We have talked about forgiveness. Just prior to his ascension, Jesus gave the “heavenly authority of forgiving sin” to the disciples.
Again Jesus said,?“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me,
I am sending you.”? And with that he breathed on them and said,
?“Receive the Holy Spirit.? If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven;
if you do not forgive them, they are retained.”
This heavenly authority of forgiving sin are the “Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” and its consequential action (of turning the key) is called “binding and loosing”. It was given to Peter and the Church by Jesus:
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.? 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.I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be?bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be??loosed in heaven.”?
In the Old Testament the “Keys of David” are a “type and shadow” for the heavenly authority and responsibility contained in the “Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven”. There we find instructions for their use:
In Isaiah we see that the “keys” are placed by God.
In 1 Chronicles, the keys are entrusted to the watchman (the church). God’s daily requirements for the watchman included standing watch, protecting, preparing the offering (prayer), and praise.
In Psalms, there are spiritual gates to guard through which the enemy can enter…….resulting in destruction. And there are guidelines for a life that can never be “shaken”.
The keys and their instructions for use are spiritual because the enemy is real. Binding and loosing simply means to forbid by the authority of Jesus and to permit by the authority of Jesus. Jesus is Lord, now and in the age to come.
The phrases we use are “Jesus is Lord”, “In the name of Jesus I bind this activity”, “In the name of Jesus I loose this activity”.
We are the emissary for Jesus, and the power of the words come from his authority. That is why he gave them to us.
To set the prisoners free and to declare blessing. It has worked for 2000 years …..it still works today….and it will work for our children tomorrow.
SELAH
SCRIPTURES: John 20:21-23
Matthew 16: 17-20
Isaiah 22:22
I Chronicles 9: 22-33
Psalms 24:3-4
Psalms 15
PRAYER FOCUS: Humbling ourselves before the Lord.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The “checklist” in Psalms is not attainable in our humanness, for we would fail. They are a “way of living”, and we require the anointing of the Holy Spirit to accomplish them.
~ Written by Gene Bennett