The Keys

The Keys

“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.” Matt. 16:19; 18:15-18; John 20:23.

“That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3.

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.

No one can have fellowship with the Father without also having fellowship with the Son. They have to go through the Son to come to the Father. If Jesus closes the door, it is hopeless; but if He opens it, they can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Then they can also have fellowship with the Father. The scribes and the Pharisees had sensed this, and they became furious. They realized that Jesus had closed the door for them and that they could not enter without Him. If this hadn’t been the case, they would not have wanted to get rid of him either.

Jesus gave this power—these keys—to the church that was built on the Rock. John says, “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” It was not easy to get past John. They could not have fellowship with the Father and the Son and not with John. Diotrephes tried it, but he was bound, and he could not be loosed before John loosed him. 3 John 9-11. However, if he came into fellowship with John again, then he would also have fellowship with the Father and the Son.

Jesus had given the Word of life to the apostles, and they had fellowship with the Father and the Son by walking in the light. Now the apostles continued to declare it, and those who walked in the light had fellowship, but not the others. Diotrephes had accepted the doctrine, but he did not walk according to it. He wanted to have the preeminence; yet the doctrine says that the greatest shall be the servant and slave of all. Therefore Diotrephes could neither bind nor loose anything in heaven. He could put them out of his assembly, but that meant nothing since that did not prevent them from having fellowship with the Father. Those who were put out knew that, and they had no desire to come back in again. But it is a different matter if a person is put out of the church of the living God. Then such a person notices that his fellowship with God and the other saints has been broken. They know they are bound, and they would like to come back in again. We have also seen that when those who have sinned have landed on the outside, how they have made every effort to come back in again. But to come back in again they have to acknowledge fully, which only a very few people want to do. Instead they come with excuses and try all kinds of ways to justify themselves. They appeal and appeal in the hope of gaining support at some time. It is easy to understand that it is hard for them; yet they know they are bound, and they also realize that it is only the church—the saints—who can loose them. If they do not want to humble themselves, they begin to hate the angel of the church, and they have only this one thought: Away with him! For such people the church becomes like the scene of a crime for a criminal. His thoughts will constantly revolve around the scene of the crime, and every occurrence will remind him of the scene of the crime. He will constantly return to it in order to erase any sign of his crime, if at all possible. It is a different matter when a person is put out of a denomination. Then he feels like the person who was born blind when he was put out by the Jews, and then met Jesus. John 9:34-38.

Jesus gave the keys to His church. Therefore, if we walk in the light according to the Word of life, we will have them, but not otherwise.

The person who has received the keys to a house has a great responsibility. He has to be careful as to whom he lets in, making sure that it isn’t a thief. The angel of the church, as well as each member, bears the responsibility for whom they admit to fellowship. Those who have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires belong to Christ. They can be let in. But those who love their lusts must be kept outside. Their sin has the effect of leaven; it destroys fellowship. There must be a clear separation between those who are in the flesh and those who are in the Spirit. This is where each individual must be faithful.

Paul writes, “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.” 2 Thess. 3:14. In this instance Paul tells them to use the keys. But most people are weak when it comes to this area. They have become good friends according to the flesh, and to preserve their friendship, they excuse each other when they sin. This is how the church can end up like a guesthouse where anyone can come in. No, fellowship must be according to the Spirit, and if someone sins, fellowship is broken instantly. Then God can be in our midst and can work powerfully by His Spirit.

“Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.” 1 Tim. 5:22. This Word has far-reaching implications, and we need to apply it in our personal relationships. Most people are in the flesh, which cannot be obedient to God’s laws. Then we need to let the light shine and not go along with what they say and do, so that they get the understanding that we agree with them. They may be unconverted. They know that we are converted, but we laugh at what they are saying and are interested in what they are interested in and talk about. If we do that, they will not get a sense that they need to be saved. If we do that, we become a partaker with them in their sins.

