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The Key
September 17, 2011

There once was a time when the idea of needing to lock one's front and back doors was an uncommon thought. People felt safe living in their neighborhoods and neighbor looked after neighbor and each kept the other, their loved ones, and their property safe. While in the modern age neighbors generally mean no harm to each other, the pace of our modern world has changed this reality, and in today's world, it is extremely important to secure loved ones and one's property. To this end are a variety of door locks. The hardware store near my house stocks a half-dozen or more brands, and dozens of different styles. One can choose from brass or antique brass finishings, to chrome and brushed nickel. Knobs or handle type door sets are available. There are the single and double barrel dead-bolts, and with each is the option to use a standard key or a smart key. All require some type of key to enter from the outside and within the realm of faith, one also needs a key for access. Some are the bad habit of keeping a spare key to their house under the front door mat or in or under a flower pot near the front door. And criminals thank you for your thoughtfulness. Most who leave a key by the front door never fail to consider that the key is equal in value to everything in the house, because with a key, a criminal can enter the house and take everything, including the life of the occupants. Faith is too valuable to be seized upon by criminals who have evil intent. To find the keys the unlock faith require being given the keys by God, and this begins by being called to receive a key.

John 6:44
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Even though it is the intent to offer salvation to all of mankind, it is up to God to choose the timing and nature of this calling. One way we can think of a calling, is when one is offered the key to the Kingdom of God. Being given a key does not denote ownership and does not denote possession. A key merely provides a convenient means of access to items of considerable value. When we are called, when we are given God's Holy Spirit, we are not yet inheritors of the Kingdom of God. We are not yet in possession of the Kingdom of God. We have merely been given access to the Kingdom of God. In the end it is our choice to guard the key we have been given as a valuable possession, or to squander the key, much like Esau squandered his birthright.

Genesis 25:39-34
And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

When we do not treat the key to kingdom we have been given as an item of value, we squander the value of the key, and we are not unlike Esau who was willing to sell his birthright for immediate gratification. The Bible tells the story of the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when if Esau understood the value of his birthright, the Bible would have told the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. What Esau did not understand was that his birthright was a gift of destiny. Much like the key we are given today, the key we have been given is a key of destiny. With this key as with any key, we are given exclusive control on opening and closing doors. We control this function, and nobody else does. Isaiah the prophet was inspired to write about the key of the house of David, and the control of the entry door that went along with possession of the key.

Isaiah 22:20-25
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 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. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

The discussion of the key of the house of David is extended throughout the New Testament and is a specific mention as an attribute to the church at Philadelphia in the Book of Revelation. In the letters to the seven different churches in the beginning of the final book of the Bible, this church is given control of this key. What the church of Philadelphia does with the key is as important as what Esau did with his birthright. I am one who believes the churches mentioned in Revelation reflect typical common threads found among Christians. Christians who can be likened to the church at Philadelphia understand and value the key that they have been given. They jealousy guard the open door they have been given that was made possible by Jesus who possesses the key and understand that the value of this key is immense, and that if the key is lost, it is not replaceable. Because Jesus has given the church at Philadelphia control over access to this door, it is much like this church has been given the key to the house of David, because the purpose of the key is to control access through a door to something of value.

Revelation 3:7-13
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Of value to us is our birthright in the Kingdom of God. The key of the house of David opens the door that gives us access to the Kingdom of God and if we squander our birthright, we will be less than Esau. Unlike Esau who is recorded in the Bible, we won't even be remembered. Important for us to consider, is who today controls these keys. The Gospel according to Matthew shows the intent of Jesus.

Matthew 16:18-19
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.

In the modern age with all of its distractions, God has given us something of great value. Individually, we have been given access to the Kingdom of God as we control the open door given to us by God. No man can open or shut that door. On the other side of this door is of great immeasurable value. How we guard and protect this door and the key that has opened it is our choice. We guard this door and the key that has opened it with fierce determination or we can choose to sell out our birthright altogether. In the end, the choice is ours. God would have us choose life and to value what is protected by the key.

All verses are from the King James Version.
This site provided by Tom Laign. To all who may believe differently, I also extend peace and love.
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