This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

[Music] Welcome to day three of our look through Matthew chapter 16. I told you
yesterday we're going to focus on these two verses, verses 19 and 20, which can
be the most difficult to understand verses in this entire chapter and in much of
the book of Matthew. Verse 19, Jesus says, "I will give you the keys to 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. " And then he warned his disciples not to tell
anyone that he was the Christ. So what is Jesus saying here when he says he's
giving the keys to the kingdom?

Well, let's talk about what he didn't say and what he did say. Jesus did not say
here. One of the rules of Bible study is you always understand unclear passages
in the light of clear passages.

So you can't make this that we don't quite understand sometimes what it's
saying. You can't make it like erase a clear passage and say what that against
what that clear passage is saying. So he did not say here that we have the power
to do anything.

It's not what he's saying here. God has the power to do anything. God has that
power and no power that he gives us can take away the power that's only his.

It's God's power we're looking for. We are strengthened by God's power in our
life. So this is not some magical power thing.

This is not some superhuman power that he's giving the people. No, we're still
depending on God's power in our lives. The keys to the kingdom of heaven do not
mean we don't need to depend on God's power.

He's also not saying here that we have the power to forgive sins because very
clearly, Jesus teaches no one has the power to forgive sins, but God alone. John
Calvin, a long time ago, said about this passage when Christ enjoyed the
apostles to forgive sins, "He does not convey to them what is peculiar to
himself. It belongs to him to forgive sins.

He only enjoins them in his name to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. " That's
what Calvin said about this. So God alone has the power to forgive sins.

God alone has the power to do anything. So what is Jesus saying here when he
says, "I'm giving you the keys to the kingdom. " Well, here are two or three
things that he's saying.

First, he's saying that you and I, as followers of God, we have an awesome
stewardship and responsibility. I know there are some who think that Jesus was
talking only to Peter here and saying he's just giving the keys to the kingdom
to Peter as the leader of the church or the future pope of the church. I don't
believe that that's true.

I believe he's talking to all the disciples then, and he's talking to all the
disciples now. As you take a look at the Greek behind the syntax of this, but
also the sense of what Jesus is teaching here and in other places, because he
says some of the same kinds of things to all the disciples in other places. He's
here telling us that we have this awesome stewardship and responsibility.

God is the one who's sovereign, and God has sovereignly decided to work through
people to accomplish much of his work on earth. So that means if I refuse to do
what he's leading me to do, it doesn't get done many times. I don't unlock that
door.

Now, God is going to do it through someone else in some other way at some time,
but I don't get to be in on it. God is sovereignly working through people. If
someone else at some other time refuses to do it, if no believer chooses to do
it, God's saying, "I'm not going to do it except I'm going to do it through you.

" Now I'd like to have all opportunity and no responsibility, just the great
opportunity, victory of living for God, but it doesn't work that way. We are not
just given the gift of faith. You are entrusted with the gift of faith, and the
truth is, if you mishandle that gift, people will get hurt, not just you, but
other people around you by your example, by what you do.

Because we are imperfect, we do sometimes mishandle that, and people do
sometimes get hurt, and we do need forgiveness. That's part of the stewardship
and responsibility, is asking for forgiveness, recognizing our humanity. So
there's a stewardship and responsibility that Jesus is talking about here.

Jesus is also saying here that there's a connection between what a believer does
on earth and what happens in heaven, happens in eternity, keys to the kingdom,
keys to eternity. What I do on earth can affect eternity. What I do on earth in
my own life affects eternity with how I grow, the rewards that I'm going to get
that give praise to God forever, and that maybe increase my capacity to serve
God forever.

They also affect eternity in bringing other people to eternity, other people who
are going to enjoy God's presence forever, the keys to the kingdom. We have an
effect on eternity. Jesus is saying here, when he says, "I am giving you the
keys to the kingdom," a third thing he's saying very simply is, "The keys are in
your hands.

" The keys are in your hands. I want you to notice something interesting with
me. Just before Jesus talks about keys, did you notice, just a few verses
before, he talked about gates?

He says, "The gates of hell will not prevail against this kind of faith, the
kind of faith you've just expressed in me," Jesus says. And then he says, "I'm
giving you the keys to the kingdom of heaven," gates and keys. It takes a key to
unlock a gate so that you can open it.

