It is crucial for us to see that Christ has the keys, the authority, of death and Hades, and we should praise the Lord that Christ has the keys of death and of Hades.
The Christ revealed in Revelation is living, burning, and fierce to purify the churches, produce the overcomers, and gain the New Jerusalem, and He is building His church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Praise the Lord for Christ having the keys of death and of Hades! Amen, Lord, we come to You and we want to enjoy You. We want to experience You as the One who has the keys of death and of Hades. We praise You that death is under Your control, and Hades has no way in You or in us. We are joined to You, Lord, and we claim all that You have done as ours in faith. Remove any death from us and from among us. May Hades have no way in us and among us! Praise the Lord!
This week we have been prayerfully considering the matter of Christ having the keys of death and Hades.
He told the suffering church, the church in Smyrna, that He is the First and the Last and the living One, and He became dead and behold, He is now living forever and ever, and He has the keys of death and of Hades.
This is very significant. Christ is the First and the Last, He is the Alpha and the Omega, and He is the Beginning and the End. He began our Christian life, and He will also bring it to consummation.
The wonderful One who walks among the churches and who is the Head of the churches is the living One, and we are His expression, the testimony of the living Jesus. Praise the Lord!
Christ went through death and now He is living forever and ever! Death could not hold Him, for He is the resurrection and the life. As we enjoy Him as the living One, He makes us living as He is living.
After His death, Christ went into Hades and even to the abyss, and He proclaimed the victory of God over Satan to the spirits in prison. Amen!
One day, Satan will be cast down from the earth, and he will be given the key to the abyss to release what is in it for the tormenting of the people on earth during the great tribulation.
Today, before such events will take place, we can and should open to the Lord to allow Him to make His home deep down in the depths of our being, in the abyss of our being, so that He may saturate us with Himself and produce us as ministers of a new covenant, those who minister life to others.
Oh, may we know Christ as the living One and as the One who has the keys of death and of Hades!
The Gates of Hades cannot Prevail against the Church Built by the Christ who has the Keys of Death and of Hades!
The Lord Jesus Christ went through death, took a tour of Hades, visited the abyss, and came out victoriously in resurrection. Praise the Lord!
He promised in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. This means that the gates of Hades are actively fighting and attacking the church, but they shall not prevail.
What are the gates of Hades? On the one hand, the gates of Hades signify the place of the dead, the place where the dead are kept until the day of judgment; this is the literal significance of the gates of Hades.
On the other hand, the gates of Hades refer to Satan’s authority or power of darkness (see Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18).
We believers in Christ were not only regenerated with God’s life to be children of God; even more, we were delivered out of the authority of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
Now in the church life we’re in another kingdom – the kingdom of God, and we live in the kingdom of God with all the saints. Praise the Lord!
Today, Christ is building His church as the house of God and the kingdom of God. As He is building the church upon Himself and the revelation concerning Christ, the gates of Hades attack the church.
Satan’s power of darkness attacks the church; there is a spiritual warfare between Satan’s power, which is his kingdom, and the church, which is God’s kingdom.
Simply by being a believer in Christ who wants to enjoy the Lord and be built up with the saints into the house of God, Satan attacks us.
Satan with his authority of darkness are actively attacking both the saints and the church; he attacks us both personally and corporately.
But praise the Lord, the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the church.
The gates of Hades try, attack, and seek to prevail, but they shall not prevail against the builded church! The church today is built upon the revelation concerning Christ, and against the church, the gates of Hades cannot prevail.
The reason they cannot prevail is that Christ has the keys of death and of Hades.
The one who is the Head of the church, to whom the church is joined, and who is walking among the churches to see their condition and perfect them, is the One who has the keys of death and Hades.
He already went through death, He visited Hades, and He prevailed over them; He abolished death on the cross, and He overcame Hades in His resurrection.
Now He has the keys of death and of Hades, and He is actively building up His church in such a way that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. Praise the Lord!
We all can testify that, when we turn to the Lord in our spirit, when we’re in a death situation and just turn to Him, we enjoy the death-overcoming life of Christ.
We may even have a great failure, for we may fail the Lord, deny Him, or leave the church life for a while.
But when we touch the Lord’s mercy again, when we have a fresh touch with Him and He revives us, He can recover the years that the locusts have eaten.
If we just open to Him, if we just give Him the ground in our being day by day, He can intensify His organic salvation in us, and He can build us up with the saints to a deeper and higher level so that we may be part of His built-up church against which the gates of Hades can never prevail.
Thank the Lord that Christ is in us, we are in Christ, and He is the Holder of the keys of death and Hades. Death can attack, death does attack, and death seems to be prevailing, but when we’re open to this living One, the gates of Hades can never prevail! Praise the Lord!
Lord Jesus, thank You for regenerating us with Your life and for transferring us out of darkness into light. Thank You for delivering us from the authority of darkness and bringing us into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. We open to You, dear Lord. We open to Your divine dispensing. We open to Your building work. Build us up as the church. Build Your church. May we see more of Christ. May we have a fresh revelation of Christ day by day. Build us up on the revelation of Christ and on Christ Himself. Oh Lord, work Yourself into us more. Build Yourself more into us and build us into Yourself. We simply want to remain in the organic union with the Lord, for He is the Builder of the church and the One who has the keys of death and of Hades! Amen, Lord, though the gates of Hades are attacking, we believe that they cannot prevail! Hallelujah, Satan with his authority of darkness cannot prevail against the builded church, for the Head of the church is the Holder of the keys of death and of Hades! Hallelujah!
Know the Rich, Burning, and Living Christ in Revelation and Praise the Lord that Christ has the Keys of Death and of Hades!
