Prayer and faith

Prayer, faith and binding and loosing.

How do our prayers and God’s sovereignty and will relate, and are we able to command apart from God’s will.

Prayer and faith.

The Prayer of Faith.

Matthew 7:7-12.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Prayer, faith and God’s foreknowledge.

1 Samuel 23:9-13.

When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” David said, “LORD, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? LORD, God of Israel, tell your servant.”

And the LORD said, “He will.” Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?”

And the LORD said, “They will.” So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there.

Prayer and faith.

Prayer, Faith and the Sovereignty of God.

Some Christians think that God has given us an unconditional promise in His revealed will.

They appeal to verses such as

John 14:13.

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Their prayers are very much like the one.

Mark 10:35.

“Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

This approach is common in the so-called “Name it, and Claim it” movement,

Prayer and faith.

Two disciples used the blank check approach.

Mark 10:35-40.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. Teacher, they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. What do you want me to do for you? he asked.

They replied, Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.

You don’t know what you are asking, Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? We can, they answered.

Jesus said to them, You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.

True prayer submits to God’s authority.

Prayers are “requests” not demands (Phil. 4:6)

Demanding things from God treats Him as our servant, not our sovereign. It whistles to Him as our bellhop, rather than submitting humbly to Him as our King.

Christians should be careful even in the use of imperative verbs when we pray.

It might be better if we used the word “please” in our prayers.

Manoah gave us a good example:

Judges 13:8,15.

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

Prayer and faith and the context of Scripture.

John 15:5-8.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

This is spoken in connection with “Bearing fruit”

That is making disciples.

Prayer and faith and the context of Scripture.

John 15:8,16.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples…. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

What do you think Jesus meant by bearing much fruit?

Genesis 1:27,28.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”

The Lord wants us to make Disciples.

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898)

George Mueller was a man of faith and miracles. Certainly he was one of the greatest prayer warriors of the past century.

His ministry was prospered because he trusted fully in God and he started a work that was born in his heart. During his ministry of 63 years, he supported missionaries, established the Scriptural Knowledge Institute in England, taught Sunday schools as well as day schools where teachers were Christian, distributed Bibles and religious tracts, and cared for orphans.

He was directly involved in the Christian instruction of 121,683 pupils. He distributed 281,652 Bibles, 1,448,662 New Testaments, 21,343 copies of the Book of Psalms, and 222,196 other portions of the Holy Scriptures.

He financially supported missionary operations in 26 different countries. He distributed 111,489,067 tracts/ booklets/ pamphlets, and was directly involved in the conversion of 2,813 orphans. He mastered 6 languages: French, German, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English.

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898)

Near the end of his life he affirmed that he had read the Bible through approximately

200 times, 100 of which was on his knees.

He found God's promises in the Bible and experienced the truth of them in his everyday life.

He learned to believe what he read and to act accordingly.

He learned to tell not man but God his needs and to believe God would supply them.

As long as Mueller saw to the careful distribution of money and supplies, God never failed in pouring in the needed materials. Mr. Mueller testified that in his lifetime 50,000 specific prayers were answered. Years before he died, about the middle of his career, he affirmed that up to that time 5000 of his definite prayers had been answered on the day of asking.

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898)

He made it a habit to keep a notebook with 2-page entries.

On one page he gave the petition and the date, and on the opposite page he entered the date of the answer. In this manner he was able to keep record of definite petitions, and their specific answers. He recommended this form to believers who desired specific results to their prayers. Thus there is no guesswork as to when God answers prayers. "…I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming. Thousands and tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. When once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes.

The Mueller's set off for the United States in August 1877 aboard the Sardian.

Off Newfoundland the weather turned cold and the ship's progress was seriously retarded by fog.

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898)

The captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when something happened which was to revolutionize his life. George Mueller appeared on the bridge. "Captain, I have come to tell you I must be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon.” "It is impossible," said the captain. "Very well, " said Mueller, "if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way--I have never broken an engagement for 52 years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray.” The Captain wondered which lunatic asylum Mueller had come from. "Mr. Mueller," he said, "do you know how dense this fog is?” "No, my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life."

Mueller then knelt down and prayed simply. When he had finished the captain was about to pray, but Mueller put his hand on his shoulder, and told him not to. "First, you do not believe He will' and second, I believe He has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.”

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898)

The captain looked at Mueller in amazement. "Captain," he continued, I have known my Lord for 52 years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog is gone.” The captain walked across to the door and opened it. The fog had lifted. It was the captain himself, who later told the story of this incident, and who was subsequently described by a well known evangelist as "one of the most devoted men I ever knew.”

