The fourth key, the key to death, removes life and power. The saints have been given the authority to add life and to subtract life; to loose and to bind; to deliver over to life and to deliver over to death. Power belongs to God and He gives it to whom He will. To the Lord Jesus Christ has been given all power so He can cause the will of God to be done in Heaven and on the earth.

This fourfold key has been given to the Body of Christ so Christ working through His Body can bear a true witness of the coming Kingdom of God, and so the will of God will can be done in earth as it is in Heaven.

The early Apostles were able to give a true witness of the Kingdom of God because they were guided and empowered in the use of the keys of the Kingdom. They brought righteousness, peace, and joy to the churches—not in word only but in power. They imparted the Presence of God and the favor of God.

The Apostles of the Lamb brought the power of eternal life to people, laying their hands on them so they would receive the Holy Spirit, who is the Life of God, the Life of the Kingdom of God. Demons were cast out. The dead were raised. The sick were healed. Miracles were performed. A true witness of the Kingdom of God was borne.

The Apostles had the power to deliver people to Satan for the destruction of their flesh; to strike with blindness; to pronounce Anathema (Accursed); to reward people according to their works. The third key, the key to torment, is an important aspect of Kingdom witness and Kingdom rule.

As for the fourth key, Ananias and Sapphira fell dead in the Presence of the Apostles. Their life was taken from them. This is the key to death, which is one of the keys of the Kingdom of God.

There is great need today for the exercise of the keys of the Kingdom. For one thing, the witness of the Church has become weak. Indeed it is a flickering flame. Much ministry is being carried on but the true testimony is greatly obscured by fleshly lusts and self-seeking on the part of the ministry.

The love of God is emphasized but not nearly enough is said about the severity of God. The Christian Church of today is not demonstrating a genuine love for the world in that it is giving a false witness of God and of His Kingdom.

Neither the nations of the earth nor the Christian people are being brought under the discipline of Christ. They are not observing to do all things that the Lord has commanded us. To the contrary, we are beholding the life of Satan coming forth in the men and women, boys and girls of the earth. The Christians desire to change these abominable perversions but have to content themselves, to a great extent, with wringing their hands helplessly. The power and wisdom of Satan is overcoming them at every turn.

When God cursed Satan, He threw him on his belly and decreed that he would eat dust:

And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (Genesis 3:14)

But serpents do not eat dust, they eat small, living animals.

To be continued.