The Keys To The Kingdom of Heaven – Part 1

To Whom Has God Given The Key of The House of David, The Keys to The Kingdom of Heaven, and The Key of Knowledge

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 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.

Introduction

The misunderstanding of these two verses of scripture is the very foundation of all Catholicism, one of the most prominent daughters of the great harlot of Revelation 17 and 18.

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

The book of Revelation was written in the 90’s A.D. at the very latest, and this great harlot had already “committed fornication… with… the kings of the earth, and the inhabitants of the earth [had already] been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

This great harlot, in scriptural terms, is the first mother of those who “come out of her”:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

As we endure the process of leaving the harlot and all of her false doctrines and all of her customs behind us, Jerusalem above becomes the new mother of our new man, who is being birthed through the daily death and destruction of our old man:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

Before we come to this ‘Jerusalem’, we are first the sons and daughters of another ‘Jerusalem’. This first Jerusalem is called “a harlot”. This harlot woman was known well to Christ and His apostles who were aware of the scriptures identifying her in no uncertain terms:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

It was the religion of the scribes, Pharisees and the Sadducees of whom the apostles thought when they spoke of a spiritual prostitute who brought forth a “people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers.”

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

In verse 21 of this same first chapter of Isaiah all doubt is removed of who Christ and His apostles considered to be “the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth”:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

The holy spirit was using the types and shadows of the Old Testament scriptures to give us as clear a picture of this “mother of harlots” as possible. In the book of Revelation this great harlot is called spiritual Sodom, and to take away all doubt, we are then told that this ‘city’ is “where also our Lord was slain”. The apostle John takes all this symbolism out of the book of Isaiah, and it comes from this very same first chapter of Isaiah::

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

The name ‘Babylon’ is taken for this harlot because that was to be the capital of mankind immediately after the flood of Noah. It was at the tower of Babel that mankind was united in his efforts to rebel against God’s commandment to “replenish… the earth”.

Gen 9:1  And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Gen 9:7  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 

God had made a covenant with Noah and his seed after him, and mankind has rebelled against and broken every physically recorded covenant made with his Creator, be it Noahic, Abrahamic, or Mosaic. At the appointed time, Christ came and died and was raised up to write His new spiritual covenant upon our hearts and strengthen us to do what the flesh cannot do:

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

All this spiritual knowledge is revealed to us through “the keys of the kingdom”. It is by ignoring those very ‘keys’, the very principles through which we can know God and His Son, and by reading Matthew 16:18-19 as stand-alone verses of scripture, that Catholicism has convinced many that Christ has given the keys to the kingdom of heaven to the apostle Peter alone. That doctrine is the very foundation of all Catholicism.

Here it is again:

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 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.

The CLV is a much better translation of verse 19.

Mat 16:19 I will be giving you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatsoever you should be binding on the earth shall be those things having been bound in the heavens, and whatsoever you should be loosing on the earth, shall be those having been loosed in the heavens.

When we read, “whatsoever you shalt bind on earth shall be those things having been bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shalt loose on earth shall be those things having been loosed in heaven”, this is the same thing we are told concerning a key which is first mentioned in the Old Testament. These same keys are also called “the key of the house of David” in both the Old Testament and the New Testament:

Isa 22:22  And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

“The key of the house of David” of Isaiah 22:22 is “the key of David” of Revelation 3:7. It was most instructive to me to discover that the word “open” in Isaiah 22:22 (“He shall open and none shall shut”) is also properly translated elsewhere as ‘loose’, as in Matthew 16:18-19:

A couple of examples will make that point:

Psa 116:16  O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed [Hebrew: pathach, H6605] my bonds.

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose [Hebrew: pathach, H6605] the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

It should be obvious to everyone that the ‘key of David’, which opens and no man can shut, is without a doubt the ability to see and hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It is seeing through all the lies of Babylon that looses the bondage we are under in that state. That is exactly what Christ told His disciples He had given to them. Notice how Christ Himself separates His “disciples indeed”, those who “continue [Greek: abide] in His Word” (Joh 8:30-31), from those who have not been given eyes that see or ears that hear His Word:

Mat 13:1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

These multitudes who came to Christ to hear His parables and to eat His loaves and His fishes typify the multitudes of Christians who, to this day, are “not given… to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God”, as Christ explained to those to whom are given ears that hear:

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Now we need to put together, line upon line and precept upon precept, what we have been told about the key of David and the keys of the kingdom of God, and see what we are actually being told.

