Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
you see many of us the problem of us
getting along with other people is our
inability to get along with ourselves
everything visible and physical is
preceded by something invisible and
spirit the consequences we are dealing
with in our lives in our homes in our
culture we are dealing with them because
there is a gap between where God is and
where we are he wants to know that you
want him and not just wanted stuff see a
lot of folk go to church to get God
stuff but who don’t want the God who
gives it so if you’re in distress
don’t let that drive you away draw you
near when you get close and want to live
for him want to please him want to honor
him want to exalt him want to draw near
to him then heaven opens up and he lets
you find
[Music]
kingdom authority may be defined as the
divinely delegated right and
responsibility for believers to act on
God’s behalf in spiritually ruling over
his creation under the lordship of Jesus
Christ’s Kingdom Authority is the
divinely delegated right and
responsibility that has been bequeathed
to believers to act on God’s behalf to
rule over his creation under the
lordship of Jesus Christ with God’s
kingdom comes authority one of the ways
that that authority is grasped connected
with and utilized is in Kingdom Prayer
Kingdom prayer is divinely authorized
access for heaven to invade earth for
heavenly intervention into historical
circumstances and one of the expressions
that talks about Authority is binding
and loosing now if you’ve grown up in
church you’ve heard people talk about
binding this and binding that and what
they’re talking about is exercising
Authority and that is precisely what the
phrase means but I want to take you
deeper into the meaning of the phrase
the utilization and understanding of how
to apply the phrase so that you and I
get the benefit of the phrase and start
binding and loosing like we supposed to
the word binding and loosing is not a
magic formula for you to get God to do
what you want
yet it is a powerful formula because of
what stated because verse 18 says
whatever you bind and it goes on to say
and whatever you lose first of all
whatever this scope of this statement is
staggering in other words he doesn’t
give an exception he says whatever you
bind whatever you loose it says heaven
is gonna back it up or to put it in
contemporary words God says I got you I
got you
please notice something in the phrase
you are the one doing the binding not
God you are the one doing the loosing
not God whatever you bind and whatever
you lose will have been done in heaven
so God will back up legitimate binding
and legitimate loosing to bind means to
restrict to by means to lock to by means
to restrain Tobiah means to tie down to
bind means to hold something so that it
cannot do what it wants to do you are
limiting its ability to function because
you’ve tied it up you bound it you’ve
wrapped it up you put a knot on it
you’ve held it back conversely loosing
is to unlock or to release it is to
permit it is to free something up the
first thing that leads up to his
statement in chapter 16 about binding
and loosing is the statement is
specifically given to
and given about the church I will build
my church he comes with binding and
loosing after that statement why because
binding and loosing is a specific
authority given to the church it’s very
important binding and loosing the
exercise of authority is specifically
given to the church I will build my
church now the reason why that’s
important is you need to remember
something about the church that we often
lose sight of and some don’t even know
why you come to church for preaching and
for singing and for fellowship and all
of those are very important things
there is another purpose of the church
that’s absolutely critical and that is
legislating from the spiritual realm the
job of the church is to legislate from
up there to down here to bring heaven in
this tree that is the job of the chair
it is to spiritually legislate not just
saying not just preach but to bring the
authority from eternity in this tree so
it is the church represents another
realm although it’s located on earth it
represents heaven but it’s located in
history and it has been given homeland
authority to operate in history from
eternity now the reason I’m pointing
this out as many Christians don’t
understand this if you are disconnected
from the church you are disconnected
from its legal authority in the
spiritual realm he says and the gates of
Hell shall not overpower it he says so
powerful is the church I’m building that
hell can’t stop it
he didn’t say sure not overpower me
session not overpower it because he’s
referring to the church that is
legislating from heaven
so when you see hell defeating the
church it’s because we not build in
jesus’s church we build in our church
using jesus’s name
he says the church that i am building
that legislates from history greek word
ecclesia church was a legal term for
legislation legislating in the spiritual
to bring it into history
he says the gates of hell gates is a
legal term in the Old Testament it says
the elders met at the gate that’s like
saying City Council meeting City Hall
Congress Parliament it was the place
where legislation was made at the gates
so it’s a legal term because hell does
not defeat you with power hell defeat
you with legality hell operates on a
legislature okay it operates legally and
if you do not understand that it’s not
just power operating its power operating
from an illegal position but yet from a
legal posture so he says the gates of
Hell shall not over power it he’s talked
about the church then he goes further
then we come to come to verse 19 I will
give you the keys to the kingdom
well Kingdom is God’s rule and I’m gonna
give you keys
he says I’m going to give you access to
me to legislate from there back down the
way you live and I’m going to give you
these keys now the reason why they’re
multiple keys is cuz they’re multiple
gates well now we come to the end of
verse 19 whatsoever you bind on earth
