Comments on: A “BIND” A DAY KEEPS SATAN AWAY http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/ Dissecting Christian trends. Posting Monday,Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:52:09 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Ted Kobernick http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-3271 Ted Kobernick Fri, 07 May 2010 16:08:12 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-3271 OK, Junkster! The context of the passage in Mark 3 is that Jesus is telling the teachers of the law (who accuse him of having power over Satan because he is in cahoots with Satan) that Satan does not kick out Satan. As far as binding the "strong man," Jesus is not teaching a new doctrine, so much as pointing out the obvious. As to whether we can or should "bind" Satan, consider thoughtfully the episode recorded in Mark 9:14-29. Pertinent to our discussion -- 1) The disciples could not drive out the evil spirit. 2) Jesus, seeing their failure, was pretty upset: "O unbelieving generation, ... how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?" 3) Jesus ejected the evil spirit and forbade it ever to return. 4) Evidently Jesus had expected his disciples to do what he actually did. (See John 14:12 "anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.") 5) Jesus told his disciples that this devil could be driven out "only by prayer." 6) Jesus said "This kind" of evil spirit -- indicating that there are evil spirits more easily dealt with. Of course, there are evil spirits even more difficult to deal with. (In the tenth chapter of Daniel,a messenger arrives from God tells Daniel that his coming had been delayed twenty-one days by the "Prince of the Persian kingdom," and that he had defeated that prince only with the aid of Michael) THE FAILED ATTEMPT TO "BIND" SATAN REMINDS ME OF THE EVENT RECORDED IN ACTS 9:13-17. Here, the seven sons of Sceva were evidently successful in "driving out evil spirits." But when they tried to invoke the name of Jesus, the evil spirit they sought to exorcise told them he knew Jesus, and he knew about Paul, "but who are you?" Thereupon the possessed man whupped on them, "overpowered them all" and drove them from the house "naked and bleeding." MORE TO THE POINT: In Mark's testimony of the Great Commission, Jesus says that among the "signs" accompanying believers is that they "will drive out demons" in Jesus' name. I can personally testify that this remains true today. However, there is no power in a reference to the name of Jesus, unless the person confronting the demon really has faith in Jesus. And it's a good idea to be "prayed up." It's also beneficial if we can combine together -- but only with other Christians of great faith. Be sure that no merely verbal formula will be effective. It is my opinion that it is not possible to drive out evil spirits from a person who embraces those spirits. God's kingdom does not grow by coercing people into it. My considered opinion is that it's possible, sometimes necessary, to temporalily "bind" Satan, to prevent being the victim of what happened to the sons of Sceva. THE FINAL WORD: These are spiritual matters, and therefore do not follow a legalistic formula. Don't forget that casting out demons is a "sign." The success points to Jesus. We like to think of "spiritual warfare" as running around casting out Satan, and suchlike. But before you engage in that activity, regard carefully 2 Corinthians 10:4 & 5. I believe that the "strongholds" we demolish are first of all OUR OWN thoughts. When we abide fully in Jesus, then we will exercise his spiritual power. God bless you. OK, Junkster!
The context of the passage in Mark 3 is that Jesus is telling the teachers of the law (who accuse him of having power over Satan because he is in cahoots with Satan) that Satan does not kick out Satan. As far as binding the “strong man,” Jesus is not teaching a new doctrine, so much as pointing out the obvious.
As to whether we can or should “bind” Satan, consider thoughtfully the episode recorded in Mark 9:14-29. Pertinent to our discussion –
1) The disciples could not drive out the evil spirit.
2) Jesus, seeing their failure, was pretty upset: “O unbelieving generation, … how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?”
3) Jesus ejected the evil spirit and forbade it ever to return.
4) Evidently Jesus had expected his disciples to do what he actually did. (See John 14:12 “anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”)
5) Jesus told his disciples that this devil could be driven out “only by prayer.”
6) Jesus said “This kind” of evil spirit — indicating that there are evil spirits more easily dealt with. Of course, there are evil spirits even more difficult to deal with. (In the tenth chapter of Daniel,a messenger arrives from God tells Daniel that his coming had been delayed twenty-one days by the “Prince of the Persian kingdom,” and that he had defeated that prince only with the aid of Michael)
THE FAILED ATTEMPT TO “BIND” SATAN REMINDS ME OF THE EVENT RECORDED IN ACTS 9:13-17. Here, the seven sons of Sceva were evidently successful in “driving out evil spirits.” But when they tried to invoke the name of Jesus, the evil spirit they sought to exorcise told them he knew Jesus, and he knew about Paul, “but who are you?” Thereupon the possessed man whupped on them, “overpowered them all” and drove them from the house “naked and bleeding.”
MORE TO THE POINT: In Mark’s testimony of the Great Commission, Jesus says that among the “signs” accompanying believers is that they “will drive out demons” in Jesus’ name. I can personally testify that this remains true today. However, there is no power in a reference to the name of Jesus, unless the person confronting the demon really has faith in Jesus. And it’s a good idea to be “prayed up.” It’s also beneficial if we can combine together — but only with other Christians of great faith. Be sure that no merely verbal formula will be effective.
It is my opinion that it is not possible to drive out evil spirits from a person who embraces those spirits. God’s kingdom does not grow by coercing people into it. My considered opinion is that it’s possible, sometimes necessary, to temporalily “bind” Satan, to prevent being the victim of what happened to the sons of Sceva.
THE FINAL WORD: These are spiritual matters, and therefore do not follow a legalistic formula. Don’t forget that casting out demons is a “sign.” The success points to Jesus. We like to think of “spiritual warfare” as running around casting out Satan, and suchlike. But before you engage in that activity, regard carefully 2 Corinthians 10:4 & 5. I believe that the “strongholds” we demolish are first of all OUR OWN thoughts. When we abide fully in Jesus, then we will exercise his spiritual power.
God bless you.