Here are the two verses concerning the key of the house of David:

Isa 22:22  And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

The key of the house of David shuts and no man can open, and it opens and no man can shut.

Let’s compare what the key of the house of David does with what the keys to the kingdom of heaven do. As we look at what the scriptures teach us about the keys to the kingdom of heaven, we must notice that the function of these “keys to the kingdom” is not given only to the apostle Peter. The ability to use the keys to the kingdom of heaven to bind on earth what has been bound in heaven, and to loose on earth what has been loosed in heaven, has actually been given to any “two or three ” of Christ’s chosen, elect disciples.

Here are the verses which tell us to whom it is actually given to loose on earth what has been loosed in heaven, and to bind on earth what has been bound in heaven:

Mat 16:18  “Now I also say to you, that you are Peter [a stone], and on this solid rock I will build my Assembly [or Church], and [the] gates of the realm of the dead [Greek:  hades] will not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19  “And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth will have been bound in the heavens; and whatever you loose on the earth will have been loosed in the heavens.” (ALT)

However, look at who, besides just Peter, is also given to loose on earth the things that have been loosed in heaven and to bind on earth the things that have been bound in heaven:

Mat 18:18  Verily I say unto you [all His elect disciples (Mat 18:1)], Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:19  Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Where any “two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst” ‘to bind on earth what I have already bound in heaven and to loose on earth what I have already loosed in heaven.’

The ALT is a much better translation:

Mat 18:18  “Positively, I say to you, whatever [things] you bind on the earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever [things] you loose on the earth will have been loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:19  “Again, positively I say to you, if two of you agree together on the earth concerning any matter, whatever they ask, it will be done to them from my Father, the [One] in the heavens.
Mat 18:20  “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

That message now accords with what we are told in these verses of scripture:

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

Our petitions do not control Christ or His Father. Our petitions here on earth must accord with “those things having been bound [or] loosed in heaven”, and the keys to the kingdom of heaven were not given only to Peter, but to all who are “gathered together in My name”. Furthermore, “in My name” does not mean verbalizing those words, rather ‘in Jesus’ name’ means abiding in His doctrine as these verses make so clear:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Neither Peter nor any other man is the foundation at all for the church of God. Here is who the scriptures clearly teach is the only foundation of God’s true church:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

These keys to the kingdom of heaven are not given to just anyone, and they certainly do not give those who possess them power to be abusive to others. Those who possess the keys to the kingdom of heaven are only those who “hear [Christ’s] sayings, and doeth them”. That is the meaning of being “gathered together in [Christ’s] name [and having Him] in the midst [of them]”. The only people who are given the keys to the kingdom of heaven are those who know that they will ‘reap what they sow’, as these verses of scripture make abundantly clear:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, [or “in Jesus ‘name”] shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Col 3:25  But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ  depart from iniquity. 

So it is here in Matthew 18 that Christ clarifies what He said to Peter concerning the ‘keys to the kingdom of heaven’ in Matthew 16:18-19.

Matthew 18:1 makes clear to us that Christ is speaking to his chosen disciples, but look at what the subject matter is:

Mat 18:1  At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Mat 18:2  And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Lo and behold, the subject is “the kingdom of heaven” and the humble, teachable spirit that is required to have those keys to open that kingdom of heaven and to enter into it, to loose on earth what has been loosed in heaven, and to bind on earth what has been bound in heaven.

One who is given the ability to open the gates to the kingdom of heaven, which is also called ‘the house of David’, must “become as [a] little child” in the sense of humbling himself and becoming teachable concerning what is the key of the house of David, and what are the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Here in Matthew 18 we learn that one of those qualifications is that we must humble ourselves and become as teachable as little children at the feet of Christ. Those who will not do so do not possess ‘the key of the house of David’ or ‘the keys to the kingdom of heaven’, and they will not be in that kingdom until they “humble [themselves] and become as [teachable as] a little child”.

