11-26-23-ENG.

"I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. "

Revelation 1:18 
HOLDING THE KEYS

Read It: Matthew 16:19-20
If there's a key anywhere in the universe that goes to anything important, tant, it's hanging on Jesus' key ring. A key is a symbol of authority. If I give you the key to my house, I am telling you that my house is your house. It's very interesting that here where Jesus mentions the Church for the first time, in the next breath He hands out keys. Now the fact that Jesus has a lot of keys under His authority is evident when you compare today's verse and today's reading with Revelation 3:7, where Jesus says He also holds the "key of David." This is another reference ence to His total authority. I want to show you something intriguing that I think is going on here, so stay with me. Whywould Jesus need to give the Church so many keys? Because hell has so many gates (v. 18). The idea is this: Every time Satan opens a gate in hell to loose some of his forces to attack the Church on earth, God wants us to unlock a door in heaven behind which lies the power to defeat that attack. See, if someone gives you a key, you make two assumptions. First, you assume there is a locked door that needs to be opened. And second, you assume that the key you have will fit the lock on that door.

Now that's a figurative way of speaking about the spiritual warfare the Church is engaged in with the forces of Satan. But don't miss the power behind what Jesus is telling us in verse 19. We are the aggressors. The One who has all authority, who owns all the keys-even the keys to the very gates of hell-has delegated His authority to us, His Church. We are the ones who are supposed to be calling the shots over hell. That doesn't mean we are to be arrogant or throw our weight around. The reason we can be aggressive against Satan is that if we go in the name and authority of Jesus, we will be making decisions that already have heaven's clout behind them! Think About It If you're a member of the body of Christ, you have all the authority of God and His Word behind you in your daily battle with Satan.