It had transitioned!  All of the earth’s population had just received a transfusion of blood and life was being offered to “whosoever will.”   

Humanity had lay dying, gasping for breath under the load and weight of the taskmaster, Satan.

He had piled it all on, ruthlessly spending all of his time and energy, sending his henchmen abroad to make sure that no one got out of the sentence of death that was upon their heads.  They prosecuted everything for him, according to his plans, accusing and pointing fingers, laying disease upon their bodies, filling their minds with filth and corruption, preparing them for the grave he had waiting for them. 

His orders were well understood by all involved. 

Let no one escape the sentence of death and the grave.

Everyone was to die!

On this particular day in spring, he jingled “The Keys” in his pocket, feeling and relishing the authority that they gave him.  He thought back to the first job he had done. 

Adam and Eve had been easy, after he got his plan all laid out. 

It had worked like a charm.

They bought into the trap that he had laid for them.  He baited it with his flattery and lies.  Eve had stepped into it first and now with darkness entering her soul, she rushed to her husband. For just a moment, Satan held his breath, but then gave a sigh of relief as he saw Eve’s new nature release temptation.  Adam took the bait that had been offered for the first time ever by a fallen human being.  Now in the middle of the garden stood two darkened souls.

Satan hid as God entered into the garden.  He listened to the conversation gleefully and heard the sentence of death being handed down. He watched as the first blood was shed as God Himself slew one of His beloved creatures to clothe the nakedness of the pair.

Satan had seen the keys dangling from the fingertips of the outcast man called Adam. There was no struggle or resistance offered as he slipped them off and dropped them into his own pocket.  With a new sense of authority, he realized that he had just become the god of this world and would rule over all the people to come.

Power!

That was what it was all about.

With the “keys,” he held control of The Gates!

It was a little surprising to him when God shut Adam and Eve out of the garden and placed one of His angels at the gates of entrance, but death was certainly at work in the first family of Earth.  It was a good place to start, so he immediately set to work on dividing and conquering that family, managing the death of one son by the hand of another son.  With Abel dead and Cain now exiled and rejected from his home, he started another work with him. Division was well under way. 

Even the nations to come would feel this!

Satan watched closely as a portion of humanity persisted in following God; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This “Godly Seed” notion that Abraham had passed down was troubling him.  It was clear that war was imminent.  Moses had been a careless mistake also and as a result, “The Law” had finally reached earth. 

The practice of the Temple had been instituted and the years of watching people go into the temple priest for sacrifice was becoming boring.  The same old thing, year after year, had settled into a neat little system of works that kept all the “religious bunch” busy.  All that bloodshed of the innocent little lambs delighted him.  Death was his game plan for everything. 

He had watched it all play out on earth.  He had kept his hand in the pot stirring everything up all the time. The prophets, minor and major had all given him fits, but they too were now removed from the scene and had become antiquated, outdated.  

They did upset him though with all that prophecy stuff, telling of a Messiah to come.

He still felt quite smug and secure.. 

But now, after centuries of controlling the earth and its inhabitants, there had arisen a challenger.  Yes, he had faced some challenges but not like this. This had never happened to him before.  It had enraged him, mostly because this was God who had come down into “his kingdom.”  It had been sneaky of Him to disguise Himself as a human, but he had recognized Him, just the same.

This “little boy child” had been there the day he had been thrown like lightening from heaven.

To “honor” His birth, he effectively killed 100’s of babies of the same race, living in the same area. 

The genocide plan had been good.

It was a “perfect ethnic cleansing,” carried out by one of his human servants he had gained control over. He was sure to get “The Christ Child” in the process.

Herod was easy to convince.

He had filled him with great pride long ago and played his hand beautifully against him with the visit of the wise men some time back.  Herod had never got over the anger he had felt when they tricked him.  His jealousy was boiling just beneath the surface at the thought of anyone being above him. 

Herod was a worthy son to do the job and just as he had expected, he had been relentless and ruthless in his deeds!

NOW, IT WAS FINISHED!!!

The kingdom was rid of the intruder and he had taken great pleasure in the cries of pain and despair that filled the countryside's of the land.  It was truly a day for rejoicing.  He had sent his demonic mob among the grieving to add more weights on them, more pain, more despair and hopelessness.  They goaded the raw emotions of the mothers and fathers, and other grieving family members.  They ran hideously from one house to another, throwing spears of depression, suicide and heaviness into the already broken hearts.

