Page 28 - The Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2009

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~APRIL 2009 ~

THE PRIORITY OF

OF JESUS CHRIST

“JESUS...ASKED HIS DISCIPLES, SAYING, ‘WHO DO MEN SAY THAT I, THE SON OF MAN,
AM?’ SO THEY SAID, ‘SOME SAY JOHN THE BAPTIST, SOME ELIJAH, AND OTHERS

JEREMIAH OR ONE OF THE PROPHETS.’ HE SAID TO THEM, ‘BUT WHO DO YOU SAY
THAT I AM?’ AND SIMON PETER ANSWERED AND SAID, ‘YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON
OF THE LIVING GOD.’ JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM, ‘BLESSED ARE YOU, SIMON

BAR-JONAH, FOR FLESH AND BLOOD HAS NOT REVEALED THIS TO YOU, BUT MY
FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. AND I ALSO SAY TO YOU THAT YOU ARE PETER, AND ON
THIS ROCK, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HADES SHALL NOT PREVAIL
AGAINST IT AND I GIVE YOU THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER

YOU BIND ON EARTH WILL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON

EARTH WILL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN.” Matt. 16:13-19

“MOREOVER IF YOUR BROTHER SINS AGAINST YOU, GO AND TELL HIM HIS FAULT
BETWEEN YOU AND HIM ALONE. IF HE HEARS YOU, YOU HAVE GAINED YOUR BROTHER.
BUT IF HE WILL NOT HEAR YOU..TELL IT TO THE CHURCH. BUT IF HE REFUSES TO HEAR
THE CHURCH, LET HIM BE TO YOU LIKE A HEATHEN AND A TAX COLLECTOR. ASSUREDLY,

I SAY TO YOU, WHATEVER YOU BIND ON EARTH WILL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, AND
WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON EARTH WILL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN, AGAIN I SAY TO YOU
THAT IF TWO OF YOU AGREE ON EARTH CONCERNING ANYTHING THAT THEY ASK, IT
SHALL BE DONE FOR THEM BY MY FATHER IN HEAVEN. FOR WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE

GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, I AM THERE IN THE MIDST OF THEM.” Matt. 18:15-20

Jesus spoke of His church in the gospels only three times. Those three uses of the word “church” are in the
verses above. Take the time to consider the context in which Jesus mentions the responsibility and function of
His church on earth. There is a contextual common denominator that links these verses of Matthew 16 and
Matthew 18 together. It is the commissioning of the church with heavenly-based, delegated authority to use the
“keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” to bind and to loosen as needed both satanic powers (“the gates of Hades”),
as well as rebellious brethren who will not submit to the authority of the church to govern itself. Professing
brethren who will not submit to God’s delegated authority established within the church are to eventually be
branded by church leadership as being no different than unsaved “heathen and tax collectors.” Heavy stuff!

Jesus’ message in Matthew 16:13-19 centers upon the Divine revelation that Jesus is more than a mere man,
or a prophet of God, but rather is “The Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is “the rock” upon which the
church is to be built. It is not the pompous, erroneous “revelation” of Catholicism that “Peter is the rock upon
which Christ would build His church.” The gates of Hades cannot withstand the Divine revelation that Jesus is
the Christ-the Son of God! This message is to be the central theme of the church and it is to use the “keys of
the Kingdom” to defend the purity of this revelation against the likes of Catholicism, Mormonism and Jehovah's
Witnesses who are satanically seeking to warp who Jesus really is.

Jesus’ message in Matthew 18:15-20 centers upon the Divine commissioning of the church to keep itself
cleansed from the danger of rebellion within; namely, rebellious brethren who will not submit to the authority of
the church to settle matters of division and strife among its members.

How would you evaluate the success of the church in achieving these two mandates from Matthew 16 and 18?