Where are my keys? Have you ever said that? When you don’t have your keys, everything stops until you find them. Because you can’t go anywhere till you do.
Today we’re going to talk about how to find life’s most important keys, and how you can use them to get where God wants you to go.
Last week we talked about the Kingdom operating system and how it is incompatible with the world’s system.
This week we’re going to start introducing the keys to the Kingdom.
Before we get started, let’s pray and ask God to open our ears to hear what His word is telling us.
There was a young man who walked everywhere he went. Everyone in town assumed he was homeless. So one day a couple of guys followed him to see where he went at night. They thought they might be able to help him out.
They followed him as he walked into a high end gated neighborhood, they thought they should probably talk to him before the folks who lived in the neighborhood found out he was there.
They were shocked at his boldness when he went into the back yard of a very large beautiful house and started to put up a small tent.
The house was dark, but homeowner appeared to be home because there was a new car in the circle driveway.
The guys approached him and told him he couldn’t do this because if the homeowner found out he could be arrested.
At this the man said he wasn’t worried about the homeowner…because it was him. The guys, very confused, asked why he didn’t sleep in the house and drive the car. He replied very simply…I don’t have the keys.
He explained that his father had given him the house and car as an inheritance but he couldn’t use them without the keys, and he wouldn’t get those until his 25th birthday. Which, per his father’s will was the age of maturity.
You may think this sounds absurd and no one would ever do that, but as Christians we do this all the time. We live spiritually homeless, walking around aimlessly. Just trying to weather whatever storm life throws at us. But there are keys to this Kingdom life we need to discover and use to live the spiritually abundant life we have been given.
In our story, the young man had been given the house and car by his father as an inheritance. But he couldn’t take full ownership until he reached the age of maturity. Only then, was he given the keys.
I could give you a new car, even the car of your dreams, but it would be useless to you without the key.
We have been given a spiritual inheritance, but we can’t access it until we reach the age of spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity comes when we understand how the keys of the kingdom operate. Only then can we begin to unlock everything our Father has given to us.
Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”
We have been given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, in Christ. But how do we access them?
We have to use the keys
John 10:7-10. “7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”
2 times in this passage Jesus said I am the door. But we don’t ask: “the door to what?” We just assume He’s talking about heaven, cause that’s all we’ve bee taught. But, He answered that question in verse 10. Jesus is the door to entering a spiritually abundant life.
Most Christians only ever use the one key we know about. It’s the key of salvation. We enter the house of abundant life through the door of Jesus, and now we are standing in the foyer.
There are many more rooms in the house of abundant life, but most Christians don’t go any farther than the foyer. It’s crowded in the foyer, but the abundant life Jesus talked about having when we enter the house is much further in.
Our relationship with the homeowner, our Father God, is not developed in the foyer.
Most of us don’t live in the house God gave us, we just visit the foyer once a week for an hour on Sunday. And that is why we don’t have an abundant life. Our life doesn’t look like what the Bible says it should, because we never get past the foyer.
When you first enter someone’s home are you ready to tell them your life story and get real about your struggles and problems right there in the foyer with everyone else?
No, of course not. That level of relationship develops over time…in the kitchen normally. You’ve got to move deeper into the house to experience everything that is available for you to enjoy.
That’s where the other kingdom keys come into play. The doors that are deeper in the house are locked. Fortunately, the homeowner (God) has made the keys available to us…but you have to look for them.
Think about it like this, as you decide to explore the rest of the house, you walk down a hallway and there you see a door labeled “financial freedom” and outside of that door there is a table, and on this table there is a box and in that box is a key. That key is labeled “Generosity - 2 Corinthians 9”.
In order to enter the room of “financial freedom”, you have to use the key of 2 Corinthians 9. That’s where you will find the principle of “The more you sow, the greater your harvest.”
Let’s see how that key works for just a minute. Paul was talking to the church in Corinth about giving financially to the church in Rome who were in need.
2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.”
This principle is the same in the natural as it is in the spiritual. A farmer won’t have a large harvest if he only plants a few seeds.
If you plant one seed, you’ll get one seed’s worth of harvest, but if you plant 50 seeds, you’ll have 50 times the amount of harvest.
We have to understand it from a Kingdom perspective. The Apostle Paul is being very clear here, by saying that if you don’t give much you shouldn’t expect much in return, but if you give generously, you can expect a generous return. Here’s what that return looks like.
“8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
The last part of the verse is the thing we should focus on. Financial freedom is not just about having what you need, but also having the ability to share with others.
Remember the Kingdom operating system is based on doing what the King wants. And He wants you to be so financially free that you can give freely to others. And that is started by being generous…not stingy.
Remember the kingdom’s operating system is the opposite of the world’s system, which says financial freedom is accomplished by keeping everything for yourself.
Do you see how the key works?
God’s Word holds all the keys you need to walk freely into any room in His house of abundant life.
If you are not actively reading God’s word, no wonder you’re stuck in the foyer of His house. If you don’t use the kingdom keys, the doors will remain locked to you.
Also, just like any other lock it only opens if you turn the key the right direction. The right direction will always be away from yourself and towards the King.
Remember last week when we talked about how the world’s operating system is based on what we want, but the Kingdom’s operating system is based on what the King wants.
A kingdom key will always turn towards the King.
Let’s walk further down the hall because there is one more key we need to discover today. The more of these doors you can open, the more abundant your life will be.
If you’re feeling discouraged. If your circumstances have beaten you down into sadness. If you’re carrying the weight of your current situation…look, there’s a door labeled “Joy & Encouragement”.
And in the box on the table beside it is a key labeled “Praise - Isaiah 61:3”
Isaiah 61:3 “3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”
The way to have joy and encouragement in a difficult situation is by praising the King. Praise turns our focus away from our circumstances and turns it to the one who can turn it around.
I know it sounds crazy, but that’s because the world’s system has trained you to think that your sad situation requires a sad sound. But the Kingdom system requires a sound of praise!
If you want to be free from the spirit of heaviness, you put on the garment of praise!
I don’t mean just being in the room while others are singing songs. I mean really bringing Him a sacrifice of praise.
Hebrews 13:15 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”
Let’s talk about what that looks like.
Psalm 100:1-2 “1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”
Psalm 150. “1 Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
These Psalms describe a very loud praise party. The verses say: “shout to the Lord joyfully” and “Let everything that has breath praise the lord.” Clearly we are to praise God out loud and everyone is to be involved. You have to actually open your mouth and actively bring a sacrifice of praise to the King. The fruit from your lips that you are supposed to bring to the King is praise!
There are many more doors and keys we need to discover, but they are all deeper inside this house of abundant life.
This is what it means to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”.
It is the active process of seeking the Kingdom and the King. And it requires us to move past the crowded foyer and explore the entire house.
There is so much more to this christian life than just going to church on Sunday for an hour to hear what the pastor says. It’s what we like to call Personal Spiritual Responsibility.
No one can do this for you, you have to make the decision to move forward for yourself. But here is the great thing about keys, they don’t care who is using them. They will work just as easily for you as they do for me.
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