Let us look tonight to Matthew
chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16 and I'll begin
again in verse number 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or
one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And I say unto thee that thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever
thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Most of
you here tonight were here A week ago, Sunday morning, when I brought
our message from this passage of Scripture, and we were looking
at our Lord's promise to build His church, which we found in
verse number 18. I will build my church upon this
rock. I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We know that Christ
is that rock. He is the rock of ages upon which
the church is built. I knew that I would not have
time to speak from verse 19, so I didn't mention it. But I
believe that there are some things that I would like to remind us
of this evening that are found in verse 19. And I will give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, And whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever
thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Let's consider
these three questions. First of all, what is the kingdom
of heaven? What is the kingdom of heaven?
The scripture here says, I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. Matthew is the only one of the
four Gospels who uses this term, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven. All of the other Gospel writers
use the term the Kingdom of God. One suggestion as to why Matthew
would use the term so often the Kingdom of Heaven rather than
the Kingdom of God is because It is assumed that he was writing
especially to the Jews and we know the Jews were very superstitious
about using the name of God. But in Matthew's gospel there
are four times where he does use the term the kingdom of God. Now there are some men who try
to make the case that that the two terms, the kingdom of heaven
and the kingdom of God, mean two different kingdoms, or two
different things. But we know that is not true,
and I want you to see that tonight in the Word of God. Keep your
places here, but look, if you will, to Matthew, chapter 4,
and also Mark, chapter 1. Matthew chapter 4 and Mark chapter
1, and I want us to get the time frame so that we see we're talking
about the same incident. But in Matthew chapter 4 verse
12 the scripture says, Now when Jesus had heard that John was
cast into prison, he departed into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth,
he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast in
the borders of Zebulon and Naphthalim, that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zebulon and
the land of Naphthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles, a people which sat in darkness, saw a
great light, And to them, which sat in the region and shadow
of death, light is sprung up. From that time, what time? Well, look back to verse 12,
when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison. From that
time, Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Now look in Mark's gospel, if
you will, Mark chapter 1. verses 14 and 15. Now after that John was put in
prison, Mark 1 verse 14, Jesus came into Galilee. We saw that,
we read that in Matthew chapter 4. When John was put into prison,
Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God. And saying, The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the
gospel. So back to my question, what
is the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom of God? You
will remember that our Lord told Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be born Again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. And then later in that same conversation,
verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? What
is the kingdom of heaven? Look with me in Luke, if you
will. Luke chapter 17. And it should be established
from what our Lord said to Nicodemus that the way into the kingdom
of God is by birth, by spiritual birth, by being born a second
time, being born from above, being born of the Spirit and
of the Word. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible with the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Luke chapter 17, verse 20, and
when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should
come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not
with observation. In other words, you're not going
to see the Messiah riding on a horse at the head of great
legions of armies, conquering in that way. The kingdom of God
does not come with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here,
or lo there. For behold, now notice, the kingdom
of God is within you. The kingdom of God is within
you. A man must be born again to enter
the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is within you. Now one other place, if you will,
in Romans chapter 14, and here I believe we have the best definition
of the kingdom of God in one scripture, Romans chapter 14, and verse 17. The Apostle Paul writing to the
believers in the church at Rome, For the kingdom of God, Romans
14 verse 7, what is the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom of
heaven? For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink. Now that's number one. The kingdom
of God is not. This is what it isn't. It's not
denying yourself certain meat or certain kinds of drink. That's not the kingdom of God.
Well, what is the kingdom of God? Well, he says But this is
the kingdom of God. Righteousness and peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost. Now this is the kingdom of God. Righteousness is mentioned first. Salvation is called the kingdom
of God, as one writer said, because salvation is of the Lord. He
prepared it. He prepared salvation. He planned
it in eternity past. He gives it. It cannot be purchased. Eternal life is a gift of God.
Not of works, lest any man should boast. He calls to it. He calls men into the kingdom
of God. And when he calls men into the
kingdom of God, when men and women are born again of the Spirit
of God, He puts us in possession of it, that is the kingdom of
God, by receiving, first of all, this righteousness. What is the kingdom of God? The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness. In
other words, a person must have a righteousness that allows,
I hate to use that word, but I don't know of any other word
to use, that allows God to be both just and justifier. We have to have a righteousness.
