Apr. 28, 2024

Binding the Strong Man II (28 April 2024) — Pastor John Custer

Introduction - In the last several weeks I introduced the idea that we Christians are living in a current state of war against our enemy, Satan.  It is primarily a mop-up campaign, as Jesus has already won the larger war through His death on the cross.  Similar to the period of time in WWII between the fall of Germany and Italy (VE Day) and four months later the fall of Japan (VJ Day), the period we live in now is still one of warfare against a somewhat diminished foe who is still able to do damage.  Contrary to what many Christians hope for, we are not in a period of “Peace on earth, good will toward men” as concerns the devil’s relationship with mankind.  Therefore, we must become  proficient at fighting, understanding what our weapons are and how they are employed. Paul describes our weapons like this:

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,

4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, NASB

We are also given this insight about our opponents:

Matthew 12:22-29 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only * * by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 "If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this * reason * they will be your judges. 28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless * he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. NASB

Jesus taught us here to “bind the strongman.”  We learn from these verses that some spiritual victories, especially involving the work of demons, necessitate the capture and binding of the demon in charge.  In this paragraph, Jesus frees a demon-possessed man.  It is good to observe the context when interpreting and applying Scripture.  At the end of Jesus’ argument with the Pharisees over which power He used to cast out the demon, Jesus points out that this healing was like plundering the house of a of cruel criminal who has lots of stolen goods and human captives in his house under his control.  Similar to today’s human trafficking, in which criminal business owners or despots hold innocent children and adults captive for forced labor and abuse, demons are often the strong man holding people captive forcing them to do their will.  They are allowed to enter and stay in a person’s body, as long as there is some “besetting” sin.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, NASB

Ephesians 4:26-27 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil. NLT

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. NASB

Sin entangles us and gives demons a chance to have a foothold.  Demons can’t just jump onto you without a reason.  So, what might a “strongman” be?  Certainly, it is at least a demon which is affecting a person and the sins which let it have a foothold.  A stronghold, then, would be the areas on the earth over which the demon has control, whether it be a person, a group, a country, etc.  Some situations have only a sin involved, others have demon involvement in addition to the sin.  If we want to “bind the strongman” we have to start by teaching people to repent of the sin which gives the demon a foothold in the first place.  We then teach them to resist the demon themselves.  Most demons leave when you repent and you tell them to leave.  Sometimes a person needs help by having someone else expel the demon for them, as the demon-possessed man whom Jesus helped.  

We are indebted to Derek Prince and his ministry.  Some of today’s content is from his book, Pulling Down Strongholds.  I’ve included a condensed testimony of his from this book which will illustrate a strongman and his corresponding stronghold: 

Derek had a great family with nine adopted daughters.  He noticed an uncomfortable tension when the whole large family would gather for major holidays.  It was as if one of the daughters wanted him to direct more of his attention to her children than to the other daughter’s children.  He was going to bed one evening and asked the Lord about what the cause might be.  A gray mist appeared at the ceiling and he asked the Lord what it was.  The Holy Spirit told him “self-righteousness.” (A reliance on our own merit as a result of doing good)  He realized that his wife and he had both been unduly focused on self-righteousness.  He took the step of repenting of it and said “Lord, let that power of self-righteousness over our family be broken in the name of Jesus.”  The family gatherings were never again bothered by the uncomfortableness.  

It will be important for us to seek the Holy Spirit to find out who or what is the strongman in matters we encounter in our own lives.  This is probably what Jesus alluded to when he healed a demon-possessed boy whom the disciples could not heal.  

Matthew 17:18-21 …And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once *. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately * and said, "Why * could we not drive it out?” 20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 [ "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”] NASB

A great way to find out what strongholds are over an area, or a person you are trying to help, is by engaging in true fasting.  Real fasting has to do mostly with listening.  There is a widespread impression that we somehow impress God concerning our seriousness through fasting.  The following verses show that going without food does not impress or move him.  Instead, Listening, humbling ourselves, and obeying does please God. Here is God’s idea of true fasting:

Isaiah 58:1- 14 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins! 2 Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. 3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. 4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD ? 6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. 7 Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. 8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind. 9 Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors 10 Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. 11 The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. 12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes. 13 “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but  enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD ’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. 14 Then the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the LORD, have spoken!” NLT

 Daniel was truly burdened for state of his people, who were captives in Babylon:

Daniel 10:1-3 In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision. He understood that the vision concerned events certain to happen in the future—times of war and great hardship.2 When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks.3 All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed. NLT

We are very quick to substitute a procedure or gimmick in place of true repentance or humility. For example, It is very tempting to do a “Daniel fast” which involved eating some foods, but abstaining from others.  Daniel had been mourning over the backslidden state of his people and was praying for mercy and help for them.  The fast was, very likely, incidental.  My opinion is that he was probably so upset that he had no appetite.  

Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.”  NLT

Notice that Daniel was not heard because he fasted.  The angel told Daniel he was heard, not because of his fasting, but because of His humility and his contrite prayer (his words).  The angel who spoke to Daniel gave him an amazing picture with much detail of what was ahead for his people and the world, including this promise, probably for Daniel and others like him:

Daniel 12:3 "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. NLT

My own testimony, on a much smaller and far less important scale, is similar to Daniel’s:

In 2021, Jethe and I were 2/3 of the way through a vacation tour of the western states.  In Boise, Idaho, I noticed that I was unusually tired after a routine workout.  As the days went on, I got weaker.  We had to cut our trip short and I went straight to the Emergency Room at Jefferson Hospital, where I was diagnosed with Warm Auto-immune Hemolytic Anemia, probably from a severe shortage of vitamin D. Over the next month, I could do little except sleep and eat iron-rich foods.  I couldn’t eat much at one sitting.  I couldn’t attend church or do any related pastoral work.  During that time, I had two deep, profound communications from The Lord.  One involved our church, that being to lead our congregation out of involvement in party politics (supporting red or blue candidates and promoting their issues) and the second involved an understanding of Revelation 2 and 3 which has changed my work and ministry for the rest of my days.  The Lord showed me that he sees the church in any region or city as a unified Body.  I understand His displeasure with the fragmentation and division of his church.  I understand that politics was a strongman over our church.  We have gained peace and great relief by focusing on our real job, which is to make disciples.  The second strongman, the pride, competition for members between churches, and indifference to unity, is a strongman holding our city captive. At the start of our vacation, I was doing all I knew to do:  taking care of my wife, taking care of our church, keeping my relationship with the Lord honest and pure, etc.  In his sovereignty he opened my eyes with a more complete understanding of his burden for the church.  I was so busy that He had to lay me down to talk to me.  I have repented of being part of the division and am dedicating my life to reversing it.  

Conclusion:   In our studies of the visions given to numerous people who had near death experiences, visions and dreams of heaven, let’s remember that the places of highest honor in the New Jerusalem were given to the most humble.  We truly have been given mighty weapons of warfare.  These are not expressed through loud, boisterous, militant demonstrations (Paul warned us about beating the air), but through the humility of self-examination, reconciliation, repentance, and a return to love for one another.