Soup To Nutz Theology

 Am I the only one that sees the theology in this cartoon? It ties into the latest theme of my last two blogs.  Still no idea?

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven."  Matt 16:19

Parking cones?  Keys? Authority?

Is it getting clear yet.  Probably not?  Why?  We take parking cones seriously.  We don’t take the “keys” in Matthew 16:19 seriously.  Not even in the church!  Except when keys relate to keys to doors and cabinets.  We drive around parking cones.  We don’t park in an area if there is a parking cone there.  (Maybe they should be called “No parking, parking cones” unless you park on top of those crazy cones.)  Enough about the cones.  Let’s get back to the theology surrounding the concept.

I have been talking about God’s “Big Plan” and the church is an integral part of the plan.  Matthew 16:19 is seen as the cornerstone of the establishment of the church.  The “keys” are seen as a symbol that represents the “authority” given to the church.  For what are these "keys' to be used?:  “whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven" .   Let’s look else where in the New Testament where “binding” is referenced.  One is in Matthew 12:24-29, (The same interaction is recorded in Mark 3:22-27)

“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them,  Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore* they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.  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.”

It is clear that in this interaction, Jesus is talking about Satan and the “strong man” represents Satan.   Jesus is talking to the Pharisee’s who were saying that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan.  Jesus said no, it was by the Power of God. It is clear that Jesus has the power to cast out demons.

Luke, the physician, records another interaction that Jesus had with the religious leaders of His day.

And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen** years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.  And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her,  women thou art loosed from thine infirmity.  And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.  The Lord then answered him, and said ,Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?  And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen** years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? Luke 13:11-16

Jesus refers to her physical condition, that we today would call scoliosis of the spine or “hunchback”, as a “spirit of infirmity” and that she was “bound” by Satan.  Her miraculous healing was described by Jesus as being “loosed”.  When Jesus sent out the Twelve disciples and the “Seventy” (Luke 9 and 10), He gave them the task to proclaim the Power of God and gave them the power and authority over all demons and to heal the sick. Mark includes similar a statement (lay hands on the sick) in his recording of the great commission.

I want to note one final reference to binding.  John records in Revelation 20:2 that God will bind Satan for a thousand years after the second coming of Jesus.  This second coming follows the “catching up of the church” in I Thess. 4:17 and seven years of tribulation.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Jesus sent His disciples out to make disciples of all nations.   We have been handed the “keys”.  We have been given authority to bind Satan in this world.  We have been given His armor (Ephesians 6) for this task.  Satan must be delighting in the fact that the majority of the church does not recognize the power and authority given to the body of Christ.  If we believed it, we would be using it.  The majority of the church do not act like Satan is the problem.  Jesus’s actions demonstrated that there was a spiritual war going on.  Yes, Jesus defeated Satan; but we, His church, are charged with keeping Satan in check; therefore, we have been given the armor of God.  Once the church is removed from the world, (“caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” any more”) Satan will be revealed.

It is time that the church recognized what it’s responsibility is and the authority it has been given, the Power of the Holy Spirit.

“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against* flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph. 6:10-13

“I love it when a plan comes together.”

 Do you remember the saying: “I love it when a plan comes together.”?  

Who said it?  John “Hannibal” Smith

What TV program was it?  “The A-Team. 

Well, there is a plan, a BIG PLAN.  It was a mystery for years but it has been revealed.  God established it and set it in motion.  I ended my last blog with the statement: “God has a plan for us and it is for our good, as HE sees it and His glory.”; referencing Jerimiah 29:11,

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

He has plans for us that are part of His big plan.  Only He sees the whole picture.  We get caught up in the little plans and forget the big plan.  We fret over what we don’t know and ignore what we know.  We act ignorantly on the unknown and are stubbornly self-paralyzed by what we think we know.  We demand special personal supernatural revelation while refusing to read and act on the written special revelation that He has given us.   We profess to believe the Bible; but we refuse to read it faithfully; and when we read it, we treat as some smorgasbord that we can pick and choose.  We treat the Word as medication to be “taken when needed”, leaving it in the medicine cabinet the rest of the time. We, in arrogant humility, profess little faith: yet stubbornly refuse to accept that many of our prayers bounce off the ceiling, because of our bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy and faithlessness.  Our prayers are rich in religiosity and sanctimoniously sounding words; but weak in Biblical foundation.  We preach what is “written between the lines” and refuse to preach what is written on the line.  Most of our church budgets are spent on feeding hors d’oeuvres and infant formula to spiritual couch potatoes.  We ignore written commands and and make commandments on what is not written.  We profess to trust God but lay awake at night worrying.  We say we believe God’s promises, but our actions betray our words.   We wear WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets as a proud expression of our faith but would never put our reputations on the line by really doing what Jesus did, each and every day of His ministry, like His disciples did. The “keys of the kingdom of heaven”, are in the key cabinet in the church office, right behind the key to the rented storage unit, rented to store the church organ, the hymn books and the old King James and New International pew Bibles that were used prior to the “new” gender correct New International pew Bible.  The “armor of God’ is also in the same storage unit behind the King James Bibles.  We have not bound anyone or anything since the neighbor’s dog got loose and ran down the aisles of the old church that did not have A/C and we had to leave the doors open to cool the place down.  We don’t talk about Satan, Hell or being “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” any more; because it scares the little kids and the visitors.

