Say To This Mountain
"And I will give you the
keys of the kingdom"
Say To This Mountain
"And I will give you the
keys of the kingdom"
The Keys of The Kingdom (this page)
Preface
Revelation 12:10 tells us that the adversary, the devil, is in Heaven accusing us before God day and night. However, when the seventy went out in pairs doing ministry like Jesus they caused such havoc and disruption to the enemy’s evil doings that their leader flashed down from Heaven, with such ferocity that his movement appeared like lightning, in order to whip his lieutenants back into shape and get on with their trouble-making.
That’s the sort of assault and effect that the church, the body of believers, is meant to be having continually on ‘the gates of hell’ and the captives that they are holding. We have every tool needed to continually penetrate and invade the enemy’s space, to continually be able to rescue and set the captives free.
It often looks like the church, especially in the West, is barely surviving the attacks of the enemy. What has happened, what has gone wrong that Jesus’ words that "the gates of Hell will not withstand you" do not seem to be readily fulfilled in this manner?
Perhaps the answer is found in Matthew 16:19, where 19 out of 32 common translations of the New Testament (as found on biblehub.com) translate an important part of the verse backwards. That is, they reverse its meaning. These 'backwards' translations include the NIV, NLT, ESV, BSB, (although the BLB gets it right,) KJV, NKJV, NASB 1977, (although the NASB and NASB 1995 get it right), ASV, CEV, DRB, ERV, GWT, GNT, MSB, NAB, NRSV, NHEB, Websters, and Weymouth.
Here is the first part of verse 19:
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom…”
That is not just for Peter, or the apostles, but for every believer, everyone who recognises that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!
A key opens or closes a lock on a door. Or maybe, a gate, like the ‘gates of hell’, perhaps?
Jesus went on to describe one of the keys and how it is meant to work. We’ll look at the King James Version first, since that is the oldest English translation.
“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Dictionary entries show that 'shall' refers to a future event, in the same way that we use the word 'will'. Even the command, 'You shall not steal' refers to something that has not yet been done.
According to the KJV and 18 other commonly referenced Bible translations on biblehub.com, if we decide or declare something on Earth, then that decision becomes binding in and upon Heaven.
Really?
Is that teaching, that Earth changes Heaven, found anywhere else in Scripture?
What about Job 22:28 - “You will decree a thing and it will be done for you?”
No, that’s not talking about something happening in Heaven; that’s talking about something happening on Earth. That’s more in line with, 'Say to this mountain'.
What about the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, in Matthew 6:9-13? In verse 10 we read:
"Your kingdom come. Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." That clearly establishes the sequence of events as starting in Heaven, with Earth following on.
How do the other 13 translations handle this verse? These include: BLB, NASB, NASB 1995, LSB, AMP, CSB, HCSB, ABPE, ISV, LSV, NET, WEB, YLT. The Concordant Literal Version, which does not appear on biblehub.com, also has this correct translation.
They actually follow the grammar of the Biblical Greek language used in the source documents for our New Testament translations, and that makes quite a difference to the result, which now makes sense.
“And whatever you bind (forbid, restrict, disallow) on Earth shall have been bound in Heaven (it will have already been done from Heaven), and whatever you loose (permit, release, allow) on Earth shall have been loosed in Heaven.”
We bind and loose by using simple words appropriately.
It is not necessary to use the words "I bind" or "I loose" when giving a command, although this might be useful in certain deliverance ministry situations. See Binding and Loosing in Deliverance Ministry below.
Here are two simple examples of binding (stopping) on Earth what had already been bound in Heaven:
Here is an example of loosing (permitting or enabling) on Earth what had already been loosed in Heaven:
Some time later Jesus repeats this teaching about first hearing from Heaven before acting on Earth, in Matthew 18:18. The words are much the same as Matthew 16:19 and the truth is identical, based on the grammatical content. In other words, we are meant to do on Earth what has been allowed, ordained or permitted from Heaven. That’s how Jesus did it.
Literally, the Greek says, “shall be having been bound,” or “shall be having been loosed.”
That sounds a lot better when we use the full meaning of each verb as it appears in the Greek. To be technically precise, each is a perfect passive participle, which shows that something has already been forbidden or permitted.
What is Jesus telling Peter (and us)?
Firstly, Peter had just made a declaration of faith in Jesus, when he said in verse 16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We do the same when we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Christ. Because the New Covenant is a flat, egalitarian system (everyone is equal, there is not meant to be any hierarchy), whatever Peter received from God is available to us also.
