Breaking down and destroying strongholds
The Lost Are the Strong Man’s House
Jesus exposed the spiritual reality: Mark 3:27 “ No man can enter into a strong man’ s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. The “Strong man is Satan. His “goods” are the souls of men. Prayer binds him legally, enabling the Gospel to penetrate the heart with power and liberty.
In R.H. Dec 12, 1899 Art. A par. 1 we read: “By a parable Christ seeks to make known the subtlety and deceptive working of Satan, who holds the bodies and minds of men by his power. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace,” Christ says, “his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.”
Those who know not God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent, are under the rule of the enemy, in bondage to his will. He rules the mind and affections by his spirit. But Christ came into the world to dispute the claims of the enemy, and Satan was made to understand the meaning of the promise given in Eden: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
A stronger than the strong man armed was on the field of battle, one who could dispossess him of his weapons and limit his power. {RH, December 12,1899 par. 1}