]]> By: Ted Kobernick http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-3266 Ted Kobernick Fri, 07 May 2010 15:00:51 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-3266 Hello, Lydia. For us, it was not a preacher. It was the adult Sunday School Class. Almost all of us are over the age of fifty. In the interest of increasing participation, the adult ministries pastor rotates teachers, from among class members. For well over a year we sat through some incompetent teaching -- from persons who didn't know the Bible very well. We did participate, and from time to time I taught. The folks in the class are lovely, and most are committed Christians. We enjoyed the fellowship, enjoyed the hymns and prayer; as for the "teaching", sometimes benefited from it, mostly endured it. The straw that broke the camel's back came during a lesson on the five wise and five foolish virgins. Can you believe it, the class was actually led into a discussion about the lamps: were they clay, or brass? My wife began to get up to leave. I put my hand on her arm, and she stayed. But we could not bring ourselves to return. It isn't just that it's a waste of time. It's a travesty of "teaching" the word of God that we need to guide our lives. I'm adding to your comments in the hope that someone who preaches or teaches will be cautioned against losing sight of what God is saying to his people. Hello, Lydia.
For us, it was not a preacher. It was the adult Sunday School Class. Almost all of us are over the age of fifty. In the interest of increasing participation, the adult ministries pastor rotates teachers, from among class members. For well over a year we sat through some incompetent teaching — from persons who didn’t know the Bible very well. We did participate, and from time to time I taught. The folks in the class are lovely, and most are committed Christians.
We enjoyed the fellowship, enjoyed the hymns and prayer; as for the “teaching”, sometimes benefited from it, mostly endured it. The straw that broke the camel’s back came during a lesson on the five wise and five foolish virgins. Can you believe it, the class was actually led into a discussion about the lamps: were they clay, or brass? My wife began to get up to leave. I put my hand on her arm, and she stayed. But we could not bring ourselves to return. It isn’t just that it’s a waste of time. It’s a travesty of “teaching” the word of God that we need to guide our lives.
I’m adding to your comments in the hope that someone who preaches or teaches will be cautioned against losing sight of what God is saying to his people.

]]> By: dee http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2988 dee Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:37:42 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2988 Hmmm, I said defat the evil one instead of defeat....sounds rather interesting that way. Hmmm, I said defat the evil one instead of defeat….sounds rather interesting that way.