The blood had run deep and the human murderers were covered with it.  Each demon had used a man to do the work of death and now, each one assigned to the murdering human beings, turned on them as well, tormenting many of them with the dying cries of the babies they had run through with the sword.  They made sure that the softer ones who hated what they had done were driven day and night by guilt. 

Then other  “justifying demons” were released to work on toughening them up to help them rationalize the acts that they had done.

Little by little, things settled down.  Now that he was done with Herod, he watched as judgment and death fell on him.  Starting over without this one would be interesting.  He had spent years on Herod, but now he was dead.  He had no feeling towards it though because this was his ultimate goal anyway.  What a bunch of fools these human were. He could just play them any old way and then watch them breath their last breathe.

He gave a screech when he heard the news.  He jumped up enraged! 

How had “He” escaped the sword?

Who had hid “Him?”

Where were his eyes and ears?

Someone had failed to do their job and they would pay for this!

He had to see for himself.  Sure enough, He was back in town, Yeshua, that troublesome little boy, had just entered the region.  His old territorial nature rose up in him.  He hated seeing this lad because of the resemblance to God.  It was unmistakable. 

It wasn’t really “what” He was doing. 

He just studied and played like “other kids.”

It was “WHO” He was that unnerved him so much.

Since the kid came back, he had placed a “shadow” on Him.  He was to be followed wherever He went.  The realm was to try its best to draw the lad into shades of gray and get Him to step over “The Line.”  None of it was working.

 Now without warning, The Christ Child had spoke!

He had stood in the middle of the Temple and began to exhort.

He sounded just like His Father!

The voice was distinctive and well remembered by him.  This voice, even young and human, carried with it the same authority and direct knowledge that he had witnessed “before.”  He shuddered with a great shaking.  It was one thing for this one to walk around like He owned the place, but the Words of His Mouth were a totally different thing.  He knew their power.

Yeshua had opened the Book of the Law and the Prophets.  These were familiar to Satan, as he had heard the religious bunch reading them many times before. 

He had recognized the parts about the coming of the Messiah and now, suddenly he knew that it had come to pass.

He was glad that those who had been reading them had not recognized the One who stood before them.

The Priests and other religious leaders were amazed by the knowledge of this young lad and were exclaiming among themselves as to how such a young one could have all this understanding.  There were some among the number of those who listened to Yeshua that would bear watching.

Then the words that Satan had feared more than anything, the validating words to him that he had not been mistaken about this kids identity, came pouring out of the mouth of Yeshua.  He spoke to His earthly parents,

“I must be about My Father’s business.”

“What business?  What did He mean by that?”  It was evident that a new plan was forthcoming and there was no time to waste.  Something had just shifted and he had felt it riveting through his brain. 

He rushed away, livid with anger for the intrusion.  “He was just a boy…”  “What could He possibly do?”  “His Father’s business?”  He knew that he would never be able to reason this away.  The tone of authority in that voice had shook him.  He did not like it. 

This kid had to go!

In the days and years that followed, as Yeshua continued to grow up, he watched Him like a hawk.  He kept guards near Him at all times, watching His every move and recording the words that He spoke. 

Those who were assigned to follow Him were much more nervous than Satan.  This assignment was a little more than they bargained for and one that they were definitely not fond of.  They were there “that day” and had felt the Hand of God in judgment as they were expelled from heaven.  They had seen with their own eyes the fiery eyes of The Christ.  Now, being near this maturing man was a little too close for comfort.  His eyes regularly glistened with the same intensity that they had seen in heaven.

The birthday had especially bothered Satan.

Yeshua had just turned 30 years old and at least Satan knew the significance of it, even if the religious did not. 

John, Yeshua’s cousin, the son of Zacharias, had been gone a long time and had recently reappeared.  No one had given any thought to what had become of him, until now.  His message was growing persistent and was even angering the king.  This was a bold one to speak of sin in such blatant ways.  He seemed to have no decorum about him, “just barge in, tell someone they were in sin and then move on.”

But Satan had forgot about his priestly lineage.  The baptisms that he was conducting smacked of the “old way” of the priest initiating the incoming priest. 

But why was he baptizing all the common folk?

