We’re going to pick it up in Mathew 16 and look at binding and loosing and what it means that Jesus has given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus connects the 2, he says he will give us the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and that which we bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and that which we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  

Mat 16:13  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am?
Mat 16:14  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Mat 16:15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19  And I will give unto you 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.

Remember from last week hell is translated hades or the place of the dead or the grave.  Jesus says Satan was a murderer from the beginning.  Satans purpose from the beginning was to steal from us, kill us, and ultimately destroy us.

Jesus says the gates of hell.  The purposes of the devil.  The grave.  The death thats in the world cannot stand against the revelation that the son of man is the Son of God.  

Jesus says Death will not be able to keep me in the grave because the Father will love me out of the grave and into His life and into His immortality.  The Father will bind death in the flesh and loose His life and His immortality in the earth through the body of my resurrection.  Declaring to the world that the sons of man are the sons of God, and the purposes of satan and his system of death cannot stand against the revelation of God in the sons of man.  

1John 3:8  says He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

He that rejects the testimony God has given in Jesus commits sin, which testimony is that God has come to give us His life as a gift free from our works, and that life is found in Jesus.  From the beginning the devil looked at himself and the beauty and strength he saw there, and his heart was lifted up in himself, and he said I will be exalted by the life I can gather to myself.

When John talks about the son of God being manifested he’s not talking about Jesus coming in the likeness of sinful flesh.  He’s not referring to Jesus being born of a woman.  He’s talking about Jesus’ physical body having been begotten of the Fathers immortality.  He’s talking about the promise of immortality manifesting in the flesh of Jesus.

The death and corruption in the earth and all that it brings forth in people is the works of devil.  The son of man Jesus was revealed as the Son of God in the resurrection, for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil.  The manifestation of the son of man as the son of God destroys the works of the devil.  

Jumping back to Matthew Jesus says the works of the devil cannot stand against the revelation of God in the sons of man.  Satans system of death cannot stand against an indestructible life that is without beginning and end.  And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and what so ever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. 

Keys to the kingdom of heaven:  

It’s not a literal key jesus is talking.  The key is the revelation that the sons of man are the sons of God.  The revelation that God is the Father of mankind; that His desire is unto us; that He has drawn near to us; to claim us as His own; to join Himself to us.  The revelation that God made a place for us to dwell with Him, and braided us together with Himself and His incorruptible life.  A life that condemns death in the flesh, a life that sends sin and the fruit of death that is the result of sin away from people.  That revelation will be as a key to you, opening up the kingdom of heaven to you, showing you what the Father’s will has always been for mankind and for the earth.

When the son of Man ascends to the right hand of God and is revealed to be the Son of God, having inherited the very life and immortality of the Father.  Heaven will be open to you.  You will see what the kingdom of God is all about.  You will see the Father’s will for all people is to send their sin and the infirmity sin was serving them with away from them and to loose His eternal life in them .... You will see there is no sin and there is no death in me on account of the Fathers love for mankind.  You will see the accusation of the evil one that was against you and against God cast out.  And you will know the kingdom of God is upon you.  And you shall be witnesses in the earth of what you see in heaven.  You will see sin and death has been bound in my flesh.  You will see the glory and immortality of God has been loosed in me.  You will see the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in me bodily.  And you shall declare what you see in heaven in the earth.  You shall be witnesses to all people that the sin and death that was against them has been bound and the incorruptible life they long for has been loosed on them by God and the power of His Christ, and that will destroy the works of the devil.  

We can see what the Father’s will for mankind and for the earth and what His kingdom is all about by looking at the man Christ Jesus seated in the heavenly place at the right hand of the Father, clothed in glorified immortal flesh and bone.  Jesus is the word of God concerning the kingdom and what it is all about.  At the end of Matthew 16 Jesus speaking about the mount of transfiguration when his body was illuminated with the glory of the Father says there be some standing here that shall not taste death until they see the son of man coming in his kingdom.  

whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

This isn’t saying we must bind things on earth so they can be bound in heaven.  Its about letting heaven loose in the earth by declaring what is true in heaven in the earth.  It simply means something has been bound in heaven and something has been loosed in heaven.  And through us seeing into Heaven and declaring in the earth what we see bound in heaven and loosed in heaven that same thing will be bound in the earth and also loosed in the earth.  

The way we bind on earth what is bound in heaven.  The way we are able to loose on earth what has been loosed in heaven.   The way we let the kingdom of heaven loose in the earth is through being witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus.   Not witnesses in the sense of having been there but witnesses in the sense of testifying of a life that overcomes the grave and destroys sin and death in the flesh.  

We declare the man who overcame the death of the cross and is seated at the right hand of God in glorified immortal flesh never to be able to die again.  The testimony of what we see in Jesus binds the accusation of the evil one against mankind and God.  It condemns the death in the world that tries to condemn mankind.  It sends the fruit that is in the earth because of sin away from people.  

In ancient Hebrew, to bind and to loose simply means to forbid by an indisputable authority and to permit by an indisputable authority.  God has forbidden sin in our lives.  He has forbidden our lives from death.  He has forbidden the destruction of our lives, and the sin and death that was against us by the power of Jesus’ indestructible life.  He has granted us the gift of eternal life by the righteousness of Jesus believing the Father loves him and will raise him from the dead.  

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Joh 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Joh 20:23  Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

Jesus was with the Father in Heaven.  He saw the Fathers heart towards all people, and saw it was the Fathers will to remove sin and death from all people.  Jesus says to the disciples just as I saw the Fathers heart for all people and saw it was His Will to send their sin and death away from them, and He sent me into the earth to forgive sin and open the kingdom of Heaven to all people.  So send I you.  Just as I forgave sin and sent the wages of sin away from people because I am in the father and the father is in me.  I have opened the kingdom of Heaven to you so you can see the Fathers heart and see the kingdom is upon you, and that I am in you and you are in me.  In the same way the Father sent me in His name to remove the sentence of death that was condemning people, and to send their sin away from them.  I am sending you in my name to forgive people of their sin and send the wages of their sin away from them.  

We bind sin in people lives by telling them God has sent the wages of their sin away from them in Jesus.  We forbid sin from destroying peoples lives by declaring what God has done in Christ to cause death to pass over them.  We go about loosing the kingdom of Heaven in the earth and in peoples lives by telling them their sin is forgiven.  We tell the world GOD has loosed them from their infirmity and the weakness of the flesh.  We declare to the world the promise of immortality is come upon them in Jesus.  

Mat 12:28  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Mat 12:29  Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

We bind the devil by being witnesses in the earth of the resurrection.  The declaration of the gospel binds the strongman in peoples lives.  It binds the strongman by binding the death he uses to wage a warfare against us.  The gospel rebukes the devourer.  It declares a life that cannot be devoured.  The gospel declares a life that is so much that it will even devour death.  It declares a life that you do not have to work for but that the Father of lights in heaven has grafted you into.  

Revelation 12 says And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.  They bound Satan and the death he accuses with by declaring the blood of Gods lamb has taken away their sin.  

We don’t have to go around looking for demons to cast out.  Jesus never went looking for the demons.  The demons were made manifest in the presence of the light of life he walked in.  As we walk in the earth declaring a life that has overcome death and does continue to overcome it.  It is as a light that makes manifest whatever may be tormenting someone and it binds the power of the strongman and it keeps their house clean, it keeps their hearts from fear by loosing the incorruptible seed in their hearts.