]]> By: Junkster http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2987 Junkster Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:33:51 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2987 Good and thoughtful response. Thanks! :) Good and thoughtful response. Thanks! :)

]]> By: dee http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2975 dee Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:21:34 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2975 Junkster Sorry for this seriously belated reply. I have been traveling and will be doing so for the next few weeks.I am getting a bit behind. 1. There is no reference here as to how to "tie up" the strong man. Since the binding passage in Matthew 18, does not refer to this sort of "binding" I think it would be helpful to go to Scripture for a better way to defeat Satan. To my way of thinking, Ephesians 6:11 and following fits the bill.We are admonished to put on the full armor of God to defat the eveil one. Also, Jesus tells Peter, when Peter famously confessed Jesus as the Christ, that "upon this rock I will build my church and the very gates of hell will stand against it." I look at this passage as telling the church to go pound on the gates of hell and break them down, bringing the God News into the utter darkness. In order to do so, we need to be fully armed and Ephesians 6 lets us know what that consists of. 2. I am afraid that I will have to yield this one to equip.org. I really like this interpretation and have provided a link for further explanation. "Much of the confusion that exists over spiritual warfare arises from taking Bible passages that have a limited application and treating them as if they have no limits. The Bible does say that Christ has unlimited authority over demons, and He gave His disciples the specific authority to cast demons out of possessed individuals and to overcome any other manifestations of the Evil One they might encounter in the work of preaching the Gospel (Matt. 10:1; Mark 3:13–15; Luke 10:17–20; cf. Acts 13:7b–12). In that context, we do find believers in the Gospels and the book of Acts directly addressing demons, rebuking them (not Satan himself; cf. Jude 8–10), and casting them out of people. Jesus never even hinted, however, that this authority carried over into our personal battles with sin and Satan. Nowhere do we find the apostles or disciples addressing invisible spirits (i.e., spirits that are not inhabiting a human body). We are promised victory over the Devil in James 4:7: if we resist him, he will flee from us; but we are never told that we resist him by commanding him to leave us alone. In the larger context of James 4, it is clear that this resistance involves submitting to God, drawing near to Him, becoming serious about repentance, and humbling ourselves in the presence of the Lord (James 4:7-10). The same applies to all other Bible passages that speak of resisting Satan (e.g., Eph. 6:13-18; 1 Pet. 5:5-10). Spiritual warfare does not consist in addressing the Devil but rather in addressing God in prayer; it is not a matter of asserting one’s own authority to use Christ’s name over the Devil but rather of standing firm and unmovable in one’s faith in, and obedience to, God. This sustained commitment in the face of spiritual opposition — a moral exercise that causes us to grow in the image of Christ — is what makes the Devil go away. Satan will be “bound” and cast out of our presence at the Second Coming (Rev. 20:1-3), but in the meantime he serves a purpose in God’s development of our character,15 and it is only our steadfast resistance of evil that makes him flee — not the mere utterance of words or the assertion of our authority in Christ". http://www.equip.org/articles/spiritual-warfare-god-s-way May God protect me from the HH haters!!!!!! Junkster

Sorry for this seriously belated reply. I have been traveling and will be doing so for the next few weeks.I am getting a bit behind.

1. There is no reference here as to how to “tie up” the strong man. Since the binding passage in Matthew 18, does not refer to this sort of “binding” I think it would be helpful to go to Scripture for a better way to defeat Satan. To my way of thinking, Ephesians 6:11 and following fits the bill.We are admonished to put on the full armor of God to defat the eveil one.

Also, Jesus tells Peter, when Peter famously confessed Jesus as the Christ, that “upon this rock I will build my church and the very gates of hell will stand against it.” I look at this passage as telling the church to go pound on the gates of hell and break them down, bringing the God News into the utter darkness. In order to do so, we need to be fully armed and Ephesians 6 lets us know what that consists of.

2. I am afraid that I will have to yield this one to equip.org. I really like this interpretation and have provided a link for further explanation.

“Much of the confusion that exists over spiritual warfare arises from taking Bible passages that have a limited application and treating them as if they have no limits. The Bible does say that Christ has unlimited authority over demons, and He gave His disciples the specific authority to cast demons out of possessed individuals and to overcome any other manifestations of the Evil One they might encounter in the work of preaching the Gospel (Matt. 10:1; Mark 3:13–15; Luke 10:17–20; cf. Acts 13:7b–12). In that context, we do find believers in the Gospels and the book of Acts directly addressing demons, rebuking them (not Satan himself; cf. Jude 8–10), and casting them out of people. Jesus never even hinted, however, that this authority carried over into our personal battles with sin and Satan.

