Blessings to you dear faithful Saints!
This is Part 5 of a study of Matthew 16:13-20. Part 1 – 4 are below. Just scroll down.
I declare abundant blessings to flow from His Kingdom within you to strengthen and transform you today that you rise up to your heavenly place as one in Christ Jesus!
Pause and ask the Lord to reveal the deeper truths in this study of His word.
Read Matthew 16:13-20
Sometimes Jesus teaches about His Kingdom by asking questions that cause His people to think.
Write down the two questions that Jesus asked His disciples.
Write down the correct answer to the second question.
How did Peter know the correct answer?
“…I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 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.” Matthew 16:18-19
Building You and Me
The Holy Spirit is actively at work building up His Church for the last days commission to bring forth God’s Kingdom revival before the great and awful days of tribulation begin. That means you must fully become everything that has been written in God’s Word about who you are in Jesus Christ. See the Resource Page and read out loud the Who Am I scriptures often. They have the power to transform your thinking from “old you” to “new creation you.”
Renewing your mind to your Kingdom identity is vital to your power and strength. As you and I change, The Church changes. How can we act on who we are in Christ unless we have knowledge of who God declared us to be?
Jesus Himself studied the scriptures every morning.
"The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.” Isaiah 50:4
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with man.” Luke 2:52
Jesus reveals who He is and His ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1-2.
“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’
“Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
“And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
See Luke 4:18-21
In this same manner, each Believer is to find themselves in the scriptures, renewing their mind to what the scriptures say, not the opinions of family, friends or the world. What we think will produce outward actions. Just as Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, we also grow in confidence and are changed from glory to glory. Sons of God are no longer slaves, because they are obedient to yield and be led by the Spirit of God. Galatians 4:7.
This yielding produces a servant’s heart of love, which gives birth to ministry.
This builds the Lord’s Glorious Church!
Getting the Keys to Work
As the Church matures to hear, obey and pursue individual assignments, we are corporately releasing God’s power supply to flow from one to another. We are actually nourishing and making one another stronger in love. Ephesians 4.
Christ’s goal: the unity of the faith to a perfect, fully developed, anointed Body, able to preach, heal and cast out demons and boldly declare, “He has sent me to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord!”
It’s an Inside Job
Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you and out of your heart would flow rivers of living water. Knowledge that changes our inside identification from a fearful beggar before God to our true nature as a joint heir with Christ will produce authority in the inner man. A beggar before God is not strong enough to pick up and use the keys of Heaven. But with God all things are possible!
Remember Gideon? He was a poor farmer, full of fear, who became a military hero and spiritual leader for the nation of Israel. He led a mighty army of 300 to defeat Israel’s enemies that had kept them oppressed and in bondage for years.
How did Gideon’s transformation take place? Words from Heaven came down to unlock Gideon’s earthly circumstances so that he could fulfill Heaven’s assignment. Faith in God’s supernatural assistance and a new identity brought about an amazing victory that delivered a nation!
“The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor…” Judges Chapter 6.
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
Hebrews 11:3
Faith in The Uncompromised Word of God
Just as an apple seed will produce an apple tree when planted in good ground, God’s Word has within itself the ability to transform you into an outstanding, powerful Christian so that when you speak mountains move! Just think, the worlds were framed by the word of God!
Certainly we can look into the perfect law of liberty and be a doer of His word to transform and rebuild our lives. Then we can move out and rebuild our cities and states.
Closing Comments
No matter who we are, there is so much more to obtain in God’s Kingdom, especially in these last days when His Spirit is releasing an abundance of His wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Why? Because our assignment is BIG!
None of us will ever be at a place of non-engagement. Perilous times are here, beloved, and they require extraordinary strategies. Sadly, not all Christians are hearing and obeying.
The Holy Spirit knows how to maneuver Christ’s Body to overcome and defeat every tactic of the enemy and keep us abiding in the faith that overcomes the world! Like everything with the Lord, He has His part, and we have our part.
The Revival/Awakening
His part is to revive and awaken souls. Our prayer assignment is to work with Him in faith to prepare their hearts.
When you pray, where are your prayers coming from? Your thoughts? Your heart?