God is not going to justify anyone unless He does it in a righteous
way. In other words, His law must
be honored and His righteousness, His holiness must be satisfied. One of the problems today is
men think of God only as a God of love. And we thank God that
He is love. But my friends, He's also a God
of holiness, a God of righteousness, who will by no means, the Scripture
says, clear the guilty. That's what He said. By no means
clear the guilty. But we are all guilty. Yes, we
are by nature all guilty, all sinners before God. And we must
have a righteousness that allows God to declare us to be righteous. And He's not going to declare
anyone to be righteous, that is to justify anyone who He does
not make righteous. Now, this righteousness, the
kingdom of God is righteousness. This righteousness in scripture
is called the righteousness of God. And you know why. You know why, don't you? Because
this is the righteousness, this is the obedience of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is God. God manifests in the flesh. And yet, as man He obeyed God. He honored God. He satisfied
God. And that righteousness that he
worked out, that perfect righteousness. Remember the Lord said two times,
this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. This righteousness
must become my righteousness. It must become your righteousness
for us to enter the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. This righteousness is imputed
to everyone who believes. The scripture says that it is
of faith that it might be sure to all the seed. So that's the
first thing. This righteousness is imputed
to everyone who believes. You remember in Jeremiah, one
of the titles that, I think there's seven of those compound names
in the Old Testament of Jehovah. The first one is Jehovah-Jireh
in Genesis 22. when Abraham took Isaac up on
the mountain, and God delivered him, God supplied, God substituted
a ram in Isaac's place, and the name of that mountain is Jehovah,
or the name of that altar, rather, Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will
see to it. And there's seven of those in
the Old Testament, and one of them is Jehovah-Tiskanu, the
Lord, our righteousness. That's his name. That's the first
thing we're told in Jeremiah. That's his name. But his church,
his bride, Jerusalem, we take the name of our husband. And we are called Jehovah Tiskanu. Just like when a woman marries
a man, she takes his name. So his righteousness is imputed
unto us and his righteousness becomes our righteousness. The second thing we read about
the kingdom of God is righteousness and it is peace. Peace. Peace is the peace that we have
with God through the blood of His cross. He made peace, the
scripture says in Colossians, by the blood of His cross. Therefore,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it wonderful tonight, if
you know Christ as your Lord and Savior, to know that you
have peace with God? If there's anyone that I want
to have peace with, it's God. Don't you? I mean, I want to
have peace with everyone. But I certainly want to have
peace with God. And I have it. Christ, he's my
peace. He made peace for me. He made
peace for you if you're one of his children. He made peace for
all of his church. by the blood, by his sacrifice,
by his suffering, by his death in satisfying God. And the third thing, the kingdom
of God is righteousness, it is peace, and it is joy in the Holy
Ghost. Having Christ formed within and
knowing that we are accepted in the beloved. We have joy. We rejoice in Christ. We don't
rejoice in our works or in anything that we've done. We rejoice in
Christ. Paul said, again I say unto you,
rejoice in the Lord. He is our joy. Now, that's the
first question. What is the kingdom of God? Our
Lord told Peter in our text that he would give him the keys to
the kingdom of heaven. So what is the kingdom of heaven?
We've seen that. We've looked at that. Now, here's
the second question. What are the keys? What are the
keys that Peter was given? Well, it should go without saying
that Peter was not made the doorkeeper of heaven. How foolish. And yet, how many people believe
that, that when they die, and as they say, get to the pearly
gates, they're going to meet St. Peter. And Peter's going
to give you entrance or not give you entrance, because he was
given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What foolishness,
my friends. The kingdom, the keys, what are
the keys that Peter was given? Well, he wasn't given the keys
of hell and death. Because when John saw the Lord
Jesus Christ, when John was exiled on the Isle of Patmos, Revelation
chapter 1, and saw Christ, he appeared behind him. He had the
keys on his girdle. Christ does. The keys of death
and Hades. And he wasn't given the key of
David. Because later in the revelation
we know that Christ has the key of David. The Lord Jesus told the Jewish
leaders, Woe unto you lawyers, for you have taken away the key
of knowledge. You enter not in yourselves,
and them that were entering you hinder. Now the key of knowledge
is Christ. No one will ever know the Scripture
until he sees that the Scriptures are given to reveal Christ. And
if you don't look for Christ as you read the Word of God,
it's not going to profit you as it could and as it should.
