03 - He Holds The Keys By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes

Mercy Triumphs

Part 3

"He Holds the Keys"

Matt 16:19 "And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

Revelation 1:18 "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."

Rev. 3:7 "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

We've just read 3 Scriptures that refer to Jesus having keys--1.) the keys to the kingdom of heaven, 2.) the keys to hell and death, and 3.) the key of David.

Now....Keys have one purpose, to unlock doors.

He that is in possession of a key has the power of access to whatever is behind the door they unlock.

Today I want to deal with each of these three Scriptures, and what they tell us about Jesus....

First, when Jesus said that he would give to Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, he meant that he would make him the instrument of initially opening the door of faith in Christ to the world....

Peter would be the first man to preach the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles...

And he did!

It was Peter who first opened the door of faith in Christ by preaching the gospel on the day of Pentecost where representatives from all over the world were gathered, in particular the Jews.

And it was Peter who was used of God to open the door of salvation to the Gentiles when he preached at Cornelius's house.

The "power of the keys" was given, on these occasions, to Peter alone...he was given the honor of first opening the doors of the gospel to the world.

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But then next we come to Jesus' words about Himself...

"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."

Notice how Jesus identifies himself by His death and resurrection.

"I was ALIVE as a human being from birth to 33 years old, then I DIED on the Cross, then I was raised from the dead to be ALIVE again, this time forevermore!"

Now, He says that following His resurrection from the dead, He held TWO KEYS--the key to HELL and the key of DEATH.

First, let's talk about...

I. The key to Hell

The word "hell" is from the Greek word Hadēs.

It is not to be confused with the lake of fire, which I'll explain in a moment.

"Hades" refers to what we might call a spiritual underworld; it is the dwelling place of departed spirits; the region of the dead.

We might say that Hades is like a really bad waiting room where those who die without Christ are incarcerated until the Day of Judgment.

Jesus vividly describes Hades in His parable of the rich man who dies and awakes "in Hades" where the Bible says he was "in torment."

In Hades he is conscious, is able to feel, to suffer, to experience regret...

He has the capacity to look up and see "Abraham far away" in Paradise.

He is also able to communicate, and begs for someone to dip their finger in water and cool his tongue, to no avail.

This rich man is also seized with a great concern for his living relatives, and wishes he could somehow warn them of this awful place.

But it's too late.

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Now, when judgment day finally comes, John the Revelator writes,

"The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done" (Rev. 20:13).

So on judgment day, multitudes of lost souls that have been held in Hades will be given up to face God in judgment.

It is ONLY after this sobering judgment day that men are cast into the lake of fire...

Rev. 20:14-15 "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire...And anyone whose name was not found in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire."

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But the good news is...Jesus holds the KEY to this place, either to put someone in it, or to keep someone out of it!

To hold the "key to Hades" means that Jesus has power over the invisible world of Devils and demons, and the power over the eternal fate of people.

This is why even demon spirits prayed to Him that He would not cast them into the bottomless pit...

"The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit" (Luke 8:31).

The dominion over this dark underworld has been entrusted to Him!

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And then Jesus said that He also holds...

II. The key of Death

DEATH has been the ultimate boogeyman for the human race since Adam and Eve.

Just recently I've read news stories about scientists who are in hot pursuit of a cure for aging.

One headline read: "WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?"

"A biomedical gerontologist and chief scientist of a foundation dedicated to longevity research, reckons that within his own lifetime doctors could have all the tools they need to "cure" aging -- banishing diseases that come with it and extending life indefinitely."

But it won't happen....Such a discovery will never be found, for eternal life is found only one way.

Jesus said, "For God so loved the world..."

But why the desperate search for eternal life?

Because death is frightening, dark, mysterious, it is the leap into the great unknown---and to be avoided at all costs...

Most people will do anything not to die!

Hebrews describes mankind's ages long fear of death,

"Since we, God’s children, are human beings—made of flesh and blood—he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could he die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death. 15 Only in that way could he deliver those who through fear of death have been living all their lives as slaves to constant dread" (Heb.2:14-15).

The Message Bible puts it this way, "By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death."

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The Bible teaches that it was through His own death and resurrection that Jesus thoroughly defeated death because he defeated Satan who had the power of death!

The Bible says, "Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him" (Ro. 6:9).

Since Jesus personally conquered death, He has the power to call the dead out of the grave.

Here's the Good News: Because "death could not hold Him," those who believe in Him cannot be held by death!

The Bible says that "by God’s grace, he (Jesus) fully experienced death in every person’s place" (Heb. 2:9).

He "tasted death" so that we would no longer live in dread fear of it, and that we might have eternal life!

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This deliverance from death by His resurrection, and the promise of our own resurrection at Christ's return is what the Apostle's preached everywhere they went...

Acts 4:2 "The (religious) leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead."

Acts 4:33 "The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all."

When Paul was put on trial in front of the Sanhedrin, he said, "I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!” (Acts 23:6)

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So listen: What has always been called "the blessed hope" of the Christian life is comprised of two events: the return of Christ accompanied by the church's resurrection from the dead!

And we know this will take place because Jesus has the KEY to life and death!

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The Lord was crystal clear about this over and over again...

Jesus said, "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up (from the dead) at the last day" (John 6:40).

When dealing with the two sisters, Mary and Martha, Jesus plainly stated that He had power over death:

Jesus told her (Martha), "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying" (John 11:25).

"And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (11:26)

And He confirmed it by promptly raising Lazarus from the dead after 4 days in a tomb!

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And there's one last key Jesus holds I have to mention--He holds...

III. The key to heaven

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, 'These things says He who is Holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens, and no man shuts; and who shuts and no man opens" (Revelation 3:7).

The door that He opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens, is the door to heaven.

We know He holds the key to this door because He said repeatedly that He IS the DOOR that allows us entrance there.

"I am the WAY, I am the TRUTH, and I am the LIFE, no man comes to the Father but THROUGH me...as you would walk THROUGH a door! (John 14:6).

You must pass THROUGH HIM to gain entrance into heaven.

He holds the KEY to eternal life!

ILLUS:

Key of Buddhism, Hinduism, other eastern religions

Key of Islam

Key of Good works

Key of False assumption--God will let me in because I'm me.

Key of Universalism--God will let me in because He's going to let everyone in.

One day you will die and stand before God with your chosen KEY.

And Jesus said you will find that none of those KEYS open the all-important door to heaven...

There is ONLY ONE--He said, "I have the key of David, I alone open the door, and I alone shut it."

Jesus holds the key to Hades, the key to deliverance from death, and the key to heaven.