Secondly, Peter and us, like Jesus, need to know what the Father has allowed to be done, and what the Father has prohibited or not allowed. Jesus didn't call the shots when He was on Earth. He walked totally under the control and leading of Holy Spirit, and He only got to do what His Father permitted; He didn't do what His Father forbade.
"I am able to do nothing from Myself, but as I am taught by God. Even as I hear I judge, and My judgment is right because I do not seek My own will, but only the will of the Father who sent Me." John 5:30
We are meant to follow His example. We are meant to first hear from Heaven and then follow through with appropriate, God-ordained actions. That is our first goal.
Jesus’ plan was that the disciples (that includes us) would follow His methods.
He said, "I have come in My Father's name..." John 5:43. What He was doing on Earth was just the same as if His Father was there in person. "If you have seen Me you have seen the Father," He said to Philip. John 14:9.
To do something “in someone’s name” means to do whatever it is in the same way that the person whose name we identify with would do it.
There is no record, anywhere, that Jesus ever used His Father's name, either in ministry or in any other situation. Instead, Jesus continually referred to God as...Father, emphasising the relationship rather than the position.
""And do not call anyone on earth father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven." Matthew 23:9
"My Father has worked until now - and I am working." John 5:17
The healings, the deliverances He performed were not new, but were concentrated in one area for three years, and so drew a lot of attention. However, His Father had been healing and setting people free right from the beginning.
"God raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together with Him in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:9
Have you ever walked through a maze? A farmer nearby sets up a maze in his cornfield every year, for children and adults to have a lot of fun trying to find the way out. There are lots of alleys, but only one leads to the exit.
Now that we are seated with Jesus in Heavenly places it's a lot like being able to look at a maze, the puzzles of life, from above. We no longer have to go down a lot of wrong paths to reach the finish, we can actually see, from above, exactly where we are supposed to go.
"The natural, non-spiritual man does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him...but the spiritual man tries all things. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Yet we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Isn't that something?
In Isaiah 55:9-10 we can read:
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are My ways your ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."
Wait a minute - both verses, in Ephesians and Isaiah, can't be right, can they?
Well, no, they can't.
Isaiah is a part of the Old Covenant, and these verses are definitely Old Covenant in their thrust. God was talking to Israel, a stubborn and recalcitrant people, if ever there was one. These verses do NOT apply to New Covenant people, yet I have heard people reading them in church as if they do. Get a life, a New Covenant life in Jesus!
These New Testament/New Covenant promises are legally ours, but often we have to work at it to appropriate them. It's like someone putting a lot of money in your bank account, but because you don't read the statements, you don't realise that it's there and so never draw on it.
Jesus made it very clear that He only did what He saw the Father doing. John 5:19. He made it clear that He only spoke what the Father told Him to say. John 12:49. In those two statements alone we see that Earth follows Heaven.
So the key that will enable us to defeat the work of the enemy and release the captives from all sorts of conditions including the ones mentioned earlier, relies on us hearing and seeing from Heaven the things that God has permitted and forbidden for us and the people we are rescuing. That comes overwhelmingly through the presence of Holy Spirit, who is Teacher, Comforter and Helper, and more.
"But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak His own message, but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father] and He will declare to you the things that are to come." John 16:13 AMP
That sounds a lot like the way Jesus was led, doesn't it?
Matthew captures this same idea from a slightly different perspective. While it appears in the section when Jesus' commissioned His disciples to go out two by two, early in His ministry, it seems more relevant to the time when He has ascended to the Father and has sent Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus' plans to us:
"What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops." Matthew 10:27
In other words, we can always expect to hear from Heaven what we are meant to do on Earth.
There is a key point at which we know we are a disciple, and not just a believer or follower. (You can see the difference between these three categories mentioned in Scripture in Ministry Like Jesus, here.)
"A disciple is not above his teacher...It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher." Matthew 10:24-25.
Who is the Teacher? We are following Jesus' examples, we can also understand them through the Teacher that He sent, Holy Spirit. Luke puts it this way, in chapter 6:40 -
"A pupil is not superior to his teacher, but everyone completely trained will be like his teacher." That is our second goal.
In public He would just thank His Father for what He was about to do. There is no record of Him ever asking in public for anything from His Father. He did not pray to get results (not in public, anyway), He would say to get results.
That does not mean that He didn't pray.
Early in the morning He would go into the wilderness by Himself to pray. Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16
Late at night He would go up into the mountains by Himself to pray. Luke 6:12; Matthew 14:23
Because people were always pressing around Him, demanding His time, He chose quiet, secluded places to connect with His Father. After the two mountain prayer experiences He came down in power. In the first He chose the disciples, and in the second He walked on water to meet the disciples.
