Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
USE YOUR SPIRITUAL KEYS
Matthew 16:18-19, "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. 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."
We often hear messages concerning the statement in verse 18 that “upon this rock”, that “rock” being the foundation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who was crucified and resurrected to establish the church and the way of salvation for all men. The church and your salvation are established upon the fact of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and hell’s power has already been defeated at the cross.
Satan brought out his biggest “guns” at the cross. Hell’s power to kill, steal and destroy was unleashed in all its force upon Jesus Christ and Jesus defeated all that Satan could bring to bear upon him. Jesus allowed Satan to do his worst and then showed Satan that God’s power could not be overcome. Jesus went through the door of death, into the grave, down into the prison where the souls of faithful men were kept until that day.
Revelation 1:18, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
Then Jesus cornered Satan and demanded the keys of death, hell and the grave and that took away all of Satan’s power to control the ultimate destiny of mankind.
Satan had held sway over man ever since the sin in the Garden of Eden but now he held that power no longer for Jesus had paid the price of redemption and bought back the right to the souls of every man, woman and child who would accept his sacrifice and receive forgiveness for their sin.
Jesus has the keys and even though Satan still does his best to destroy man, and still attempts to be the god of this world, he has no power over the church; no power over the lives of God’s chosen people; and no power to control your lives unless you give it to him through unbelief and disobedience to God’s will for your life.
2 Thessalonians 2:7, makes a statement that if often referred to in teaching of Bible prophecy, but that statement has a great meaning for you and I this morning, not just as it refers to prophetic events, but in your every day lives, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."
By this statement we can see that the Bride of Christ, the true Church, those who are truly born again, Bible believing, Jesus loving, and those who are sold out to God’s will, have been given a power that often forget is ours.
How often do we allow things to go on in our lives, in our homes, in our families, and in our churches, that we have the power to stop and yet we put up with them day after day as though we had no power over them?
Jesus made a statement to Peter, and to all his church, that carried with it great power and provision if we would only learn to use it“…and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
As Spirit filled Christians, who have the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost in our hearts and lives, we have been given a position of power and authority over the enemy of our soul.
James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Do you want to know why so many Christians have homes that in such a state of chaos?
Do you want to know why so many Christians live lives with such an attitude of defeat?
Do you want to know why Satan runs rampage through our families?
Do you want to know why the powers of hell cause so much damage to in the lives of those who are saved?
The answer is that they have unlocked the door to their heart, swung wide the windows to allow Satan to come in, and then allowed him to hang around without resisting his temptations to sin.
Do you want to know how I know this? It’s very simple. I’ve done it myself from time to time and if you don’t think that you have, then you are deceived my friend because there is no one who is above reproach, or who has not fallen prey to the influence of Satan in their life at one time or another.
Religion today is not transforming people; rather it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society; it is descending to society’s own level, and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender. A. W. Tozer
That’s the same attitude of many Christians today. We don’t use the keys to unlock God’s blessings or to lock up, or bind up, the enemy. We might claim to have the victory over sin, or claim to allow Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, but the fruit that we bear does not support our claims.
John 14:12-14, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
Can’t you see that anything we ask for; anything we pray for; and anything we have need of in our lives can be had if we would only pray according to the will of God and ask our Father in Heaven, in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ?
But, Pastor, I have prayed! I have asked God for certain things! I have asked in Jesus’ name! I have done all this, and I still don’t have an answer!
I want you to see one important point that may be the reason that your prayer hasn’t been answered – perhaps you have prayed according to your will and not God’s will!
Let me give you a few hindrances to receiving the answers to your prayers.
1)Sin in your life – if we harbor sin in our lives, how can we expect God’s blessings. He cannot bless sin. We have to repent and change our ways if we want our prayers answered.
2)Unbelief – Israel could not enter into and receive God’s promise to Abraham. Why couldn’t they? Hebrews 3:19, "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."
3)Because we ask for selfish reasons - James 4:3, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
4)Perhaps God is trying to teach you a lesson in obedience and the answer won’t come until the lesson is learned. Hebrews 5:8, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;"
5)It could be that your answer is already on its way but there is a great battle in the realm of the spirit before it can come to pass. Daniel 10:12-14, "Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand…"
6)God expects obedience before the answer can come. You must do your part before God will fulfill his promise. Romans 6:16, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
7)Also there are some answers that require work and effort on our behalf in order that the answer will come. Matthew 17:20-21, "…Jesus said … verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
When Jesus told Peter, and all of his disciples, that he would give them the keys to bind and loose things in their lives, this didn’t give them the power to short circuit God’s will and God’s requirements for faith and obedience.
I know too many people who “bind” up the enemy in their lives and yet continue to live in sin, unbelief, or disobedience to God’s will for their lives, and then wonder why they are still oppressed and distressed.
I know too many people who try to “loose” the blessings of God in their lives without paying the price of obedience, or the price of self sacrifice that will allow those blessing to come.
God cannot and will not by-pass his own laws of sowing and reaping to fulfill our prayers of binding and loosing things in our lives. God’s laws will never change and his methods for fulfilling and answering our prayers will not be altered by our false spirituality, no matter how loud we scream at the devil or how much we attempt to have faith.
But, we do have the keys to the kingdom at our disposal if we will use them according to God’s will!
We have keys to binding Satan’s power out of our lives through obedience to the will and word of God. We can speak to that mountain of doubt and fear, in faith, through a heart of obedience, and it will have to move.
