Life Ministries

Keys To The Kingdom
“What you bind, what you loose!”

    “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 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 16:13-20)  “And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18)  Jesus called his disciples to Him to give them authority; His authority!

    The first thing we should notice is that it was after their confession by Peter that Jesus is the Christ that the keys were given. I think we can discover what the keys to the Kingdom are by looking at the relationship between the Disciples and Jesus – the King; this also why we must maintain that relationship. Apart from Christ we are nothing, but Paul reminded us that “We can do all things through Christ who strengths us.”
Matthew 13:10 – “The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.”
In Isaiah 22:22 we find where the Lord says He will “give His faithful Servant the keys of the house of David and He shall open and no one shall shut and His servant shall likewise shut, and no one shall open, because he has the keys.”
Again from Matthew 16:19 – “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.”
    The second thing we must realize is found in Luke 17:20 – “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” What does that mean? Well, by definition if the kingdom of God is within me, then all the power and authority of God is also within me. Not in my natural abilities, natural thinking, or skills, but, I have the power and authority of God to resist and overcome the power of sin; the power and authority to live the righteous life that God’s king-dom demands; and the power and authority to receive, bind, and/or release all the promises and blessings of God! But, there’s more to it than just having the power and authority.
    First of all, the Kingdom of God operates on certain principles, laws, or “keys” as Jesus calls them. So, for this to do us any good at all we must not only have a relationship with Christ, we must also know what the keys are; what they open and what they are for. If I had a ring of keys and had no idea what they were for, what good are they? 
    Second, however, is this; although we have the kingdom of God within us - that is all the power, wisdom, knowledge, peace, love and authority of God - we have it in seed form. The very next thing Jesus says is that “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.” Even though it was the smallest of seed, it would grow to be one of the largest plants. Like everything in seed form, it must be planted, cultivated, watered, and developed in order to become functional. The seeds of the Kingdom within us are the same.
    With that in mind, think about what we have talked about so far concerning the kingdom of God; specifically Matthew 18:3 – “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom.”  Remember, that does not mean “fighting and scrapping and kicking and yelling” when we don’t get our way! It means becoming humble, dependent, with a trusting faith. It means as Robert Fulghum said about  everything he learned in kindergarten; “Sharing everything; playing fair; putting things back where you found them; cleaning up your own mess; don’t take things that are not yours; say you are sorry when you hurt someone; and when you go out into the world, stay alert, hold hands, and stick together!”
    I believe this is the first key; having a childlike faith, a childlike attitude, a teachable spirit, and a humility that understands that we need each other. This, we might say is the “seed.”
    The next key I want to look at is the key of “unity.” In Matthew 18:20 Jesus says “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.”
     The word “agree” means “to make harmony”. In the kingdom of God there must be unity in order to receive the fullness of the blessings and benefits.  In the Godhead there is no division. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not only “one” they are in perfect unity. They have different roles and responsibilities, but they have one purpose, one goal, one unified concern. In Ephesians 4:3 Paul picks up on this same thing when he says “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
    We will never see the total power and authority of the Holy Spirit in our lives, in our homes, in our church unless there is unity and a sense of oneness. Disunity destroys the witness and the evangelism of the church. God’s power is also diminished to the degree that there is disunity. In a real sense, the power of God is “bound”…and not “loosed.” Let’s look at Mark 3:21-25 –
“When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”
    Notice that Jesus speaks of a “kingdom” and a “home” and you could add a “church”, a “business”, a government, even a nation. And, notice also that he did not say it “might not stand” he said it cannot stand!” The key of unity works both ways – as much as disunity locks up or binds God’s power and authority…unity will loose or release God’s power! The power of unity is so great that at the tower of Babel God himself said that nothing would be impossible to those who “unite” – who “agree” – who have the same “purpose and goals.”
    The final statement is this; “If the kingdom of God is within you, then the key of “childlike faith” and the key of “unity” must begin where?  IN YOU!
How many Kingdom keys or principles do you think you can find? Whenever you come across what you think is a principle you should highlight it somehow. (Example – “You reap what you sow”) Do you think that is a principle of the Kingdom?