Tuesday 7 February 2017

Bind the Strong Man


Scripture: Mark 3 v 26-27: ""And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 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."

Luke 11 v 18 - 20: "If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.
19  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.
20  But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Over the nearly 40 years of this ministry I have learned that many people are bound or oppressed by evil spirits, which manifest in bizarre behaviour, addictions, suicide, murder, religious extremism or nightmares, eating disorders, and sexual abnormalities.  These demons also manifest in diseases or afflictions like blindness, deafness or plagues.

Satan is the God of this world and hides in the shadows of fantasy so our God gets blamed for the calamities and tragedies the devil orchestrates.  His superstorms, tsunamis, financial crises, plagues always grab headlines and cause many deaths.  That is his modus operandi and to survive we must outwit him and overcome him.

When we pray we need to intelligently consider our plan. We need to be guided by the Holy Spirit into the correct way to deal with every situation. Many prayers go unanswered because we pray amiss according to James.  The Lord will help us very much as He desires us to stop being passive and fight back against the enemy.

We need the gifts of the Holy Spirit to bring our focus onto the real underlying issues. We need the gift of discerning of spirits of good and evil. To obtain these gifts we must be born again Christians, baptised in water and thereafter, baptised in the Holy Spirit.

This gift of discerning of spirits reveals if the problem is caused by an evil or unclean spirit, or demon. The carnal person would refer to this as "feeling a bad vibe!"  A demon is a disembodied spirit that seeks a body of flesh through which to manifest its nature.

A demon of hate in a person will exhibit tendencies like racial hatred.  Think about all the types of racial division and hatred you have witnessed.  The cause of all of it is Satan and his demons.  Not all the wise men nor governments of this world can stop racial  hatred but the love of Jesus can.  We must bind the strong man and spoil (or destroy) the goods in His house i.e. all his evil plans and intentions.

We need more information than that to deal with a wily, deceitful foe who is troubling our nation, city, business, church or family with sickness or poverty or hate crimes.

Speaking in tongues bypasses our limited understanding and enters into the depths of the mind of Christ who knows all things. Revelations, wisdom and knowledge bubble to the surface in our minds and the answers are very clear.  He will give us the name of a demon that is a strongman.  

If gangsters fuelled by music and lyrics that incite violence are loose in your environment, Jesus may give you a scripture like Daniel 3 v 9 - 10: "They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:"

Jesus wants you to bind a strongman - a king - called Nebuchadnezzar who used idolatry and music to control people.  Jesus may give you a vision which you should pray to make changes in what He is showing you.

When we are under attack from an unseen enemy this spiritual information is priceless. It will reveal the "strong man" or ruling spirit. The spirit from hell that is controlling the situation which is going from bad to worse.

He has evil spirits under his authority who stir up trouble and confusion. These things begin when you are starting out in the ministry. The enemy wants to discourage you before you become a problem to him. Jesus did not say your ministry would be trouble free. He said He would be there to get you out of trouble. 

You may identify the spirit of Bitterness as the strong man in your situation. He controls things that will cause bitterness and unforgiveness in your life because he knows that such response within you will cause distance between God and you. Mark 11 - Unless you forgive, I will not forgive you - says the Father.

To bind this strong man you therefore need first to repent and forgive those who have hurt you. This disarms or neutralises the evil spirit of Bitterness. You then rebuke (condemn) him and bind (paralyze) him in Jesus' name. Pray further to rebuke any underlings that are harassing you and command them all to go back to the pit of hell.  Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with all His goodness and love so there is no place for further sneak attacks.

In Hosea it says "My people perish for lack of knowledge" and sadly its true. Jesus died that we may know the truth and the truth shall set us free. At the beginning of the chapter on the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) Paul writes, "My brethren I would not have you ignorant concerning spiritual gifts."

Used with wisdom and under the control of the Spirit they form an arsenal the enemy has no answer for. After years of continual use the gifts flow powerfully in your life. Many of you will have parcels under the tree for your family at Christmas. How would you feel if no-one opened their gifts or ever used them?

How do you think Our Father feels when He sees calamity befall us and hinder us when it could have been avoided or fixed using the gifts He gave us. My people perish from lack of knowledge.

There are many Strong Men of demonic origin that need to be bound.  Work with Jesus and let Him guide you so that you may bind that strong man and set people free.  Jesus loves you and wants you to be free to enjoy His abundant blessings.  The enemy wants to steal every blessing and render you impotent.  If a thief was stealing your wallet would you not challenge him and if you could, restrain him? You must do the same to Satan and his demons over whom you have the same authority Jesus had.  I say had because He has it no longer! He gave all power and authority to us.

He laughs when you ask Him to remove a demon from your life! Command that thing to leave you. Bind and rebuke it in My name.  Reject it and resist it, it will flee from you.  Don't throw Bibles at it or holy water, just cast it out in My name says Jesus.

Prayer: Heavenly Father forgive us for spurning or neglecting Your precious gifts that are given to give us the edge over our enemies. We need all the help we can get. Teach us to use Your gifts wisely to bind the strong man sent to destroy us. Let's turn the tables on him. In Jesus' name. Amen.