There has been much said about "the Keys" of the Kingdom in various threads and I would like to use the Word of God to establish the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus gave Peter is not Authority and Power over the "government" of His Church. That alone rests in the hands of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:19 - Jesus told Peter: "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven..."
Sometimes "keys" in Biblical usage are symbolic of governmental authority and power. Assuming that Jesus gave Peter the powers of government in the future church is a fallacy. In all Messianic prophecy, the powers of government were always exclusively in the hands of the Messiah Himself.
Isa 9:6 - "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
We all know this is speaking of Jesus Christ, the "child born" in Bethlehem, the "son is given" at Calvary, the Prince of Peace.
Thus the God/man, Jesus Christ carries the "government on His shoulder" and this relates to His rule over His kingdom and the "increase of His government shall never end".
Isa 9:7 "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end..."
Isaiah 22:22 further prophecies of Jesus' future rule: "And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut and none shall open."
of Jesus before His crucifixion.
b. "God made choice among you" - Jesus singled Peter out of the apostolic group for a very
special mission.
c. "By my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel" -
In other words: receive the knowledge about Christ and thereby be saved.
7. At least one thing is evident from I Corinthians 15:25 and that is that Christ shall "reign" until the
end of time. "For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet."
8. And Ephesians 1:21-22 together with Colossians 1:18 prove that Christ alone is the "head of
the church" and that relates to government.
Axehead
Matthew 16:19 - Jesus told Peter: "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven..."
Sometimes "keys" in Biblical usage are symbolic of governmental authority and power. Assuming that Jesus gave Peter the powers of government in the future church is a fallacy. In all Messianic prophecy, the powers of government were always exclusively in the hands of the Messiah Himself.
Isa 9:6 - "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
We all know this is speaking of Jesus Christ, the "child born" in Bethlehem, the "son is given" at Calvary, the Prince of Peace.
Thus the God/man, Jesus Christ carries the "government on His shoulder" and this relates to His rule over His kingdom and the "increase of His government shall never end".
Isa 9:7 "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end..."
Isaiah 22:22 further prophecies of Jesus' future rule: "And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut and none shall open."
- The "house of David" relates to the future kingdom of Messiah - as confirmed in II Samuel 7:15; Psalms 89:3-4; 29-37.
- "He shall open and none shall shut" and vice-versa indicates the uncontested authority of the coming of Christ.
- The "key on his shoulder" implies the same thought already prophesied in Isaiah 9:6 where the "government shall be on his shoulder."
- Revelation 3:7 says of Jesus: These things sayeth he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth."
- This is a direct correlation to Isaiah 22:22!
- So the "keys" Jesus gave to Peter were not the keys of government - for long after Peter is dead, the Revelation passage sees Jesus still holding the "keys."
- Jesus pronounced a curse upon the teachers of the Law of Moses - the Levites. They had all the prophetic revelations about the coming Messiah and they should have used that knowledge to lead people to Jesus - but they did just the opposite - therefore the curse.
- We see people today using this knowledge to lead people to them and to their "structure" instead of to Jesus. They too, will share in the "curse".
- Luke 11:52 Jesus said, "Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."
- The knowledge relates to Jesus' Messiahship, and to His absolute authority in the coming kingdom and to the conditions of entrance into that kingdom.
- This knowledge is the keys that Jesus gave Peter. At least is seems that Peter himself so understood the concept of the keys.
- Acts 15:7 Peter seems to explain the keys at the Jerusalem conference on circumcision saying, "Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
of Jesus before His crucifixion.
b. "God made choice among you" - Jesus singled Peter out of the apostolic group for a very
special mission.
c. "By my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel" -
In other words: receive the knowledge about Christ and thereby be saved.
7. At least one thing is evident from I Corinthians 15:25 and that is that Christ shall "reign" until the
end of time. "For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet."
8. And Ephesians 1:21-22 together with Colossians 1:18 prove that Christ alone is the "head of
the church" and that relates to government.
Axehead