A Questionable Sermon by Terry Shock

I decided to visit a church near me called Little River this Easter. They have a wonderfully talented worship team, so I knew I'd be hearing some good music. They had a guest speaker, Terry Shock, a man with whom I am somewhat familiar. I'd never met him before this, but had heard a little about him. I was expecting a top tier sermon, with enlightening points and a challenging core. What I got was

"The Man With The Keys"
By Terry Shock.

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Rev 1:18 KJV.)

I want to preach this morning on this subject: follow the man with the keys.
Today is all about Jesus. Every Sunday is all about Jesus. Jesus is the reason we gather. There are many different beliefs and perspectives, but Jesus is the answer. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” That’s not to be confused with a way, a truth or a life. Because there’s a big difference between being a way and being the way. We don’t speak today of a risen savior that was just an option. That you can take Jesus, or you can take this one or that one. Jesus said no, I am the way, the truth and the life. and I promise you that the best decision that any of us will make in life, is to yield to his way, his truth and his life. Because Jesus is the only one that can give it. Our text is a verse in Revelation, and it is a book that is literally loaded with revelation. The word of God brings revelation, and power. And I would suggest today as strongly as I can, being that when I was a part of a church on the pastorial staff for 30 years. When you’re a pastor somewhere, you can come across a little harder. When you’re a guest minister, you cannot do that. Sometimes I struggle with that, so let me just say this: I would suggest that if the word of God is not a part of your everyday, release your life into another dimension by making the word of God a part of your every day life. You cannot imagine what the word of God will do for you. It may have been written a long time ago, but I promise that if you read it, it will give you direction for 2018. Jesus said, “I am alive, I am not dead. I was dead, I was crucified. I endured the brutal process of becoming the sinless sacrificial lamb for mankind. In the Old Testament, you know that for sins to be forgiven, they had to bring a spotless lamb, or other sacrifices. Jesus Christ became our sinless sacrifice, so that sin will not have dominion over us. He provided that for us, so we could be set free. He said, “I was killed and buried, but I did not stay in the grave. I am the resurrection.” That’s the reason why we say Happy Easter.

OK, wait a minute. This is why you say, “Happy Easter?” I know “Resurrection Sunday” is a tiresome six syllables, but let’s be clear: Easter is an extrapolation of the name of a pagan goddess. I’m not saying it matters, but these are the same people who get up in arms about people using Xmas instead of Christmas. You don’t like other people appropriating your holidays, so stop. 

You won't find him in the Bible.

I love Easter Sunday, because people start wearing brighter colors. I even dug out a brighter tie today. I love what Easter signals. We’re in spring time now, and things are coming alive. Let’s not miss the role, and the power of Jesus Christ in our life, to bring thing alive. There are things in our life right now that may be dead. Do not settle and think that it’s always going to be that way. Because of Jesus Christ and his resurrection power. Because he says, “I have the keys to unlock the power of Hell and death.

         Hell, and Death. Those are not very popular subjects, but we must briefly consider Hell and death, to even understand the power of what we are celebrating today. John 10:10 says, “The Thief cometh [in our life] but for to kill, steal and destroy.” But, he said, “I am come that the might have life, and have it more abundantly.” His death literally payed the price for our abundant life. I can tell you what the Thief is about. The Thief is about Hell, and the Thief is about death. And so, let’s talk briefly for a moment about Hell. Hades, if you study it out. It’s the infernal regions. It’s a dark and dismal place in the depths of the Earth. It’s the common holding area for the disembodied spirits, it’s the abode of the wicked. It’s not a good subject, and I’m not going to spend very much time on it in this message, but you must understand that, if you’re going to understand what Jesus did.

Let’s start with the Thief. The ‘thief’ in this parable does not signify death, or hell. In fact, in verse 8 of the same chapter, Jesus identifies the Thief: “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.” This verse probably refers to false prophets.
Speaking of Hell, you have just described three distinct places, and none of them Hell. First, the underworld that you are referring to when you say “Hades,” comes from Greek mythology. It has nothing to do with the Hell Jesus taught about. Furthermore, Hades is the name of the ruler of the underworld, not the place. 

Perhaps you've heard of him?

Second, a “dark and dismal place in the depths of the earth?” Are you referring to the Earth’s core? Are you saying that the core of the Earth is Hell? I mean, I’m sure it is, but I think Jesus was referring to somewhere outside the earth. (Which, as you know from Peter, he plans to destroy.) Thirdly, purgatory, the “holding area for disembodied souls.” Again, not Hell.

