The Preaching of the Gospel as Keys of the Kingdom

The kingdom of heaven has keys. Christ tells us so in saying to Peter, "I give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. . . ." Through this speech, He set the kingdom -- His kingdom -- before us under the image of a walled city with a gate that is locked and unlocked, opened and shut -- opened to admit the friends, the rightful residents, and closed to shut out the enemy. In his vision, John sees this same kingdom -- the holy Jerusalem -- ascending out of heaven from God with its gates not...