We are going to enter what a popular news commentator coined as a famous phrase for the introduction of his TV show, "You are now entering a no spin zone." In other words, nothing but the truth and facts will be allowed to set forth the topic in which we are about to cover. This means it will not be presented with the biased slant of any cleaver human notion; but only from the interpretation of the Holy Spirit as He inspired it to say in it's original form. I pray this most needful and in-depth teaching which required a rather lengthy writing in order to open up its meaning will not find its way into the delete box. There are many things we allow to hold our attention in our fast and busy schedules that we call worthwhile. I truly hope this word will be one of those.

 

This past Sunday I presented my congregation with a message on a very familiar passage that most Christians have either heard or read since being a believer. There have been a great deal of interpretations of this Scripture which most of them by the way miss the mark in conjunction to how harmoniously the Bible should flow without confusion if we are listening to the Holy Spirit. Let's read our beginning text and proceed to receive a life changing revelation.

 

Matthew 16:19 (KJV)
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

We must acknowledge that these keys that our Lord is speaking of in this passage belong exclusively to the believer in Christ. These are obvious keys that enable every believer to operate within the realm of the spirit world, yet much of what is extracted from this passage is clearly wrong and breeds confusion rather than deliverance. Let me substantiate this teaching by looking through the Word as we look at some of the actions and methods people use in spiritual warfare. Now, I have heard of many uses of binding and loosing over the many years of being a Christian, and have discovered that most are not Scriptural in their origin; therefore, they do not accomplish much, if anything for the person that is in need. They just often give these want-to-be ministers something to do that makes them feel spiritually important and gives them a sense of control over others that are vulnerable. Case in point: these promote their ministries as being a deliverance ministry when actually they are just needing to control others to feed their own insecurity. Now, obviously there are some very solid ministries out there that are actually getting people free that idebtify themselves as a deliverance ministry and I guarantee you the successful results is because they get people to acknowledge the truth of God's Word more than getting them to jump through devil hoops. I am not trying to sound mean and ugly here, but I do think it's high time that we start addressing some of these false presentations that are doing more harm than good to the people who are stuck in life.

 

One of the approaches that is often applied from our Scripture above is through initiating that you must bind up the devil before you can be loosed, or the individual they are seeking to help get delivered. I have even seen people binding devils off of furniture, buildings, and all sorts of other physical things; and even heard of those who drove around cities binding up all evil activity from that particular city. I have witnessed people actually waving swords in church services imitating that they were doing spiritual warfare against demonic spirits. It's here that I fully understand why so many would be believer's, think that Christians are very strange people indeed, and therefore, they choose to avoid such foolishness and never accept God as a serious true way of life.

 

We are instructed from the Word of God that we wrestle not with flesh and blood; but against principalities, against powers. against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, what is most interpreted from this Scripture is fighting and wrestling these demonic forces with every kind of outward display that you can imagine. If this is what the Bible is saying here, then why is it that these so called spiritual warfare tactics that are often being used, doing so little? I believe it is because we are fighting with the wrong weaponry. I have studied the Word of God deeply on many of these subjects over the years and I must tell you that I keep finding the same theme throughout the Bible which is that the truth is what keeps our adversary in his defeated position. Not our spiritual exercises and physical efforts.

 

When this Word we paraphrased above (Ephesians 6:12) says we wrestle against the list of things noted: it does not mean with the physical and human applications; it simply means that we are to fight the good fight of faith. And God called this fight a good fight. Why? Because it has everything to do with receiving what God gave you. There is where the battle lies. In the mind, and if left in a carnal state it remains enemity against God's principles even though you are a Christian and gives access to these principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. When this happens then you will scratch and fight and wrestle with all the might of your flesh and with its emotions to no avail against your adversary the devil. So, essentially what you are fighting is to get your faith appropriated on the right things which the Word clarifies comes through hearing and hearing the Word of God. Whereas, the devil works to keep you trusting in the limiting natural laws of this world where we are seized with doubt and unbelief. However, if you put your faith in the truth of God's Word then your faith in the truth will shut down these dark and evil forces. Let's look at this next passage from the book of Mark and see something that can possibly help us to see this, hopefully.

