Today’s message: The Keys of the Kingdom.
I want to start with an illustration and a question: How many of you have found a key in your house but couldn’t remember what lock it unlocks or what the keys are even for?
This happened to me this week. I found 4 keys in my house, and I did not know where those keys were from! I tried to open many locks, but they didn’t work.
I believe that all of us have experienced having keys that seem useless to us. I possess the keys, but they are useless to me.
God spoke to my heart: Many of my children don’t have the keys of the kingdom or, if they have them, they don’t know how to use them!
Today we will learn through the word of God that the Kingdom of Heaven has keys, not one key, but many keys. Without this revelation, you will not be a fruitful Christian and will not experience the supernatural of God.
Let’s go to Matthew 16:
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-17 NIV
Notice first Simon (Peter) had a revelation and said to Jesus: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said: Blessed are you!
Blessed means spiritually prosperous.
You are blessed because you received a revelation.
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:18 NIV
This is talking about a “revelation” that Jesus is Christ the living God.
Let’s go to verse 19:
“I will give you the KEYS of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19 NIV
Jesus said: “I will give you the KEYS of the kingdom of heaven”
Jesus was talking to His disciples about His Kingdom on earth. He said that The Kingdom has keys!
Peter had the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God and so Jesus said to him: because of this revelation I’m going to give you THE KEYS (plural) of the kingdom of heaven.
Now look at what these keys are going to do:
“I will give you the KEYS of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19 NIV
These keys have to do with binding things on earth. Some translations say: anything you bind will already have been bound in heaven.
When a son of God (that has the revelation of the kingdom of God) speaks, heaven hears and agrees and hell hears and obeys!
This is what this verse means! You receive a revelation, because of the revelation you receive the keys and because of the keys you bind things here on earth and they get bound up bound in heaven.
The same scripture that talks about REVELATION, talks about the KEYS and about allowing and forbidding things to happen.
“Jesus replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” Matthew 13:11 NIV
Jesus spoke about secrets, mysteries and keys! A key is something that opens something.
Jesus said that many people are receiving the seeds that are the “Message about the Kingdom of God” but they do not understand it, only a small group of 25% understand these mysteries and these are the ones that will bear fruit.
God has spoken to my heart that many of His children have the keys but they still don’t understand how the Kingdom works and because of that, they live as religious people within the kingdom and not as “citizens of the kingdom.”
Religious people have keys, they get them from the Bible, the Bible has a bunch of keys. But having keys and having the understanding of how and where to use them are different things.
Knowing the scripture but not knowing how they work is just as bad as not having a key at all.
There is a saying: He who doesn’t read is no better off than he who cannot read.
The same thing is true in this sense: He who has a key is no better off than he who doesn’t have a key “IF” he doesn’t know what the key is for.
The Kingdom has doors to be unlocked. So now let’s talk about the kingdom.
Why did Jesus come to this earth?
“Jesus said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” Luke 4:43 NIV
This was the purpose of Jesus coming to earth! He came to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. His coming was motivated by the Kingdom being delivered to man.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.“ Luke 12:32 NIV
What did your Father want to give you?
The Kingdom!
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, The Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.“ Matthew 25:34 NIV
For how long has the Kingdom been your inheritance?
Since the creation of the world!
That means the Kingdom existed before the earth, the Kingdom was given to you before the earth, and that’s why He made the earth.
The earth had to be created in order for you to carry out the assignment of the Kingdom!
God wanted His rulership to happen on a visible planet, so He created children, made the territory, and gave the responsibility to them to rule and manage His Kingdom.
The physical heavens and earth were created so God could carry out through His children His Kingdom desires.
The reason why Christ came was to restore to us the inheritance that was always ours.
For how long has the kingdom belonged to you? Since the creation of the world.
Our inheritance is the Kingdom of God!
Let’s look at another verse, this time in Revelation, the last book in the Bible, so it culminates the entire program of God.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:10 NIV
Where will they serve and where will they reign? On the Earth! God didn’t say we are going to sing or dance or clap hands on earth. He said we will reign on earth.
So our destiny has always been the earth. Religious people say our destiny is heaven, but it is not.
Our ultimate destiny is still earth because that was the original assignment.
Genesis 1:26 says: “Let the man have dominion over the fish, over the birds, and over all the earth.” Genesis 1:26 So God created man in His own image and said have dominion over the earth.
God’s original plan was earth and His final plan will be earth, and He is going to get what He always wanted.
The greatest message delivered by Jesus was about the Kingdom of God. That’s the message Jesus preached. The greatest need of mankind is to belong to a kingdom. That means man needs a new government.