See John 7:37-39 and Romans 8:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 2:10-13
This is Part 5 of a study of Matthew 16:13-20. Part 1 – 4 are below. Just scroll down.
I declare abundant blessings to flow from His Kingdom within you to strengthen and transform you today that you rise up to your heavenly place as one in Christ Jesus!
Pause and ask the Lord to reveal the deeper truths in this study of His word.
Read Matthew 16:13-20
Sometimes Jesus teaches about His Kingdom by asking questions that cause His people to think.
Write down the two questions that Jesus asked His disciples.
Write down the correct answer to the second question.
How did Peter know the correct answer?
“…I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 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.” Matthew 16:18-19
Building You and Me
The Holy Spirit is actively at work building up His Church for the last days commission to bring forth God’s Kingdom revival before the great and awful days of tribulation begin. That means you must fully become everything that has been written in God’s Word about who you are in Jesus Christ. See the Resource Page and read out loud the Who Am I scriptures often. They have the power to transform your thinking from “old you” to “new creation you.”
Renewing your mind to your Kingdom identity is vital to your power and strength. As you and I change, The Church changes. How can we act on who we are in Christ unless we have knowledge of who God declared us to be?
Jesus Himself studied the scriptures every morning.
"The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.” Isaiah 50:4
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with man.” Luke 2:52
Jesus reveals who He is and His ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1-2.
“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’
“Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
“And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
See Luke 4:18-21
In this same manner, each Believer is to find themselves in the scriptures, renewing their mind to what the scriptures say, not the opinions of family, friends or the world. What we think will produce outward actions. Just as Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, we also grow in confidence and are changed from glory to glory. Sons of God are no longer slaves, because they are obedient to yield and be led by the Spirit of God. Galatians 4:7.
This yielding produces a servant’s heart of love, which gives birth to ministry.
This builds the Lord’s Glorious Church!
Getting the Keys to Work
As the Church matures to hear, obey and pursue individual assignments, we are corporately releasing God’s power supply to flow from one to another. We are actually nourishing and making one another stronger in love. Ephesians 4.
Christ’s goal: the unity of the faith to a perfect, fully developed, anointed Body, able to preach, heal and cast out demons and boldly declare, “He has sent me to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord!”
It’s an Inside Job
Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you and out of your heart would flow rivers of living water. Knowledge that changes our inside identification from a fearful beggar before God to our true nature as a joint heir with Christ will produce authority in the inner man. A beggar before God is not strong enough to pick up and use the keys of Heaven. But with God all things are possible!
Remember Gideon? He was a poor farmer, full of fear, who became a military hero and spiritual leader for the nation of Israel. He led a mighty army of 300 to defeat Israel’s enemies that had kept them oppressed and in bondage for years.
How did Gideon’s transformation take place? Words from Heaven came down to unlock Gideon’s earthly circumstances so that he could fulfill Heaven’s assignment. Faith in God’s supernatural assistance and a new identity brought about an amazing victory that delivered a nation!
“The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor…” Judges Chapter 6.
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
Hebrews 11:3
Faith in The Uncompromised Word of God
Just as an apple seed will produce an apple tree when planted in good ground, God’s Word has within itself the ability to transform you into an outstanding, powerful Christian so that when you speak mountains move! Just think, the worlds were framed by the word of God!
Certainly we can look into the perfect law of liberty and be a doer of His word to transform and rebuild our lives. Then we can move out and rebuild our cities and states.
Closing Comments
No matter who we are, there is so much more to obtain in God’s Kingdom, especially in these last days when His Spirit is releasing an abundance of His wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Why? Because our assignment is BIG!
None of us will ever be at a place of non-engagement. Perilous times are here, beloved, and they require extraordinary strategies. Sadly, not all Christians are hearing and obeying.
The Holy Spirit knows how to maneuver Christ’s Body to overcome and defeat every tactic of the enemy and keep us abiding in the faith that overcomes the world! Like everything with the Lord, He has His part, and we have our part.
The Revival/Awakening
His part is to revive and awaken souls. Our prayer assignment is to work with Him in faith to prepare their hearts.
When you pray, where are your prayers coming from? Your thoughts? Your heart?
See John 7:37-39 and Romans 8:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 2:10-13