He would have to find out about that.  He couldn’t have a bunch of people going around, believing they were called or chosen.  The masses were a bit of a problem.  He would have to keep close watch on the moves of this man, John.  

The current High Priest, Caiphas, was an imposter, appointed by the governor, bypassing the Temple, filling a seat that was not his. His father had been appointed and now he was and doing a very good job at it. Religion looked quite good on him.  He would serve the plan well.

“What was going on?”

Yeshua walked up to John and was instantly recognized by him.  The traditional baptism was taking place right before his eyes.  Try as he would, there was nothing that he could do to stop it. 

He watched as Yeshua was immersed under the Jordan waters.

He heard the voice, that of God, speaking now from heaven,

“This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.”

The other partner, Holy Spirit, almost silent at times, suddenly appeared over the head of Yeshua, in the form of a dove.

The impartation of the anointing was complete.

The man who got out of the water was different than the one who got in.

He was, for all intents and purposes, the High Priest.

John knew it.

Satan knew it.

John had done exactly as he had said he would.

He had decreased so that Yeshua could increase.

John’s head would roll for this!

Satan set up the ultimate scheme to undo the damage that had just been done to his kingdom.  He would personally follow Yeshua himself. This would be a job for the master!  The decision to battle and destroy Yeshua was made.  He knew it was going to be intense.  He had seen the decisive strides that had been made towards the setting up of this new kingdom.  Yeshua’s gaze was fixed and it would take great skill to sidetrack the plan that had been set in motion.  

He was glad when he saw him go into an area that he was familiar with.  It was his old stomping grounds, the wilderness.  It was not exactly his favorite place, being hot and bare, but it would help to set up the base for moving in for the kill.

The plan was unique in itself.  He would tell “God” that he could be “like god” and have all that lay before Him. He went through it all, from trying to get him to turning a stone into bread in the middle of His 40 day fast, to telling Him that He could cast Himself down from the pinnacle and have the angels bear Him up…his angels!  What a plan.  Now if only it could work, the end would come quickly for this one who had dared to challenge him on his own turf. He was anxious to see the look on the face of Yeshua, one of surprise and dismay that would mirror that of Adam and Eve when they stepped into his trap of words.

“It Is Written!”

The words came out of Yeshua’s mouth over and over again.  Satan had tried misquoting the Word and it was always brought back to the context.  He really hated it when that happened.  It seemed to cause Him to lose more arguments.  Now the Words of Yeshua flowed forth like water from those parched lips and Satan found himself slinking away, defeated by this weakened man. 

He had missed again.

How could this be happening to him?

From a distance he watched as the “other angels” came and ministered to Yeshua.  The strength returned as the supply of heaven flowed into His being. Shrieks came from the devil’s lips and the few demons that had been looking on scurried away in fear.  What was going on?  Where was this all going to lead to?

“What was Yeshua doing?”

He was choosing a group of men to surround Him.  He was going to make others just like Himself?  It was one thing to contend with one Yeshua, but what in the world would he do with a bunch of “Little Yeshua’s” running around?  He glared as he saw Yeshua pass a set of keys to the miserable men surrounding himself. The talk of Kingdom, binding and loosing was bothersome. He would have to work hard and fast. Time was wasting. 

A plan to kill the bunch of them had to be formulated.

It would have to be really good, starting with the main man, Yeshua.

He would do Him first!

The continued failure of every plan to kill Him frustrated him.  He had heard, “My time is not yet come,” until he was sick of it.

The controller was being controlled by rules he didn’t make.  Time and again he had tried to kill Yeshua but couldn’t.  He just seemed to slip out of his hands. 

The Fear Monger, was finding himself desperate and full of fear at the continued reminder that he was no longer in control.  All of his energy seemed to be spent on this one target. 

He stormed and ranted and raved as report after report came back to him that men’s hands had seemed frozen in place.  No one could pick up the stones to throw at Yeshua.  This had been one of his best ploys, using God’s law to try to stone God to death.

Then to add insult to injury, Yeshua began to reverse a lot of the damage that had been done to people.

Satan had delighted to see people crippled in many ways, blind, deaf, mute, dying, insane with demonic control and full of disease and even dying. Leprosy had been a classic job on humanity.  He was gleeful to see those eaten up in their bodies walking around in rags crying, “Unclean.  Unclean!”  What a joke that had been!  He spent time yielding his voice to mockery and ridicule and ultimately rejection on these wretched souls.  