will have been bound in heaven whatever
you loose on earth will have been
already loosed in heaven
I got you so what exactly are we binding
loosing well let me tell you based on
this passage you’re binding and loosing
what’s coming out of hell gates of Hell
you’re binding and loosing so what’s the
difference between binding and loosing
dying when you when you’ve been binding
something you’re tying it up you’re
keeping it from mobility you’re keeping
it from moving to bind means something
is coming after you that you want held
back from you you want it to be tired up
you don’t want it to get through you
don’t want it to be able to penetrate
you it’s holding the evil Satan hell off
of you Lucy is cuz he already got you
he’s already all up in your grill he’s
already controlling something you’re
already addicted you’re already living
in defeat
you’re already relationally in discord
you’re already miserable and you can’t
get out of it and you need to be loosed
from the hostage-taking
he’s already taking you binding is
keeping him off you or anything that is
influenced by him because the hell
influences everything it influences
death it influences bad relationships it
influences addictions it influences
he’ll help you influence any area of
your life to bind it means to keep it
from having a illegitimate dominant
influence to loose means it’s already
having an illegitimate dominant
influence I’m already in debt over my
head you can’t get out I’m already in a
bad situation relationship I’m already
addicted to something or the other and
I’m already held hostage and nothing is
working but I need to be loosed
I studied the Bible in college for four
years and studied the Bible before you
is better than my master’s degree
another four years we’re getting about
their degree and then I’ve been
preaching all of these years and I’m
still learning new things from this
awesome inexhaustibility world of games
that’s why I’m so excited about the
twenty heaven Study Bible and its
accompanying works the Tony Evans Bible
commentary it will take all of this
training and this teaching and make it
available to you to understand utilize
and apply God’s most powerful
I need to be set free from it
he says to be too buying to keep it off
you because it’s coming at you or too
loose because it’s already got you and
you want to get rid of it he says you
must do it whatever you bind I got you
whatever you loose I got you heaven will
back you up well if the problem is the
gates of Hell he says you must use the
keys of heaven and you must do it in
concert with the church because that’s
the entity that owns the keys so you
don’t have a private key ring you don’t
have your own keys the church has the
keys you have to use those keys for your
situation so now that we have that
framework let’s go back to chapter 18 he
starts off again and in verse 18 and he
begins this process by talking about
binding and loosing but now he goes
further and he’s going to explain how to
get this thing working for you so I’m
assuming somebody in here needs to bind
something or lose something again I say
to you verse 19 if two of you agree on
earth about anything that they ask it
shall be done for them by my father who
is in heaven oh now we get down to two
or three interesting two or three
witnesses is not a novel concept it’s
all through the Bible American civil
government to a large degree borrowed
from the Bible and one of the things
they borrowed was the principle of
witnesses in Deuteronomy 19 verse 15
it says you cannot accuse somebody by
the witness of one person there must be
two or three witnesses deuteronomy
chapter 17 verse 6 you cannot bring an
accusation or judgment by one person
there must be two or three witnesses so
two or three witnesses was used of
confirming something legally because
it’s used up trying civil cases Jesus
takes the principle of legality two and
three witnesses and applies it now to
binding and loosing why because we are
seeking to do in the spiritual realm
what the political realm was seeking to
do in civil judgments to do that he says
you need two or three witnesses now this
is not just two or three people out of
nowhere because in verse 17 he says tell
it to the church if he refuses to listen
to the church let it be to you as a
Gentile and a tax collector so he hasn’t
left the church he’s still talking about
the church because that is the
authorized legal entity from heaven to
history so let me explain something when
you connect with people even if they’re
Christians who are not connected to the
embassy they can’t help you with binding
and loosing cause binding and loosing
has only been delegated to the church
not just to you out here just bind and
stuff and I bind the devil in your right
here oh no no if you are disconnected
from the embassy that’s why people don’t
listen heed to go to church for
preaching people don’t need to go to
church just for singing he says two or
three gathered okay the word gathered is
used of the church in Hebrews chapter 10
verse 25 don’t forsake the gathering
it’s talking about the church he says
when they are connected and two or three
now we got legal validity
because that’s how the word 2 or 3of
used in Scripture we’ve got legal
authorization so let’s see how you can
begin to bind and loose keep keep the
devil off of you in whatever category
he’s on you or get him off of you if
he’s already locked you down and loose
him and get get him off of your back no
longer is he controlling whatever area
of your life that he happens to be
controlling right now he says if you
come together two or three that’s
illegal gathering because it’s connected
to the church anything somebody say
anything that’s like whatever okay verse
eight he says whatever verse 19 says
anything anything that they may ask we
just introduced prayer ask so now you
are asking you’re asking heaven to
intervene on your behalf in history for
the binding and loosing as defined in
chapter 16 which is the gates of Hell he
says ask anything that they may ask
please notice something the two must
agree forget spiritual authority where
