Satan Operating in the Racquetball Community in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house" (Matt. 12.29).
Matt. 12.29 All spiritual works are public spoiling, not secret stealing, e.g. exposing on the Internet banning a Christian from sanctioned tournaments.
This holds true toward Satan.
“Goods” is a term that, strictly speaking, refers to all who are demon-possessed. Broadly speaking, it applies to all unbelievers. The “strong man” is Satan (cf. 1 John 5.19).
Every demon-possessed person or unbeliever is in the hand of Satan, who guards him as his goods.
Seeing the influence of Satan, the Lord comes to snatch publicly from Satan’s hand the unbelievers, the demon-possessed, and the sick so that they may be liberated and healed.
“And then he will spoil his house”—Whatever is in his house will be taken as spoil by the Lord. In order to cast out demons, the first thing which must be done is to bind the strong man. “Spoil” is a verb which implies a taking by force against the will of the strong man. If it is a casting out by Beelzebub, it would be by peace talks and not by spoiling.
Binding the strong man is done through the Spirit of God. The power of the Holy Spirit is needed in casting out demons. They are cast out in the name of the Lord because the Holy Spirit is the power of that Name.
One great principle in the Lord’s work, then, is first to bind and next to spoil.
How is the strong man bound in Matt. 12.29? Indirectly through the cross of our Lord Jesus. On the cross the Lord has crushed the head of Satan (see Gen. 3.15). (It is in the millennial kingdom that the whole body of Satan will be dealt with. The cross has dealt ONLY with Satan’s head, that is, it has destroyed his power and influence.)
Satan will bruise the Lord’s heel. He could not do anything to the Lord when the latter was on earth. Consequently, after the Lord’s ascension to heaven, Satan now exerts his utmost energy to bruise the Lord’s heel—that is to say, to shake the believers.
But after our Lord arose from the dead and ascended back to heaven, the Holy Spirit came to earth to execute what the Lord had accomplished on the cross. Hence binding Satan is done through the power of the Holy Spirit on the basis of the cross. On our side, we can bind Satan through the prayer of faith. We should use prayer to bind the strong man.
Satan is called the god of this world today so that is not the kind of binding we see in Rev. 20.3. "Satan, who is the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4.4).
"The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while" (Rev. 20.3). Are the nations still deceived? Yes, we still see wars and rumors of wars. Satan, therefore, is not in the pit today.
What I am concerned with is the Roman Catholic will reject the Jesus who returns to reign on earth for 1000 years, because they will say the 1000 already happened. During the church age saints won't reign as kings and priests. This only takes place in the millennial kingdom.
"To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots" (Rev. 2.26,27).