He is the key to the Scriptures. The keys. What are the keys that
Peter was given? Well, first of all, let me remind
us, these keys were not given exclusively to Peter, but they
were given to Peter as well as the other apostles, and we'll
see that more in just a minute. But what were these keys which
were given to Peter and to all the apostles? It was the ability
that God gave them, that God the Holy Spirit gave them to
explain gospel truths. The ability that these men had. Remember, before the Lord died
and before Pentecost, they were asking questions. Even when the
Lord ascended back to heaven on the Mount of Olives, one of
the things that they asked him, will you restore the kingdom
to Israel at this time? Things really changed, though,
after the Holy Spirit came. unto you are given the keys to
the kingdom to explain, to preach, to proclaim these gospel truths. They all, all of the eleven,
all of the apostles were commanded to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. And they were all promised the
Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. We saw that a few
weeks ago when we looked at our Lord's promise to send the Holy
Spirit. Now, as to Peter in particular,
because Peter is the one who made the confession, though he
spoke for all of them, these words were especially directed
to Peter, Thou art Simon, Thou art Peter. Blessed art Thou,
Simon Bar-Jonah. We know these words were directed
especially to him, particularly to him. And we know that on the
day of Pentecost, he is the one who used the keys. Now the other
disciples, and we will see this, they stood up with him. I want
you to turn with me to Acts chapter 2. What are the keys to the kingdom? of heaven, the ability that these
apostles were given to preach, to proclaim, and explain the
Scriptures. Because when the Holy Ghost comes
upon them on this day, Scripture is opened up to them. My friends,
it's marvelous. It's marvelous to see this as
we look here in Acts chapter 2. The ability that these men had. Let's begin in verse 14. And in this passage we're going
to read, Acts chapter 2, 14 through 21, I want you to see how that
Peter stands up and he declares the fulfillment of this prophecy
that was given by Joel. How did he know? How did he know
that this was the fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy? He had the keys. He was given
the keys. Let's begin our reading in verse
14. But Peter's standing up, now
notice, with the eleven. He didn't stand up by himself.
But the other ten rather stood up with him. The eleven stood
up, but Peter is the one. Our Lord spoke directly, particularly
to Peter that day, in our text in Matthew 16. But it's Peter
who lifted up his voice and said unto them, You men of Judea,
and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken
to my words. For these are not drunken, as
ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But
this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall
come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my
Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old
men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my
handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and
they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven
above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire, and
vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable
day of the Lord come, and it shall come to pass. Now this
is the most important thing that he says here. All of it's important. Maybe I shouldn't have said it
like that. But the emphasis is here. Here it is in verse 21. Joel had prophesied of a time
that would come when whosoever calleth upon the name of the
Lord should be saved. How did Peter know that? How
did he know the explanation of that Old Testament prophecy?
He was given the keys, the ability. When he says whosoever, Now,
I don't know if he realized it when he said that, but whosoever
means Jews and Gentiles. Alright, so first of all, he
declared the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. Number two,
he declared the accomplishment of God's purpose in the death
of Christ. Verses 22 and 23. How did Peter
know this? You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. He declared that what had taken
place in Jerusalem, the crucifixion of this man who only went about
doing good, healing all manner of diseases, that this was the
accomplishing of God's purpose, what God had purposed in saving
his people, that is the death of Christ. And then notice next,
he declared the fulfillment of David's prophecy in the resurrection,
beginning with verse 24. Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. For David speaketh concerning
him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on
my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh
shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
Hades, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make
me full of joy with thy countenance. Men, brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David. That he's both dead and
buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, David,
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath
to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. This before spake of the resurrection
of Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, neither his
flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which you now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know, assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both
Lord and Christ. He declared the fulfillment of
David's prophecy of the resurrection. Do you think that Peter could
have preached this message before Pentecost? I don't think so. I don't think so at all. Do you
think he could have explained the prophecy of Joel, the prophecy
of David concerning the resurrection of Christ? No. But after he was
given the keys and after the Spirit of God came upon him as
well as all the other apostles, you see he has this ability.