This is very disappointing, more so from a pastor of other pastors. I hate to say it, but this smacks of laziness, and your audience deserves better.

Then if we talk about death, we see in 1 Thess. 5:23, that as a being we are spirit, soul, and body. I am spirit, soul, and body, you are spirit, soul, and body. So, when we speak about death we must understand that on this earth there are three dimensions of death, and we deal with that spirit, soul, and body. If you believe that the Thief is after your soul, and the Thief is after your body, and he does not care if he starts with your spirit, your soul or your body. The Thief is there to destroy everything about our life that he can.

But let’s talk about keys. I needed to get that Hell and death bit out of the way, so we could get to the good part about the keys. (The preacher uses this moment to pull out a pair of prop keys from his pocket and holds them up.) The keys. He has the keys to Hell, and the keys to death. Now, when you have keys, you have power. Let’s talk about keys. Let’s talk about Jesus, the man with the keys. Let’s talk about the one who has power over death. When Jesus came back to life, and it’s not just a cool little story. It’s not just something to celebrate once a year when we come to church. This business about Jesus Christ having the power over Hell and death is a major issue, not for one Sunday of the year, but for 52 Sundays of the year. When I think of how in the word of God, Jesus raised people from the dead, and other prophets and apostles did also. But when we look at Jesus we see the Widow of Nain’s son, in Luke 7. Back in that day, to be a widow, you were in trouble. You could really be in trouble to not have a husband in that day. But then to have a son, and your son die too, this lady was in a mess. But Jesus came by, and stopped that funeral procession, and raised that young man from the dead. Now I would love to see that. I would love to see that level of resurrection. When you look at Jairus’s daughter, 12 years old. When he came, and he was seeking the man with the keys, the man that he knew had power over death. And he got him to come, and she had already passed away. And Jesus said, “she’s asleep.” And everyone else started to laugh at him. The word literally says, scorned. This shows us that there are things in our life, that we might be convinced that they are dead, but they’re just asleep. What we need, is we need to follow the man with the keys. Don’t make the fatal decision in your life, that something has died. It may just be asleep.

There really is a lot more to the meaning of Jesus words when he says the little girl is only sleeping. What he is saying, is that when she, (or anyone else,) dies, they are not truly dead. They are only asleep, and therefore capable of being resurrected. The phrase is used repeatedly by the apostles. In Thessalonians, it says, 

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” (1 Thess. 4:13 KJV)

I always found the concept of resurrection to be slightly troubling. For one thing, I never liked the idea that you could, potentially, be snatched out of heaven to be resurrected back on earth. The idea of souls remaining in a resting state, until they are resurrected with everyone else when the trumpet sounds, clears that up. It’s a powerful thought, and powerful verse, that really should have been expounded on. Instead, he immediately pivots to use the story as a very vague allegory for problems in our personal lives. Why do these preachers only ever use these stories figuratively, when they swear they happened literally, and can happen literally today? Are they afraid someone might really ask them to resurrect a dead child?

And what we must do, is we must focus our attention on the man that has the keys to Hell, and death. The last example I’ll use for this, is Lazarus. He was dead for three days. The interesting thing about this was, Jesus delayed on purpose until he died. He set it up, so that it would have greater impact. I wonder what in our lives, have we been seeking for God to bring alive? (Maybe a literal loved one?) And we’re just about convinced that it’s always going to be that way. But it’s one thing for us to get something in a quick manner, and another thing for us to have to deal with some things for a while, to set up a greater victory and testimony. Don’t decided that what you’re going through right now is permanent. Don’t assume that that thing inside you is always going to be dead.

