Keys To the Kingdom

When Jesus becomes our Lord, we are automatically transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:12-13 says, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son". Now that we have a new king and live in a new kingdom, we must understand "kingdom principles" if we are to be victorious Christians. We cannot overcome until we have the keys that unlock the kingdom of heaven. The Lord never meant for us to wait until we die to experience heaven but purposed for us to bring heaven to the earth through the power of His Spirit. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32)". We are unable to receive God's healing, provision and blessing if we do not know the keys the Lord has given us to accomplish kingdom living. Keys represent authority in the Kingdom of God. That authority is gained by using them. The keys to the kingdom that will be covered here are prayer, praise, worship, intercession, travail, and fasting. Looking at Matthew 16:16-19, we find an interesting dialogue between the Lord Jesus and Peter, His disciple. Jesus has just asked Peter who he believed Him to be. His answer was, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 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". From this Scripture we notice that before we can receive the keys to the kingdom, we must first have the same revelation concerning the Lord that Peter had. We must know Him as the Son of the living God. This truth comes only through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Peter was the preacher who, after receiving the infilling of the Holy Spirit along with the other 119 in the upper room, began the building of the Lord's church. The first time he preached after receiving the Holy Spirit, three thousand souls were saved. The building of the Lord began taking shape. We need to understand that the church is not the building on the corner, but rather the members of the body of Christ. We are lively stones in the temple of the Holy Spirit. I Peter 2:5-6, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. I Corinthians 6:19, What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" Anyone who has been "born again" and has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him is a member of the body of Christ. The true church is not a particular denomination, but rather a living organism of God's people all over the world. The bond that holds the stones together is the love of God in their hearts, and the race, color, nationality, sex or age of the individual does not matter. In Jesus we are one body even though we are members of different local churches. Differing Christian doctrines should not separate us, but we should be bound together by His love and unity until doctrines are purified. Those doctrines that are true will emerge as light, while those that are false will fall away. As Christians, the one thing that we can all agree on is our allegiance to Jesus Christ as our Lord! The Lord spoke to Peter that He was going to build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. What did he mean by this? We all know that a gate is attached to a fence. So this refers to the fact that Satan has some territory that is fenced in, but we are not to be discouraged. We have been given the power to charge Satan's territory and crash down his gates of hell, and they cannot prevail against us. For so long the church has only been taught to hold the fort, when instead we should be crashing down the gates of hell and rescuing the captives that Satan has placed in bondage (Luke 10:17-19). So many are held captive today and need to be set free. How can the Lord use us to free them if we do not know and use the keys to the kingdom?