Luke 11:20-22

But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.

The strongman in the house is wrapped in armor. Have you ever watched any old movies where knights joust. They run horses at each other and with long lances they attempt to hit their target in a vulnerable place to knock him off the horse.

The strong man, the enemy of your soul is without a doubt well armored as Jesus points out in verses 21-22. However, the armor of the enemy is tied on with one cord. Only one cord to untie and you can cause his armor to drop to the ground. Any other attack that you try will fail because the enemy is completely secure.

The strand that holds his armor fast and which makes it impenetrable is the legality of his presence in the house that doesn’t belong to him. The enemy guards his place with the permission given to him to be there.

The moment that the permission for him to be present is denied, he has to leave. Tobiah was given permission to be in the Temple and that is exactly what he did and no one could stop him because the priest of the Temple gave him permission. When Nehemiah showed up the permission was denied and Tobiah had to go. No more Temple life for Tobiah.

The strong man stays in place and takes you down to the valley of Ono. (remember the valley that Nehemiah was invited to by Tobiah? Ne. 6) When permission is denied he has no grounds for staying.

Therefore, the strength of the strong man is the permission you give him to stay. That is his only strength. That is the strand, that is the cinch that holds all his armor together… permission… legal right to be where he is.

That’s right, like Eliashib the priest, the door has to be unlocked from the inside for Tobiah to come in your heart and an invitation has to have been extended for the strong man to be strong in you.

Don’t let this slip from you or confuse you. Jesus is talking about something that happens in every one of our lives. Just as the enemy of old wanted a seat in the Temple, so he wants a seat in your heart. He will never stop attempting to ruin your temple, that is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

How about saying to the Lord in this moment that you do not give permission for the enemy to have areas of your heart. And you can say that you agree with everything that the Bible teaches concerning, fear, pride, selfishness, doubt and forgiveness. Yes, when you agree with God the enemy has to flee. When you take another step to submit to God then the enemy may very well be gone for good. No matter how long he has been present, he has to go. The strength of the strongman is in the partnering you do with him.

Break the partnership through simple confession, “Jesus, you are right, I do need to forgive…” Watch the armor fall to the floor. Without his armor the enemy doesn’t stand a chance, He is completely vulnerable to the word of God enacted upon him.

However, in partnership with you, even the word of God won’t knock him out. That is why Jesus says that you have to first disarm the enemy – then you can reclaim what he has stolen from you.

Take a moment and think of the area that the enemy believes he owns in you. Tell him it’s not so! Go ahead, you might even feel lighter and better as a result. Listen, the power of the resurrected Jesus is with you. Jesus stands with you and has given you his name to use in situations just like this.

Jesus, I agree with you! I will forgive! I confess my pride or my fear.

Father, the power in your Son Jesus that you have given to us is staggering. We are blessed to be equipped with power and authority. All glory to you Jesus. Look what you have done for us. We declare that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow! Thank you Jesus for the victory that comes through your blood!
Blessings,

Pastor D