Revelation Maintains Church Order and the Upper Hand over the Enemy

David W Palmer

The Master, Jesus, was briefing, teaching, and preparing his apprentices to take over and multiply the ministry he had modelled for them: healing, preaching, delivering, teaching, correcting, and making disciples. Surprisingly, however, during their 3? years apprenticeship, he hadn’t said much to them about his church. In truth, he only mentioned it twice: Mat. 16:18, and Mat. 18:17.

(Matthew 16:17–18 NKJV) 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. {18} 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.”

King Jesus mostly spoke of the kingdom of God. When he used the word that has been translated into English as, “church,” his trainees didn’t picture a cathedral with stained glass windows and a robed choir. Jesus’s apprentices heard a word that to them was used of the governing executive or ruling council of a kingdom—like our Senate or government of today. Or it may have been used to describe an assembly of the people convened at the public place of council for the purpose of deliberating.

In the above passage, the context of Jesus saying, “church,” is revelation. From this, we see that [at least one aspect of] the church is a gathering of Jesus’s followers who meet to hear, discuss, deliberate, and agree on what Jesus is saying by revelation (See: 1 Cor. 14:26–31).

While training his apprentices, Jesus didn’t say a whole lot about his church, but the point he made very clearly was that he would build it. The book of Acts confirms this when it says that he adds people to it, and 1 Corinthians reveals that God sets them into the church as he sees fit:

(Acts 2:47 NKJV) … And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

(1 Corinthians 12:18 NKJV) But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

The first time Jesus used the word “church” was in Matthew 16, where he said—in the context of revelation from heaven—that he would build it. The other time was in the context of a group of people gathering to hear and agree on what Jesus is saying about a given sin scenario. Their assignment in that scripture is assessing and announcing judgments in Jesus’s name over wayward and recalcitrant brothers and sisters. In this process, the motivation of his loving heart is always to restore them through repentance. But if not, the unrepentant person would need to be expelled:

(Matthew 18:15–17 NKJV) “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. {16} But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ {17} And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”

This fits with another similar part of the commission that Jesus gave to his apprentices after his resurrection:

(John 20:22–23 NKJV) And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. {23} If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Jesus’s mention of the Holy Spirit here confirms that the announcing of forgiveness or retention of sins was not something the apostles were to conclude by their own intellects. It was to be received by revelation through their relationship with the Holy Spirit. Both Peter and Paul demonstrated clearly how this was to work:

(Acts 5:3–5 NKJV) But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? {4} While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” {5} Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.

Peter’s close fellowship with the Holy Spirit enabled him to receive revelation about the state of Ananias’s heart. The Holy Spirit also revealed the cause of this and the imminent outcome; Satan had filled his heart. This led Ananias to try to lie to the Holy Spirit; thus he grieved God’s Spirit of truth—the only one who could have saved him by restoring him through humble, honest repentance. Ananias isolated himself from the Spirit of life, the Holy Spirit; thus, he died. Note: the only killer mentioned in this passage is Satan; if you allow Satan to fill your heart, don’t blame God if you die prematurely.

(Acts 13:9–11 NKJV) Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him {10} and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? {11} And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

“Filled with the Holy Spirit,” Paul knew by revelation what was going on with this man, and what was going to happen to him. Paul announced that he was a “son of the devil.” In other words, this man was habitually doing what he saw with his father, the devil. Then Paul was able to announce by revelation from the Holy Spirit that this man was going to be temporarily blind—a bit like what happened to him at his conversion (See: Acts 9:1–9).

So we see that among so many other things, Jesus’s church is his seat of governing power on earth. It is through his faithful ministers that he is able to bring revelation of his decisions to earth, and have them proclaimed. This is how he maintains order, deals with unrepentant brothers, and protects his flock. Truly, the church not only grows by revelation from heaven, it also maintains order and the upper hand over the devil by revelation:

(Matthew 16:17, 19 NKJV) 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. ... {19} And I will 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.”

Revelation from God is also what enables us to receive and use the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” These keys can lock out the enemy and lock down anything that’s running out of control or contrary to God’s will. They can also unlock anything that tries to keep us out of blessing or locked into restriction, limitation, or any part of the curse. Truly, we cannot live this Christian life without these keys.

When our Lord says, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,” we tend to hear that we are to take the initiative and that heaven will back what we decide. However, the original language in this passage doesn’t really have an exact English equivalent. If we were to translate it more strictly, the best we could do would sound like this: “Whatever you bind on earth is having been already bound in heaven.” In other words, heaven took the initiative about what needed to be bound or loosed. The Holy Spirit then reveals it to us. Next, we announce it in Jesus’s name. The Holy Spirit and angels then enact what heaven declares through us by revelation in Jesus’s name.

Perhaps the Amplified version best sums up what Jesus is saying to us today:

(Matthew 16:19 AMPC) “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.”

Jesus, the active, sharp, living word of God, is the one who gives us authority and who gives us the keys. Our role is to draw near to God so we can listen to what he says, and watch for what he shows us. We do this in prayer, worship, and fellowship; but we also do it when we read, study, learn, and importantly, meditate on his word.

Today, I encourage you again:

(Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV) “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

When you receive fresh revelation from heaven (in line with God's word) you feel an ownership of it; you can declare it, see it, do it, act on it, or receive it with fully assured faith. We have also seen that this is the basis on which Jesus builds his church, reveals spiritual keys, announces his judgments, and keeps the enemy under our feet.

I encourage you to be hungry to hear from heaven today—all day. Then imitate and say what you see and hear with him. This way, you will be acting like a true son of God, and definitely not like a “son of the devil.” You will see victory; and nothing will lock you out, tie you down, or hold you in restriction. Around you, Jesus’s church will grow, and truth will be revealed and prevail.

(John 10:27 NKJV) “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”