OPEN: A husband and wife arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up their car but they were told that the keys had been accidentally locked in it.
They went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door. As the wife watched from the passenger’s side, she instinctively tried the door handle and discovered it was open.
"Hey," she shouted to the technician. "This door is open!"
"I know," answered the young man. "I already got that side."
(GET OUT KEYS)
The purpose of keys is to unlock doors.
I have a whole bunch of keys on my key ring. I have keys to my house, the van, the church building, the church PO Box, etc. I even have keys here that I have no idea what they go to.
Now, I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing more frustrating for me than to go to unlock a door and find that I haven’t got the key. Has that every happened to you?
So I have a solution to that problem. You know what it is? That’s right, I make spares. They’re not on this keyring. They’re hidden all over the place, right where I know where they’re at, so that if I misplace these keys, I’ve got backups.
So I’ve got spare keys that I don’t carry on this key ring.
But there’s another set of keys that aren’t on this key ring.
I don’t’ have them in my pocket, and they’re not hidden around the house or my van. That set of keys is the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus told Peter (and by extension – the rest of us)
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:19
Now, there is a church that doesn’t believe you and I have these keys. The Catholic Church teaches that ONLY Peter received those keys.
That’s one of the reasons we see St. Peter sitting at the Pearly Gates, letting people into heaven.
(We showed the cartoon of Steve Jobs standing before St. Peter who’s rifling through his book of names and saying to Peter “I’ve got an app for that”).
It is believed that Peter is sitting before the gates of Heaven because ONLY he has the keys to let us in.
Now, the Catholic Church rightly understands that keys represent authority.
ILLUS: If I have a key it means that I have been a certain authority.
If I give you a key to my home… that means you have authority to enter my home
If I give you the keys to my van… that means you have the authority to drive my van.
If the church gives you a key to the church building… it means you have the authority… well, you get the idea.
The Keys Jesus talked about with Peter were to serve two purposes:
1. What was bound (or locked up) on earth would be bound in heaven
2. And that which was loosed (or unlocked) on earth would be loosed in heaven.
And Peter did exactly that with those Keys.
• On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and they began to speak in languages they’d never spoken. A large crowd gathered to see this new thing… and guess who stands up to preach a sermon? That’s right: Peter
3000 people repent of their sins and are baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.
• Several days later, Peter and John are going to the Temple to pray when they meet and heal a crippled man. Again a large crowd gathers - and guess who stands up to preach?
That’s right: Peter
And as a result of Peter’s boldness the church grew to more than 5000.
• In Acts 10, Peter is sent by God to the household of a Roman Centurion to preach to him and to a large crowd of Gentiles that had gathered at his home. Before the day is done Peter - and the 6 friends who came with him - baptized everybody in the audience.
Why did Jesus give keys to Peter???
Because Peter would use them.
Again and again in the book of Acts, Peter was the “point man”.
Peter opened doors for the crowd at Pentecost
He opens the doors for the crowd at the Temple
And he opens the doors for the crowd at Cornelius’ home.
But Peter WASN’T the only follower of Christ given permission to bind & loose/lock & unlock. In Matthew 18, Jesus’ disciples come to Jesus and ask Him: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Matthew 18:1
For the next few verses Jesus explains that
• The Kingdom of Heaven wasn’t about power… it was about being as humble as a child. (vs. 2-10)
• The Kingdom of Heaven wasn’t about building my authority… it was about bringing the lost sheep back to the shepherd. (vs. 11-14)
• And the Kingdom wasn’t about getting even with people who have wronged me but about bringing sinners together so they could work for God (vs. 15-20)
At the end of that teaching Jesus told ALL His followers:
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:18-20)
They all had authority to use those keys. And those keys to the Kingdom of Heaven were all about locking and unlocking things on earth - and Peter wasn’t the only guy who was allowed to drive the bus.
ILLUS: If I give the keys to my van to you that means YOU have the permission to drive. It does not mean anyone else does UNLESS I give that permission to them as well. If I give the keys to one guy and let him drive first (like Peter did) that’s a privilege. But in Matthew 18 – Jesus is telling us “everybody can drive the bus.”
Peter might have opened the doors at Pentecost.
But Philip opened the door for salvation in Samaria.
And Paul and Barnabas and Silas and Timothy and Titus opened the doors in Greece and Turkey.
Church Tradition tells us:
• Matthew opened the door into Ethiopia.
• And Thomas opened the door in India.
And since that day, many brave missionaries have opened the doors for millions of people to hear about the love and forgiveness of God through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Peter had keys… but we all have Keys.
Those same keys may not be on your key ring or mine, but we have been granted authority by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to bind and loose – lock and unlock.
Now… what does that mean?
It means we have the power to unlock and lock things.
1st - it means we have the ability to unlock the doors for people to come to Christ. Just like Peter, James and John - and Paul and Barnabas and Silas.
Now, those men had the big names.
But their keys were no bigger than ours.
They’ve had their turn at driving the bus… but they’re dead now.
Now it’s your turn (and yours/yours…)
ILLUS: When our Lord returned to heaven, He was speaking to Gabriel. After discussing the ministry of redemption, Gabriel had a question for Jesus. He asked: “And now that you have done all this for men, what plans have you made to carry the message of man’s redemption to the ends of the earth?”
