Years ago, a new teaching hit the church.
Binding and loosing.
Here's the text.
Matthew 16:15-20 (NKJV) He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ."
And here’s another.
Matthew 12:29
“Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.“
Many books have been written about "spiritual warfare" and the teaching of these things have become best sellers.
That whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.
As a young minister, sadly, I've gotten caught up in it too. I was foolish.
But if you're not a student of the rule of hermeneutics (Scripture interprets Scripture), it's easy to misunderstand the text and other related Scriptures.
If you look closely at the ministry of the Lord Jesus, we see that they only thing He's done with demons was cast them out of people. With Paul, we see that he cast a devil out of a young demon possessed girl, but what we don't see is an example of a believer using "authority" over demons over certain cities, towns, states, nations and so forth.
Many people misapply what happened with Daniel in terms of praying for an understanding of the vision in Daniel 10.
There's no question that the prince of Persia was a ruler of the darkness of this age, or spiritual wickedness in high places (see Ephesians 6:12) operating to prevent Gabriel from getting to Daniel. The kingdom of Babylon ends and the Medes and Persians comes into power. Then from the Persians to the Grecian Empire.
The purpose of the prince of Persia was to prevent the Grecian Empire from emerging.
Daniel 10:20-21 (NKJV) Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince."
The prince of Persia was in the way and Gabriel fought. What's perplexing is that "the prince of Greece will come."
The spiritual warfare is intense and man can't know or see what is happening.
Many people believe that our prayers affect the realm of the spirit and that if we weild prayer, they can be moved. But look at what Daniel prayed. He had no ideal what was going on in the realm of the spirit. He was completely oblivious to it.
They teach that if you fast and pray, you could move demon power. What about Esther? There's no record of God but they've fasted. Well, if you were a true student of fasting, you know that it's the affliction of the soul combined with sackcloth and ashes in repentance.
Remember, God has all power, He knows everything, and is everywhere at the same time.
Now when we're prompted by the Lord, we make our requests known to God (see Philippians 4:6).
We must understand that the transistions of government was in operation according to Daniel 2. We must understand that when transition of governments occur, it's a fulfillment of the Word and will of God which leads to the establishment of the eternal kingdom.
For 21 days Daniel prayed but we see no indication of Daniel "loosing" or "binding" demonic forces over regions.
What we do see is Michael coming to assist Gabriel so he could complete the assignment of giving Daniel strength and understanding.
What false teachers do is that they try to weave the OT into the NT and create a wind of doctrine and unstable and unskilled in the Word people fall for it.
The pattern of "binding and loosing" within context of Scripture has everything to do with Matthew 18:15-19 and John 20:23, and not with demon power. But you will argue that the Scripture says "whatever."
You should examine the book of Acts to see if a pattern of "binding and loosing" exists.
Don't you think it strange that when you see them teach "binding and loosing" improperly that you never see them on the streets where demon power is prevelent? It's always within houses of worship where a lot of "church folk" are.
Binding and loosing demonic power is a false teaching that must be first tested in tough places. You won't know it consistently work until you put it to the test.
If you don't test it, you can't be trusted.
And it must work 100% of the time without fail or excuse.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NKJV)
"Test all things; hold fast what is good."
But we have authority from Matthew 28:18.
"All power (authority) is given unto Me in heaven and in earth, go therefore....."
And they teach that if you're in Christ, you go in His name and authority....
To do what?
Mark 16:15-18 (NKJV) And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So I challenge you to put it to the test in tough places.
Preach the gospel to every creature.
Cast out devils.
Speak with new tongues.
Take up serpents.
If you drink any deadly thing it won't hurt you.
Lay hands on the sick and they will recover.
Don't put a few of these things to the test. Put them all to the test.
When it comes to demon power, you know what we do....right?
We scream at the top of our lungs to command demons to move out of homes, houses, governments, jobs, marriages, families, hospitals, and other places. But we don't see the Lord Jesus doing it except when a demon possessed person comes before Him or any of His disciples.
If you truly believe that it works, by all means, go to the toughest places on earth and test it out.
Don't run from a test.
If you haven't been tested in these 6 areas, you can't be trusted.
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