Matthew
12:28 Jesus said, “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom
of God is come unto you.” NVC: “But if I use the power of God’s Spirit to force
out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.”
What
challenge Jesus to quote this Scripture about cast out devils by the Spirit of
God? It all started with healing event: The man was possessed with a devil,
blind, and dumb (unable to talk) and Jesus healed the man so that he could both
speak and see. The people were amazed and believed that Jesus is the Son of
David, the Messiah. (Ref. Matt. 12:22-27))
But
when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said in their thoughts that Jesus
gets His power from Satan, the prince of demons, to cast out demons. Jesus knew
their thoughts and Jesus took the challenge and gave His wise answers. “If
Satan cast out Satan, his kingdom will not survive.” It means he can’t really
fight against himself.
Jesus
went on and said, “But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then
the Kingdom of God has arrived among you” (Matt. 12:28 NLT). “Or else, how can
one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil (take) his goods, except
he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil (take) his house”
(Matt. 12:29 KJV). NLT: “Let me illustrate this. You can’t enter a strong man’s
house and rob him without first tying
him up. Only then can his house be robbed!” Jesus gave the instruction
about the “bind” which means to tie up by force.
How
did Jesus build His church? From Matthew 16:18-19 what Jesus meant that He will
build His church through Peter’s preaching. It is through the Day of Pentecost
that Peter preached God’s Word that “bound”
the force of demons and through the moving of the Holy Spirit’s Presence
convicted the hearts of 3,000 people to accept Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior. Jesus meant that even
the gates of hell shall not be able to stop the preaching the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Jesus
gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter “to bind or to loose” (Matt.16:19).
Peter went to the house of Cornelius and
his preaching had already “bound”
the force of demons. While Peter was still speaking God’s Word, Holy Spirit
fell upon all those who heard the word and they spoke with tongues, and magnify
God (Acts 16:46).
This
was what Jesus had taught: First the Spirit of God in you to cast out the devils,
or bind the demons, or bind the strong man and then, only then would God’s
kingdom come which means God’s Presence moves among you and in you, to heal, to
deliver, to be filled with Holy Spirit, to encourage you, to talk to you and
whatever there is to loaded us with all benefits and be able to meet all our
needs.
Dorothy: You know. This is the
first time I see things clearly how powerful the Word of God “bind” the force
of demons so people’s eyes were opened to the gospel of truth that set them
free to accept Jesus Christ in their hearts. Actually, we could built several sermons or
devotions on “bind.” Amazing truth of our Lord Jesus Christ!
One
story I want to share this: When I was a speaker at the ladies retreat in the
state of Washington during the month of October 2002. I was preaching about the
“bind” of a strong man, the Warrior Demon on Saturday night. There was a picture of what it look like and I
instructed all the ladies who were standing together to sign with me. The deaf ladies and I “commanded that Warrior
Demon and all the forces of demons to leave the building and to go out to the
back door” that was open from the platform.
The
moment we, together spoke this “command,” all of us ladies could feel like the
“vacuum” that pulled the force of demons out through the open door. Immediately the power of the Holy Spirit came
down and the ladies that were standing fell back to their seats. God’s Spirit
was so powerful that many of them were delivered, healed and felt the freedom
in the Spirit of God. Their faces glowed
and they were so surprised to see how simple this was and we were so blessed
with God’s Spirit moved so freely among us.
Awesome grace of God!
This
was exactly what Jesus taught us that He gave us the keys of the kingdom of
heaven to us to “bind or loose” (Matthew 16:18-19). Let the Holy Spirit show
you how to use this Scripture for your personal needs and for your families and
for your friends. Really, the theme of “binding” is a big subject and there’s a
lot to cover on this. Right now, it is
all I could take for a very short Manna to feast on. So God richly bless you today!
.
Song: The Windows of
Heaven are Open
The
windows of heaven are open,
God’s
blessings are falling tonight.
There’s
joy, joy, joy in my heart,
Since
Jesus made everything right.
I
gave Him my old tattered garment,
He
gave me a robe of pure white;
I’m
feasting on MANNA from heaven,
And
that’s why I’m happy tonight.
(Inspiring
Choruses)
May
God bless you!
Dorothy
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