What is the Kingdom? What are the characteristics of the Kingdom?
Number 1: A kingdom must have “a King” that is sovereign.
Number 2: A Territory – A kingdom must have a territory, a dominion where He rules.
Number 3: Citizens – A kingdom must have citizens! Unfortunately, this Kingdom we are talking about has been misunderstood and turned into a religion.
Jesus hated religion and His number one opposition was from religious people. Religion reduces citizens to members of religious organisations. A kingdom does not have members, a Kingdom has citizens. My number one goal in the next years is to transform you from being a religious Christian to a Kingdom citizen.
Number 4: A Constitution and Laws. In the Kingdom, our constitution and laws are the Bible. And laws have to be obeyed for a Kingdom to work.
Number 5: A Government and Administration. Every kingdom must have people that operate and have dominion over said territory.
Number 6: Privileges. Every kingdom has privileges, citizens have rights and citizenship is a privilege. That’s why citizenship is very important for everybody in the world. An illegal immigrant has no rights and no benefits that they can receive from the government. The same is true about the Kingdom of God.
In religion you have to work a lot to receive benefits, but in the Kingdom you just need faith.
When you understand who you are and who He is and receive the understanding and revelation then you receive what is yours.
I’m going to say something that will confuse you! You don’t get things from God because you’re saved. You don’t have to be saved to get things from the Kingdom.
For example: We have different nations within our church Russian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Chinese, Brazilian, Africans, etc., and it doesn’t matter their race, whether black or white, red or yellow, most of you have or will become Irish citizens and it doesn’t even matter what language you speak, once you’ve become a citizen you have all the rights and privileges. Once you are connected to the government authority you then have the benefits of that government that took you in.
Here were some people in the Bible who received benefits and healing, and they were not Jews and not Christians, they simply understood the Kingdom of God.
A pagan Roman Centurion understood how the kingdom worked. He never worshipped the God of Israel before, but he understood how the kingdom worked. There are many who are in church but they still do not know how the kingdom works.
The centurion said: “I have soldiers under me, and when I say to them ‘Go,’ my soldier doesn’t hear me, he hears Caesar, the one I’m under authority.”
The key in the kingdom is to be under Authority and walk under authority.
This man used this key that opened a certain lock, and Jesus said to him: “I have never seen so great faith.”
The privileges and rights of the Kingdom come from citizenship. I believe that the centurion, after that, followed Jesus, no doubt about it.
I want to conclude by reading some verses:
“The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Matthew 13:23
Those who hear the word and understand (have revelation) produce much fruit!
Your fruit is the evidence that you understood the Kingdom.
What are these fruits?
These fruits are the transformations and miracles in your life that will generate the salvation and transformation of many lives!
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:16 NIV
What are the fruits that last forever? The only fruit that will last forever are people!
I’m going to give you the key to produce fruits that will last!
The key is: Seek first the Kingdom and you will bear many fruits!
To seek means to preoccupy yourself with something. All I can think about is the kingdom!
- When I’m going to work, I think about how I can bring the kingdom into it. You’re not going to work to make money, you are going there to bring the kingdom, and God will supply you with everything else.
- When you go to school, you are going there to expand the kingdom, and at the end of the year, you receive a diploma.
- When I’m getting dressed, I consider how someone from the kingdom dresses.
- When you want to marry, you’re considering what does a marriage blessed by the kingdom look like?
Everything is the kingdom! That means I’m preoccupied with one thing: the Kingdom!
I want to conclude with my testimony:
I have lived in four different cities since I was born again. And In every city that I lived in, I won souls for God’s Kingdom and made disciples for Jesus.
The first city I lived in (Barretos – SP), I was 18 years old, and most of my friends became Christians, and many of them today are pastors.
Then I moved to another city (Monte Aprazivel – SP) to go to college, to study, but I understood that the kingdom is first, and there I made disciples too.
I then moved to the third city (Mariluz PR) to work in a company, and after some years I made many disciples. ( in this city there is a church that Fabiana and I started)
I then moved to Uberlandia MG to work in a company. When I started working there, there were no Christians, and after 15 years, around 50 % of the workers were Christians and were serving Jesus. (And I prospered financially and became very prosperous, putting the kingdom first)
How many people have you won over for Jesus?
You are where you are because of the Kingdom, to produce fruits that will last forever in the presence of God, and if you put the kingdom first, God will bless you abundantly!
What is the only preoccupation that we have to have? The Kingdom! That’s how you keep your life in order! Put the kingdom in first and everything you need He will add to you!
May God bless and keep you.