Jesus said, “Well, there is John, James, Peter, Andrew and the others. That little group of men that I called and whom I have now commissioned to take the message to others.”
But Master,” replied Gabriel, “suppose James and John, Peter and Andrew and the others just don’t go? Suppose they stay where they are? What other plans have you made?”
Jesus replied: “There is no other plan… I’m counting on them.”
There is no other plan.
If you and I don’t talk to other about Jesus, they may NEVER hear about salvation.
Just before Jesus ascended into heaven He gave us our marching orders.
“… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20
In fact, God is so impressed when we do this that He says
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14-15
And so God has given you the keys to unlock salvation for:
• the people you work with
• and the people you’re related to
• and the people you live just down the street from’
Your job is to unlock the door. Then it’s up to them if they walk through it to accept Christ.
Your power to lock and unlock thing means you have the keys to unlock the power of prayer. God hasn’t given you this privilege without giving you some tools.
Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (in other words you have the power to lock and unlock)…
But also “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:18-20
ILLUS: Years ago I was passing by a trailer park in the small community I was preaching in.
I was just talking to God, when suddenly it struck me that I knew NOBODY in that park.
I remember almost jokingly saying to God “You know I’ve never talked to anybody in the park.”
“God would you allow me to speak to someone there?”
Within a week’s time a lady in that trailer park called – right out of the blue – and asked me to come talk with her.
Now I have to admit – that shocked me.
I hadn’t expected God to answer the prayer… but I ask a lot more of those prayers like that now because I know that you and I have power in prayer to unlock doors.
The last thing I noticed it the Keys of the Kingdom give us authority to lock the door on Satan. Revelation 12:11 tells us
We overcome Satan “… by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (NIV)
Satan doesn’t have power over us if we cling to the blood of Jesus… and if we share our testimony. Those are our keys:
His Blood – Our Testimony
We’re in a battle against Satan.
The keys we have - give us power over Him.
Jesus said: “Upon this rock (of Peter’s testimony that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” Matthew 16:18
Now the odd thing about Jesus’ statement was this:
Gates don’t attack.
Gates swing on hinges.
About the only way a gate is going to hurt you is if you get your finger stuck in one - when it closes.
So, if the gates of hell aren’t attacking us, what does it mean for Jesus to say “…the gates of Hades will not overcome/prevail against (the church)?”
It means: one of the reasons Jesus created the church was to attack the gates of Hell.
He intended the church to take the fight to the enemy.
We (the church) are the tool that He intends to use to take the Satan down, to tear his strongholds apart.
The church is a training ground for war – but not a war like the ones we’re fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan or other hot spots around the globe.
Paul writes: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” II Corinthians 10:4-5
We’re fighting Satan, and we have the weapons to get the job done. And Jesus said the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us!
So Satan’s domain has gates.
His citadel has doors that are barred and locked.
And guess what – every locked door has a key.
But who has the key to that gate?
Who is it that can unlock the gates of Hell?
Sorry – not me.
Not you either.
We don’t have the keys to the gates of Hades. We have the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Our keys allow us to:
• unlock salvation for others.
• lock and unlock things through Prayer
• use those keys to lock Satan out of lives by the Blood of Jesus/Sharing Testimony
BUT we don’t have the keys to hell!
So if we don’t have them – who does?
In Revelation 1:18 Jesus declared: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Who has the keys?
Jesus does.
Jesus is the one who died on the cross to open the gates. The gates of hell can’t prevail against Him and His kingdom BECAUSE He’s already broken the power of sin and death.
That’s the one key you and I don’t have…
… because that key was bought on the cross.
… that key was used in the grave
… and that key unlocked the very gates of hell and death.
CLOSE: But you and I DO have keys.
If you have your key ring with you today… take them out now.
Take the key to your car and hold it.
The next time you put that key into the ignition of your car will you remember that God has given you the key of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” As you turn that key in the ignition will you say to the Lord, “I’m going again into my world; help me to tell someone about you.”
Now hold your house key in your hand. Visualize yourself putting it into the lock on your front door. Each time you come to that door will you again commit to the Lord that you will use the key of the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony. As you open your front door will you say to the Lord, “you have opened the door of salvation to me–I promise to tell others what you have done for me.”
Now take a third key in your hand.
If you have a post office box key hold it, or any other key you will use frequently and picture yourself at your mailbox. Will you make the commitment to the Lord that each time you use that key it will be a reminder to pray for the lost. Will you pray something like this, “Jesus, I’m picking up the mail again today and there are some messages in this box for me. But as I do, I’m addressing some prayers to you Lord–the return address isn’t for me. . .its for my friend, a neighbor, my son or daughter. Lord they need the message of salvation delivered to their hearts; make the way for them to be saved.”
Now hold your set of keys in your hands. Will you make this your prayer, “Lord you have given me the keys to the kingdom; keys which can be put to use right where you need them the most. Now Lord, when I hold these keys in my hands, I want you to know that I’m available. I will do whatever you ask to open the door for those who are lost. With these keys I own hell. With your keys Lord I will conquer hell in the name of Jesus.”
(this last illustration, along with seed for many of thoughts in this sermon came from a sermon on this text by D. Greg Ebie – Sermoncentral.com)
