In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus also says that the gates of Hades will not prevail against His church. The gates of Hades refer to Satan’s authority or power of darkness (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18). The authority of darkness denotes the authority of Satan. God is light, and Satan is darkness. Satan’s authority of darkness is the authority of evil in the heavenlies, in the air (Eph. 6:12). This evil refers to something that is in rebellion against God. The authority of evil, of rebellion, in the heavenlies is the kingdom of Satan (Matt. 12:26), the authority of darkness. The authority of Satan is Satan’s kingdom, which belongs to darkness. Satan is the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and the ruler of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). He has his authority and his angels (Matt. 25:41), who are his subordinates as principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12). Hence, Satan has his kingdom, the authority of darkness, the gates of Hades. However, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the genuine church built by Christ upon the revelation concerning Him as the rock, with stones such as Peter and all the believers as transformed human beings.
The Lord’s word in Matthew 16:18 indicates that Satan’s power of darkness will attack the church. For this reason, there is spiritual warfare between Satan’s power, which is his kingdom, and the church, which is God’s kingdom.
The church has the kingdom of the heavens as its reality. This is indicated by the Lord’s word in Matthew 16:19. “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall be what has been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall be what has been loosed in the heavens.” The words “the kingdom of the heavens” here are interchangeably used for the word “church” in the previous verse. This is a strong proof that the genuine church is the kingdom of the heavens in this age. This is confirmed by Romans 14:17, which refers to the proper church life.
The keys of the kingdom are given to the apostles. This is indicated by the Lord’s word to Peter in 16:19 concerning giving him the keys of the kingdom of the heavens for binding and loosing. The Gospel of Matthew is concerned with the kingdom of the heavens, which is a matter of authority. The church revealed in this book represents the kingdom to reign. Hence, the authority to bind and to loose is given not only to Peter, the apostle for the church here, but also to the church itself (Matt. 18:17-18).
The keys of the kingdom have been given to the apostles to bind on earth what has been bound in the heavens and to loose on earth what has been loosed in the heavens. Whatever the church people bind or loose on earth should be what has been bound or loosed in the heavens already. We can only bind or loose what has already been bound or loosed in the heavens.
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