In the matter of dealing with Satan and the demonic spirits, there are two extremes that must be avoided: One is denying the very existence and the influence of the evil spirits; the other extreme is attributing all our failures to Satan. A story is told of someone sitting in a street corner, covering himself
with a thick black blanket and sobbing. When a preacher, who was a passerby, lifted up the blanket and asked him why he was crying, he said, “I am Satan. The Christians in this locality do whatever they want, and finally blame it all on me.” The preacher is said to have assured him that he would point out this mistake to Christians and correct them!
Here’s what the Bible teaches about temptations and failures: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers” (Js 1:14-16). Our
own desires draw us away into temptation. When we yield to temptation, it becomes sin. When we persist and dwell in sin, it ultimately results in death. We understand from this passage that Satan can only tempt us as he tempted Jesus. He cannot defeat us without our cooperation.
Look at the first sin of our first parents. If Satan had been solely responsible for their sin, God need not have pronounced curses on Adam and Eve, isn’t it? Why should He have ever brought curses on Adam and Eve: the curse of hard work and painful labour? (Gen 3:16-19). A murderer cannot throw the blame on the spirit of murder. An adulterer cannot throw the blame on the spirit of lust. A thief cannot throw the blame on the spirit of covetousness. Each one must take moral responsibility for his own 3failures. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins” (Lk 11:4). This truth has to be clearly
kept in mind all the time.
There is another wrong practice that is prevailing in the so-called spiritual circles. It is binding Satan in prayer. Satan cannot be bound and we should not attempt to bind him. The Scripture that is normally quoted to support this practice is Matthew 16:19, the words of Jesus to Peter: “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.” This simply means exercising heavenly authority on earth, nothing more. God used Simon Peter to open the Kingdom of Heaven for Jews and non-Jews to enter it
in thousands. This has no reference to Satan. If, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven,” refers to binding of Satan, the question arises, “Is there Satan in Heaven?” Another text that is quoted to support this wrong practice is Matthew 18:17,18. This passage is about Church discipline. If the
erring individual refuses to listen to personal counseling, the matter, depending on its nature, must be brought to the Church. If he refuses to listen to the Church also, he must be treated as an outsider. Then Jesus went on to say, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” This simply means, God from Heaven would back up the
decision of His Church on earth that operates on Biblical principles.
This “binding and loosing” was a common judicial phrase in the Jewish culture. That’s the sense in which it’s used in Matthew 16 and 18. In Matthew 16, the reference was to evangelism. Jesus had asked the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?... Who do you say that I am?” Peter came up with a heavenly revelation: “You are Christ the Son of the living God!” Immediately Jesus said, “I am giving you the keys; now you can open up the doors of the Kingdom for the Jews and Gentiles alike. You can exercise Heavenly authority on earth.” The 18th chapter is not about evangelism for outsiders, but about discipline for insiders. When there is a regular indiscipline or misbehaviour on the part of a Christian, you can say, either “We forgive you” or “We excommunicate you.” Whatever you say as a Church will be endorsed by Heaven. That’s all.
Beloved, we can cast out demons (Mt 10:1,8), We must refuse to give place to the devil (Eph 4:27). We must resist the devil (Js 4:7). We are to watch against the devil (1 Pet 5:8). But we cannot arrest the devil! Do not cross the Biblical boundaries. It’s God’s will that the devil roams about freely on the face of the earth today. Jesus had many encounters with Satan. At the maximum He said, “Get behind me, Satan!” Nothing beyond that. The time when Satan would be bound is not now. It will be during the Millennium. See Revelation 20:1-3, “I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that Serpent of old who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a 1000 years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the 1000 years were finished. But after these things he must be released for little while.” If you bind Satan today, you cannot
cast him out; you will have to only carry him away!