Miracles, healings, restoration, blind eyes, lepers cleansed and the dead raised up to life!

Every curse that he had placed on man was being reversed.  The masses of people were following Yeshua around, reaching for Him.  If they were hungry, He would feed them.  He broke the bread and fish lunch of a little boy, and fed a multitude. The creative powers were being displayed before the eyes of all who gathered around Him. 

He had tried everything!  He had manipulated religion, using the system to his advantage, but even amid accusations and traps, Yeshua always came out in victory. 

One of the most disturbing things to him was the way that Yeshua always seemed to know what they were going to say before they said it.  His answers were preceding the spoken words and addressing the very thoughts of man. Even he couldn’t do that! 

“Where did this man get His power?”

But, then he remembered…

The accuser was now being accused by his own satanic mind.  He thought he must be going crazy.  His once smooth techniques were now rough and erratic, coming back in his face to mock him time and again. The one who made heavy the hearts of mankind was now feeling very depressed.   

Was there anything that this Yeshua couldn’t do?  He was, by now, insanely jealous as he realized his lesser strength and knowledge against such a formidable foe. 

The strategy had to narrow and deepen if he was to win over this one.

He thought back to the days when he went almost unchallenged.  Those days had been great for him.  They were filled with his reign of terror, control, fear and torment for anyone who crossed him.

He was the undisputed champion of the earth.

His kingdom had been rock-solid-hard!

Now, the earth, “his earth,” was moving under his feet.

He was going to have to infiltrate. That wouldn’t be hard.  Just find a man on the inside that could do the job.  He knew man’s nature and he was sure that he could manipulate someone within the ranks of the Yeshua’s disciples.

Judas was a good choice.

He hadn’t worked very hard at hearing the heart of Yeshua and seemed to have agendas of his own.  This man was after his own heart, disloyal and greedy for gain. All he had to do was to put some grandiose thoughts into his mind, causing him to make a deal with the religious community. The rest would be like clock work. 

Sure enough, on a certain day, Judas slipped from the ranks of the disciples into the ranks of betrayer.

He delighted Satan so much that he thought he would give him a special treat for his obedience. Right after “The Kiss” would be a good time to finish him off.  He was worthless anyway. 

Even he would not tolerate that kind of disloyalty in the ranks of those who followed him.

The old trick of bait and trap, then guilt and death would work.  The arrest had gone off without a hitch, well, except for one. 

That Peter, the one he had a hard time reading.

One minute he was so loyal and then the next he would waffle.  He would serve as a “reed” in his hand to help sign the death warrant on his “master.”

The three-fold denial for the fearful Peter was exact and perfectly executed, without a hitch.  Peter had slapped his hand over his mouth and was stricken with the weight of what he had just done.  Yeshua had looked at him and then Peter had run from the courtyard, abandoning ship. 

“That big old braggart has met his match and now, look at him run!”

One of the greatest feats that he had pulled off was to have those who had followed Yeshua for the bread and miracles to stand around and do nothing while he was executed.  This was going to be worth watching.  He rubbed his hands together, drooling for the moment that it all came together. 

The court process went through beautifully.  Each one did exactly what they were supposed to do.  The beating with the cat of nine tails had torn His flesh up until it hung in strips off His back.  One thing did bother him about that though; something about, “Isaiah 53:5 By His stripes you are healed…”  Oh well, it wouldn’t be long until He was dead anyway.

Satan just leaned back on his elbows and howled with delight when the crown of thorns, the curse of the earth,  was pierced into Yeshua’s brow.  So, He wanted to be king, did He? Well, welcome to the rank of the royalty on earth.

“So, it was easy to be royal in heaven?  Well what about now?”

The crowd chose Barabas, the criminal over Yeshua, The Christ.  They bloodthirstily cried, “Crucify Him” right on cue.   He inspired the men to keep up the mockery by spitting on Him and striking Him.  Then the choice was made. 

Yeshua was to face the execution stake.

He was to die like a common criminal.  Satan loved it!  He watched as Yeshua painstakingly walked up the road to Golgotha, the place of the skull.  He could watch, even in the walk of this one that He was losing ground and strength. He stumbled and fell.  “Just where He belonged.”  He had insulted him long ago right after the failure of Adam and Eve and he had not forgot it. He had eaten dust and now turn about was fair play.  With the help, (“Imagine that, a God needing help from a human,) of a strong man the execution stake was finally laid out on the ground at the place of death.

