The Keys To The Kingdom

"And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Math. 16:19)

What are these keys that Jesus was talking about? Is it some mystical power that Christians have? Are there some magical words we can use to affect things in heaven and on earth? Or, is it the power to bind Satan from interfering with some endeavor and get him off our backs both in the physical realm and in the spiritual? Or, could the keys be something else entirely? The Holy Spirit once said something very profound to me; "Don't you think that with so many Christians running around binding Satan, that they ought to have him pretty much bound by now?" I had to admit that He had a good point. Now, as the Spirit gives me utterance, I will convey the revelation of the "keys to the kingdom" and of "binding and loosing" as God revealed it to me. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear. "Blessed are you Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. " These are the words of Jesus to one of his disciples. In another place the disciple John tells us under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit, "A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven" (John 3:27).

In John 16:13 Jesus tells us that "the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth." The point of these scriptures is this, the Holy Spirit is sent to be our teacher and to guide us into all truth. We are to receive our revelations of Jesus and of the kingdom of God from our Heavenly Father and His Holy Spirit. True spiritual understanding can come from only one place---from the spiritual realm where God dwells; in other words…..from heaven! Matthew 16:19 is where Jesus tells His disciples about the keys to the kingdom and binding and loosing, but in order to get the context in which Jesus said this, let's go back to chapter 15. Quoting

Matthew 15:28-30 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, "O woman, great is your faith: be it unto you even as you will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. And Jesus departed from there, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:"

In verse 28 we find that a woman's daughter was healed because she exhibited great faith. Next in verse 29 we see that Jesus went up into a mountain and sat down there. Notice that Jesus was in a high place, symbolic of a higher realm, a heavenly realm. Next we see that the people went of their own accord, as an act of their will, up into the mountain where Jesus was. The spiritual revelation of this for us today is this: we can't go to a physical mountain here on earth and see Jesus in the flesh, but we can ascend into his Holy Mountain in the spirit where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father.

The people went seeking Jesus in faith. They took the lame, the blind, the dumb, etc. with them when they went. These people were bound on earth by physical afflictions. They believed that Jesus would heal them before they ever went seeking Him, else they wouldn't have bothered to take the lame, the dumb, the blind, the maimed, etc. and lay them at Jesus' feet. As a result, these people were loosed from their physical afflictions. The Pharisees, on the other hand, never came to Jesus in this manner because they were carnal which means "sense ruled". They could only believe or understand what they could see with their physical eyes, or hear with their physical ears, touch with their physical hands, smell with their physical nose, or taste with their physical mouth. They had no spiritual revelation of who Jesus was even though they were diligent students and followers of the law and the prophets which prophesied of Jesus and revealed Him. The Pharisees' understanding of the scriptures was totally physical. They were looking for a physical leader to come and set their physical nation free from the tyranny of Rome, and set up a physical kingdom. They were so busy keeping their physical Sabbaths and holy days, offering their physical sacrifices, and adhering to all their other physical laws and do's and don’ts that they didn't hear what the law was saying with their spiritual ears. They didn't see the pictures in the law with their spiritual eyes. They didn't understand that

"God is a Spirit, and He seeks such to worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24).

Now note that on the other hand because the people that went to Jesus on the mountain had spiritual revelation of who Jesus was, (they knew He was their healer and redeemer), they were not only healed but had their needs met.They were miraculously fed physical food to sustain their physical life, and I'm sure they were also fed spiritual food through Jesus' teaching of the word during the course of the three days they were with Him. Now continuing with Matthew 16:1 it says:

"The Pharisees also with the Saducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring. Oh you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky; but can you not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them and departed."

In the above verses, we see the Pharisees desired a physical sign. They were totally fleshly oriented only reacting to what they could see happening in the physical realm. Do you know anyone like that? Do you know anyone who speaks like this: (Oh no! I've been laid off. Now I'll lose my house and car. Next thing you know I'll be on welfare!) Or, (Oh no! I've got high blood pressure. I'll probably be dead of a heart attack before I'm 40.)

This is a total reaction to the flesh, reacting to what you see in the natural. This is known as walking after the flesh instead of walking after the spirit. The man who walks in the spirit would be influenced and led by the Word of God and not physical circumstances. He would say, "So what if I've been laid off. My God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory. I'll probably get an even better job." Or he might comment, "This high blood pressure is only a temporary thing because Jesus bore my sicknesses and with His stripes I am healed!" You see, a spiritual man knows that Jesus is his redeemer, his supplier of every need, and his healer. He knows who Jesus is, and therefore he is neither bound by, nor influenced by physical circumstances.

Looking again at chapter 16, verses 1-4, we see Jesus pointing out to the Pharisees that they were quite adept at reading physical signs and predicting the weather, but they had not discerned the spiritual times at all. Here they were talking face to face with the one they had spent their whole lives reading about in the law and the prophets, but did not have the spiritual understanding of the Word of God or they would have recognized Him. Why? Because He was the Word.