God-given ability to open up the Scriptures and to proclaim
Christ. And you notice he declared the
Lordship of Christ who was crucified there in verse 36. Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Many were convicted in the heart
when they heard these words of the apostles. And they asked
all of the apostles. They didn't just ask Peter. Notice
in verse 37. Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, Men, brethren, what shall we do? This is conviction
of the Holy Spirit, isn't it? What shall we do? Have you ever
been convicted because of your sin? And if you ever ask, what
shall I do? What must I do? That's what that
Philippian jailer asked, wasn't it? What must I do to be saved? That's what they're asking here.
being pricked in their hearts. They're asking, what shall we
do? And it was Peter especially who responds, notice in verse
28, Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, on the
day of Pentecost, it's Peter especially who is using the keys,
the ability. But notice, further in the book
of Acts, let's go to chapter 10, it's Peter again, and I have to be brief here,
I realize that, but it is Peter again who opens the door of faith. to the Gentiles. He sent, you
know the story, how he was sent to the house of Cornelius and
in Acts chapter 10 and verse 34 We read, Then Peter opened
his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons, but in every nation, both the Jewish nation and the
Gentile nations. In every nation he that feareth
him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word
which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by
Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word, I say, you know, which
was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for
God. was with him. And we are witnesses
of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in
Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised
up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people,
but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat
and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And you know, it goes on there,
and the Holy Spirit fell upon these Gentiles. And in Acts chapter
15, when they had that meeting there to discuss that issue,
is it necessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised, Peter, when
he spoke, he makes a point of saying that he was the first.
to speak or take the gospel to the Gentiles, to Cornelius. Again, we're told that it was
Peter on the day of Pentecost to the Jews in the house of Cornelius
to the Gentiles. But if, now think with me, if
Peter was given any power over the other 10 apostles, 10 disciples,
and the other apostle Paul. If he was given any power over
them, then it would be difficult to explain Acts chapter 11, verses
1 through 3, when these men call Peter on the carpet. They call him on the carpet for
going into the house of Cornelius. Well, I thought you were the
supreme pope, the supreme potentate, the backer of Christ in this
world. Well, you may have thought that,
but if you did, you thought wrong. No, no. And the apostles and
brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received
the word of God. And when Jesus was come up to
Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with
him. You mean you're going to contend
with the vicar of Christ? No, no. The Holy Spirit is the
vicar of Christ. He's our Lord's representative. And something else to remember,
and I won't take the time to point this out to us, but do
you remember later, now after Matthew 16, when these words
were spoken to Peter, that later it was John and James, remember
there was a contention among the disciples who would be the
greatest. Well I thought that was already
said. I thought that had already been settled. No, no. It wasn't
settled. They were all to be equal, all
to be servants, just like you and I. Now, I've tried to say
what is the kingdom of God. We looked at that verse of Scripture.
The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
What are the keys that Peter was given? It was the ability
to preach and explain the gospel. But here's another question.
What is the binding and loosing in this text? Back in Matthew
16, verse 19. What is this binding and loosing? And I will give unto thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We'll look in chapter 18 of Matthew,
verse 18, and just notice that this binding and loosing wasn't
given exclusively and only to Peter, but to all of the disciples. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever
you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever
you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The Lord
Jesus Christ gave to his apostles the authority as they were directed
by God the Holy Spirit to declare something to be unlawful and
it was so. And to loose by declaring something
to be lawful that before had been forbidden. Let me give us
some examples quickly. The law of Moses commanded the
observance of certain dates. as the new moon every month,
that was a day of worship, the great day of atonement, the year
of jubilee, and on and on and on. But the apostles teach us
that these things were merely shadows. They were shadows of
the reality and Christ is the reality. These days of rest and
days of atonement, days of sacrifice, days of worship, they all pictured
Christ. The apostles loosed the believers
in Christ from observing these times. And the law of Moses,
you remember, it commanded that certain meats could not be eaten.
You couldn't eat pork. There were certain dietary laws.
What did the apostle Paul write? For every creature of God is
good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving,
for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayers. The Jews
had no dealings with the Gentiles. They wouldn't go into a house,
we just saw. They contended with Peter because
he went into the house of a Gentile and ate with him. They loosed,
these disciples, they loosed these things that before had
been forbidden. Now the apostles were taught
and taught others. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. That is what is meant by the
loosing and the binding. The things that we read in the
epistles, those rules and regulations of the Mosaic law that had bound
those people, they've been loosed. We've been loosed from those
things. And it was the apostles that the Lord gave this power
to. I hope that's clear. A man said one time after someone
preached, he said, well that's deep. He said,