there is disunity so he says it must be
by agreement that is you’ve got to be in
the same for your different people but
you’ve got to be on the same spiritual
page okay so he says that and maybe
makes a staggering promise it shall be
done for them by my father who is in
heaven so you must bind you must bring
God’s perspective the keys you must talk
to God the prayer you must be an
agreement with God and then you must be
linked to the legal entity the local
church and he says and you’ve done it in
my name in Monday said the father is
gonna do it but you got to do it in my
name now Matthew 28:18 says Jesus says
all authority is given to me
and heaven on earth translation I’m in
charge now I’m in charge up there in
heaven and I’m in charge down here on
earth and I’m the link between the two
so in order to get it from heaven down
here to earth Jesus is saying you got to
come through me there’s one mediator
between God and man and the Bible says
that is the man Christ Jesus he will
only give his authority when you’re
operating on his authority based on his
keys connected with his institution done
by agreement and he says that you must
do it in my name but he says something
else and there am I in the midst see a
lot of us pray in Jesus name while he is
on the periphery
he cannot be on the periphery he must be
in the me he must be the centerpiece of
the decision you will know God
philosophy of history in seasons 1 10
because it features 110 says God has
speculated all of history around the
centrality of Jesus Christ so by the in
loosing getting the devil from tying you
up or releasing you if you’ve been tied
up it’s tied to authority Authority is
tied to Christ Christ is tied to his
church binding and loosing it’s tied to
that connectivity by agreement and then
there is the provision of divine
authority where the father responds when
we do it in his name see a lot of us use
Jesus is named and we’ll even quote
Jesus’s word but without authorization
because we’re not subjected to Jesus’s
will or subjected to Jesus’s Authority
or subjected that Jesus is okay and so
it becomes an unauthorized use and when
it is an unauthorized use you can bind
and loose which means you can’t have
authority okay but you must do the
binding loosing God’s not
do it for you he gonna say I got you
when you’re operating as he said so the
question now is why the two or three in
this context let me it’s a biblical
illustration that to try to make sense
of this in Exodus chapter 17 begin
around verse 8 Israel is in a battle
they’re in a war they’re fighting it’s a
life-and-death struggle they’re battling
Moses goes up to the top of the hill and
Moses takes the rod the staff that God
gave him they turned it into the rod of
God and Moses held it up the rod was
Moses this symbol of authority he opened
the Red Sea with the rod it was the
symbol of heaven coming down to change
something on earth when he held up the
rod as long as Moses held up the rod it
says Israel prevailed but the moment
Moses dropped the rod it says the enemy
prevailed women then Israel down in the
valley doing the best they can
fighting as hard as they can trying as
hard as they can but whether they were
winning or losing wasn’t determined by
how hard they were trying it was
determined by what Moses was doing up
holding up the symbol of authority a lot
of us are trying hard to fix our mess
get out of debt get out of addiction
solve this problem here Liz it’s not we
trying we trying down here in this
battle but the problem is something’s
got to be solved up there to give you
victory down here the problem occurred
however then it says
his arms got heavy in other words he got
tired let me put another he got sick and
tired he got tired his arms got heavy
and his arm started to droop and when
his arm started to droop it says the
enemy began to prevail because the
symbol of authority had been lost so
Moses got two other men to come and to
hold up his arms because he was tired
and he was gonna droop and quit and give
up but the two men held up his ax they
became two witnesses and when they held
up his arms it says and Israel prevailed
over their enemies let me put it another
way what was happening on the ground
would not ultimately be determined by
what they were doing on the ground now
they still had to fight on the ground
but the power and the authority for the
victory of the fight was not on the
ground where they were fighting the
authority and victory and power would
come from what was happening in the
invisible realm that would determine
whether they won or lost in the visible
realm if you’re fighting for your
marriage if you’re fighting for
successful singlehood if you’re fighting
for the debt if you’re fighting for the
addiction or whatever the situation
happens to be yes you have a
responsibility to do what you ought to
do but that’s not where the authority
lies whatever you buy whatever you lose
it says I will have already done it in
heaven so the answer is up there so to
put it another way if you ignore the
spiritual if you ignore the keys if you
ignore the connection with the church if
you ignore the agreement if you ignore
those things you will not get help from
heaven while you’re battling the warfare
on earth you will only get victory on
earth because you have engaged the
authority of heaven God’s Way and when
you and I do that now we’ll see some
binding
[Music]
binding and loosing has to do with
authority
it is the exercise of God’s authority
through us in history when God talks
about binding and loosing he’s talking
about acting on his behalf to bring
things about in time and space that is
according to his will and with this
authority like in a football game when
the ref throws out the yellow flag or
blows the whistle it can override
satanic power people power problem power
economic power whatever the powerful
forces are that are coming at you
Kingdom authority binding and loosing
can’t override it I’m sure you like like
I have things and our lives that we need
to override God gives us the right the
privilege and the expectation to bind it
loose
[Music]
[Applause]
you
you