In prayer we address God, not Satan. Jesus called His experience in Gethsemane as the “hour and power of darkness” (Lk 22:53). He simply resorted to prayer in reverential fear unto His Father (Heb 5:7,8). In a sense, on the Cross, the Lord has already bound Satan the strong man. “Having disarmed
principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col 2:15). It was by disarming Satan that Jesus defeated him on the Cross. Jesus the “stronger man” bound the “strong man” (Lk 11:20-22). It’s because of this victory that today we are able to release Satan’s captives
and bring them into the Kingdom of God.
Don’t try to “banish” Satan either. God has let him to be here around. He is to be thrown into the “bottomless pit” during the Millennium only (Rev 20:1-3). And don’t try to “burn” Satan. That is not your job. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 tells us when that will be done. “And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” If there was no need for Satan to be here today on the earth, God would have fried him years and years ago!
Don’t ever “blaspheme” or curse Satan. Referring to false teachers, Apostle Jude writes, “These dreamers...speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the Archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, The Lord
rebuke you!” (Jude 8,9). Even as the Archangel remained cautious, we are to. Don’t ever cross the limits and get into unnecessary trouble.
Folks quote Daniel’s prayer as their supporting illustration for binding or banishing Satan (Dan 9,10). Daniel prayed and was heard up in Heaven. But the answer to his prayer was delayed. He did not address the King of Persia. He kept on praying and waited in the presence of the Lord. God dealt with the King of Persia through an angel. Daniel did not cry aloud and say, “O, you, King of Persia, come down! Give way for the answer to my prayer to reach me.” That’s not what he prayed. He kept on praying, “O Lord... O Lord... O Lord” (Dan 9:19).
Beloved, let’s stick to the Biblical pattern. Be God-conscious, not devil-conscious, in prayer. We have the Throne of Grace open for us (Heb 4:16). The blood of Christ is sprinkled for us (Heb 10:19- 22). The Heavenly Advocate is pleading for us (1 Jn 2:1). He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 Jn 4:4). Think on these things. In the name of spirituality, oftentimes the devil distracts us from Biblical teaching and we are not aware that we are deceived. It is important that we are spiritual, but it’s even more necessary that we stay Scriptural.
with a thick black blanket and sobbing. When a preacher, who was a passerby, lifted up the blanket and asked him why he was crying, he said, “I am Satan. The Christians in this locality do whatever they want, and finally blame it all on me.” The preacher is said to have assured him that he would point out this mistake to Christians and correct them!
Here’s what the Bible teaches about temptations and failures: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers” (Js 1:14-16). Our
own desires draw us away into temptation. When we yield to temptation, it becomes sin. When we persist and dwell in sin, it ultimately results in death. We understand from this passage that Satan can only tempt us as he tempted Jesus. He cannot defeat us without our cooperation.
Look at the first sin of our first parents. If Satan had been solely responsible for their sin, God need not have pronounced curses on Adam and Eve, isn’t it? Why should He have ever brought curses on Adam and Eve: the curse of hard work and painful labour? (Gen 3:16-19). A murderer cannot throw the blame on the spirit of murder. An adulterer cannot throw the blame on the spirit of lust. A thief cannot throw the blame on the spirit of covetousness. Each one must take moral responsibility for his own 3failures. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins” (Lk 11:4). This truth has to be clearly
kept in mind all the time.
There is another wrong practice that is prevailing in the so-called spiritual circles. It is binding Satan in prayer. Satan cannot be bound and we should not attempt to bind him. The Scripture that is normally quoted to support this practice is Matthew 16:19, the words of Jesus to Peter: “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.” This simply means exercising heavenly authority on earth, nothing more. God used Simon Peter to open the Kingdom of Heaven for Jews and non-Jews to enter it
in thousands. This has no reference to Satan. If, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven,” refers to binding of Satan, the question arises, “Is there Satan in Heaven?” Another text that is quoted to support this wrong practice is Matthew 18:17,18. This passage is about Church discipline. If the
erring individual refuses to listen to personal counseling, the matter, depending on its nature, must be brought to the Church. If he refuses to listen to the Church also, he must be treated as an outsider. Then Jesus went on to say, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” This simply means, God from Heaven would back up the
decision of His Church on earth that operates on Biblical principles.