Yeshua was made to lay upon it.  Satan made sure that rough treatment was to be a part of humiliating this one.  He watched as the spikes were driven through the hands of Yeshua and then the feet. 

“Well, it looks like God does bleed! 

Wait a minute!

 Where had the issue of blood played a role in history?”

Something was troubling about this blood thing.

“Well, what value was there to the blood of a dying God anyway?”

He had seen plenty of blood and all the people were now dead.  He had made sure of that. 

Two others were lifted into place to either side of Yeshua.  This was truly a stroke of genius, having him executed with criminals.  It would show everyone exactly how feeble and unworthy He was of all the attention they had given Him before.

“It would not be long now and the Name of Yeshua would be forgotten.”

What was that he was hearing, something about, “Today, you shall be with Me in Paradise.”  Now that was a bit of a concern.  He had kept an eye on that place for centuries.  It contained all the departed ones that he had failed to corrupt.  They had been tormented enough though, just having to look into hell and see all those who he had managed to be trapped into his final camp.  The facts remained though and this was something to keep an eye on.  He would put extra guards on the area called Paradise.

If it weren’t for these troubling thoughts he would be enjoying all of the festivities more.  He gathered closer with hordes of demons, as close as they could get. 

It was a sight to see!  The people of the city gathered around, the guards, gambling for His garments, the family crying at the foot of the execution stake, the angels, the demons and Satan hovering to see the bitter end of this troublesome man. 

Time was running out and he really wanted things to speed up, to see it end.  He was anxious to get back to normal.  The soldiers were on standby to break the legs of the three to expedite their death.  About that time a voice of determination came forth from Yeshua.  It didn’t sound right to Satan.  Yeshua had spoken a few words during the time, but this was sounding pretty final here, but why did He say that?

It Is Finished!

Father, into Thy Hands I commend my spirit.

He was supposed to be in charge of death and now this man was picking the time of His death?

The guards broke the legs of the criminals, but upon finding that Jesus had just given up the ghost, they just thrust a sword into His side to see if He was really dead.  Water and blood poured forth. 

He was dead, at the time of the Passover.

Satan slithered away with His demons, running for cover from the storm that broke forth in the heavens above the place of execution.  The sky was rent with the lightning of heaven.  It was as the sound of God’s voice crying out, breaking forth over the city in great streaks and claps of deafening thunder.

The sky darkened and people ran in terror, as many could feel the great sorrow of the moment. Even the earth seemed to be grieving the loss of the life of the Creator as earthquakes rumbled throughout the land.  It was on the lips of many, including a guard who spoke and said,

“Truly this was the Son of God.”

Inside the temple, where the High Priest was preparing the Passover Lamb for sacrifice, the building shook with the revelation that God was coming out of the hidden place, as the thick veiled was ripped from top to bottom, opening the mercy seat to view. 

A little lamb quivered under the hand of the priest and them just quietly slipped away unnoticed.

This was not what Satan had expected or wanted to see. He would be glad when it was all over, for good.

The burial was finished.  The guards had been set in place to make sure that there were no tricks.  He had placed the idea into the minds of many that the disciples were going to steal His body and hatch some scheme about it.  The stone was heavy, the guards were armed and no one was getting close to this grave.

He didn’t want to leave a single stone unturned...”

Now that everything was secured, he decided he would just rest.  This had really taken something out of him.  Some of his crew thought that he was rejoicing the whole time, but he had really been sweating through the whole ordeal.  Keeping a stiff upper lip had been a real act for him.  Especially when the storm came and the earthquake took place, he had trembled inside with the thought that maybe, just maybe God had come down to settle the issue with him.  Then the darkness dropped over all and he was shaken up more than ever, but then it all lifted after three hours. Now, all was calm.

Death had truly won out this time.

The celebration during the next couple of days was sure to be heard throughout the second heaven and across seas as Satan planned to streak from one side of the earth to the other.  He meant to stride upon the mountains top, puffing out his chest with great pride. 

His kingdom was in tact.

He still ruled.

Gloating would have looked good next to what he was about during this interlude. There were really no words to describe the act of a devil god, gloating over the death of his Creator God. 