John 1:1 states that the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:14 states that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. What word of God was it that became flesh and dwelt among men? It had to be the Word of God which prophesied about Jesus in the law and the prophets. You see, even though the Pharisees were experts in the law and kept the physical aspects of the law meticulously, they still did not know the word of God because they were standing there looking at the embodiment of the law and the prophets (the Word) and they didn't recognize Him. In fact I am told that a Pharisee had to memorize the old testament scriptures as part of his regimen.

So here were men who knew the scriptures, but did not know the Word, because the WORD OF GOD is SPIRIT AND LIFE (John 6:63), not physical scriptures that you can memorize or even physical laws such as Sabbath days and sacrifices that you can keep. In verse 4, Jesus calls the Pharisees a wicked and adulterous generation. You see, the Pharisees understood the reference Jesus was making because the Jews prided themselves in being a covenant people. They were the physical descendants of Abraham who had entered into a covenant with God. A marriage is a covenant, and several times in the old testament God had used the analogy of marriage to describe His relationship with Israel (Isa. 62:4-5 and Jer. 3:14 etc.) Jesus said the Pharisees were adulterous because they were seeking a sign---a physical sign, before they would accept who He was. They were metaphorically married to God who is a spirit. But instead of walking after the spirit and believing in and maintaining that spiritual union and spiritual relationship with God, they were pursuing the flesh. They would only believe in, have intercourse with, unite with, and cling to physical doctrines, physical laws, physical observances, physical kingdoms, and physical circumstances. They had no spiritual understanding of Jesus and were constantly at odds with Him because they had no spiritual understanding of the Word. They were committing adultery with the physical realm. Instead of being married to the spirit, they were having a relationship or affair with the flesh.

Continuing on in Matthew 16:5-12 "And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Saducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O you of little faith, why reason you among yourselves, because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Saducees?"

Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. I laughed when I read these verses and saw how the disciples were also receiving Jesus' words in the natural. It's the same thing that immature Christians have been doing ever since. But we are growing up and learning to listen to the voice of the Spirit of God. His word is spirit and truth, not flesh and truth. Even though the disciples had received the word of God (the words of Jesus) in the natural and misunderstood, they were different from the Pharisees. The disciples' hearts and attitudes were right. They followed Jesus around wherever He went and wherever He led them seeking understanding and revelations from the spirit; and when Jesus stood there face to face and explained it to them then, it was the same thing as Jesus, who now dwells in our hearts, speaking to our conscious minds and imparting spiritual understanding.

On the other hand, the Pharisees were leavened. Leaven is the agent that makes bread rise and puff up. The Pharisees were puffed up. They loved to compare flesh. (You know, my flesh is better than your flesh because I fast twice in the week. I pay tithes of all that I own. I go to church every time the doors open. I don't smoke. I don't drink or run around with women. Yes, my flesh is better than your flesh goody, goody!) They were proud and lifted up and loved to make a show by sitting in the chief seats in the synagogue. Also, their bread was the law and the prophets. They felt like their bread was fully leavened, and they needed nothing else. Jesus said beware of this leaven. The Pharisees' bread was leavened with physical leaven instead of spiritual. Their doctrine was leavened with the flesh. It was the type leaven that causes a man to be puffed up with ego. He sticks out his chest and says, "Oh you poor sinner, let me straighten you out so that someday you may be as good as me."

When the Pharisees asked for a sign, they were in essence saying,"Make a fleshy show Jesus, then we will accept you." Also note, that whenever the Pharisees encountered Jesus, they were always trying to catch Him in a point of doctrine. They were trying to prove to everyone that they were right and Jesus was wrong. It would really puff them up if they could say, "Yeah, we got that guy straightened out, he will eventually see the truth and join our church."

Have you ever met a Christian like this? He says in his heart, "You can't tell me anything. My denomination has complete understanding. I'm right and everyone else is deceived. You got that crazy belief from fornicating with the world. I'm not born of fornication!" Their bread is completely leavened and they have need of nothing. But, beware of that physical leaven. And I say, "Grow up baby Christians! in the name of Jesus; and have your minds renewed by the spirit of God.

Everything that has been discussed so far is kind of background and a prelude to actually discussing the keys to the kingdom, and binding and loosing. This is real meat that is about to be set before you. If you don't understand, or if you have never heard of such things, or if your denomination teaches against such things; please don't be a Pharisee and reject it because it doesn't conform to the traditions and teachings which you have always received. Remember, "...the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." I Corinthians 1:25. Don't say that you don't believe it and close the door to the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Just say that you will seek God and be led by Him and will eventually walk in accurate revelation of all things. Because, "there is nothing hidden that will not come to light." I want no misunderstanding about what I am about to reveal. I am just a man like anyone else. God is no respector of persons. He can deal with anyone else in the same manner He has dealt with me. One must only be open to and seeking the teaching and leadership of the Holy Spirit. The only true minister is Jesus. He is the "Manna from heaven". He is the "Water of Life". We are only the vessels which that water is stored in and poured from. The vessel is nothing. You can drink water from a glass that peanut butter came in, and it tastes just as good as if you drank it from expensive crystal. It is not the vessel that is important, it is the water of life inside. So, don't think more highly of men than you ought. If a man has had a heavenly experience, don't worship the man, but worship God who gave it. Besides, every child of God will meet the Lord and have a heavenly experience sooner or later.

