Building God's Kingdom on earth as in heaven
using the secrets of His kingdom
A. FOUNDATIONAL SCRIPTURE
The first mention of the word "Church" by Jesus in the New Testament is found in Matthew 16:16-19.
This is the foundational scripture for advancing the Kingdom of God and building the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth.
Matthew 16:16-19 NIV Margin
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven."
A simple paraphrase of these verses is as follows:
Matthew 16:16-19 [Paraphrased]
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah [--> the Christ, the Anointed One, the Saviour], the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
[--> My Father gave you this revelation, not man].
18 And I tell you that you are Peter
[Peter = Greek PETROS = a small stone],
and on this rock
[rock = Greek PETRA = a huge rock = the revelation that "Jesus is the Messiah"],
I will build my church
[--> I will build my church, not man],
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
[--> No demonic power can stand before the Church I build].
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven
[Keys of the Kingdom of heaven = secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven = revelation from heaven] ;
whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven
[Bind and loose
= declare
= say
= decree
= command],
[ --> You must decree and declare on earth in agreement with what has already been bound and loosed in heaven].
B. PRESENT TRUTHS FOR TODAY:
1. Jesus will build His Church.
Matthew 16:16-19
18 "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
Man cannot build God's church, according to their plans and ideas, no matter how good.
Jesus said He will do it.
He will do it His way.
The way to build His Church is taught in these verses of Scripture in Matthew 16:16-19.
2. Jesus will build His Church on the revelation that "Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."
Matthew 16:16-19
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
The truth that "Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God" is a revelation given to Peter from Father God.
Jesus calls this revelation "the rock" on which He will build His Church.
This is the only foundational truth on which Jesus will build His Church.
Jesus will not build His Church on any other foundation.
3. The gates of Hades will not overcome the Church that Jesus is building.
Matthew 16:16-19
18 "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
When Jesus builds His Church, it will be a Church where He is the rock and foundation, the author and finisher of our faith, and the only source of God's love and power and glory.
It will be a Church that is filled with the glory and love, and power and presence of God.
When Jesus builds such a Church, the power of darkness must retreat before the Church.
Through testings and trials and persecution, the true Church of Jesus will grow and prevail on this earth until it becomes a glorious bride for Jesus, waiting for His second coming.
4. Today, Jesus will give more revelation to His church from heaven concerning His Church and His kingdom.
Matthew 16:16-19 NIV Margin
19 "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven."
The keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are revelations of God's plan and will for His Church and His kingdom on earth.
They are also called the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:11).
Jesus will give these keys to His disciples so that they can use these keys to build the Kingdom of Heaven and the Church of Jesus on this earth.
All believers must follow the blueprint of Heaven in building the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth.
We must not build God's Church according to our own preferences and ideas and fads.
5. Believers build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth by binding and loosing on earth using these keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.
To bind and to loose is to command like a king, to decree like a king, to declare like a king, or to say as a king what you desire.
Matthew 16:16-19 NIV Margin
19 I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven."
The keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, or the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, are already bound and loosed in heaven.
God's truths, God's will, God's plans and God's purposes have been established forever in heaven (Psalm 118:89).
These are the keys that have been forever established in heaven.
And Jesus is constantly releasing these keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to His Church so that we can build His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven using these keys.
6. On earth, we must command and decree and say what we desire using words that agree with the will of the Father in heaven.
On earth, we must command and decree in agreement with the keys [the secrets] of the Kingdom of Heaven.
We must bind and loose according to what has been bound and loosed in heaven (Matthew 18:19 NIV Margin).
We must decree on earth what has been decreed in heaven.
When we declare and decree the keys of the Kingdom on this earth, if we believe that whatever we say will happen, it will be done for us.
Mark 11:23 MEV
23 For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.
We must therefore receive the keys [secrets] of the Kingdom of Heaven from Jesus through His word and His Spirit, and decree them over our lives, our families, the Church of Jesus Christ, our government and our nation.
Jesus promised us that what we decree and declare will be done for us by Jesus, if we believe that what we say will happen.
In this way we build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, in our lives, in our families, in the Church of Jesus Christ, in our government, and in our nation.
And nothing shall be impossible for us.
7. Our calling as believers in building God's kingdom is to wait on God daily, receive the keys of His Kingdom, and decree them on earth.
We do this by daily praising Him, seeking His face, bringing our needs to Him, and hearing from Him through His word and His Spirit.
Once we know God's will in heaven, we are to pray according to these keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and decree these keys [or secrets] from heaven over every area of life on this earth.
Matthew 6:10
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
As we decree God's plans on earth, God will give us victory in the spirit realm in every area of life on this earth.
Once the victory and breakthrough is received through our decrees in the spirit, we will then see it come to pass in the realm of the natural---in our lives, our families, the Church, our government and our land.
In this way, the kingdom of God is established on this earth as it is in heaven.