    Many of us know what it’s life for death to touch our families. My father was a godly man, and he passed away when he was 42. Those were times of pain beyond what I could even understand. You know what it’s like. But today I’m not considering that type of death. What I want to focus on, about following the man with the keys, is death when there are no caskets. I’m talking about times when you’re suffering death in your life, and it seems like no one is concerned. And nobody’s there. And we’re left at times to deal with hat for the most part by ourselves. When we consider the biblical examples of death without caskets, and the man with the keys, my mind just goes a couple of examples. And when I speak of these, why don’t you see if you can personalize them, and see what the Lord has to say about your life. When we think about the woman with the issue of blood, in Luke 8:44, “…and the woman had an issue of blood 12 years.” This was something that she had dealt with in her body for years, which had spent all her living upon physicians. Neither to be healed of any, came behind Jesus and pushed her way in, and touched the border of his garment, and immediately the issue of blood ceased. Let’s look at the death that she was dealing with. She was alive, but much in her life was dead. It was death to her health, to her finances, and to her dreams. Her health was dead, she had to live with it for 12 years. Her finances were dead, it says that she spent everything she had upon physicians. All the dreams the woman had about her life, are all dead. But then, she followed, and she touched the man with the keys. And at that point, her life changed. I’m speaking to someone today who may be dealing with a disease, don’t put yourself in the casket yet. I know that disease is running rampant. I understand that. If you’re dealing with this, please don’t start thinking at it’s over. You need to pursue the man with the keys.

       Points awarded for aptly choosing the story of the woman to illustrate your point. Points deducted for starting off with a story of literal death, and then admitting that   you're not talking about literal resurrection.

We’re celebrating today Jesus Christ, who said “I was dead, and am alive again.” He didn’t leave it there, he said “I have the keys to hell and death.” 
      When you look at Zacchaeus, in Luke 19 1 and 2, it says that Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and behold there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was chief among publicans. He was a tax collector. He was rich, and, I can add, hated. These men were hated. But then he followed the man with the keys. Jesus saw him up in a tree and he invited himself to his house. He was dealing with death of reputation, and death of honor. This man’s reputation was dead. He had money, but he had gotten that money in an ill-advised way, so he was hated. He may have had the nicest donkey, or tent, or whatever, but when people walked by, they hated him. He was a publican, he ripped the people off. He had a lot of money, but people knew he was not getting it in an honest way. Let me tell you, you can’t make enough money to respect who you are when you look in the mirror. Money will not buy it. And so here is the man who’s got the money, but when he looks in the mirror, he can’t respect what he sees in the mirror, and other people do not respect him, and he knows that. But then he heard about the man with the keys. Because after being with Jesus, he stood up and said, “I’ve changed in my ways. I am paying what I should pay back. I am restoring.” And through the power of Jesus Christ, he was restoring and was restored, as he was restoring. I’m talking to somebody today, you don’t have to keep looking in the mirror, and not having honor for the person you see. You don’t have to keep crashing on the inside, because Jesus Christ is the man with the keys, and he has the power over Hell, and death. And I’m talking today about death that comes into our lives, that has nothing to do with caskets.

 I’ve always thought that Zacchaeus is one of the most misrepresented characters in the Bible. In Luke, Jesus spots Zacchaeus up in a tree, trying to listen to his words. He then tells Zacchaeus to come down, and they would go to his house together. Zacchaeus is thrilled, and hurries down. The others watching are not happy about this. Zacchaeus does indeed collect taxes from his own people for the Romans, and he was indeed hated for this. But although he was hated, he really wasn’t doing anything wrong. Jesus himself insists on paying taxes as well. So, while he is persona non-grata with his own people, Zacchaeus has nothing to feel guilty about. He’s a man doing a thankless but well-paying job.  In one exchange in the chapter, it seems that Zaccheaus may actually have been quite an upstanding member of his community.

 7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

 To me, this is Zaccheaus standing up for himself, and pointing out that he is even generous person. So, stop slandering Zacchaeus. You don't know his life. Nothing was dead about Zacchaeus, except maybe his prospects of getting a girlfriend.

Unless we're talking a Peter Dinklage Zaccheus here.

 The story of the Thief on the Cross would have served your point better. He was literally dying right next to Jesus.

Quickly, when we look at those who were lepers, in Luke 17:12-13, as he entered a certain village, there met him 10 men who were lepers, which stood afar off. These were people who had to stand off. And they lifted their voices and said, “master, have mercy on us.” What you must understand is the law of Moses labeled lepers unclean. Can you imagine getting a disease, and the doctor says you must move to the outskirts of town? And if anyone comes near you, you must shout “unclean”? This is exactly what they were dealing with. They were to be separated from others and had to shout “unclean” to warn others of their presence. They were humiliated outcasts. Health, dead. Inclusion: dead. Family relationships: dead. Future: dead. To touch a leper, or any of their clothing, carried a real risk of infection. It was unthinkable to touch a leper. Yet when lepers approached Jesus for healing, Jesus did for them what he wants to do for us today. And when he touched them, he didn’t get leprosy, they got Jesus-y. When he touched them, it didn’t matter. They were instantly healed, because Jesus is the life. It was absolutely impossible for him to be defiled. Instead, his life-giving power went out to others, and he healed and restored them from death, to life. They followed the man with the keys.

