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Being Set Free From Captivity To the Strong Man
Posted : 25 Dec, 2012 08:01 AM
Being Set Free From Captivity To the Strong Man
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8: 32
In John 8: 32, first of all, Christ is talking about, Isaiah 61: 1, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;"
Christ came to bring the truth to those who were captives of the strong man of Matthew 12: 29, "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." The "goods" of the strong man are those who he holds captive, without Christ and his truth.
Being set free by the truth of Jesus Christ is spiritual freedom - from sin, and from being in false doctrines.
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10: 10. Christ is talking about giving spiritual life with him to those who accept him and his doctrines.
So, one of the major changes in the transformation of physical Israel to the spiritual house of I Peter 2: 5 is the teaching of Christ that he came to bring life, primarily spiritual life, but he also came to bring physical life. For in Luke 9: 52-56 when James and John asked Christ if they could call fire down from heaven to burn up a village in Samaria, Jesus told them in Luke 9: 55-56, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
But before the transformation of physical Israel, before the change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, those in physical Israel often sought to kill and did kill those who held doctrines different from their own. The Pharisees as the spiritual leaders of physical Israel had Christ crucified by the Romans. In Acts 7: 58-60 Stephen was stoned to death by a group, in Acts 6: 9 called "certain of the synagogue." Acts 7: 58 and 8: 1 record that Saul was there and consented to the death of Stephen. Saul, of course, is Saul the Pharisee, before he encountred the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus.
Then in Acts 21: 17-31 when James sent Paul to the temple to take part in an Old Covenant purification ceremony the Jews tried to kill Paul, who was rescued by the Romans.
"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." I John 4: 3
Those of physical Israel who were not part of the remnant of Romans 11: 5 who accepted Christ and his
doctrines are of the spirit of anti-Christ. That is, those who rejected Christ are of the spirit of anti-Christ.
There are also false prophets (Matthew 24: 11, Luke 6: 26, II Peter 2: 1, I John 4: 1, Revelation 16: 13, Revelation 19: 20 and Revelation 20: 10). The second beast of Revelation 13: 11-18 can be seen as the false prophet, representing many false prophets.
And a false prophet teaches false doctrines.
Satan has two forces at work against the truth of Jesus Christ, the spirit of anti-Christ, which inhabits many, and the false prophet, who represents many false prophets.
Revelation 13: 12 says the second beast, the false prophet, causes people to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. This refers to Revelation 13: 3 where one of the heads of the first beast is said to have had a deadly wound which was healed. The nation of Israel received a deadly wound in 70 A.D. from the Roman army, which was healed in 1948 when the nation was re-established.
John 4: 3 says that whoever refuses to believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not of God, but is of the spirit of anti-Christ. Those who reject Christ are of the spirit of anti-Christ and in rejecting Christ; they reject life. The belong then to death. Those who follow False Prophets claim to accept their idea of who Christ is, but have another Christ and another Gospel. They represent the other of the two forces of Satan, which is Hell.
In scripture, Death and Hell are used together almost as though they were persons. This use of Death and Hell is seen in Isaiah 28: 15-18, "Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16.Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."
In Isaiah 28: 15-18 those who are said to have made an agreement with Death and Hell think that when the overflowing scourge passes through they will not be harmed - because they have made lies their refuge. The overflowing scourge sounds like the tribulation of Matthew 24: 21.
Then in Revelation 6: 8, on the opening of the Fourth Seal, the Pale Horse, it says "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."
Next, Revelation 20: 13 says "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."
Revelation 20: 14 says "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."
But there is one verse in which Hell comes before Death. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
Though Death and Hell are the two forces Satan uses against the truth of Christ, yet Christ himself has full control over Death and Hell.
Death is the spirit of anti-Christ, which denies that Christ as fully God came in the flesh, or tries to diminish the work of Christ on the Cross and to overthrow his doctrines. Hell as the second force of Satan is the False Prophet.
The Strong Man of Matthew 12: 29 who holds the captives of Isaiah 61: 1 is the "man" behind the curtain who manipulates his two puppets Death and Hell, or the spirit of anti-Christ and the False Propet.
The Strong Man is the leader of the fallen angels. "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." Ephesians 6: 12
But the Strong Man has his human minions, those in the spirit of anti-Christ and the False Prophets. These human minions do the work of the Strong Man. And they might be called the Strong Man also, and those who promote false doctrines could be called the Strong Man.
One main goal of the Strong Man, as Satan, who gives power to those in the spirit of anti-Christ and to the False Prophets (Revelation 13: 4) is to prevent humans from becoming part of the elect of Christ, to prevent them from being saved.
In Matthew 22: 11-14, it says "And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14. For many are called, but few are chosen."
Then Revelation 3: 4 states that "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy."
Revelation 16: 15 tells us "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."
What does the metaphoric "garments" refer to? Its the garment of salvation.
But look also at Matthew 7: 21-23. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
And see Luke 13: 25-27: "When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
26. Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
27. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity."
And also look at Matthew 25: 11-12: "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12.But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not."
Christ gives an identity to those of his elect. This is the identity Christ gives to them so he recognizes them as his own. He knows them. He does not know those who do not have that identity which he alone can give.
He does not know those who do not have on his garment of salvation because of where they have positioned themselves in their beliefs, in their doctrines.
In Revelation 3: 16 Christ says "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
To have on the garment of salvation and to be known by Christ and not rejected by him, one must have a wholehearted acceptance of Christ, and a large love for his truth. To follow a man-made system of doctrines, which mixes some of Christ's doctrines with man's own invented doctrines, is to be lukewarm in one's acceptance of Christ, in one's faith and in one's love for the truth. And those who are lukewarm are spit out of Christ's mouth.
And Christ says in John 3: 3, 7: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God...Ye must be born again.". He said this to Nicodemus, a Pharisee of physical Israel. The certain implication of "ye must be born again" is that there was to be a transformation of physical Israel from that which was physical to that which is spiritual. And those who were formerly gentiles were to become part of this spiritual house (I Peter 2: 5), as Hosea 2: 23 predicts and Acts 15: 8-9, Romans 10: 12, Galatians 3: 28 and Ephesians 2: 11-19 confirm, and former gentiles are equals to those who were formerly of physical Israel.
"And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." Galatians 6: 16
A part of the proper garment of salvation, given by Christ, is being born again into that Israel which was transformed into a spititual house. "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ...... Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" Ephesians 2: 11-19
John 10: 16: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."
"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one
members one of another" (Romans 12: 5).
"For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are
all partakers of that one bread" (I Corinthians 10: 17).
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;" (Ephesians 4: 4)
The one fold, the one Body of Christ, the one group of the elect cannot be the ekkelsia, the meeting, the assembly because Christ said in Matthew 13: 29-30 "jNay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
At one time the ekklesia, the meeting, was made up mostly opf the elect, with a few tares among them. Later, after the falling away of II Thessalonians 2: 3 and the leavening of Luke 13: 21 began there were more and more tares, those in false doctrines, in the ekklesia.
There can only be one Body of Christ, the elect, to whom Christ gives their identity, the proper garmet of salvation.
It is the False Prophets teaching doctrines that mix truth with man made doctrines which cause many not to enter into that elect group who have the proper garments of salvation on and are known by Christ as his own - and have something of the mind of Christ in them. And it is the truth of Jesus Christ which is able to free people from bondage to the Strong Man and his human representatives. Man cannot make up his own doctrines, or decide which group identity he belongs to and be accepted by Christ.
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