That particular style of worship was sure to be the rave throughout the ages to come.

He was resting on his laurels inside the bowels of the earth, between hell and paradise.  His ponderings had caused him to become careless.  He had barely glanced over at the figure of Yeshua entering Paradise with the criminal that had been executed with Him. He was just one of them now. Satan smiled to himself at the thought of getting to see that spectacle for eternity. But for now, he turned aside to more important things, his party.

Hearing a sound, he casually looked up and saw a figure of a man that was in neither place, but standing right before him, hand outstretched. He drew in his breathe with a great gasp of surprise.  Why was He here? 

He “felt it” before Yeshua spoke a word.

The power of the encounter was just now beginning to dawn on Satan.

There was absolutely no way that he could resist those eyes.

The keys had been his for a long time.

He had got them at the time of the fall of man.

From a distance he could see that Adam frozen in place, with Eve huddled behind him, was watching the whole scene with bated breath, along with a great cloud of other witnesses. 

It was time.

With a raspy voice, one last question was asked.

“What have you come before me for?”

Yeshua spoke as One with authority.

“I have come for the Keys to Death and Hell.”

It was not a question as to whether he would or would not turn them over.  He didn’t have time to ponder the act of disobedience that was always dwelling in his heart.  This was one time when the choice was not his.  He whimpered before his Creator and simply handed over the keys.

He took notice of the wounds in the palms of those hands as he laid them there.  Very troubling.  It was truly Him!

A great shout went up as Yeshua walked over, unlocked the gates and led them out and up.  Heaven never looked better to Him and it was a wonderful delight to the eyes of those that were weary of hell and its screams. 

Father and Son embraced.

It was truly finished now, all but one thing….

At daybreak, on the Third Day, it happened without even a whisper being heard by anyone.

He simply, at the right moment returned to the grave, with the power of resurrection life all over Him.  His old earthly body could not help but rise.  The power of the Conquering King had just entered and it was different this time. Resurrection life was everywhere.  

The guards lay as dead upon the ground. The stone was rolled away and an angel of the Lord was stationed.  Many witnesses saw Him, starting with Mary. 

It was unbelievable that this could happen, but He was alive.

Satan stood afar off, like a whipped pup, as the rejoicing in the camp of the disciples went on for some time. 

It all made sense to him now.

It was all after the pattern of heaven, which had been in place before the creation of man.  He had seen it, known it and yet he had missed it. He could just kick himself for making such foolish miscalculations.  But what could he do now?  Give it another shot?  He still had man to keep deceiving.  He had been good at it with the angels and it had been working on earth for a long time now. 

But the blood had made a difference.

He had totally forgotten about that, even though he had seen the first blood that had been applied as his death angel passed over Egypt in the time of his wicked ruler, Pharaoh.  He had seen the religious leaders, since then, do bloody sacrifices for centuries.  He had even caused evil worshippers to do sacrifice in pagan rituals, mocking those who frequented the Temple. There was a deepening agitation in his being.  He had to think, and do it fast.

And the Keys!

Those keys were going to be a real problem for him.  He just hoped the word never got out on earth that he no longer had the keys. The demons never mentioned it to him either.  His mood was fouler than ever. 

Jesus just walked around like He owned everything.  He ate and talked and prepared his disciples for the moment of His departure. He was giving last minute instructions. One, in particular, was that they were to go to Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and wait for the promise of the Father to be given to them.

Satan could hardly wait for Him to get out of town.

Then came the time for the departure that Satan had been waiting for, but it wasn’t going exactly like he thought it would be.  The cloud reflecting the Light from heaven carried Yeshua up into the air.

As He left He told the disciples that He would return in like fashion.

What?

He was coming back?

Satan watched as a good number of those talked to by Yeshua stayed back, while 120 went onto Jerusalem and entered the upper room.  It was there that he was unable to even enter the room. 

The unity left no opening for him to go in and mess up anything.

He was looking on from the courtyard where people from all the surrounding nations were gathered for the celebration.  Suddenly, he heard it!  A wind had come blowing through the place and he had seen the fire come as well.  Suddenly, the disciples of Yeshua were all talking in languages they had never learned as great power from Heaven had fallen upon them.  Peter burst from the center of the crowd and began to display zeal that was expressed with great anointing upon it. 

He was on fire!

As he preached, Satan saw 5000 slip from his grasp into the camp of Yeshua.