I want to say quickly, if you feel outcast, and you don’t feel a part of anything, quit looking for the answer in humans. It’s Jesus first, humans second. Quit expecting humans to be your answer. I can tell you why a lot of marriages are crashing, and families are crashing. It’s because people are expecting from humans, what can only come from God. If ever I expect from my wife something that can only come from God, I’ll put so much pressure on our relationship, that out relationship will be a mess. If she starts looking at me and starts expecting from me something that can only come from God, I’m not God. She’s not God. Our children aren’t God, we are not our children’s God. His name is Jesus, and we must put our attention and pursue first the man with the keys, who said, “I have the keys over Hell and death.” 

You were doing so well! The story of the 10 lepers fit very well with your point! Why did you have to ruin it by bringing marriage issues into it?

      I’d like to know exactly what you could be expecting from your spouse, that you can only get from God, that is ruining your marriage and family. Fidelity? Financial acuity? Parenting skills? Dinner? 

I think it’s a real slippery slope to start blaming failed marriages on lack of Jesus. A marriage is completely dependent on two people’s relationships with each other. Regardless of each individual’s relationship with God, what matters is how invested they are in each other, and in staying together. It really grinds my gears when preachers try to pour Jesus over everything like he’s some kind of sauce. Sometimes, you really do need the help of a marriage, or family counselor. Sometimes, you just need to leave. Sometimes, you need something from your husband or wife that you can’t get from Jesus.

It's why these guys get tipped so well.

Now let me quickly consider the woman caught in the act of adultery. This is serious business. John 8:3-4 says,

"3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.”

I’m talking about total humiliation. So here is death to integrity, death to honesty, death to reputation, death to security, and these people took her and threw her at the feet of the man with the keys. I guess they thought that he was going to pass judgement upon her, but he stunned everybody, and passed mercy upon her. You may be immoral here today. It may be a situation that you’re trying to live down. It may be a secret that nobody knows, and you’re driving yourself crazy to keep it as a matter that nobody will find out about, or it could be something that everybody knows. Whatever it is, what you need is to be at the feet of the man who holds the keys. And he can, through his power, change your reputation, change your outlook, and he will say “neither do I condemn you, I will empower you.” And when you go, you’re going to have the power to not live that way anymore. Because he has the keys.

Hey, since Jesus was without sin, shouldn’t he have cast the first stone? After all, it was his law that condemned her to death in the first place, wasn’t it? Food for thought. 

As for the woman, while she did escape with her life, her reputation was still dead. I mean, these people caught her in the very act. Yeah, she’s never going to live that down.

Probably caught her with the pool boy.

I’ll just give one final example, that speaks to all of us in one way or another, and it has to do with what the church must understand to go into a greater dimension of what God has for us, and it is the prodigal son. Luke 15 shares a parable regarding the lost son. He wasted his inheritance on wild living. His dad worked hard for it, and he blew it. He demanded what he should not have demanded, it was not time for him to get his inheritance, but he was bull headed and just had to have it. So, he took it, and off he went. And then he experienced death to his dignity, and death to respect, and death to honor, and death to security. And finally, he did what we hope will happen in people’s lives. He came to himself, and he embraced life giving humility. I want to tell you, quit fighting against it. If your life is a mess, quit fighting against it. I used to tell people when I was counselling them, the thing about beating your head against a wall, is it only feels better when you quit. It’s not working. Give up. Come to yourself, and get yourself back into a position to be in relationship with the man with the keys. 
       So the son comes back, and the beautiful thing about this story, is it took a couple of dynamics. It took him coming to himself, it took the love of a father, but it also took the attitude of the son. There was total restoration. He was willing to come back, and become a servant. And the father was like, “we don’t deal in that. We deal in restoration.” Everybody knows that you’ve blown it, so what. You can’t change that. So are you going to stay there in that mindset, and keep eating pig slop, when the father is looking down the road, saying somebody just come back. I’ve got a robe I want to cover you with. I’ve got a ring, and sandals for your feet. If you’re here today, please get that out of your mind. We’re not damning you, we’re not condemning you, we’re not playing God—I’ll tell you what, why don’t we play God? Why don’t we play God the way that the word of God shows us, because God says this: that I am not willing that any should perish. I am not willing that any. Any means any. Any means anybody that has done anything, any way, at any time. The man has the keys. 
 He comes back, and kills the fatted calf, and has a party. And the older brother comes in, and says “what’s all the noise about?” And the servant says, “your wild thing brother has come back, and your dad is killing the fatted calf.” And the older brother gets a little upset. I don’t have time to go over all this today, but don’t throw the older brother under the bus. There may not have been a house to come to, if the older brother had not stayed home. There may not have been a fatted calf, if the older brother had not been there. So let’s work with the older brother for a little bit. For this thing to work, everybody has to get their attitude right. The spirit is reaching for people in this day, who knew God at one time, but have become distracted, and now they’re away from God. They’re need a church that’s looking like the father, and they’re needing people in the church, that act like the adjusted attitude of the older brother, and they need to come back like the prodigal son. And when the father looked at the older son, he said “it was meet that we should make merry, and be glad. For this thy brother was dead, and is alive again. And was lost, and is found. In other words, we need to celebrate. We just had Easter. We need to celebrate because your brother that was dead, is now alive. All I have to say today, is if he did it for them, he’ll do it for us.

