Soldier of Christ Disciple Training Ministries
A ministry of Acts III Global Ministries – USA & Malawi – www.God.mw
Lesson 103 – The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven – Part 3
We have already seen that binding has nothing to do with the devil. In the last lesson, we learned that binding and loosing have to do with placing something in bondage to the Law or setting it loose from the Law. We also saw, that the only way to be loosed was by death. Looking back at the Key words, we still have: “Keys,” and “Kingdom of Heaven.” This lesson will focus on Keys.
First, what are keys? Well, the simple answer is that they are tools to open something that is locked. They can be physical keys to a physical lock, or they can be word keys to a mystery or a puzzle. So lets look at where “keys” are used in Scripture. The word “Keys” is used twice. Matthew 16:19 above, and again in Revelation 1:18. Here Jesus says, “I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
The word, “key” in a singular sense, is used 6 times in the Bible. 1st in Isaiah 22:22, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” This is a prophecy concerning the Messiah—Jesus. He will have the key to the House of David – eternal life. We see it again quoted in Revelation 3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens…”
We also find “key” in Luke 11:52 “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” Jesus is speaking to those that were experts in the Law of Moses, not the legal system of a country.
Summary of information revealed so far about the use of key or keys in the Bible:
* We are seeking the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven
* Jesus has The Key to open and close doors that no one else can. If He opens, we cannot shut, and if He shuts, we cannot open.
* The religious leaders of Jesus’ day—the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees—were rebuked by Christ for taking away the Key of Knowledge. This Key of Knowledge apparently opened a door to enter somewhere. When they took away the Key of Knowledge they also prevented others from entering.
Let me state that whatever the Keys are, they cannot be to open what Jesus closes, and they cannot be to close what the Lord has opened. Also, since the Jews were cut off, maybe what the Lord wants to give us is some kind of Key of Knowledge that opens a door for us to go somewhere.
But still we are lacking what the Key of Knowledge is and what it unlocks. And what does that have to do with binding and loosing? Would it be fair to say that whatever Key to Knowledge that the Jews had also came with the ability to bind or loose?
Think about it. Jesus said that they had, (1) taken away the key of knowledge, (2) Not entered into wherever or whatever the key of knowledge unlocked, and (3) they hindered others from going in. So would it be fair to say that the Jews Key of Knowledge also came with the ability to loose people and set them free to enter wherever it was they were suppose to enter, or to bind them by preventing them from entering this place?
So it appears that this key of knowledge the Jews had is now given to the Saints, and it opens the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven. In the next lesson, we will look at the last piece before putting it all together.