Catholicism, the largest single Christian denomination on earth, teaches that Matthew 16:18-19 proves that Christ built His church upon the apostle Peter, and that since Peter was the first Pope of Rome, the followers of the Popes of Rome, and they alone, are the true church of God because the Popes, and the Popes alone, have been given the power to loose and to bind all things in heaven and on earth. Their doctrine teaches that power to loose and to bind was passed down to them by the apostle Peter, whom they claim was the first Pope of the church of Rome. If you have ever wondered where the concept of meeting saint Peter at the golden gates of heaven came from, now you know. It is all based upon the lie that Christ gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven only to the apostle Peter.

Is there even a grain of truth to that doctrine? The answer is, no, there is no truth whatever to any of those assertions. They are one and all based on false history and the twisting and mistranslating of the scriptures. The first thing that needs to be corrected is that there is not one verse of scripture which indicates that the apostle Peter ever even went to Rome, much less being ordained as the first Pope of Rome.

The next thing we need to correct is the doctrine that Christ’s church is built upon the foundation of the apostle Peter. The scriptures clearly teach otherwise, as we saw earlier:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Peter is not the foundation of the church of God except in the sense that we are all “built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone”:

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye [Gentiles] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 

It also needs to be pointed out that Christ was in reality making this very point by telling Peter, who is a type of us, that he, Peter, was in reality just “a piece of a Rock”, as the definition of the name ‘Peter’ demonstrates:

G4074
Πέτρος
Petros
pet’-ros
Apparently a primary word; a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037); as a name, Petros, an apostle: – Peter, rock. Compare G2786.

“Thou are Peter” means, “You are Petros, a piece of rock.” Peter is but “a piece” of the True Rock. He is not “the Chief Cornerstone… this Rock… foundation… which is Christ.” Christ did not say, ‘You are Petros, and on this Petros I will build My church’, rather He said, “On this Petra I will build My church.”

It is that second word, Petra, which Christ used to contrast Himself with Peter to describe that ‘rock’ upon which He is building His church: “Upon this rock [“this Petra“, a massive rock, Christ Himself] will I build My church”. The second word is not ‘Petros‘. Christ was contrasting Peter, Petros, a piece of a rock, to Himself as a ‘Petra‘, a mass of rock, as Strong’s demonstrates:

G4073
πέτρα
petra
pet’-ra
Feminine of the same as G4074; a (mass of) rock (literally or figuratively): – rock.

This is just how much of “a mass of rock” this word ‘petra‘ conveys:

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: [petra, G4073]
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. [petra, G4073, Christ Himself]

To whom exactly is this word ‘Petra‘ applied in scripture? Is it ever once used in reference to Peter? The answer is, no, it never is; not once. Rather, this is its application in scripture:

1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
1Pe 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock [Petra] of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock [Petra] that followed them: and that Rock [Petra] was Christ. 

“That Rock [that Petra] was Christ.” It never was Peter. Peter was merely a piece of that Rock as we all are. Peter is never once in all scripture referred to as ‘Petra‘, and to attempt to make Matthew 16:18 say that ‘Petra‘ is referring to Peter is to completely miss the whole point Christ was making by using one word meaning ‘a piece of a rock’ and the other meaning a large massive Rock, which is the same as the same difference between building on sand and building on a massive Petra, Rock. Petros is bigger than a grain of sand, but the storms of life will wash away a Petros, just as quickly they wash away sand.

Who was given the power to bind and to loose?

Remember it is claimed by Catholicism that only the Popes, by virtue of being Peter’s historic successors, have been granted the power to bind or loose all things in heaven and on the earth. Accepting Peter as the first Pope of Rome without so much as one verse of scripture to back up that assertion, is like accepting Joseph Smith’s assertion he was told to establish a board of twelve apostles to govern the Mormon Church. It is the same trick. Both are based upon a lie.

It’s like Satan Himself. You tell a lie: “You shall not surely die… Peter is the first Pope of Rome… We must have a board of 12 apostles to govern the church”, and millions of people believe the lie, and you build your entire church upon that lie, and no one even thinks to try that spirit to see whether it is of God.

So when we put Matthew 16:18-19 together with Matthew 18:18-19, we see clearly that the power of the keys to the kingdom of heaven to bind and to loose on earth that which has been already bound or loosed in heaven does not depend upon Peter or any Pope of Rome. Instead, here in Matthew 18 we are told that those who have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven to “bind on earth [that which] has been bound in heaven, and to “loose on earth [that which] has been loosed in heaven” are “two or more [who] are gathered together in My Name”.

