive free.
When Jesus comes, the tempter’s power is broken;
   When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away,
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
   For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.

So men today have found the Saviour able,
   They could not conquer passion, lust and sin;
Their broken hearts had left them sad and lonely,
   Then Jesus came and dwelt, Himself, within.
When Jesus comes, the tempter’s power is broken;
   When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away,
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
   For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.
(“Then Jesus Came” by Dr. Oswald J. Smith, 1889-1986).

(END OF SERMON)
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Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Dr. Kreighton L. Chan: Luke 13:10-17.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“Then Jesus Came” (by Dr. Oswald J. Smith, 1889-1986).