What could the church do if the church really did what Jesus did, prayed the Word, really acted in accord with His promises. What if we used the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” and actually bound something or someone, like satan and his demons.  What if we actually used the “armor of God”

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will bebound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matt. 16:19

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand”.  Ephesians 6:13

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” James 1:5-8

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7

“Truly I say to you, He who puts his faith in me will do the very works which I do, and he will do greater things than these, because I am going to my Father.” John 14:12

“And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” Matthew 13:58

We, His church, are part of that plan, THE Plan.  God had this plan from eternity, something we can not understand.  Man’s sin did not catch Him by surprise.  Man’s need for a Savior, was not His B-plan.  It was His A-plan.  He started to reveal this plan in Genesis 3:15:

“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

He continued to reveal His plan in the Old Testament through His chosen people and His prophets.  During the 400 silent years between the Old and New Testament, He was faithful. His promises were still in place.  His promised Savior was about to be born when the time was right.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

God was at work during the “silent years”, preparing the world for His Son.  God used: the Assyrian and Babylon empires, Alexander the Great and Greek culture and language, and the Roman empire to prepare the world for His Son and His Body.  The Jewish Bible was translated into the Greek, the Septuagint, during this time.  Greek became the “English” of the time. The Roman Empire established a system of roads and there was relative peace that facilitated travel and the spread of the Gospel.

Even though there was no prophecy, God was working, just as He has been throughout all history and today. 

Maybe if we thought less about “Us” and more about “Him”. If we “desire(d) first and foremost God's kingdom and God's righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”: we would sleep better, and have a peaceful Christmas season and New Year. May we start doing the work assigned to us, using the authority given to us, accepting the responsibility placed on us, doing what Jesus did and what he commanded us to do.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It's good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people's feet.

“On the ninth day of the eleventh month in the sixteenth year of the third millennia A.D...."

On the ninth day of the eleventh month in the sixteenth year of the third millennia A.D., before the sun appeared on the horizon, it was confirmed that the Lord had appointed Donald John Trump as the 45^th president of the United States of America. 

Some of you may be thinking: “How bold, arrogant, and self-righteous can you be saying that Donald Trump was God’s choice?”  Well, I would be saying the same thing if Hillary Clinton were elected.  If that does not seem right to you, you need to look at what scripture says regarding world leaders. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Christians in Rome, wrote:

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Remember that this is the same Paul who was imprisoned multiple times.  The Roman government was not a “Christian” government; but it was appointed by God.  Paul in writing to the young pastor, Timothy, in the church at Ephesus, instructed him:

“My desire is, first of all, that you will make requests and prayers and give praise for all men; For kings and all those in authority; so that we may have a calm and quiet life in all fear of God and serious behavior. This is good and pleasing in the eyes of God our Savior.”

Having said this, I will admit this, or should I say accept this, when God’s appointment agrees with me.  It is much easier to accept God’s will when he agrees with my will, or vice versa.  God does not always give us what we want; but He does give us what we need.  Sometimes it is hard for us to accept this or to see why we need something bad.  Remember, when it concerns the Body of Christ, His Church: God, the Father, is ever preparing the Church, the Bride of Christ, for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as described in Revelations 19.

It helps to understand this if we look at the Old Testament and the children of Israel, God’s chosen people. Sometimes what they received, was more a matter of what they deserved.  Sometimes our needs are more a matter of deserving.  Sometimes its is a matter of testing and refining, similar to the diamond cutter refining the rough raw diamond into a beautiful gem.  Consider Job, we don’t know why Job suffered, why God allowed Satan to destroy Job’s health, wealth, and family.  We do know that God has a plan for us just like He did for Job and the Jewish people in exile under king Nebuchadnezzar.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan for us and it is for our good, as HE sees it and His glory.