Mat 18:18  “Positively, I say to you, whatever [things] you bind on the earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever [things] you loose on the earth will have been loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:19  “Again, positively I say to you, if two of you agree together on the earth concerning any matter, whatever they ask, it will be done to them from my Father, the [One] in the heavens.
Mat 18:20  “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (ALT)

Who are the Nicolaitans?

On the other hand, Christ warns us against others who place themselves above those in their charge with these words:

Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Any church with a legal structure which places its ministers in a position to “exercising dominion over” those in their charge is not a church with the doctrine of Christ. They have replaced Christ’s doctrine of “let [your leaders] be your servant” with “the doctrine of the Nicolaitans”.

When we read what provoked those words of Christ to the lawyers, we see that the lawyers considered themselves to be part of the ruling elite; the scribes and the Pharisees. Here is what provoked Christ to speak those words to the lawyers:

Luk 11:44  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
Luk 11:45  Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.

The lawyers, the scribes and the Pharisees are all scripturally and symbolically part of the religious elite who were always attacking everything Christ did and attempting to lord it over Christ and the flock of God. Christ pulled no punches when dealing with this ‘Nicholaitan’ spirit:

Luk 11:46  And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
Luk 11:47  Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 
Luk 11:48  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 
Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

That is what we all first do to those whom the Lord sends to us to show us our sins. We are all guilty of “slay[ing]… and persecut[ing], those who are sent to us as our own saviors. We are all guilty of the blood of all the prophets, as being first the followers of the spiritual ‘scribes, Pharisees and lawyers’. They are the symbolic leaders of the churches of Babylon.

In the book of Revelation, these religious elite who lord it over the Lord’s flock are called “Nicolaitans”.

Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Christ “hates… the doctrine of the Nicolaitans”, because their doctrine is the exact opposite of His own doctrine which teaches us that we have no dominion over each other’s faith:

Mat 20:25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 
Mat 20:27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 
Mat 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

2Co 1:24  Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Contrast those words with the doctrines of the ministers of this world who tie your very salvation to whether you are tithing and giving offerings to them. Who, with the mind of Christ, knowing the doctrine of Christ, can imagine Jesus putting on a red costume with a physical crown, or a black robe with a backward collar, to physically distinguish Himself from His own followers? Really?

We will be greatly edified to just learn the meaning of the word ‘Nicolaitan’. Here is Strong’s definition of the Greek word translated into English as ‘Nicolaitans’:

G3531
Νικολαΐ́της
Nikolaitēs
nik-ol-ah-ee’-tace
From G3532; a Nicolaite, that is, adherent of Nicolaus: – Nicolaitane.

So a Nicolaitan is “an adherent of Nicolaus,” and this word Nicolaitan comes from G3532 or Nicolaus.

Here is what Strong’s has to say about the root of this word:

G3532
Νικόλαος
Nikolaos
nik-ol’-ah-os
From G3534 and G2004; victorious over the people; Nicolaus, a heretic: – Nicolaus

Here is the Greek word for ‘people’:

laos
lah-os’
Apparently a primary word; a people (in general; thus differing from G1218, which denotes one’s own populace): – people.

It is the religious elite who prefer to separate themselves from those who are merely “the laity” and contrast themselves as ‘the ministry’. There certainly are those who are called to be ministers to “labor in the word” within the body of Christ, but no true minister of Christ separates himself from the Lord’s flock or exercises authority over the Lord’s ‘laos‘, His people, His flock. The Nicolaitans are “victorious over” the ‘laos‘, the laity. They actually emphasize rank within the church, and they “exercise dominion over” the Lord’s flock, and “lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and [will them]selves touch not the burdens with one of [their] fingers.” That is “the doctrine of the Nicolaitans” whose doctrine Christ hates and upon whom He pronounces all these woes. In other words, those who claim to be the possessors of “the keys to the kingdom of heaven” are actually those upon whom Christ pronounces this very revealing woe:

Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

It is the knowledge of who Christ and His Father are that is “the key of knowledge… the key of the house of David… the keys to the kingdom of heaven”:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Belief in the doctrine of the Nicholaitans hinders us from entering into the kingdom of heaven. It actually “takes away the key of knowledge… the key of the house of David, [and] the keys to the kingdom of heaven”, and that doctrine is entrenched in both Catholic and Protestant doctrine and in all the daughters of the great harlot.

