MARCH, 1946
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The Keeper of the Keys (Continued from Page 100)
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B R E A T H
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world, the flesh and the devil that crowded In from all sides. Suddenly the Fuller quartet came through, push ing away all competitors, singing powerfully, "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.” I said to myself: "That is the way it is going to be one of these days. Jesus Christ will triumph over all His foes on the right hand and on the left, and our only song will be praise to our King.” Jesus Has the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus said to Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 16:19). With those keys, Peter opened the kingdom to Jews on the day of Pente cost, and to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius. But his was only a delegated authority and, like us, to his own Master, he stood or fell. The keys to the kingdom of Heaven, to the sphere of Christian profession, really be long to our Lord. Not only that, but He also holds the keys to God’s presence, to eternal life, to salvation and to Heaven at last. If you come to God by the new and living Way, no man can keep you out, for when He opens, no man can shut. If you try to climb up some other way, you are a thief and a robber, for when He shuts, no man can open. You cannot open that door with a church letter, with your good character, or by being merely re ligious. For Jesus is the Keeper of the Keys, and if He opens not unto you, you will find yourself like the foolish virgins against whom “the door was shut.” Jesus Has the Keys to the Storehouse of Divine Grace and Truth "All things are delivered unto me of my Father” (Matt 11:27). “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18). "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand” (John 3:35). All the wealth of God is at the disposal of Jesus, for God has promised to supply all our need “according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). He has the key to the knowledge of God’s truth. He accused the lawyers of His day of taking away the key of knowledge (Luke 11:52). Many religious teachers and preachers today are guilty of the same thing: their "keys to the Scriptures” turn out to be padlocks against its truth! But Christ is the genuine key to the Scriptures; they testify of Him; He expounds to us in all the Scriptures the things con cerning Himself. By Him, the simplest may understand, for when He opens, no man can shut Apart from Him, the Bible is a sealed book, for the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit o f God, nor can mere learning pry open the door. I recall an old Negro bootblack in a hotel corner who always kept beside him a tattered Bible. He was wise in the things of God. Little did some of those boisterous travelers, whose shoes he shined, dream that ignorance sat in the chair, while wisdom knelt in service. He knew Christ, and knowing Him, he had the key to His ^ook. Jesus Has the Keys to the Deers of Christian Service Paul asked the Colossians to pray that God would open to him a door of utterance. To the Corinthians he wrote: “A great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:9). He relates: “When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, a door was opened unto me of the Lord” (2 Cor. 2:12). Again He declared to the church of Philadelphia: “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” (Rev. 3:8). I cannot begin to tell what this has meant to me per sonally to know this about the Lord Jesus. Although it was originally written to a church, it is good for preach ers as well. If a man has even a little spiritual strength,
Charlotte E. Arnold
I In August, 1944, the newspapers carried tlie story of a baby apparently born dead in a | Brooklyn hospital. The nurses took turns breath- ! ing into the baby’s mouth for an hour. It seemed futile. There was no sign of life. An il other half hour they continued the strenuous j | task. Faintly the baby began to breathe. The j mother who had been heartbroken because her I baby had been reported stillborn was joyfully j informed that the little one was alive and well. ! What a thrill— the revival of life like unto a | resurrection! This account brings to the Christian’s mind j the record of man’s beginning, that God | “ breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” I (Gen. 2 :7 ). His breath gave man his life. But more significant still, we see in this incident an analogy to the quickening of the j dead spirit of man by the patient, convicting i breath of the Holy Spirit. We thank God for j His patience as He insistently breathes upon j j the sinner, born dead in sin, until he is quick- ! | ened to spiritual fife through faith in the Lord I ! Jesus Christ. I and if he keeps the Word, and denies not the Name of Jesus, God will make a way for him. He will never have to cool his heels in the ante-room of somebody’s sanctum sanctorum, asking for an opportunity to preach. There was a time when I tried to open doors by my own strength; I failed because I was not in accord with the Keeper of the Keys. But there came a day when I com mitted my ministry to Christ, and, since then, doors have opened which I myself could not have opened with a crowbar! Self-promotion and wire-pulling are not God’s way: if in all our ways we acknowledge Him, He will direct our paths. And when He sets before us an open door, no man cap shut it. Conversely, let us remember that while no other man can shut God’s opened doors, we can shut them ourselves, if we do not keep His Word, and if we deny the Name of His Son. "He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening” (Job 12:14). W e can slam doors in our own faces! Jesus can open the door for you. He opened Mace donia for Paul, Africa for Livingstone, China for Hudson Taylor, the British Isles for Moody and Sankey. He has a door for you. It may not be a large door, but if it is His door, it will be sufficient But don’t you try to open it. Let Him open it, for if He opens, no man can shut He is the Keeper of the Keys. Jesus Has the Keys to Circumstances Paul called himself “a prisoner of Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:1), “ the prisoner of the Lord” (Eph. 4:1), “his prisoner” (2 Tim. 1:8). Not "the prisoner of Rome,” or "the pris oner of Caesar,” but Christ’s prisoner, because he knew that, back of all earthly incarceration, stood Jesus with the keys. There is no prison on earth that can hold us if Christ sets us free. Jesus said to Pilate: "Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19:11). That is why “our fathers, chained in prisons dark, were still in heart and conscience free.” They were prisoners of Jesus Christ. He has the keys to every circumstance. If someone had said to Fanny Crosby: “Too bad that you are blind,” I fancy that she would have lifted her sightless eyes, saying, "Sir, I
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