A Key for Spiritual Warfare

Now, this is in connection with the warfare of the kingdoms. It’s what I call the principle of the strong man. Jesus pictures a house with a strong man, a despot, a cruel ruler, who has in his house slaves, all sorts of stolen goods, but he’s got everything under his control. And it’s very difficult to go in and set his slaves free or steal—get back his plunder.

If you go in, all the time you’re trying to free his slaves, you’re fighting off the strong man, see? And you may end up wounded. So Jesus says that’s not the logical way to do it. The logical way is to begin by binding the strong man. Tie him up, put a gag in his mouth, then you can walk in and out at liberty and help yourself to what you need and set his captives free.