Conclusion

In the coming weeks, Lord willing, we are going to give you the key of the knowledge of “the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom [He] has sent”. We will do this by placing in your hands, free of any charge and with no strings attached, the many Biblical principles for coming to know what is the mind of God as revealed by how He has made His own prophets to write His own thoughts in a manner that demonstrates the power of His words in a way that only those with His mind can understand:

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Paul makes it clear that He is not speaking of physical miracles, but that he is “comparing spiritual things with spiritual”.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know [through “the key of knowledge”] the things that are freely given to us of God. 
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

“The holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” The holy spirit, through the pen of the apostle Paul, is telling us that the holy spirit teaches us by using spiritual types and shadows to teach us spiritual principles such as ‘the sum of God’s Word, line upon line, precept upon precept, no scripture being of its own interpretation, the light and the darkness being the same cloud, the positive and the negative application of scripture, the invisible things of God being understood by the things that are made, the dream is one, even when the details of the dreams vary widely, that all things come alike to all men, and there is but one event to all, that man must live by every word of God, and that we must never think above what is written, or add to or take away from the word of God, etc., etc. I do not know how long this series of studies will be, but if you are given to receive these principles, you will have been given “the key of knowledge”, the key of the house of David, and the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which will empower you to bind on earth what has been bound in heaven and to loose on earth what has been loosed in heaven.

[Part two can be found here]

Hi Mike.

Wow, I can’t begin to thank you enough for the time you’ve taken to address my questions and concerns. You’ve probably taken more time to edify and exhort in this one email than my pastor ever did all the time I was in the Church. I’ve watched the videos of the two talks you mentioned a few times on Google, but I’ll do so again with what you have said in mind. I’m starting to get now the concept of “Christ’s christ”. What you say makes so much sense. So many Christians go to Church every Sunday, do all the religious stuff, but that’s it. They keep it to themselves like they just got a new car they don’t want their neighbor to have.

I have a question about a scripture that I feel God is giving me the eyes to see in a different light. In my old Church, the pastor used to quote Mat 16:18 regularly, and say that this is why he knew his Church and all other Churches would continue to grow in physical numbers and never decline. Well, when I started to be familiar with your teachings and the concept of “many called, few chosen”, I started to wonder about this scripture. (He also used to switch Bibles from his NIV to the KJ, just so he could get the word Hell in there….. which no one else seemed to notice). I saw that the word build is translated from oikodome (3619-3618), which is also translated edify and edification and means to edify, embolden, be in. Dictionary definitions of the word edify are to instruct and benefit, spiritually uplift. Would it be fair to say this scripture means that Christ is edifying his true Church through his elect, and has nothing to do with adding physical numbers to the Babylonian Church system?   Thank you for any thoughts you may have on this question.

May God bless you and your ministry, YBIC

D____

Hi D____,
You are asking about Mat.16:18. You say:
“When I started to be familiar with your teachings, and the concept of “many are called, but few are chosen”, I started to wonder about this scripture. I saw that the word ‘build’ is translated from oikodome (3619-3618), which is also translated edify and edification and means to edify, embolden, be in. Dictionary definitions of the word edify are to instruct and benefit, spiritually uplift. Would it be fair to say this scripture means that Christ is edifying his true Church through his elect, and has nothing to do with adding physical numbers to the Babylonian Church system?”
You are exactly right about the fact that this section of scripture has nothing to do with adding physical numbers to the Babylonian Church system. And the revelation God has given you concerning the world ‘build’ is very revealing and instructive.
There is absolutely no doubt that it is Christ who is building and edifying His church. Let’s look at that verse and the verses around it. This section of scripture is one of the most abused parts of all of God’s Word.

Mat 16:13  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom 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.