There may be people who have opened their hearts to the truth. They have begun to love the Word of life, but they haven’t yet come to a life of victory. Every once in a while they end up in the flesh. They talk, laugh, argue, and give their opinion, and soon their old habits have taken them captive. We love them because they have opened their hearts to the Word of life; but we must not be weak. We must use the keys. When they end up in the flesh and old habits have taken them captive, we must not just smile at them. They need to feel that fellowship has been broken. Quite often we don’t even need to say a word, but they should sense it in their spirit. It is as if we locked them out. It is a chastening to salvation if they are upright and judge themselves; but if they do not judge themselves, they will remain on the outside, to the great advantage of the entire church. This is where the gate becomes narrow. A person who is intent on gathering many people cannot do this, but then he doesn’t have the keys either.

“Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” 1 Cor. 8:13. Those who are in the flesh do not have this liberty. Everything they do is sin. Everything is impure to those who are impure, but everything is pure to the one who is pure. The one who is in the Spirit has tremendous liberty. Many of the Corinthians had previously sacrificed to idols and had eaten the meat in their honor. Now they were converted, but they still had memories from before, as well as old habits and inclinations, and when they ate meat they couldn’t eat it without thinking of it as an offering to idols; therefore they had to abstain from it. They did not have liberty to eat it, but Paul had liberty to eat it. He was in the Spirit, and he ate meat without thinking of idols, and he thanked God for the food. However, for the others’ sake who could not do it, he abstained. This is also how we must walk circumspectly and have the others’ best in mind.

We are in the Spirit and can have fun and talk about many things. The intention with it all is godly fear and purity. But then someone is present who does not have victory. He doesn’t have that liberty. As soon as they hear a joke they are in the flesh. You can tell by the way they are laughing, and when you speak about various things, they are reminded of old situations, and they become impure. Perhaps we speak about someone else. Right away they think you are backbiting, and their mind is sullied, whereas the intention was quite the opposite. Then they get suspicious thoughts, and they lose confidence. They believe the others are just like they are. Here we need to walk circumspectly and keep a tight reign, for a servant in the church must be worthy. He cannot be friends with a single person on a human level. Nevertheless, they shall know that there is someone who can judge them. Then they are careful and are on guard against their sin so they can be pure and be preserved in fellowship. This is how we can make sure that we are not a cause for temptation and do not share in other peoples’ sins.

God’s Word has been purified seven times. It is the Word of life. We can live according to it just as it is written. You will not find exaggerations or pleasantries in God’s Word; not a single tittle will pass away before it has all been fulfilled. This is also how we must proclaim God’s Word, so that people will understand the seriousness of it, and that we mean what we say. Lot could not manage to do that. He was righteous and suffered in his soul because of all the ungodliness he saw. 2 Pet. 2:7-8. He judged them and he corrected them. Gen. 19:9-16. He was not always zealous for the fear of the Lord, but he was zealous against the sinners. In his anguish he most likely said some words that were not carefully weighed. When the situation became serious and he wanted to save his sons-in-law, they thought that he was joking. We read further that he barely escaped himself.

Once in a while we can hear a serious sermon. The assembly is apprehended of the seriousness of it and makes decisions. But then the preacher changes his tune and mentions many examples and says some funny things that cause the entire assembly to laugh. Now it is a fact that the majority of people are in the flesh, and they laugh away the seriousness. They act like Esau; they break the yoke, and they think that everything is a joke. That is a sorry conclusion to an excellent message. It ends up like it did with Lot. In spite of his zeal he was nevertheless partly responsible for the destruction of his sons-in-law; and this is how a zealous preacher—because of his lack of wisdom in the ministry—has a share in the sins of his assembly.

Do not lay hands on anyone hastily. We must not be quick to receive people so that we open up the entire house to them right away. We need to let them taste fellowship by and by as they are faithful. That will cause them to press toward the goal. Otherwise they will believe that they have laid hold of everything and become rich and full. They become lords; they don’t think there is anything more for them to lay hold of. In this liberty they can cause much damage in the house. But you shall rebuke those who are sinners in the presence of all, so that the others may also fear. Timothy had much use for the keys, yet he was exhorted to be careful and not do anything out of partiality. This is also how a servant of the Lord in our days must use the keys, and not end up in habits, but rather be awake and test all things.