Friday 4 October 2019

Spiritual Keys


Scripture: Matthew 16 v 19: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven."

Revelation 1 v 18: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."


Many people believe that St. Peter controls who enters Heaven because Jesus gave him the keys to Heaven.  However, Jesus is the one who holds the keys to Hell and Death.  Peter received spiritual keys concerning the Christianity foundation statement that the Father had revealed to Peter - 'Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God'.

Upon the rock foundation of those words Jesus said He would build His church or His Body. The keys of binding and loosing, which is the way to Heaven, were given to Peter.  So what do spiritual keys do?

All sin has consequences and in Romans we learn that the wages of sin is death. Harming your body and mind with drugs, cigarettes or alcohol has consequences that will eventually lead to death. Fatal lung diseases, liver diseases, or brain malfunction like dementia are almost epidemics today. Jesus was sent by the Father to spare His children the torments of Hell, plus the torments of addiction and disease.

So binding and loosing are very important in the scheme of things. Whatsoever you bind on Earth is bound in Heaven. We need to discover through the gifts of the Holy Spirit what has got loose in our lives that is going to kill us eternally. It is always a demon. If its alcohol - most of us know how a wonderful person turns into a raging lunatic when the demon of alcohol is loosed inside. Or drugs.

Alcohol is even called spirits.  Each brand name comes from a demon.  A man and his family travelled hundreds of miles to my house one night for him to get free of alcoholism.  Nothing much happened until I asked him about his favourite drink.  He said RUM and all Hell broke loose.  He even ripped the fringe off my old carpet with his teeth!

He hotly denied it while his family had seen it all.  He even had bits of fringe between his teeth and was very embarrassed when he realised it.  However, he was free of the spirit of alcohol, particularly the spirit of rum.  There is an expression called rum behaviour, meaning bad or anti-social.  That is the demon of Rum's character or nature.

That demon needs to be bound. It is not the drug or alcohol that causes the problems it is the loss of self-control those substances bring into play.  The demons are no longer inhibited because drinking and drugging puts people under the influence. Their influence!!  

We bind a demon by speaking firmly and audibly, Demon of Alcohol, (Heroin, Marijuana, Cocaine, Rum, Brandy, Beer, Addiction, Meth, Lust, Porn or whatever their problem is), I bind you in the name of Jesus.  I loose this person from your control into the hands of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes you have to repeat this if the demon tries to resist, especially if you are amateurs it may try to fool you.  Keep going until you know it has left.  Jesus is right there with you, doing the binding and loosing.

I am reminded of the movie Jumanji.   Whoever was attracted to the sound of those jungle drums was being enticed by a demon.  The sound was supernatural.  Any Christian with the power of the Holy Spirit would bind the demon, and when they saw the box, the demon of Jumanji.  Those playing the game literally opened a Pandora's Box of every evil thing.  Everything that manifested out of that game was demonic, destructive, brought fear, corruption, death, disease and panic.  They should have burnt that game to stop anyone else being exposed to such horror.

This is exactly the way demons cause us to behave.  Some people would call this type of misbehaviour as "being in the moment"!  Or going with the flow.  Or acting out.  I have been in a store where a child is acting out, throwing an embarrassing tantrum to get its own way.  I have bound that demon quietly and seen the child return to normal and the surprised mother who was expecting a drawn out exhibition.

Born again Christians have the same keys that Peter was given to take authority over a demon and bind it. When a demon is bound on Earth it is bound in Heaven too. It is paralyzed and gagged and unable to do its evil work on its human host. In all realms it is visible in its paralyzed state. The demons in Hell tremble when saints using the authority of Jesus under the anointing of the Holy Spirit start setting captives free.

We need to realise that demons are not a figment of our imagination, or a random scary event.  They have an agenda for every human being, they are wily, cunning, clever, evil personalities.  They attach themselves to those who open occult or witchcraft doors through TV, especially programmes for young children that are magical and use visible power.  This is a tactic of the New Age people, who start with the very young to groom them through programmes like these to believe in occult power.  If the children have no exposure to Jesus Christ to counteract it, they may be lost forever.

Demons attach to people with a family history of bitterness and rejection, creating misfits in society that increases those feelings.  They stir up memories of hurts as if they happened yesterday.  They plague our minds with temptations, sinful pleasures, destructive thoughts of suicide and depression.  They keep psychiatrists busy.

The keys to loosing a human from demonic bondage is to minister to them to find out what the problem was that kick started their binge. What is the underlying horror they are trying to escape? When that is determined prayer and teaching are done to cleanse the soul of those experiences and memories to restore them to the path of righteousness. In Romans 12 v 1 - 2 we need to renew our minds according to the will of God. It is His will that we be free of demons and sinful behaviour. 

The disciples in Jesus' days on Earth were very excited that the demons were subject to them. Jesus warned them not to glory in it but to be thankful. When you first realise, as I did in the early 1980's, that your problems stem from something you can actually control and deal with it is very exciting. However you soon realize that it is hard work and when the person you want to help is not co-operating fully it is futile. The person in need should be desperate for help before you begin.

Derek Prince used to say if you are not desperate for deliverance then come back when you are. This is very true and helps not to waste time and energy on someone who is still waffling and undecided about wanting to be free. Parents may be desperate for their teenager to get off drugs or alcohol but if that teenager is still loving his drugs time then money is wasted trying to fix the problem in expensive rehab facilities.

We need to learn that we cannot heal a demon nor can we cast out a disease.  There are manifestations of demons that are called diseases like cancer, arthritis, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.  We have seen instant and permanent healing when those demons are bound and cast out.  It is a joy to behold.  There are deaf, dumb and blind spirits that Jesus cast out and saw those afflicted able to hear, speak and see normally.

We need to educate the person about the harm of drugs and alcohol, and expose them to how people become physically, mentally or emotionally diminished after years of substance abuse.   We use these as examples as most people are aware of these substances and unknowingly blame the person for being weak and irresponsible rather than seeing it as the behaviour of demons.

One woman brought her very drunk husband for prayer.  I asked him to say out loud the name of Jesus.  He kept repeating "I am drunk".  After twenty minutes he called on the name of Jesus.  He was thrown into a heap on the floor and lay as if dead.  His wife was crying.  After twenty minutes he stood up stone cold sober for the first time in four years, went home and poured every hidden bottle of alcohol down the sink and never touched another drop.  Jesus is our Deliverer.

When you understand how powerful a tool it is in the recovery of those bound by substances or witchcraft or occult involvement you will give praise and glory to Jesus for the sacrifice He made to bring Satan down so that we would be able to overcome these demons. In 40 years I have never met anyone who was completely free. I was my own guinea pig and learnt much about deliverance at the feet of Jesus. Not a day goes by when we are not engaged in spiritual warfare.

Prayer: Heavenly Father I was so ignorant about the life of the Holy Spirit. I bless and thank You for opening my eyes and setting me free. I pledged then and renew it now that I will delight to make the kingdoms of this world the Kingdoms of our God. Every place that we spiritually walk upon or overcome You have given to us to present to You when You return. Father stir up every buried talent and bring Your army of prayer warriors to use every gift of the Holy Spirit to overcome the enemy. In Jesus' name. Amen.