Jesus did not meet God in person when He went out to pray, because no man (anyone in a human body) can see God's face and live. (Exodus 33:20.) That is why at His baptism (Luke 3:22) and at His transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), when He appeared talking with Moses and Elijah, a voice came from the clouds saying, "This is My beloved Son."
But just like Moses in Exodus 33:11, and in just the same way that God wants to communicate with us, Jesus spoke with His Father like a man speaks with his friend, face to face.
Without shouting, in a normal voice;
Using normal speech, not 'religious' language;
Back and forth conversation.
I've seldom witnessed that sort of 'back and forth' prayer, anywhere. Mostly I've seen someone do all the talking, and without waiting to hear back from God, go on with the next part of the programme.
There's more on prayer in Ministry Like Jesus, click here.
Some time later Jesus repeats this teaching about first hearing from Heaven before acting on Earth, in Matthew 18:18. The words are much the same as Matthew 16:19 and the truth is identical, based on the grammatical content. In other words, we are meant to do on Earth what has been allowed, ordained or permitted from Heaven. That’s how Jesus did it.
Someone said to me once, "Praying and saying are the same thing." They are not, of course.
In conferences we illustrate it like this. I would get Yvette, an assistant, to stand on my interpreter's feet (on his shoes, actually). Patrick would look over at me, as the team leader, and say, "Trevor, tell Yvette to get off my feet." My response will be, "You already have everything you need to deal with that problem." That is actually what God was saying to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 when He said, "My grace (grace is something, a free gift, that God has already given us) is enough for you."
We would do it again, then, and this time, when Yvette stepped onto his shoes, Patrick spoke to her directly. "Yvette, get off my feet." We each have the authority to deal with situations that affect us, and also others. There is no need to pray and ask God to do what has already been approved, when all we need to do is say what needs to be done.
Just imagine the storm on the lake, with Jesus asleep in the stern. The disciples wake Him and He says, "Gather 'round boys, we need to pray about this. Hold out your hands towards the storm..." That's nonsense, but I see that in churches here in the West all the time.
Jesus didn't speak to the storm and tell it to stop because He was the Son of God, but to show us what any son of man (like you and me) could do, also. Not just sons, but daughters, too. There is no difference in God's New Creation.
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that you, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8
To be continued...
Scripture can have more than one application, depending on the circumstances. These same verses can rightly be applied to deliverance ministry.
Like 11:14-26 has a lot of detail in this context. Matthew 12:29 and Mark 3:27 contain a good summary:
“Or how can a person go into a strong man’s house and carry off his goods without first binding the strong man?”
Many will say that the strongman who needs to be bound is the master spirit in control. I was greatly blessed in being trained in deliverance without manifestations, back in 1995.
Deliverance is meant to be gentle, respectful, peaceful and effective, without demeaning the person being ministered to. The techniques I learnt are so effective that even little children can be set free, without manifestations, while they are asleep! Properly handled, the effects can be immediately obvious the next day.
For adults or older children there is no need for shaking, crying out, screaming, vomiting, twitching or rolling around on the floor, or any other manifestation. These manifestations come from the enemy, not from God, and are an attempt to demean the person. Jesus tended to stop manifestations as soon as they occurred because they do not produce the release, but are designed to inhibit the process and cause more trauma.
There are two strongmen who need to be bound at the beginning, before starting any serious deliverance. They are the spirit of control and the spirit of manifestations. It can be done simply like this:
“Spirit of Control and Spirit of Manifestations, I bind you with unbreakable chains and cover you with the blood of Jesus and the anointing oil of Holy Spirit.” It really is that simple.
After a while, once the spirits know that you don’t allow manifestations, you won’t normally even need to do that.
See Deliverance With(out) Manifestations - Woman with Crutches
Just as humans do not have authority to rebuke the devil - see Understanding the Word 'Rebuke' for details - so we don’t have authority to bind the devil.
Jesus never did that - the story of His temptation experience at the very beginning of His ministry (Luke 4) shows that the only way to resist the devil and all other evil manifestations is to push back against any temptation through knowing God and the Word of God.
He simply told us to resist the evil one (as a figure of speech representing ‘all evil’) like He did, and that the devil (the evil spirits) would then flee. The devil will be bound at the end of the age, but not by us!
For more information see Deliverance in Ministry Like Jesus.
Continue to Part 5 below
The Keys of The Kingdom (this page)