The power of the Holy Spirit within us, in conjunction with our faith in God’s Word, and in God’s power, and our obedience to his will combine to bring to bear all of the powers of Heaven to bring an answer to prayer, but all of the ingredients must be there or the answer will not come.
Can you speak to the devil and to his evil demonic spirits and bind them, cast them out of your life and bring victory over them? YES, by following the right pattern. But, beware my friends, the devil and his demons are powerful and they don’t often give up easily. Because they don’t always give up easily we must continually resist them through fasting and prayer. Sooner or later their power will be broken and they will have to leave.
Can you bind or limit Satan’s power to influence your life? Absolutely you can limit him and it can be done by calling upon the Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ to bind the powers of hell that torment you. It’s all accomplished through the Blood of the Lamb. Satan is a defeated foe. He has no power over you except what you allow him to have. We can stop his attacks, limit his ability to speak to us, cast him out of our homes, families, church and our own lives. We can stop his oppressive spirit in our lives through the anointing of the Holy Ghost and the power of Almighty God.
When Satan comes against you, resist him, don’t fold or cave in to his temptations. When depression strikes, we can dwell in a state of depression or we can overcome it by the power of God that gives us faith and a strong mind. The reason that so many live in depression is that they have laid aside their faith in God to deliver through every circumstance and they have given in to the whispers of Satan that tell them that they can’t overcome the situation they are in, and they have lost sight of the fact that God can and will work out all things to the good of those who love him and are living in obedience to the will of God.
Too many times we dwell in depression rather than lifting our voices to God, commanding the devil to get out of our minds and lives, and speaking faith and victory back into our lives.
Some of you have some great battles that you are fighting right now. Some of you have been in a fight for your very soul for a long time. Some of you have been facing a time of sickness, discouragement, fear that you can’t make it, doubts in your own salvation, and Satan has even begun to speak it to your heart that your life is going to fall apart at the seams and there is nothing that you can do about it.
That’s a lie from the pits of hell! God has no intention of allowing Satan to destroy your marriage, your home, your children or your soul. God’s will is for you to prosper in all those areas of your life, even as your soul prospers.
If you have had those thoughts, let me remind you that God is not the source of those thoughts – they come from the devil! He can’t possess the heart and life of those who are born again Children of God but he can bring tremendous pressure against us and oppress us to the place where we are ineffective for the Kingdom of God and eventually we will give up on God if we don’t resist him and cast him out of our lives.
If the presence of the church upon the earth is a limiting factor in the power of Satan to introduce the Antichrist, and to limit the powers of darkness in their bid to completely control the actions of all men, and we have been given the keys to bind the power of Satan in our own lives and loose the blessings of God, then let’s use that power and don’t let Satan convince us that we can’t.
It’s time that we rise up in faith and obedience to the will of God for our lives and speak to that devil and command him to get out of our lives!
It’s time that we quit listening to his lying whispers in our ear and listen to the Word of God that tells us that we have the power to bind Satan and loose the blessings in our lives.
It’s time that we bind those evil spirits that cause sickness in our homes.
It’s time to bind those demons that torment our minds and bring doubt to our hearts.
It’s time to throw the devil out of your life instead of allowing him to hang out with us!
It’s time to speak victory, speak peace, speak healing, loose the chains that bind us and let our life and heart be opened and ready to receive God’s best.
It’s time that God’s people quit living in defeat, with an attitude that we can’t win, or that we don’t have the power to overcome Satan.
We have been given the Holy Spirit. We have been given the promises of God’s Word. We have been given the keys of Heaven and don’t tell me that Heaven’s keys can’t work for your situation. Brother and sister, when God gives you the keys, he expects you to use them in faith, knowing that they cannot fail.
There are a lot of people who say that the “Keys of Heaven” are not meant for us to control the actions of Heaven. They say that it is the actions of Heaven that control us!
Well, there may be some truth to that, but let me remind you that we are commanded to pray. We are commanded to speak to the mountains in our lives. We are commanded to make our requests known to the Father in Heaven. We are commanded to ask the Father to answer our prayers in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.
Doesn’t that mean that we have the power within us to loose the powers of Heaven upon everything in our lives that we need to overcome?
Doesn’t that mean that if we ask for anything in the name of Jesus, according to the will of God, that we will receive it?
Doesn’t that mean that we have the power within us, through the Holy Spirit and the Blood that has been applied to our hearts, to overcome every trial, every temptation, to cast out every demon, to loose every blessing, to bind up those things that hinder us, and to set our soul free from the powers of hell.
My friend if I couldn’t believe that the power to overcome Satan and bind him up, then to loose the blessings of God in my life were real, then why am I serving God. Either God’s Word will do what it says or our faith is in vain.
Right now, I want us to take out those Keys of Heaven that Jesus has given to us. Take out your Key of Faith, your Key of Trust, your Key of Salvation, your Key of God’ Promises and get ready to unlock the blessings of God upon your life. Get ready to lock the chains and bind up the power of Satan that has been hindering your walk with the Lord.
God wants to set you free here this morning. He wants you to speak victory into your life through the power of the Blood of the Lamb. God wants you to quit cowering in fear before the devil and stand up to him and command him to get out of your life and your home.
If you need deliverance from the powers of hell that have had you bound, come to Jesus now.
If your home, marriage, children, health and faith have been held captive by the devil, now is the time for deliverance.
Step out in faith and belief right now and use your Spiritual Keys. Let’s do some unlocking this morning. Let’s bind up Satan and his powers of darkness and loose the blessings of God. This is your time to be set free! (Play and Sing – “He Set Me Free”)