As I would hope you are already aware, the Greek word for Peter is ‘petros,’ Strong’s number 4074, and the word for “this rock” is ‘petra,’ Strong’s number 4073. Strong’s definition for ‘petros’ is “a piece of a rock,” and Strong’s definition for ‘petra,’ is “a massive rock.” Christ is actually preparing Peter for what He is about to reveal to him about who His spiritual father is at this point in Peter’s life. Christ is telling Peter just how much Peter depends on Christ. And the world has twisted Christ’s words to make them say that Christ’s church is built upon a man. Here are the very next words Christ spoke to this apostle whom Catholicism calls ‘the rock on which the church stands.’

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Far from being “petra,’ the rock on which Christ’s church is truly built, Peter was, at this point, just as we all are at this point of our walk, an unconverted little pebble, born of our father the devil:

Joh 8:30  As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

But we don’t “continue in His word.” We all “leave our first love,” and are born of our father the devil.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it

Here is the true rock, the true “petra” upon which His church is built:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostle s and prophet s, J esus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Twisting God’s Words to make them appear to say that Peter is the rock on which Christ has built His church is nothing short of blasphemous. It is a doctrine of “wood, hay and stubble,” which the one billion Catholics of today will have burnt out of them in their appointed time.
The Pope just happens to be visiting the United States this week for the first time in twenty five years and it is sad to hear all the bishops referring to this verse of scripture as proof of why the Catholic Church is the original Christian church. They do not do so overtly, but they do so by calling the Pope “Peter’s successor,” as if these words of our Lord are for Peter and Peter alone. But the Catholic Church most assuredly is not the church which Christ built upon Himself. He and He alone is that “Rock.” The Catholic Church, and all of her Protestant daughters, is the church which was established by the spirit of men such as Phygellus, and Hermogenes. Men who withstand the words of “our Lord and His Christ.”

2Ti 1:13  Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 1:14  That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

Just as all the leaders of Israel had sided with Korah and Dathan and Abiram, against Moses and Aaron, so also had the leaders of all the churches in Asia, turned against the apostles, and had convinced their congregations to put the apostles out of their own churches. Paul addressed this again at the end of this epistle:

2Ti 4:9  Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
2Ti 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2Ti 4:11  Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
2Ti 4:12  And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
2Ti 4:13  The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.
2Ti 4:14  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16  At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

You are so right. Mt. 16:18 has nothing at all to do with numbers. If having many followers proved who was serving God then the apostles would have been proven to be false apostles. But such is not the case. It is those who “abide in my words” who are proven to be His.  If great numbers in any way indicated who is God’s true church, then Christ Himself would be proven to be a false prophet because of this statement:

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

The apostle John faced the same circumstances as Paul at the end of his ministry. Here is what was happening in the church at the end of John’s ministry:

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Phygellus, Hermogenes, Demas, Crescens, and even Titus, all had forsaken the apostle Paul. Alexander the coppersmith “greatly withstood Paul’s words.” All seven of the churches of Asia forsook Paul, and Diotrephes was so influential and powerful in the church that he could forbid the church to receive anyone who was connected with or came from the apostle John. If anyone was found to have any relationship with the apostle, that person was “cast out of the church.”
The apostasy was complete and the apostles had not yet died. The spirit had rightly informed the apostle Paul:

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

One of those “perverse things” is exactly what you have noticed:
“… This scripture (Mt. 16:18) means that Christ is edifying his true Church through his elect, and has nothing to do with adding physical numbers to the Babylonian Church system.”
It means just that, and it has nothing to do with Peter being our foundation. Such nonsense originated with men such as Alexander the coppersmith and Diotrephes. Teaching that the Pope as the head of the church is blasphemous, and teaching that great numbers indicates the presence of Christ in His church make Christ Himself to be a liar:

Luk 6:26  Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Here is how to know who are Christ’s true disciples:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

The very next chapter defines the word ‘love,’ and the church world hates this definition. The church world wants to give the word ‘love’ their own personal definition. The last thing in the world they want this word connected with is obedience to God’s commandments as delivered to us by Christ. But that is the only true love of God. All else is stubbornness and idolatry.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous
1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Loving the children of God and loving God are both one and the same thing. You are not loving your brothers by being a people pleaser like King Saul. What God wants, what proves that we truly love our brothers, is our obedience to God’s commandments. That is how we love our brothers and that is how we love God. It has noting at all to do with recognizing Peter as the foundation of the church, and it has nothing at all to do with increasing the numbers of believers in all the lies of Babylon.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike>