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VOL VI  NO. 12  DECEMBER 2005

REV. ROBERT KELLEY

 


Releasing the Strong Man! - Part I

 

Rev. Robert Kelley is the founder and president of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. and pastored the St. Mark Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon at the time this was published.

 

The Captivity Of Men
"We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one," (I John 5:19, NKJV).  With these inspired words the apostle John reveals a startling truth: there are only two groups of people on this planet, Christians who are of God and non-Christians who are of a world system governed over and controlled by Satan.

 

The serpent became the ruler of this world after Adam sinned (Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12).  God permitted this looking to the future day when His Son who is also the "Seed" of the woman would defeat this evil angelic usurper (Genesis 3:15).  Indeed, the devil offered the Lord Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world" saying, "´All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish,´" (Luke 4:5-6, NKJV).

 

Satan could not offer the Son of God what was not legitimately his to offer!  And so it was, for three years later the Lord Jesus unmistakably acknowledges the devil as the governor of this world when He said to His disciples, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me," (John 14:30, NKJV).

 

"So, what´s the big deal," you might ask?  Much!  For if you are not a truly converted, born again believer in Jesus Christ, you are very literally a hopeless slave to Satan at this very moment.  This fallen angel has made a captive and slave of every man not in Jesus Christ through the power of sin (John 8:34) and the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).  Don´t believe it?  Stop yourself from committing any kind of Bible defined sin for even the next minute (I´m being generous).  You can´t do it because like the apostle Paul in the flesh you are "sold under sin," a slave (Romans 7:14-24)!

 

Urban gang macho talk (which is demonic) aside, no human being is naturally ready or willing to die.  Life on this side of death is all we know.  Fear of the unknowns leading up to and beyond death makes humanity easy marks for the prince of fear to deceive and control.  His favorite deception is there is no afterlife worth denying yourself the indulgence of every desire here and now for.  Thus, in pondering the prospect of no resurrection, Paul facetiously agrees with Satan´s fatalists, '"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,'" (I Corinthians 15:32b, NKJV)!

 

The wicked governor of this world system has designed it to play to humanity´s every sinful impulse driven by lust, pride, selfish ambition, greed and covetousness among others.  Bound by these enslaving shackles of sin and the fear of death, males in particular are proudly held captive by the devil to keep them from becoming strong men of God as He wills.  The ruinous result is everywhere apparent in human history and especially in these last days.

 

The Enslavement Of Black Men
As it concerns the black American community, Satan´s binding up of men has been absolutely devastating.  Besides the common sin and fear of death ties he uses on all men, the devil also uses the negative mental and emotional legacies of physical slavery and racism as additional ties that bind up the potential black American strong man of God.  It is amazing our many churches can´t or won´t see this.  The evidence however, is overwhelming!

 

Our men disproportionately fill America´s streets, mental wards, jails, prisons and graveyards.  They are jobless and homeless in large numbers.  With and without jobs, many are addicted to some form of temporary escapist pleasure and self-gratification through such activities as drugs, alcohol and sex outside of marriage.  We father children without regard for their physical, mental, emotional or spiritual nurture.  Many are angry, bitter, hopeless, violent and deadly as demon controlled murderers in the image of their master (Ezekiel 28:12-16; John 8:44).

 

Many of us want to blame European and American whites entirely for the condition of our men.  To whatever extent the human agents of Satan´s inspired sins against our people are guilty, God will hold them accountable.  However, in our victimization, we fail to recognize we came to America already enslaved to Satan like all other non-Christians!

 

Our physical enslavement to men only brought into stark visibility what was our true invisible spiritual condition!  Our West African ancestors were sinners as all other men and so feared death as all other men that they worshipped dead ancestors, the creation including Satan (or where did their occult practices come from) and the works of their hands (idols).  Those who came to Christ were set free first from satanic, then human bondage in His time.

 

To Be Continued Next Issue

 

 

©2005 Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc