THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
We all feel like a nobody sometimes. It’s like the new employee at a Wal-Mart Store who had such an experience. The young man had just been at work a few days and was the low man in the pecking order. He was holding a broom in his hand near the entrance when an irate customer came in the store with a complaint. “Young man,” the customer growled, “I want to speak to someone with a little authority around here.” The new clerk looked around to the left and right and leaning on his broom said, “Well, sir, you might just as well talk to me. I guess I got just about as little authority as anybody here.”
There’s lots of Christians who feel the same way when it comes to their own faith and even their own church . . . which really isn’t the way it should be. If we look at the example of our Lord, we see that He had all the authority of God Himself. He could walk on water, cast out demons, command the storms, heal the sick, and the list is endless because God is endless and so is His authority. With all this power at His command, He nevertheless came to us in a stable and walked among us as a servant. He was a paradox to our understanding because He was the ultimate proof that,
• Real authority is the power to serve.
As followers of Jesus Christ and members of this church, we’ve each been given this authority, but like many Christians today, we don’t use our authority as God intended. I remember hearing a preacher say that he could prove he had authority in his church. He reached into his pocket and produced a ring of keys. “See,” he said, “this proves my authority. I can unlock any door in this church. Nothing is kept from me. This I can do because I’ve been given the authority.”
I thought about that example and realized that most of the members of our church could say the same! Frankly, I don’t know of any active member who doesn’t have keys to our church! And the way things work here, it seems to be a good thing! But God has given us other keys as well which I don’t believe we use nearly as often nor as effectively.
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matt. 18:18ff.)
These are some heavy declarations of authority given to us from the Son of God Himself. Jesus has given this power to us to lock and unlock doors in our lives, but not just in our own lives.
A man took his family to dinner at a Denny’s one night after Bible study. While they were eating, the man noticed an elderly person going from table to table chatting politely. Then he came to a table with several rough looking young men. Suddenly they began arguing, and one youth stood and beat the elderly man to the floor. Another man stood up and stepped between them to protect the elder. They began to argue, and all the family man could think was, “Oh great! Now we’re all going to fight!”
Just then, the man’s wife leapt out of her seat and into the middle of it all. With her finger wagging in their faces, she declared, “You need Jesus!” Suddenly, the room was quiet. You could hear a pin drop. The woman’s tone and words held such authority and conviction that no one doubted it. All of them just nodded their heads and sat down.
Webster’s dictionary defines “authority” as; “the power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior.” Jesus had that power when he walked among us. It’s a power that he offers to all those who obey and follow Him. But authority is like inheriting a fortune. It’s useless unless you claim it. That inheritance comes to each of us when we come to Jesus Christ.
Three things happen when we come to Jesus.
1. All our sins are removed and we are made the righteousness of God.
Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Righteousness comes from God, not from us, and we can not have it without God’s grace.
2. The Holy Spirit indwells each of us.
1 Peter 1:15 says: “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” We’re told that Christ must be reflected in our lives, but that won’t happen – until He first lives in your heart.
3. We are given power and authority, enabling us to live our lives as a child of God.
When the tempest engulfed the boat full of disciples in Matthew 8:26: “Jesus said to them, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” Jesus did such miracles before his disciples, and in John 14:12, he told us: “. . . he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
• The Keys of the Kingdom represent authority. I can go in and out of this church because I have authority, and I have the keys to prove it. Just as he gave to Peter, Jesus has given each of us “the keys of the kingdom”. WE HAVE AUTHORITY to remove the obstacles that hinder the progress of God’s Truth – and also the authority to open new opportunities for God’s Kingdom on earth. Because we have authority from God, nothing can deter or stop us from accomplishing whatever God tells us to do.
Jesus’ own words give us the best illustration.
Matthew 28:18, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations . . . .’” Because Jesus possesses the power and authority from God, we know that whatever he commands us to do – can be done! It doesn’t really matter whether you believe in your own authority – so long as you believe in the authority of Christ who sent you.
In Mathew 8:8, the centurion told Jesus, “I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.’”
The centurion understood the precepts of authority. With all the authority of Rome behind him, he could give a command and know, with complete confidence, that his command was obeyed. Because he understood this in real world application, he could also understand the authority of Jesus who held all the authority of God within him.
Mark 1:22 says, “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” And who were the “scribes”?
They were the highly educated intelligentsia who were supposed to know these things. Yet, they could not teach with the authority of God because they did not KNOW God! They knew God’s words chapter and verse, but they didn’t know God. It reminds me of a saying, “No one can quote scripture quite as well as the devil.” While it’s important to know God’s Word, and it’s good to be able to quote it, it’s most important that God’s Truth is alive within you.
Jesus gave authority to the disciples;
Matthew 10:1 “And when he had called his twelve disciples to him, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”
You can have a bank full of money, but if you don’t write a check and use it, it doesn’t mean a thing. Keys are of no use if you don’t use them. Now you ask,
What keys do we possess?
1st: We have the keys to do as Jesus did. In fact, Jesus said that even greater things were going to be done by us because He was going to His Father. In other words, because of His ascension to the right hand of God, His power would be made complete, and He would be giving us that same power to accomplish His will on earth.
2nd: We have the keys of salvation.
Paul said; “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation”.
Even from prison Paul understood the power God has given to each of us. In 2 Timothy 1:8, Paul reminds us:
“Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, . . . .”
3rd: We have the keys of faith. God has given us the ability to look into the supernatural. We’re not hindered by the physical limitations when we’re obedient to God in whom nothing is impossible.
4th: We have the keys of healing. Jesus said; “You will lay hands on the sick and they will be healed.” Time Magazine once reported that the medical profession recognizes many benefits to living a spiritual life.
• For instance, heart-surgery patients who have faith in God have a significantly higher survival rate than those who don’t.
• People with faith who attend church regularly experience less depression than those who don’t.
• The blood pressure of those who simply attend church averages 5 mm lower than those who don’t.
• And did you know that the suicide rate is four times higher among non-churchgoers than churchgoers?
What is it about the church that offers such benefits? I submit to you that it comes from hearing God’s truth and especially from knowing Jesus Christ?
With authority, Jesus and his Apostles healed countless people. Unfortunately, we live in a society that plays down the benefits and the power of faith as well as any miracles – except those that are man-made. Man has become the only god who is socially and politically acceptable.
5th: We have the keys of freedom.
As it is written in John 8:31, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’”
We come to Jesus Christ because we’re consciously and painfully aware of how enslaved we’ve been to sin. Only by appreciating that fact, can we appreciate the full meaning of the cross.
6th: We have the keys of deliverance.
Tradition says that David wrote Psalm 59 when King Saul was having David’s home watched hoping to capture and kill David. David wrote: “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; Defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from blood-thirsty men.” (vss 1-3)
Only God can deliver us, and that’s why we pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” It’s God alone who delivers, and it’s God alone who can save. We are commanded to live according to the authority of God’s word with the power of a servant.
I conclude this morning with Paul’s greeting to the Galatians 1:3-5:
“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
(Inspiration is from a sermon by Jose Gomez, Sr. entitled, “Understanding Your God Given Authority”, July 2005, SermonCentral.com)
