The Keys To The Kingdom Part 1 by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The message of the kingdom is the most critical message preached. Jesus did not preach anything else. Throughout his stay on earth, the only thing Jesus preached was the message of the kingdom. He did not come to establish a religion. He came and introduced a kingdom because that was God's original plan.

Kingdom was God's original plan from creation. When God created the earth, he wanted an extension of heaven. He sent Adam as branch manager — a branch of heaven on earth. That is why church was not God's plan A. Family is God's plan A. He created Adam and Eve together to form a family. God was so keen about the next generation that even when he was angry and wanted to wipe the world, he still ensured that animals came in pairs.

Matthew 6:10 shows how central the kingdom was to Jesus: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." That was Jesus' prayer.

What Is the Church?

Matthew 16:13–19: Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi and asked his disciples who men said he was. Simon Peter answered: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus responded: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. 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."

The word "church" here is taken from the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia means "called-out ones" — but it is not a religious word. Ekklesia is a Greek political term describing a governing assembly. A people appointed to make governance decisions. A people called out of their homes to make laws and policies for the city. That is where democracy came from.

God said, "I will build my own ekklesia." The use of the word "my" means there were other ekklesias already. Jesus was not just founding a prayer group or a Sunday gathering. He was forming a governing assembly with authority to rule in the earth.

The church is not a physical building. It is not a Sunday-only gathering. It is not a passive audience. The church is a people called with responsibility to do government in society.

The Keys — Binding and Loosing

Matthew 16:19: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Looking at this verse across five translations makes the full weight clear:

• NLT: "Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven. Whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."
• Amplified: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind, declare to be improper, unlawful on earth will have already been bound in heaven."
• CEV: "God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. And God in heaven will disallow whatever you disallow on earth."

Whatever you permit on earth, God permits. Whatever you allow, you cannot criticize. Whatever you permit, you are responsible for.

The scope of influence of a kingdom person is not limited to the four walls of a church building. You can sit in your home and stop a war in Russia. Elijah locked the heavens, put the key in his pocket, and walked away. The king and his entire army could do nothing about it. Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven.

Whatever you allow, you cannot criticize. Stop asking God to do something about things he has given you the power to see and the authority to change.

The Responsibility of the Kingdom Family

This kingdom starts from the home. Whatever you permit in your household, you are responsible for. God spoke about Abraham and said: "I know Abraham. He will command his household to serve the Lord." Joshua said, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" — not whether the children felt like it, but a declaration of responsibility.

A child left to himself will bring his parents shame. That is what scripture says. The Bible says in Proverbs that foolishness abounds in the heart of a child, but a rod of correction will drive it far from him. You cannot allow your children to discover their own way. You will show them the way. You will show them Jesus.

The First Key — Love

The first key in this kingdom is love. The key of love. 1 John 4:7–8 says God is love. John 21:15–17: "Do you love me?" — "Feed my sheep." Love drives service. Service shows love. Do not feed without love. Do not love without serving.

Psalm 69:7–9: "Because of you I have borne reproach. Shame covered my face. Even my own brothers treated me as a stranger. The zeal of your house has consumed me." The disciples saw this fire in Jesus when he drove the merchants from the temple and remembered that scripture. Love for God so consuming it becomes action. Passion for God that takes insults as collateral damage, that burns like fire toward his house, that cannot sit down while his name is being dishonored — that is the first key.

Love is a key to the kingdom. You must go back to your first love. Back to that place where his word was everything. When there was no one, it was Jesus — Jesus in the morning, Jesus at night, the last voice you spoke to before sleeping, the first you woke up to. Go back to those first works.