This “binding and loosing” was a common judicial phrase in the Jewish culture. That’s the sense in which it’s used in Matthew 16 and 18. In Matthew 16, the reference was to evangelism. Jesus had asked the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?... Who do you say that I am?” Peter came up with a heavenly revelation: “You are Christ the Son of the living God!” Immediately Jesus said, “I am giving you the keys; now you can open up the doors of the Kingdom for the Jews and Gentiles alike. You can exercise Heavenly authority on earth.” The 18th chapter is not about evangelism for outsiders, but about discipline for insiders. When there is a regular indiscipline or misbehaviour on the part of a Christian, you can say, either “We forgive you” or “We excommunicate you.” Whatever you say as a Church will be endorsed by Heaven. That’s all.
Beloved, we can cast out demons (Mt 10:1,8), We must refuse to give place to the devil (Eph 4:27). We must resist the devil (Js 4:7). We are to watch against the devil (1 Pet 5:8). But we cannot arrest the devil! Do not cross the Biblical boundaries. It’s God’s will that the devil roams about freely on the face of the earth today. Jesus had many encounters with Satan. At the maximum He said, “Get behind me, Satan!” Nothing beyond that. The time when Satan would be bound is not now. It will be during the Millennium. See Revelation 20:1-3, “I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that Serpent of old who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a 1000 years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the 1000 years were finished. But after these things he must be released for little while.” If you bind Satan today, you cannot
cast him out; you will have to only carry him away!
In prayer we address God, not Satan. Jesus called His experience in Gethsemane as the “hour and power of darkness” (Lk 22:53). He simply resorted to prayer in reverential fear unto His Father (Heb 5:7,8). In a sense, on the Cross, the Lord has already bound Satan the strong man. “Having disarmed
principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col 2:15). It was by disarming Satan that Jesus defeated him on the Cross. Jesus the “stronger man” bound the “strong man” (Lk 11:20-22). It’s because of this victory that today we are able to release Satan’s captives
and bring them into the Kingdom of God.
Don’t try to “banish” Satan either. God has let him to be here around. He is to be thrown into the “bottomless pit” during the Millennium only (Rev 20:1-3). And don’t try to “burn” Satan. That is not your job. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 tells us when that will be done. “And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” If there was no need for Satan to be here today on the earth, God would have fried him years and years ago!
Don’t ever “blaspheme” or curse Satan. Referring to false teachers, Apostle Jude writes, “These dreamers...speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the Archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, The Lord
rebuke you!” (Jude 8,9). Even as the Archangel remained cautious, we are to. Don’t ever cross the limits and get into unnecessary trouble.
Folks quote Daniel’s prayer as their supporting illustration for binding or banishing Satan (Dan 9,10). Daniel prayed and was heard up in Heaven. But the answer to his prayer was delayed. He did not address the King of Persia. He kept on praying and waited in the presence of the Lord. God dealt with the King of Persia through an angel. Daniel did not cry aloud and say, “O, you, King of Persia, come down! Give way for the answer to my prayer to reach me.” That’s not what he prayed. He kept on praying, “O Lord... O Lord... O Lord” (Dan 9:19).
Beloved, let’s stick to the Biblical pattern. Be God-conscious, not devil-conscious, in prayer. We have the Throne of Grace open for us (Heb 4:16). The blood of Christ is sprinkled for us (Heb 10:19- 22). The Heavenly Advocate is pleading for us (1 Jn 2:1). He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 Jn 4:4). Think on these things. In the name of spirituality, oftentimes the devil distracts us from Biblical teaching and we are not aware that we are deceived. It is important that we are spiritual, but it’s even more necessary that we stay Scriptural.
No comments:
Post a Comment