"Unbound"
THE KEYS • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsHow can i bind and loose if I am not free.
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Matthew 16:19 (NIV)
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.”
RESPONSIVE READING: IS. 58: 3-9.
There is no question the keys represent authority. Authority over what? They are the keys of the Kingdom not the keys to the Kingdom. If Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom, then Peter and the apostles alone would determine who enters the Kingdom and who does not. If Jesus’ gave Peter the keys of the Kingdom then the apostles were the first to represent the Kingdom of heaven on earth.
Before we go any further, I want you to understand the key to our ministry.
The dominant principle [the key] of our ministry is godliness.
Godliness is reverence for the Lord, being closer to God, the capacity to know God and to live for Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ did not give you a bunch of rules; he came to free your heart to discover God’s grace. Jesus called us to know God deeply and personally- to glorify the Lord; to see the world through love for God and Jesus Christ; So we are always consciousness of Jesus’ presence. The Key to loving God and knowing God is following godliness.
The Word of God says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV
Jesus said, “WHATEVER YOU BIND ON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN; WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN.”
So many read this passage and go out binding and loosing without understanding what Jesus said to his disciples.
Some people are bound by power.
They believe Binding and Loosing means authority over demons. If that is all you see, you may be bound by power. I’ve heard many sermons on binding and loosing. What comes across is the authority of the individual. A well-known apostle came here once and preached. After the service he told me he bound 27 demons. How could I measure that?
Jesus did give his disciples authority over demons.
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
Power can be perverted.
In Acts. 8 “a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city of Samaria. He boasted of having power. People gave him their attention.“When Simon saw the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.”
Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.” He wanted to pervert God’s power.
Some people are bound by pride and authority.
They believe binding and loosing means having authority over who can and cannot enter the church. Look at how many people have felt barred from the church by the dispositions of people in authority!
Binding and loosing was a common phrase in the time of Jesus. The phrase was used by the scribes and pharisees for restricting or permitting behavior according to the Torah.
The Scribes and Pharisees were always binding and loosing in the name of Moses. They missed the spirit behind Moses. They were always flexing before Jesus.
Matthew 12:1–2 (NIV)
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
They tried to use their authority against Jesus and his disciples because they were hungry.
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
They tried to use their authority against Jesus and his disciples because they did not wash their hands.
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
They tried to use their authority against Jesus for fighting for a wounded woman.
Jesus condemned the Scribes and Pharisees for this. The Scribes and Pharisees coveted the power to bind and loose, but they were all wrong.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Jesus Christ bestows the keys of the kingdom to incomplete people.
Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter and the other disciples before then even had an understanding what they were. They did not know what they possessed until Jesus appeared to them after Calvary.
Don’t we wish we were complete when the Lord calls us? If only we were holy, right and pure before we followed Jesus. Every great servant of God is incomplete. The Lord takes us into the Kingdom by the hand. God’s grace builds us. We make mistakes. We repent and Jesus brings us even closer to him.
Binding and loosing is not a license to make decrees; It is the privilege of releasing the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus said, You will not be like the scribes and Pharisees who lord over people. You will be servants of the kingdom of heaven.
Saint Ambrose, who died in 397 AD, Wrote in “The servant opens, the Lord bestows; the One through Himself, the other through Christ; the minister receives the keys, the Lord appoints powers: the one is the right of a giver, the other the duty of a steward.[1]
We participate in God’s actions because we live Jesus’ words. When you see a multi-floor building being constructed. The construction workers carry out the plans of the architect and the architect presents the designs of the owner. Jesus is the architect of our lives and God is the owner of our souls.
Jesus explained this authority only twice to his disciples. Here is our text and after his resurrection.
If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
You cannot bind and loose until you are unbound.
I cannot bind and loose if I am unbound. If I am not free who can I set anyone free. Lord, set me free so I can be bound to you. I want to be bound to Christ.
Lord, bind your word to our hearts. The Lord made this a command.
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
FINALLY,
I have no desire to bind Satan. What would I do with him? I want Satan to leave. Then wait for his day in the abyss, when the keys are thrown away...
I have no reason to block people from of the kingdom. My knowledge of the heart does not even reach my own life. How can I know the thoughts and intents of another. If I don’t always know what is in my own heart. I have no use for binding anything...
Lord, the only thing I want to help to loose is the bands of wickedness.
Is. 58:6 ““Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
Lord Jesus, bind me to yourself. I love the Lord,
he heard my cry and pitied every grown;
Long as I live and troubles rise, I’ll hasten to his throne.
Bind your loving kindness to my heart.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
Bind me to the wood on Calvary.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
[1]Ambrose of Milan. “Exposition of the Christian Faith.” St. Ambrose: Select Works and Letters, edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, translated by H. de Romestin et al., vol. 10, Christian Literature Company, 1896, p. 256.
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