Binding on Earth and In Heaven - Bro. Ostis Wilson's Question and Answer

Bro. Ostis Wilson Jr.'s Commentary

Binding On Earth and In Heaven

Questions Concerning . . .

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The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven

Whatsoever Thou Shalt Bind on Earth

Whatsoever Thou Shalt Loose on Earth

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The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven

Question: Please explain Matthew 16:19. What does it mean when Jesus said to Peter that He would give him "the keys of the kingdom of heaven"?

Answer: Matthew 16:19 reads in full, "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." Such a glorious and awesome truth is expressed here! Let us examine it a little.

"Keys" would be an instrument by which an entrance would be unlocked and opened into the kingdom of heaven. This is evidently the WORD and the SPIRIT of God. Jesus said in John 3:7, "...Ye must be born again" and in John 3:5, "...Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." How is a person born again? I Peter 1:23 says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the WORD OF GOD, which liveth and abideth for ever." James 1:18 says, "Of his own will begat he us with the WORD OF TRUTH, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." In I Corinthians 4:15 we read, "...For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." John 1:13 declares that those who receive Christ are born of God. In Romans 1:16 Paul says that the GOSPEL OF CHRIST is the power of God unto salvation.

All the above scriptures make it clear that access into salvation or the kingdom of God is through the gospel. But the gospel is a two-pronged thing. In Zechariah 4:6, we read concerning the two olive trees in Zecharaiah's vision "...This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." So the Gospel of Christ must be composed of both the WORD and the SPIRIT the Word anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit. In John 6:63, Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Paul said in I Corinthians 2:4-5, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." God help us all at this point. II Corinthians 3:6 says, "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." So we see the Word alone is not sufficient but it must be accompanied by the Spirit and backed by Holy Spirit anointing.

Therefore, we conclude that God's Word and His Spirit are the keys to the kingdom of heaven and open an access into Christ and salvation. Hebrews 5:9 says that Christ "...became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." So we see that as one obeys God's Word and meets the conditions laid down therein for being saved confession of sin (I John 1:9), repentance (II Corinthians 7:10-11; Acts 3:19; Luke 24:47; Mark 1:14-15), restitution (II Corinthians 7:10; Luke 19:8; Ezekiel 33:15), and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the merits of His shed blood, the door swings wide open to him and he is accepted into the kingdom of God.

This is exactly what Jesus gave to Peter in this text and also to all the apostles, and further to their successors throughout this gospel age of time; even NOW to the holy, God-called, God-qualified, Holy Spirit filled ministry which God has in the Church and in the world at this present time. They also possess these keys to the kingdom of heaven.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus said to His disciples, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." It is evident here that Jesus ordained and commissioned a perpetual ministry who would have the same power and authority (the same keys of the kingdom God's Word and Spirit) as those early ones had. This was to last unto the end of the world and just as God encouraged Joshua by telling him, "...As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee," (Joshua 3:7) he says the same to His true ministers today, "As I was with Peter, James and John and their immediate brethren, so am I with you." His promise was, "...I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20.) That reaches to us down here in this end of the gospel age the same as it applied to those disciples in the early beginning of this gospel age.

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Whatsoever Thou Shalt Bind on Earth

Question: Please explain the part of Matthew 16:19 that says, "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Answer: Matt 16:19 reads in full, "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." II Corinthians 5:19 says that God "...hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." Mark 16:16 confirms this by saying that he who believes the gospel and is baptized shall be saved. But to God's true ministers is also committed the ministry of condemnation and Jesus confirmed that, too, in this verse where He said, "...He that believeth not shall be damned." Paul said in II Corinthians 2:15-16, "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" Surely, only those whom God has called, qualified, filled with His Spirit, commissioned and sent forth would be sufficient for this responsibility of loosing and binding souls for the judgment.

In this grant to the ministry from Jesus Himself is also included the power and authority of the ministry under God through the divine unction and anointing of the Holy Spirit and in strict accordance with God's Word to govern, execute discipline, and maintain order in the Church of God. In the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 18:15-18, in the matter of dealing with a trespassing brother, He gives a step by step procedure for dealing with this. If the trespassing brother was obstinate and could not be gained through the first two steps, then it culminated in taking the matter to the Church. If he refused to accept admonition from the Church, then he was to be counted as a heathen and a publican. Then follows in verse 18 the same statement as given in Matthew 16:19, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:..."

Thus we see that the "keys of the kingdom" are also used by the true ministers of God in exercising government, discipline, and keeping order in the Church in binding or loosing certain things and people. When these things are carried out through the leading of the Holy Spirit and according to God's Word all the way, even to our attitudes, feelings, purposes and motives, God in heaven will back it up and count it the same way in heaven. Remember, God's Word is forever settled in heaven and it is the same down here as it is up there, and when it is strictly observed down here it will register up there just the same.

In I Corinthians 5:4-5 Paul is dealing with the matter of an incestuous person in the Corinthian Church and he instructs them, "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Here they are instructed in the power and authority of Christ through the Spirit to excommunicate or cast out of the Church (bind him according to our text). He gives the reason for this in the next verse: "...A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." In other words, if that person stays among you in that condition, the infection will spread and more will be affected by it, so purge out the leaven and save the Church. This is one purpose of discipline in the Church to save the Church and keep it clean.

