Sometimes walking with God and believing for the fulfillment of His promises is like walking down a long corridor and seeing thousands of doors. The Lord has set them before us, and we keep trying them; but too many of the doors are locked. Sometimes we face problems that we do not know how to handle. We know that God has an answer, but we do not know how to get to it. We need to find the keys for those locked doors. What about the locked doors in your life—those things that do not yield or open up? You wonder how long you will have to live with those locked doors and what you will have to do to see them opened.
In Matthew 16:13–19 the Lord tells us how the doors are to be unlocked. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter” (Petros, a Greek word meaning a stone or a pebble), “and upon this rock” (petra, meaning a large rock, bedrock, or a rocky plateau on the top of a mountain) “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Petros and petra are two distinctly different words. Christ was saying to Peter, “You are a pebble (Petros), but upon this rock (petra) I will build My church.” The rock that Christ was talking about was the revelation that Peter had just received. Flesh and blood had not revealed Christ’s identity to him; the Father had. That revelation to his heart was the bedrock upon which God would build His Church.
God builds upon the revelation you receive. No one can talk you into a walk with God. It must be a revelation to your heart. Then the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. If it could be taught by religious doctrines or creeds, the same thing would happen that happens in many denominations. People learn certain doctrines, yet they drift away. When they are taught by the wisdom of man, the cunning of another man can entice them away. But if they receive a revelation from God, even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
The Lord Jesus gave this promise to Peter: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” When God gives us a key of the Kingdom, it is not a literal key made of brass or gold or iron. It is a principle or a truth, and it becomes a revelation to us. We learn that the only way to have prosperity in the coming days is by giving. Then it will be given to us and we will have an abundance (Luke 6:38). The principles of the Kingdom indicate that selfishness will only tend to poverty and distress. We learn that true discipleship is the only way of preservation. If you give your life, you will save it; if you lose your life for His sake, you will find it. But if you try to save your life, you will lose it (Matthew 10:39). These are principles. They do not seem to be real to anyone out in the world. If we tried to explain them, people would laugh and tell us that they are only church ideas. But we know that they work. As they become a revelation to our hearts, we become dedicated to these keys of the Kingdom. God will continually give us keys so that the doors that seem to be locked can be opened.
When you understand the principles of the Kingdom, you can open the doors for others and minister to them. When you trust in the Lord and wholly rely upon His Spirit, doors can be opened into the hearts of many people. To get into a man’s heart there has to be a key. Something must help to take down the walls and open the doors.
You may have doors that are locked, but you can unlock them. Begin with a revelation of the Lord. Listen to the truths that are coming in the living Word in this hour. They are principles of the Kingdom, keys that will unlock doors. The world will be changed by a handful of people who have keys to locked doors. Tremendous changes will spring forth in the earth.
God allows you to face various situations and problems, but those problems have a purpose. You try to solve them. Then as you wait on the Lord, revelation comes; and another door is opened. You can change things for yourself and for your family. You can learn many keys that will change your heredity, your personality, and your life-style. You can walk in a way that you have never walked before. God can open doors that seem to be locked. In every case, those doors have the promises of God written on them. You will not break into those promises because of your self-interest; you will break into them because they are directly related to the will of God.
We cannot walk away from the promises that God has set before us. But we do not know how they will be fulfilled except by waiting before the Lord and seeking His face. When we receive a key, it will start unlocking doors. Another key will unlock more doors. Soon we will find that the keys of the Kingdom are in our hands.
There is a way to break through the impasses and barriers. There is a way to get the job done in the will of God. There is a way for the Lord to meet your heart. There is a way for your ministry to come forth. You can walk with God. The things that you consider to be impasses in your life can be broken by the Lord. He will do it for you if you trust Him and wait upon Him. The release will come as a revelation and then you will have a key to unlock the door.