Gates and Keys 1 - 1.3.12

 Gates and Keys #1

In the book of Matthew, chapter 16:18-19, Jesus tells Peter that the gates of Hell will not prevail against His church. Jesus then says that He will give Peter (many believe that Jesus is also alluding to those that make up the church…which are “Sincere Believers in Jesus as the Christ”) the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Read Matt 16:13-19 to get the reason for Jesus making this statement:

13  Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

We must realize that in our passion to please our Heavenly Father we sometimes miss the way of God for the specific time and need. I find it interesting that God did not say that we should wrestle with the gates of hell…or pound them down…or run over the tops of them. Jesus says that we, as the church, will prevail because we have the keys. With the right keys in your hand you just walk up to the gate of your situation, put the key in the lock, turn it, and walk through! Sounds easy enough…right?

But someone might ask: “So why would we want to get through the gates of hell?” Good question! Try to look at it this way: When you become a sincere Believer, Jesus says you are filled with the Holy Spirit…who is “one” with Jesus and our Heavenly Father. In other words: You have been miraculously transformed…though you look somewhat the same and sound somewhat the same…you are very different. In fact the Holy Spirit inspired a writer of scripture to say it like this:  2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

What’s that got to do with “Gates and keys”?

Well…lets first look in another place Jesus calls those who are sincere Believers: Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV) 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.  

You see once you have been transformed and contain within you “Divine Light” the gates of hell go up all around you. Why? Because hell does not want you and the “Divine Light and Life” that are now dwelling in you…to get out into the rest of the world and its inhabitants. Those gates come in many forms, sizes and types…all with one thing in mind: Keep the Divine light and life of Jesus Christ away from the rest of humanity! 

But here is the “Good News”: No matter what size, form or type of gate you are facing…IT CANNOT PREVAIL AGAINST YOU! You have been given the keys…but do you know what the keys look like? Do you know which key fits into a specific lock? Can you use the same key for every gate?

There are a lot of us with spiritually bruised shoulders; scabbed knees and knuckles that still have not passed through the gates because we have failed to use the keys God has given us. I want to invite you save this article so that as you read future articles that I write you will be able to piece them all together for “The rest of the story” ;)