The Key to Heaven
Isaiah 22:20-25 - New International
Version (NIV)
20 “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son
of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten
your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be
a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his
shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can
shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 23 I will
drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of
honor for the house of his father. 24 All the glory
of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser
vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
25 “In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty,
“the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off
and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.
How is “Eliakim son of Hilkiah” described
(verse 20)?
What will Eliakim be handed (verse 21?
Who will Eliakim “be a father to” (verse
21)?
What will be placed on Eliakim’s shoulder (verse
22)?
In your opinion, why will “what he opens no
one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (verse 22)?
Where will he be driven “like a peg” (verse
23)?
What will hang from Eliakim (verse 24)?
What will happen to the peg (verse 25)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Revelation
3:7-13 - New
International Version (NIV)
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are
the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of
David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed
before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little
strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I
will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews
though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at
your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since
you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from
the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to
test the inhabitants of the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no
one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I
will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave
it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my
God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my
God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever
has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
How is the One who wrote to “angel of the church
in Philadelphia” described (verse 7)?
Who can shut what He opens (verse 7)?
What has He placed before the church in Philadelphia (verse 8)?
In your opinion, how can a church with little
strength be able to keep Jesus’s word and not deny His name (verse 8)?
What do the members of the “synagogue of Satan”
claim to be (verse 9)?
How will the church of Philadelphia be rewarded for
keeping Jesus’s “command to endure patiently” (verse 10)?
When is Jesus coming (verse 11)?
How will “the one who is victorious” be
rewarded (verse 12)?
Who is to “hear what the Spirit says to the
churches” (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what
does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who
receives it?
In
your opinion, how is the one who holds the key of David in Isaiah 22:20-25
different from the One who holds the key in Revelation 3:7-13?
Matthew
16:13-20 – New International Version (NIV)
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah;
and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living
God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this
was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in
heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not
overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then
he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Where
were Jesus and the disciples (verse 13)?
What
did Jesus ask the disciples (verse 13)?
How
did the disciples answer (verse 14)?
What
did Jesus next ask the disciples (verse 15)?
How did Simon Peter answer (verse 16)?
Who revealed the answer to Peter (verse 17)?
What will the rock that Jesus will build
His church on not be overcome by (verse 18)?
What
will Peter be given (verse 19)?
What
order did Jesus the disciples (verse 20)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is
the Key of David in Isaiah 22:20-25 more limited than the keys Peter received
in Matthew 16:13-20?
In
your opinion, how does knowing that the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” that
were given to Peter in Matthew 16:13-20 were given to him by the One who
Revelation 3:7-13 says has placed an “open door that no one can shut”
add significance to the keys?
John
20:19-29 –
New International Version (NIV)
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples
were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus
came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After
he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were
overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has
sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he
breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If
you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was
not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other
disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails
were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was
with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to
Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put
it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have
believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Why were the doors locked when the disciples gathered
(verse 19)?
What
did Jesus say when He “stood among them” (verse 19)?
How
did the disciples react when they saw “his hands and side” (verse 20)?
How
did Jesus say He was sending the disciples (verse 21)?
What
did Jesus say after “he breathed on them” (verse 22)?
What
would happen to anyone’s sins if the disciples forgave them (verse 23)?
Who
was not with the “disciples when Jesus came” (verse 24)?
How
did he respond when the disciples told him “we have seen the Lord”
(verse 25)?
When
did Jesus come and stand among them again (verse 26)?
What
did Jesus tell Thomas (verse 27)?
How
did Thomas respond (verse 28)?
Who
did Jesus say is blessed (verse 29)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage
reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?
In your opinion, how is the promise of
Jesus that those the disciples forgive will be forgiven in John 20:19-23 realized
by the open door that will not be shut of Revelation 3:7-13?
In your opinion, how the promise of Jesus
to give Peter “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 16:13-20
fulfilled by Jesus in John 20:19-23?
In
your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Revelation, Matthew, and John
teach us about the Key to heaven?
In your
opinion, how can we share with others the invitation to walk through the open
door with others today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