I think you missed the point of the role the older brother played in that parable. There were three sinners in the story. The youngest son is the most obvious. The father at fault as well, for giving his idiot younger son tons of money in the first place. I mean really, it’s not like the son robbed him at gunpoint. Do you know what my parents would say if I asked for half of my inheritance before they died?

But the oldest son represents the Pharisees, in this story. The ones who hated the thought of the younger son being received warmly back home. In fact, the older brother hates the idea so much that he leaves his father’s house. His attitude is never adjusted. At that’s kind of the point. So, I wouldn’t go around instructing your congregation to act like the older son.

He was kind of an ass.

He still has the keys. When we intentionally start following the man with the keys, we start the journey by being born again. And the man with the keys, gave Peter the keys. And Peter preached in Acts 2, to repent and be baptized in Jesus name, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, very interesting here. You’ve got death, burial, and resurrection. You’ve got repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost. You see this all through scripture. This is not a Pentecostal thing, it’s a Bible thing. This was later summarized again in 1 Cor. 15, when they were speaking of the gospel being his death, burial, and resurrection. We see it through scripture, in 2 Timothy 1:10, "But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news of the man with the keys. The gospel is the good news: you don’t have to die and go to hell. The gospel is the good news, you don’t have to live in hell, on your way to hell. The gospel is about Jesus Christ, having the keys of Hell and death. It’s my prayer today, that somebody will open their heart, at let the man with the keys into your life.

It's that bit at the end, that rapid-fire exposition of the general steps of salvation, that makes me wonder if this sermon was deliberately milked down for a wider audience for Easter. 

But even so, the core point of the message, is that nobody has to: A), suffer sickness, B), suffer personal loss, and C), go to Hell. Not if they follow “the man with the keys,” to all of that. The first point, sickness, I’ll ignore only because I have already expressed my thoughts about miracles. The second point, I disagree with. Like I say, it can be difficult to live down certain reputations. I doubt the woman caught in adultery every fully regained her reputation. What Jesus did for her, was save her from a mob who were about to kill her. To me, he also subtly renounces old Testament laws here, which I find suspicious since he claims to be Yahweh himself.

It is worth noting that this whole story is suspect, as it is missing from the original gospel of John.

As for the final point, about Jesus having the keys to Hell, I cannot but ask: then why admit anyone in the first place?

   We all have people who come to mind when we think of who belongs in Hell. The Bible says to “judge not,” but it’s only natural to make the connection between eternal punishment, and the worst people we can think of. I, for one, would not like to run into Gacy in heaven, repented or not. But since Jesus is the man with the keys to hell, surely he’s only going to unlock it for monsters, right? Isn’t that what Hell was created for?

That’s the question this sermon raises for me. Since Adam, we’ve all been automatically headed for Hell since we left the womb. Only by very certain action on our part, can we avoid it. This being, following the plan of salvation, by spiritually imitating Jesus’s actions. But I never understood why. For symbolism's sake?

I don’t expect a sermon that will answer those hard hitting questions. But I would prefer one that at least didn’t bring them up. 

                                                                                           Regards,