And Jesus here, when he says, "I'm giving you the keys," I believe he's talking
about our faith. We have the keys, not as an owner, but as a steward. We don't
own the house, but we are entrusted with the keys to unlock the doors, to open
the doors by our faith, to make choices by faith that invite people to hear the
good news of Christ, become involved in the plan of God for their lives.

God has decided to work through people. And so because of that, you and I get
the opportunity to unlock some of those doors that allow people to begin to live
a life of faith. And so Jesus says it this way.

When he says, "The keys are in our hands," the last thing that he says about
this is, "You have the power to bind, and you have the power to loose. " The
power to bind and the power to loose. These terms, bind and loose, they were
common in Jewish phrases in that day.

To bind was to declare something forbidden. To loose was to declare something
allowed. The words were often used in regard to making decisions around God's
law, but Jesus is here talking about forgiveness and life and the kind of life
that he has for us.

You think about faith. Jesus is here talking about keys. So he's talking about
the kind of faith that opens doors.

I like to think about faith as going through the doors that God opens, and that
is part of it. But Jesus is saying here, these verses reveal to us that through
our faith, we can sometimes open doors. And by our lack of faith, we can
sometimes close doors.

Let me tell you a story from history. One of the first modern missionaries,
called the first modern missionary, William Carey, when he in 1793 wanted to go
to India, the group of believers that he talked to about doing that said, "No,
you can't go. " And their famous statement was, "God can save them without your
help or mine.

Why should we go? " They were binding. They were closing a door to go share the
good news of Christ.

Now William Carey went to India. He decided, "I'm going to go anyway because
God's calling me to go. " He was unlocking a door.

He was loosing. His motto, William Carey's motto was, "Expect great things from
God, attempt great things for God. " Unlock doors by faith and watch what only
God can do.

Don't look at the world and think, "Well, God can't do it because it isn't
happening yet. " Look at the world and think, "What doors does God want to open?
" Don't look for what doors are already open.

What doors does God want to open? And how can the key of faith open that door
that God wants opened? If God's not opening the door, there's no key that you
have or I have that can open it.

But when God wants to work, He wants our faith to be applied to that place, that
person, so that that door can be unlocked. Let me talk about this closer at
home. Let's say there's some guy at work, some woman at work.

And you look at them and you think, "Well, they would never become a believer.
I'm not going to even embarrass myself by saying anything to them about church
or about God. " You have just, in your mind, you've locked a door.

You've bound the truth. You've said, "I'm not going to share with them. " That's
the power to bind.

But if instead of that, one day you just say to them, "How could I pray for you?
" You see that they're hurting. "How can I pray for you?

" Just a simple question like that. That's the power to lose. That's unlocking a
key.

That's applying faith to their life. That's being able to believe that God can
work in their life. Now, am I saying that they might not become a believer if
you don't share Christ with them?

The Bible doesn't give us an exact yes or no on that. And I believe, obviously,
that the Holy Spirit is going to lead to God, those whom God has chosen who's
bringing to himself. But the truth is, we are the ones he uses.

And he's going to use some person to share with that person. Now, they may have
to wait a year or two years for the right person to come along. Wouldn't it be
better if you shared now?

They became a believer earlier. Wouldn't it be better if right now you had faith
that God could work in their lives? So what should I do about this?

This thing about the keys to the kingdom of heaven? Well, two things. First,
accept the awesome responsibility of being a believer.

The fact that it's not just about what God is doing in this world, but it's
about what God is doing through you in this world. Now, if you're going to
accept that responsibility, don't try to do it on your own power. Trust in his
power to do through you what only he can do.

Trust in his power. You can accept the awesome responsibility of being a
believer. And the second thing you can do is you can proclaim the truth about
forgiveness.

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5. 20, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be
reconciled to God. That's unlocking the door.

That's losing the truth. That's letting people know. So you pray for people to
hear the truth of God's love.

In fact, one of the greatest tools that we have for loosing, for unlocking
doors, for beginning faith is prayer, talking to God about it. That's the
beginning place of faith so many times. So let's start there.

And as we pray, I want to invite you to pray with me. And just some person that
comes to your mind, say, "Jesus, would you lead them to faith? " Maybe God's
even bringing to mind right now the last person you ever believed could be led
to faith.

Just say, "Jesus, help me to think about them in a new way. " You're working in
their life. They could become a person of faith.

Help me to pray about them in a new way. Not to give up on them, but to keep
praying for them. We pray these things together, Jesus, in your name.

Amen. Join us tomorrow. We're going to see how Peter goes straight from his
great statement of faith to putting his foot in his mouth.