 

Mark 5:1-5 (KJV)
1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 

This account that we just read gives a rather truthful diagnosis of the foolishness of trying to use human ability to free a person who is spiritually bound. Their attempts to place this demoniac man in chains and shackles was useless in keeping him under control because his strength was influenced from the dark side of the world. This would equate as being the same to our day when we use psychology, medicine, and any other types of human treatment that we often seek out to help us through our troubles, or helping others who are under demonic influences. These supposedly remedies are limited in what they can do and cannot fully set a person free. In verse three it reveals the uselessness of trying to put shackles and chains on a demonic stronghold. These shackles and chains simply symbolize the tools of human and worldly inventions, earthly wisdom and ideas that are used to combat these evil spirits. It cannot be done. I want to share with you a real life story in hopes to make some sense out of what I am trying to convey here in this teaching.

 

Back in 1993, my home church was part of a major revival that broke out in Ft. Worth, Texas that was incredibly life changing. But like always the enemy comes along with a counterfeit to sow confusion where he can, to frustrate the true things of God. One particular night while we were holding meetings at our church where I was responsible for making sure that administratively everything was secure and safe around the premises so the meetings could flow smoothly without any problems. At that time I was the associate pastor in my home church and was accountable to my pastor to help him in his ministry. While my pastor was ministering that night I felt a strong sense that I needed to get up and walk down to the basement of the church. To my surprise, I walked in on three people I had never seen before in my life trying to cast a devil out of a person that had come to the meetings seeking help. I had learned later that these three people promoted themselves as having a deliverance ministry in the area.

 

Now here is the strange part of this story that I want to use to explain some things that we are talking about in this devotional. The Holy Spirit rose up in me so strongly that I got angry at the nerve of these folks who our ministry did not know from Adam, but had the audacity to use our assembly as an opportunity to advance their own work. Needless to say, I was upset because they had taken someone that had entrusted themselves to our ministry care, and they took them to an isolated room within our building so they could operate in their self appointed ministry. When I approached them and confronted what they were doing, it was as if I were watching some Hollywood horror movie unfold before my eyes. Their countenance changed into terror and they took off running upstairs and outside the building. I found two of them hiding in the bushes next to the church building.

 

I know some of you reading this are probably laughing about right now, but I kid you not this is what happened. The third person I never saw again. The point is, I end up ministering the truth of God's Word to these two self-professed ministers of deliverance for over the span of an hour, and freed them from the devils that were driving them in their own error. I essentially cast devils out of those who were supposedly attempting to free someone else. This is the reason ministries are picky about who is ministering to the people because without knowing who they are personally, they could possibly be imparting some wrong spirit or an error filled ministry to someone; and that should matter to church leadership. My friends, there is more power in the Truth of God's Word that will bring victory everytime in a person's life if they will receive it, then all the human ability and effort combined.

 

Therefore, when we look at the truth about binding and loosing from the holy Scriptures we need to grasp the true meaning so as to benefit from it. If we look at the word bind in a word study we will find that in the Greek it forms the idea: to bind together, to be in bonds, knit together, to tie together (Strong's Greek & Hebrew Dictionary). Therefore, when we look at having the keys to bind on earth we need to know what this application truly means. According to the correct word meaning, if I am binding the devil then I am tying myself to the devil in thought and action; that's not freedom that is to be entangled with him on his terms. In light of this, I want you to fully understand that Jesus Christ our Lord has defeated Satan and his armies: do you agree that this is a correct assessment of Scripture? Well, let's read on then. 

 

Ephesians 1:20-23 (KJV)

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. 

Here we find that the church, which is you and I who are believers, are the actual body of Christ referred to in this passage above. Notice how it reads in verse 23, then look at verse 22 and read how it says unconditionally that God the Father has put all things under Jesus' feet and has given Him to be the head over all things to the church, His body. Therefore, we being His body have all the works of darkness under our feet. Period! No wrestling with demonic spirits is needed if the believer recognizes that our adversary is defeated and is no longer a threat simply because of the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord. However, this does not nullify the devils attempts to get you or me to believe otherwise. This is why you must know who you are in Christ. This is why it is imperative that you know the truth of God's Word, and when you know that truth it will set you free and keep you free.