During the last year of Mr. Mueller's life, among the gifts (for the feeding of the orphans) recorded were 7, 203 loaves of bread; 5,222 buns; 20 boxes of soap; 9 tons of coal; 26 haunches of venison; 112 rabbits; 312 pheasants; 5 bags of oatmeal; 26 cases of oranges; 5 boxes of dates and 4,013 pounds of meat along with hundreds of other items.

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898)

Additionally he had prayed for the financial needs of the orphan houses and had during the course of his lifetime received over 2 1/ 2 million dollars--always making his requests known only to God. All of these gifts were needed to help care for and feed the thousands of orphans under his careful wing. George Mueller was a living demonstration of the reality of the Scripture: Philippians 4:19. But my God shall supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. www.christianadoption.com/ goals/ mueller.htm; http://www.wholesomewords.org/ biography/ biorpmueller.html

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898)

Peter was released from prison by an Angel.

Acts 12:1-17.

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.

He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Peter was released from prison by an Angel.

Acts 12:1-17. (continued)

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. Quick, get up! he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, Put on your clothes and sandals. And Peter did so. Wrap your cloak around you and follow me, the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.

Peter was released from prison by an Angel.

Acts 12:1-17 (continued)

…….Then Peter came to himself …… he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, Peter is at the door! You’re out of your mind, they told her.

When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, It must be his angel. But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

Clearly they were praying, but their Faith was not great.

So it is not great faith in God so much as Faith in a great God that matters.

Peter was released from prison by an Angel.

Peter never wrote a book “How to get out of prison with Angel intervention”

At that point in time it was God’s will for Peter to be released and continue with the work that the Lord had for him, but the time would come when the prison doors would not open and Peter would be led off to his execution.

John the Baptist heralded Jesus as the Messiah.

John 1:29-34.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.

I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.

Then John gave this testimony: I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.

John the Baptist was left in prison to die.

Do you think that John prayed in prison?

Matthew 11:2.

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?

Jesus replied, Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.

John the Baptist was left in prison to die.

Do you think that John the Baptist had reason to be offended with Jesus for leaving him in prison?

Remember that Jesus read this out in the synagogue in Nazareth.

Isaiah 61:1.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…..

Setting the captives free.

Luke 4:16-21.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

John the Baptist was left in prison to die.

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see?

A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.

Then what did you go out to see?

A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

This is the one about whom it is written: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist;

What are you doing with God’s Word?

Are you using the Bible to try get God to do what you want?

Matthew 4:5,6.

This type of manipulation is not new, Satan used it in his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness when he said “it is written”.

Are you using the “it is written” line on God?

Does your “Theology” question God’s love?

Romans 8:35-39.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

There is an “It is written” to counter the self-centred Theology that is preached from some pulpits based on an “It is written”, but it’s your responsibility to get to know God’s Word.

John Huss was burnt at the stake and died singing a hymn.

The Logos and Rhema.

Rhema Wikipedia: An utterance or thing said.

Rhema is the revealed word of God as an utterance from God to the heart of the believer.

You read a scripture that perhaps you have read many times before and yet some how it suddenly takes on a new meaning and becomes alive to you.

Luke 4:29,30.

They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Here at Nazareth we see the protection Jesus enjoyed, but this scripture was not a Rhema at Gethsemane as the Father’s will was plainly shown after Jesus agonised in prayer.

Faith is not presumption.

“Promised a Miracle” is a true story.

Three days after Lucky Parker announced in church that her son’s diabetes had been cured by God, 11-year-old Wesley was dead. Because the Parkers threw Wesley’s insulin away, they were eventually convicted of involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse and put on probation.

These events took place 15 years ago in Barstow.

The TV film project is based on Larry Parker’s book, “We Let Our Son Die.” The Parkers themselves appear as extras.

“I’m proud of CBS for saying yes to this movie,” Arquette said. “This is an important story to tell.”

Faith is not presumption.

The Parkers agree, and they dedicated “We Let Our Son Die” “To our beloved son, Wesley, may his death not be in vain.” In the book, which was published in 1980, Parker wrote: “Wesley died needlessly, a victim of our imbalance and misuse of the Bible. . . . All healing comes from God--medicine, nature and prayer are methods by which He accomplishes it. . . . Ample evidence exists in the Bible for the cooperation between medicine and healing by faith.”

Faith is not presumption.

Luke 23:8-11.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.

Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him.

Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.

Faith is not positive confession.

If you have faith you will be positive, but positive confession is not faith.

Lamentations 3:37.

Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?

James 4:13-16.

Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Lack of Faith is one reason for unanswered prayer.

There are numerous other reasons

Idolatry - Jeremiah 11:11-14.

Disobedience - Ezekiel 8:15-18.

Un-repented sin - 1 Peter 3:8-12.

Neglect of mercy - Proverbs 21:13.

Selfish motives - James 4:2-3.

Self-righteousness - Luke 18:9-14.

Husbands disrespectful to their wives - 1 Peter 3:7.

