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| An easy to read, easy to print READER version is RIGHT HERE! |
22 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. (Isaiah 22:22)
52 Woe unto you,
lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in
yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. (Luke
11:52)
7 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 (Rev
3:7)
A Key is one of the most important of possessions. It unlocks resources to us
that would otherwise be unavailable. We may own an impenetrable safe-box in
which we keep our gold, and it will be safe from robbers and thieves; but if we
lose the key to it, it will also keep our gold safe from us as well.
There are a variety of types of keys known to us. There is a physical key that
is used to open a door, start an automobile or wind a grandfather clock; and
there are mental keys that open mysteries of science and medicine. There are
‘key’ terms that reveal the meaning of a written or spoken commentary. The
world is full of different kinds of keys.
Let me share another fairy tale with you collected from rural Europe by the
Brothers Grimm entitled, The Golden Key:
“In the winter time, when
deep snow lay on the ground, a poor boy was forced to go outon a sledge to
fetch wood. When he had gathered it together, and packed it, he wished, as he
was so frozen with cold, not to go home at once, but to light a fire and warm
himself a little. So he scraped away the snow, and as he was thus clearing the
ground, he found a tiny, gold key. Hereupon he thought that where the key was,
the lock must ne also, and dug in the ground and found an iron chest. “”If the
key does fit it!”” thought he; ‘’no doubt there are precious things in that
little box.”” He searched, but no keyhole was there. At last he discovered one,
but so small that it was hardly visible. He tried it, and the key fitted it
exactly. Then he turned it once round, and now we must wait until he has quite
unlocked it and opened the lid, and then we shall learn what wonderful things
were lying in that box.” (The Golden Key, Grimm’s
Complete Fairy Tales, International Collector’s Library, Garden City, NY)
What do you suppose was in the iron box: and what led to its discovery? The boy
was tired and cold. He desired to be warmed by a fire. But he had to clear the
ground first. In doing so, he found a tiny gold key. If there is a gold key,
there is a lock someplace that the key for which the key was made, right?
This boy and his desire to be warmed by the fire is much like the seeker for
truth in the cold wilderness of the world. In order to find truth, we must
clear the ground of our worldly values and misconceptions and seek for that
truth. Those who seek will find just as the boy found the gold key. But he was
not looking for a gold key – he was clearing the ground. Something must spur
our hearts and consciences to seek real truth that surpasses every other
concern. The boy, finding the gold key, no longer considered the warmth of the
fire of great importance. The important thing for the boy was to find the lock
for which the key was made.
There are innumerable accounts of great Christian believers who happened upon
the Gospel of Christ by a seeming accident of life. But our God is not a God of
‘accidents.’ He places golden keys in the way of those whom He would call and
choose to be a part of His glorious Kingdom. One such great man of God was
Charles Spurgeon who, as a young man of about twenty, was traveling through a
rural area of England when a vicious thunderstorm arose. Seeking cover wherever
he could, he turned into the nearest shelter which turned out to be an old
church. The congregants were aged and few. The officiant was an unlearned
deacon whose sermon did not immediately impress Spurgeon; but suddenly, the old
deacon stopped mid-sentence, pointed a boney finger at Spurgeon, and said,
“Young man, the Lord is calling you!” No words of greater import ever sounded
in the ears, and soul, of Charles Spurgeon. From that night forth, he dedicated
himself to the service of God. The GOLDEN KEY for Spurgeon was the call of God
uttered through the lips of an ordinary old servant. Spurgeon had no idea what
treasure might lie in the possibilities of that GOLDEN KEY, but he immediately,
like the boy of Grimm’s Tale, began searching for the treasures which might be
opened by it.
There are a great many Sunday worshippers who are seeking comfort just as was
the boy of our tale. But, they are not so alert as to see the gold key strewn
before them. Some, however, find the gold key, and sell it for its small value
rather than seeking the treasure that the key will unlock for them.
By now, you have probably surmised that the Golden Key is the Word of God. You
may have it in your purview every day, and yet not own it. You may have
memorized entire passages and yet not have a clue to its deep and comforting
meaning to you. You may have sat under great, and often sorry,, sermons year
after year, and Sunday after Sunday, and have had the GOLDEN KEY revealed
to you and, yet, not have your soul’s curiosity aroused to the point of
diligently searching for the treasure that the key will unlock to you – and at
no cost at all to you, as well. In actuality, there are several GOLDEN KEYS in
Scripture that possess the potential to open our eyes to great treasures and
wonders. Let us examine just a few:
1 1 In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth. (Gen 1:1) The complete Foundation of Faith rests upon God as our Maker and
Sovereign. If we believe the world evolved by ridiculous accident, then God is
excluded from your conscience.
2 27 So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth.
(Gen 1:27-28)
This is a very misapplied passage. I believe intentionally so by the
politically correct crowd of ministers. God created man in His own image – male
and female, not male and male, or female and female. The first commandment God
gave mankind was to “be fruitful and multiply.” This command cannot be
obeyed by any same-sex union (there is not such thing as marriage between same
sex couples). Additionally, we are to care for the earth and the creatures who
are our neighbors upon the earth. We are not to act toward them with cruelty
and neglect, but to care for those creatures that God has placed under our
care.
3 21 And the LORD God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed
up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God
had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was
taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh. (Gen
2:21-24) This is
the first institution which God instituted among men – MARRIAGE – and it is an
extremely important one in the eyes of God. Man and woman were made for each
other, and to enjoy the fruits of God’s green earth together in the Holy Estate
of wedlock – one man for one woman. No other model exists in the eyes of God.
It is of extreme importance because it serves as God’s model for the Church
(God’s 2nd Institution) which He instituted under His only Begotten
Son, Jesus Christ. To desecrate the Institution of Marriage is to defy the
Creator’s Model in all of His works.
4 10 The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his
commandments: his praise endureth for ever. (Psalm
111:10) The fear of
the Lord is certainly the BEGINNING of wisdom; but it is not the END of wisdom.
It is the KEY by which we are led to a loving and caring Father. The fear falls
away as we are drawn into a family relationship with God. But the fear is
the key that compels us to learn of Him in all of the Scriptures.
5 8 It is better to trust in the
LORD than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8) This is a very important key
and is the very CENTER verse of the Bible, unless you are reading one of the
penny novels that passes as a modern translation of Scripture. It is simple and
only leads us to the threshold of wisdom. Reading the philosophical and
psychological works of man will not profit the soul – only God’s Word can do
that as we are told in another GOLDEN KEY: 11 The words of the wise are
as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given
from one shepherd. 12 And further, by these, my son,
be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a
weariness of the flesh. 13 Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole
duty of man. (Eccl
12:11-13)
6 16 For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Here is yet another GOLDEN KEY
which should evoke a fervent knowledge to search out the treasures of the great
CHEST to which the KEY gives access – all of the Word of God! Are you not
curious to know what was in the iron chest that the boy opened with the Gold
Key? Are you not diligent to know the full Word of God to you given at great
cost?
There are thousands more Golden Keys in Scripture that lead
us to the TREASURE CHEST of God’s Word if we have the want to find it. The slothful and uncaring will never search
out the CHEST, but those who value a GOLDEN KEY will certainly do so.