Discipline remained strict in the Church through those early years as the ministry used the keys that God had given unto them God's Word and God's Spirit to administer discipline and government in the Church. God put His seal of approval on this and through it kept the Church clean and pure and made it a light to the world, a city on a hill that could not be hid. He continued to confirm His Word with signs following among them and to show forth the glory of God and the perfection of beauty in it. But down in the third century discipline became more slack, and foreign elements began to creep in. God never stopped this trend because He had given unto His ministry in the Church the keys of the kingdom and the power and authority to bind all evil elements and to loose all right and good things. He never interfered with this trend, but as evil elements were allowed to come in and continue there, He Himself just moved on out and left it with them. The result was the great apostasy was set up and established in the earth. The true Church was lost sight of for a long period of time.

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Whatsoever Thou Shalt Loose on Earth

Question: I would like for you to explain Matthew 16:19.

Answer: Matthew 16:19 reads thus: "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. "From verse 15 through verse 19 is recorded a personal conversation between Peter and Jesus. It was not necessarily intended to be that way. Jesus had asked the entire company of His apostles, "...Whom say ye that I am?" Peter was quicker in answering than were the others and consequently Jesus directed His remarks to him personally. But actually His remarks would apply to all of the company as well as Peter because He had directed His question to the entire company. His remarks did apply to all of them and not to them only but also to their successors clear on down through the generations of mankind even unto us and beyond us if time continues and other generations follow us. This will be clearly evident from other scriptures which we will pick up as we go along. Therefore we can safely conclude with certainty that this text does not teach what some try to make it teach; that Peter is to be considered the head of the Church and as having personal and exclusive rights to the keys of the kingdom. The remarks made here by Jesus apply to all of them, even though they are directed to Peter, but only because he was the first to speak up in response to Jesus' question.

Then we must endeavor first of all to establish what the keys of the kingdom are. A key is something that opens up or unlocks and provides an entrance or access to a building, house, or situation. In the fourth chapter of Zechariah is recorded a vision that the prophet Zechariah had and the principal objects of it were a golden candlestick and two olive trees, one on either side of the candlestick. First we will consider the candlestick and what it represented. In the first chapter of Revelation is recorded a vision that John had of Jesus Christ as the high priest of God in the Church or kingdom of God (verses 10 through 20). In verse 12 he saw seven golden candlesticks. And in verse 13 he saw one like unto the Son of man (Jesus). In verse 20 Jesus explained that the seven golden candlesticks were the seven churches (named in verse 11). Then it is clear that a candlestick was used to represent a church. In Revelation, chapter one, seven candlesticks were used to represent the seven churches of Asia to which the book of Revelation was sent. Then we conclude that the single candlestick in Zechariah 4:2 represented the one entire universal Church of God or Kingdom of God. In Zechariah 4:6 these two olive trees are declared to be the Word of the Lord, saying, "...Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Then it is clear that the two olive trees represent the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Again these two olive trees are further identified in Zechariah 4:14 where it is said, "...These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." In Revelation 11:3-4 it is said, "And I will give power unto my TWO WITNESSES, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth." The emphasis here is on the two witnesses.

Now let us see what are the two principal witnesses of God in the earth. Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,..." Hebrews 10:15 says, "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us:..." These texts establish the fact that the Holy Spirit is one of God's principal witnesses in the earth. In John 5:39 Jesus said, "Search the scriptures;...they are they which testify of me." Also Luke 24:27 says, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." There are other scriptures confirming the Spirit and the Word to be God's two witnesses. But in Revelation 11:3-4 it refers to the two witnesses being the two olive trees standing before the God of the earth which refers us right back to Zechariah 4:3 and verse 14 says, "...These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." And verse 6 declares them to be the Word of God by the Spirit of God. But verse 12 presents the two olive trees (Word and Spirit) through two golden pipes emptying the golden oil out of themselves into the candlestick. Thus we see that the Word and the Spirit of God are the two agents of God to pour their essence, grace, power and strength into the Church to make it the light of the world, a city set on an hill which cannot be hid; an all-conquering, all-triumphant, all-victorious, all-glorious entity in the world. It is these two agents that open the door and provide a means of access into the kingdom of God (salvation). These also provide the necessary ingredients to sustain and maintain the soul in the kingdom of God after it has been guided into salvation. Then it is clear that these two agents (God's Word and God's Spirit) are the keys of the kingdom of God. This is what Jesus promised to Peter and to all the other apostles when He charged them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15.)

But he did not send them forth half-equipped. He gave them the WORD and commanded them to preach it just as He had given it to them. (Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:19-20, II Timothy 4:2.) But He told them to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:49.) Again in Acts 1:4 Jesus told these men to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father and in verse 5 He declares this to be the Holy Ghost. The Word alone was not sufficient. They had to be filled with the Holy Spirit to give anointing, power and conviction to the Word. In Zechariah's vision (Zechariah 4:6) the two olive trees were declared to be the WORD by the SPIRIT. These two agents govern, control and direct all the operations and activities of the Church of God. I know of no record anywhere in the Bible, where God ever gave anything more than the Word and the Spirit of God to any minister to carry on His work, and He certainly has never given any God-called minister less. But He gave to Peter, to all the apostles, to their successors, to every God-called minister throughout the generations of mankind, and every God-called minister living in the world today, these two keys to the kingdom of God (God's Word and God's Spirit) and sent them forth to do their job. In I Peter 1:12 Peter referred to "...them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;..." This is the way God's work has always been carried on; God's Word by His Spirit; and by these the kingdom of heaven has always been opened to men who would obey it and closed to men who would not obey it.

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