This could not be happening!

What in the world was going on?

Then he remembered.  He had seen and heard it, but at the time it really didn’t have much meaning for him.  He remembered the time that Yeshua told his disciples that the keys to the kingdom were being placed in their hands. It had finally dawned upon them that this man Yeshua was the Christ!  He had told Peter, after his confession of faith, that this was the Rock that He would build His Church upon.  He went on to tell them that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church.  Such entrustment to these common men had not really bothered Satan, until now….

This set of keys had just been activated.

The common, ordinary church were now the kings and priests unto God and they were in charge.

A great scream of fear and anger erupted from his being.  He had been tricked.  It was not over!  He would have to fight with the Church from now on to get anything done.  Oh well, that would be easy.  He had his old bag of tricks and he could just start over…

A message to the Church:

God would ask His Church today,

“Where are My Keys?”

Church, we have been given the access, the authority and the power to enter into all that Christ did when He walked upon this earth in bodily form. 

He gave us the Keys to the Kingdom.

Matthew 16:19

These keys are ancient keys, handed down from heaven to earth, placed into the hands of the Church by Jesus Christ Himself.  They are eternally fastened upon an unending ring of God the Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost.  They give you authority to enter doors, shut doors, bind and loosen.  They give you access to the Throne of God and all that is stored up there.  They give you access to the power and authority that heaven invested in the Church through the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.  They are keys of Salvation, Healing and Deliverance for the hungry and hurting masses of humanity on this planet.  These keys are the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which are used each time the eyes of spiritual blindness are opened.  They are the Keys to the Kingdom of God, implemented through intercession.  They unlock the darkened minds and spirits of people and release a healing forgiveness through Jesus Christ to many a weary soul that has walked their whole life with the weight of guilt and sin.  They lock the doors against the enemy’s return into lives that are rescued by the Grace of God.  They set people free and bind devils.

 Ladies and Gentlemen of the Church, the devil’s key ring should be empty.  

If the devil has any keys at all, it is those that he has stolen from you, the rightful holder.  As a result, the doors of healing, salvation and deliverance for you and your family, church, city and friends have been kept shut.  The enemy has walked into places that he has had no business being allowed in.

His schemes have worked off and on, as Satan has bit by bit removed the foundation and the power from the Church.  Many are still languishing under the control of His substitute for Faith and Power, trapped in a religion of dead works.  Or for some, they just never came close to the Church because it meant nothing to them.  There was more excitement in the bars than could be found in the Church on a Sunday morning. Consequently many have died in the enemy’s prison.

We may have been careless with where we have tossed our keys, such as Adam and Eve were, but we must now search every nook and cranny and recover those keys.  They must be back in our hands and we must begin to access the doors that God has given to us.

You, like the early Church, have a chance to shake up the devil’s kingdom 

You have been awakening to the fact that you do have authority.  You do have keys.  You do possess gates, yours and the devils.  And you too, are full of fire!

Christians, rejoice at the realization that you do have the power and authority to go in and possess the land.  Churches, rejoice that you are alive and vibrant with the power of God, glorifying Jesus in the same manner that He did when He was here doing the works of His Father.

Church, take the keys off of the coffee table

Or

Out of your pocket

And

Open some doors.

God is waiting.

People are waiting.

And

Time’s a Wasting.

God Bless the Faithful Watchman on the Walls of the Church!

This newsletter is dedicated and written as an instruction and encouragement to a powerful and focused group of people who have devoted their life to a life of prayer for the Church.  It is written to incite them to move forward with decisiveness and purity.  It is written to stabilize and align the errant things that are occurring in intercessory and church circles.  It is written to break new ground in understanding our own hearts.

I would also like to take this time to say thank you to those who have subscribed, those who have forwarded these messages or photo copied and passed them on to others. Also, thank you to those who have written encouraging words to me.  They are greatly appreciated. 

NOTE: This material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed an interest in receiving this information for non-profit use only.

"Check Point" is an online newsletter published by: "Esther Dummer." Permission is hereby granted to copy and distribute for non-commercial purposes. Consider duplicating, in its entirety, as published, and distributing to friends, relatives, pastors or your church congregation, or forward via email.  It is my delight to have those who desire to use these messages to further God’s move to do so. 

However, copying for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.  All Rights Reserved.