Nowhere do we find the apostles or disciples addressing invisible spirits (i.e., spirits that are not inhabiting a human body). We are promised victory over the Devil in James 4:7: if we resist him, he will flee from us; but we are never told that we resist him by commanding him to leave us alone. In the larger context of James 4, it is clear that this resistance involves submitting to God, drawing near to Him, becoming serious about repentance, and humbling ourselves in the presence of the Lord (James 4:7-10). The same applies to all other Bible passages that speak of resisting Satan (e.g., Eph. 6:13-18; 1 Pet. 5:5-10). Spiritual warfare does not consist in addressing the Devil but rather in addressing God in prayer; it is not a matter of asserting one’s own authority to use Christ’s name over the Devil but rather of standing firm and unmovable in one’s faith in, and obedience to, God. This sustained commitment in the face of spiritual opposition — a moral exercise that causes us to grow in the image of Christ — is what makes the Devil go away. Satan will be “bound” and cast out of our presence at the Second Coming (Rev. 20:1-3), but in the meantime he serves a purpose in God’s development of our character,15 and it is only our steadfast resistance of evil that makes him flee — not the mere utterance of words or the assertion of our authority in Christ”.
http://www.equip.org/articles/spiritual-warfare-god-s-way

May God protect me from the HH haters!!!!!!

]]> By: dee http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2880 dee Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:00:10 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2880 Junkster Please forgive my late response to your comments. I was away for about 12 days and got behind on following up with comments. I will look at the questions you raised this week and will try to comment by Friday. Junkster
Please forgive my late response to your comments. I was away for about 12 days and got behind on following up with comments. I will look at the questions you raised this week and will try to comment by Friday.

]]> By: Junkster http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2840 Junkster Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:06:27 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2840 Two thoughts: (1) I think one of the references used to support "binding Satan" is Mark 3:26-27: <i>And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. </i> The assumption being made by those who "bind Satan" (the strong man) is that doing so makes him powerless. I'd don't accept that view and consider it non-contextual, but I'd be interested in your interactions with this passage. (2) Many times when people bind Satan or rebuke Satan, they do it in direct address to him, which seems to be more than a bit creepy (I direct my prayers to no one but God), and also seems to directly contradict Jude 8-10: <i>In the very 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 to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.</i> I'd be interested in your thoughts on this, also. Two thoughts:
(1) I think one of the references used to support “binding Satan” is Mark 3:26-27: And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. The assumption being made by those who “bind Satan” (the strong man) is that doing so makes him powerless. I’d don’t accept that view and consider it non-contextual, but I’d be interested in your interactions with this passage.

(2) Many times when people bind Satan or rebuke Satan, they do it in direct address to him, which seems to be more than a bit creepy (I direct my prayers to no one but God), and also seems to directly contradict Jude 8-10: In the very 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 to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them. I’d be interested in your thoughts on this, also.

]]> By: Junkster http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2839 Junkster Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:55:11 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2839 Anybody who can make a spiritual application from a quote by Dwight Shrute is okay by me! Anybody who can make a spiritual application from a quote by Dwight Shrute is okay by me!

]]> By: dee http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2830 dee Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:58:18 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2830 Lydia Have you ever heard a mediocre preacher take analogies too far. It can be so funny.You know, what the shepherd ate, his sandals, home life, material of his clothes, and on and on until you lose what he is actually teaching about. Lydia
Have you ever heard a mediocre preacher take analogies too far. It can be so funny.You know, what the shepherd ate, his sandals, home life, material of his clothes, and on and on until you lose what he is actually teaching about.

]]> By: dee http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/04/09/a-%e2%80%9cbind%e2%80%9d-a-day-keeps-satan-away/#comment-2827 dee Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:47:27 +0000 http://thewartburgwatch.com/?p=1229#comment-2827 You have an "amen" from me!!! You have an “amen” from me!!!

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