Today we live in the age of Revelation, right at the end of this age, and the Christ we know, enjoy, and experience today is very different from the Christ we see in the Gospels and in the Epistles.
We see this right at the beginning in the first chapter of Revelation, where John saw the Lord, and he was frightened – he fell as dead at his feet. Wow!
In the Gospel of John, we see the Lord Jesus as the most wonderful Person. He was mild, kind, gentle, and caring toward sinners.
When He looked at people, He was full of compassion and even wept; He truly captured people by His loving look (John 11:25; Luke 22:61).
But in the book of Revelation, Christ is very different. He has seven eyes, which are like a flame of fire (Rev. 1:14; 5:6); these eyes are burning and shining.
In the Gospels we see the Lord being so kind and gentle, and HIs most intimate disciple reclined on His bosom (John 13:23). But when John saw Jesus in Revelation, he was frightened and fell at His feet as dead (Rev. 1:17).
In the Gospels we see that words of grace proceeded out of His mouth; in Revelation we see that a sharp two-edged sword proceeds out of His mouth (Rev. 1:16; 19:15).
In John 1:29, John the Baptist introduced Christ as the Lamb of God; in Revelation 5:5 He is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. What a difference!
In the Gospels, we see Christ in His earthly ministry, in Acts and the Epistles, we see Christ in the heavenly ministry, and in Revelation we see a completely different Christ.
In the first books of the New Testament we see a Christ who is gentle, kind, patient, silent, and suffering; in the book of Revelation Christ is bold, fierce, rich, burning, and living.
The Christ we enjoy and experience today is not only the kind, gentle, patient, silent, and suffering Christ; we experience the Christ in the book of Revelation.
For Him to produce His overcomers, build up the church as His house and kingdom on earth, and consummate the New Jerusalem, He is bold, fierce, rich, burning, and living.
When we experience such a Christ unveiled in the book of Revelation, we will be in life, we will enjoy His victory, we will praise Him, and we will shout for joy! Hallelujah for such a Christ!
As we read Revelation chapter 1, we will see a fierce Christ.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, His feet are like shining bronze as having been fired in a furnace, His voice is as the sound of many waters, and out of His mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword. Wow!
May such a vision of Christ impress us. Yes, we do need to enjoy and experience Christ as the most lovely One, the One who is our life, our peace, our joy, our enjoyment, and our everything.
But for the fulfilment of His purpose, for Him to build up His church and the gates of Hades not to prevail against it, Christ is revealed to us in a new way.
Christ is not only gracious: He is terrifying to the enemy, and sometimes even to us, for His face is shining, His voice is as the sound of many waters, and from His mouth a sharp sword comes out.
Because these days are so dark, so evil, and so dead, we need a fierce Christ.
When we contact the Christ we see in Revelation, we will not be cold but burning for the Lord, and we will not be silent but rather, we will shout to praise Him.
It is only a vision of Christ in Revelation that will motivate us and cause us to shout with rejoicing today. He has the keys of death and of Hades, and we praise the Lord for this (Heb. 13:15; 1 Pet. 1:7; Rev. 19:5-6).
If we see and realise that Christ has the keys, the authority of death and Hades, we will simply praise Him (John 5:27; 17:2; Rev. 12:10).
He has the authority over death and Hades, and we are joined to Him. His accomplishments are ours, and all He has attained is for us to participate in and enjoy!
It is crucial for us to have an inward seeing of Christ and realise who He is and what He is to us today for the building up of the church.
When we see Him by much inward prayer, we will realise that the indwelling Christ has authority and power over death and Hades!
We will look into His eyes, we will be infused with Him, we will enjoy what He is, and we will be perfected and strengthened to be built up as the church! Amen!
Death is subject to Christ, and Hades is under His control. Right now, we are still under the influence of death in many ways, and physical death can affect us.
But soon, the Lord will cast death and Hades into the lake of fire (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 20:14); until then, He has authority over death and Hades, and we benefit from this in the church life! Praise the Lord!
Lord Jesus, unveil us to see a vision of Christ in the book of Revelation. Oh Lord, may we see that You are not only the One who is mild, gentle, and kind, but also the One who is living, fierce, bold, and burning! May we realise that You are not only sweet and gentle but also burning and shining, even fierce! Oh Lord, we open to You! Infuse us with Your seven eyes. Make us burning and living as You are. Build us up together as the church, the Body of Christ, so that You may gain a corporate expression! Amen, Lord, may we see that Christ has the keys of death and Hades! We praise You, Lord, for having the authority and power over death and Hades! Praise the Lord, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the built-up church! We praise You, Lord! We enjoy Your life and stand in Your victory! We shout for joy, for we are one with the One who has the keys of death and of Hades! Amen, Lord, when we see You and are infused with You, we cannot be cold but burning, and we will not be silent but we will shout to praise the Lord! Amen, Praise the Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas on this topic, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 407, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4) (2025 December Training), week 38 (msg. 2), Christ Having the Keys of Death and Hades – day 6.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Rejoice, the Lord is King, / Your Lord and King adore; / Mortals, give thanks and sing / And triumph evermore: / Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; / Rejoice, again I say, rejoice. / His kingdom cannot fail; / He rules o’er earth and heav’n; / The keys of death and hell / Are to our Jesus giv’n. (Hymns #146 stanzas 1-2 and chorus)
– Hallelujah, Christ the Victor / Triumphed on Mt. Calvary! / Hallelujah, resurrected, / He displays His victory! / Hallelujah, now ascended, / He shall reign eternally! (Hymns #124 stanza 4)
– Within those whom You’d call / Put such a restless caring / For building to give all— / These times are for preparing; / The gates of hell cannot prevail / Against the builded Church! / The hours are few, the builders too— / Lord, build, O build in us! (Hymns #1248 stanza 4)