Lack of persistence – Luke 18:1-7.

Unseen spiritual warfare - Daniel 10:10-14.

The Lucky charms like “Binding and loosing” - Matthew 16:18-19.

Prayer and Faith.

Doubt.

James 1:5-8. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Mark 9:23.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth.

Unanswered prayer.

Jeremiah 11:11.

Therefore thus says the LORD, Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.

1. Idolatry. (The idols of materialism)

Jeremiah 11:11-14.

Therefore thus says the LORD, Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.

Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster.

1. Idolatry. (The idol of self)

Jeremiah 11:11-14.

For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

2. Disobedience.

Ezekiel 8:15-18.

Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? ….Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.

Proverbs 28:9. If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.

2. Disobedience.

Zechariah 7:9-13.

They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.

So the Lord Almighty was very angry.

When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord Almighty.

Proverbs 1:28-29.

Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.

3. Un-repented sin.

Proverbs:1v24-28. Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord.

3. Un-repented sin.

Ps 66:16-20.

Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.

I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

3. Un-repented sin.

Isaiah 59:1,2.

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.

Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.

No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

3. Un-repented sin.

1 Peter 3:8-12.

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

4. Neglect of mercy.

Proverbs 21:13

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

4. Neglect of mercy.

Isaiah 1:15-20.

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

4. Neglect of mercy.

Zechariah 7:7-14.

And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: This is what the LORD Almighty said: Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.

Do not plot evil against each other. But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.

When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen, says the LORD Almighty.

5. Selfish motives: your own pleasures.

James 4:2-3.

You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

6. Self-righteousness.

Luke 18:9-14.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

7. Husbands been inconsiderate and disrespectful to their wives.

1 Peter 3:7.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

8. Lack of persistence.

Luke 18:1-7.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

He said: In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, Grant me justice against my adversary.

For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!

And the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

9. Unseen spiritual warfare. (Delayed answers)

Daniel 10:10-14.

A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you. And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

Then he continued, Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

Do not slander celestial beings.

Jude 8-10.

In the same way these dreamers pollute

their own bodies, reject authority and

slander celestial beings. But even the

archangel Michael, when he was

disputing with the devil about the body

of Moses, did not dare bring a slanderous

accusation against him, but said,

“The Lord rebuke you.” Yet these men

speak abusively against whatever they do not understand.

2 Peter 2:10-12.

Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.

10. Lucky charms and unscriptural practices like “Binding and loosing.”

Matthew 16:18-19.

But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Binding and loosing.

If “binding and loosing”, “pleading the blood” and all that type of thing were legitimate tools in our spiritual warfare and so effective, why didn’t the apostles ever use them?

You won’t find one instance with Peter or Paul or one of the apostles “pleading the blood” or “binding and loosing” and all these other strange things that Christians in modern spiritual warfare engage in.

They are not part of the weapons that are laid out in Ephesians 6 when it speaks about the armour of God.

Binding and loosing.

Matt 18:18. KJV

Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

NIV: “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

The NIV footnote indicates that

“will be bound” can also be translated “will have been bound”.

Both Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 use an unusual Greek verbal construction (a periphrastic future perfect).

It is best translated by the (New American Standard Bible):

Whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Binding and loosing is simply this.

So clearly the binding and loosing by God in heaven precedes the binding and loosing on earth by the church.

The church’s action on earth reflects God’s judgment in heaven. The church follows God, not the other way around.

The Pharisees used to bind and loose - they used to tell people that certain things were allowed and certain things were forbidden.

Simply put: just like the Pharisees used to bind and loose, Jesus gave the apostles authority to bind and loose. They never went around binding the devil or demons. The devil is roaming around seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8).

No spiritual ceremony that you or I do will stop that.

Binding and loosing is simply this.

What Jesus was doing was the following.

The church at that stage did not have complete Bibles.

You and I have got complete Bibles; the early church only had the Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets).

They didn’t yet have the New Testament and they were going into a new dispensation of grace, where some thought you could do as you please.

But no! Jesus said to the apostles:

“I give you authority, I give you the keys of the Kingdom, whatever you say is allowed, is allowed and whatever you say is forbidden, is forbidden.”

The apostles had the keys of the Kingdom to declare what is forbidden and what is allowed.

Binding and loosing.

They exercised this authority.

In Acts 15:28-29.

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.”

They were loosed from the law of circumcision and even more at a later stage.

You’ll find that when Paul exercises his Apostolic authority and looses the Church even more.

He writes to the Corinthian church he effectively says that if you are eating meat and you don’t know that it has been offered to an idol, then don’t worry about it.

Binding and loosing.

1 Cor 10:25-30.

Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, This has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake, the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

So as the church grew they were released from certain things, but initially the church was told that they were not allowed to eat meat offered to idols.

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