Please read II Corinthians 12:1-10. Also look at Acts 2:17. It reads as follows: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" Of course the reference to young men and old men here is not speaking of chronological age, but spiritual maturity.

A few years ago, God first taught me about binding and loosing when He spoke to me in a dream. In the dream, I found myself standing on a street in front of a house which I understood was my house although neither the street nor the house bore any resemblance to my actual physical home. The house I was standing in front of was located at the end of a dead end street. There was a water pipe coming through a levy at the rear of my house. The pipe extended across the end of the dead end street and disappeared into an embankment on the other side of the street. There was a bad leak in the water pipe and the flow of water from it was cutting a trench in my front yard. Suddenly there was a great commotion down the street. People were shouting and pointing toward the sky. A man came running down the street toward me and pointed into the heavens and said, "Look!" I gazed into the bright sunlit sky but could see nothing but some clouds gathered. But somehow I knew that if I walked down the street a ways I could see what everyone was so excited about. As I moved down the street, I could see something protruding through the clouds. It was a leg! I continued to walk down the street and look into the clouds. Suddenly I got to the point where the clouds were rolled back like a scroll and there in the middle on a throne sat Jesus! Now I was excited! I knew the time had come. I instinctively thrust my fist into the air over my head in a victorious gesture. When I did so, I began to be aware of movement upward. I was rising above the earth. I looked around and saw others being lifted also. I was aware of my family and friends being around me. At first I could see the earth beneath me, but only for a moment. I then had the sensation of passing through another realm. I could see no objects except my family around me. We were in a swirling realm of light.

At this point, I want to comment on some of the things I've related so far. There is symbolism in dreams. Remember Nebuchadnezzar's dreams that Daniel interpreted. Everything symbolized something. We also find this pattern in other dreams which were revealed in the Bible. Note that in my dream, Jesus was in the clouds. Revelation 1:7 says: "Behold He comes with clouds..." When we see Jesus, it is in clouds of glory. The clouds that are hiding Him from our view must be rolled back like a scroll before we can see Him. The only thing the Pharisees could see when they looked up into the heavens (or into the scriptures) were the clouds. Remember, I had to move down the street before I could see Him. The Pharisees were not willing to move.

Consequently, they could see the glorious works of Jesus but they could not see Him or who He was because they were not willing to move. They were totally unwilling to change their position, their viewpoint. They believed that the way they had always been taught, their doctrines, and traditions were right, and they weren't going to listen to anyone else no matter how many miracles he did. Besides, they must have reasoned, those miracles must be deceptions of the devil. He's trying to destroy our whole religious world they must have thought. Unfortunately many religious people and denominations today have the same problem. Their minds are full of clouds--full of the physical knowledge of God and His mighty works, but they haven't walked far enough in the spirit to get to the point where the clouds are rolled back like a scroll and they see Him. They are so sure that they have the perfect vantage point that they are unwilling to move.

Also note that in my dream as I began to move down the street, at first I only saw a leg. I only saw part of Jesus. That's the way it is as we grow up in Him, at first we see and know only in part. But eventually we see the whole thing, then that which was in part vanishes away. Read I Corinthians 13:9-13. You see we as Christians may get a little revelation of Jesus as we walk in the spirit. We may only get to the point where we see His leg. Many times denominations stop right there because they have a little understanding, a little power. They think the leg is all there is. They are only seeing part of Jesus therefore they think Jesus looks like a leg. So they build a whole denomination around a partial revelation and go around trying to make everyone see Jesus as a leg. However when these Christians finally grow up, when they have walked on in the spirit, they see the whole revelation of Jesus, and they no longer think Jesus looks like a leg. That partial revelation that they originally had vanishes away in light of the whole.

Now let's get back to the dream. I mentioned that it seemed as though I and my family were in a swirling realm of light. There was still the sensation of ascending. Eventually the ascension ceased and the scene around me began to clear. I knew I was in heaven or in a heavenly realm. I was aware that my family who was standing beside me knew the same thing. But as I looked around, it appeared that I was back on the same street in front of my house. Yet, I knew I was in a heavenly realm. There was a golden light all around us. You could almost see particles in the light. I realized that the house and street and objects around me only had the form of the earthly things. But, I was definitely in a different place. My mother, upon looking around her, pointed to the water pipe and said, "Look, there's that same old leaking water pipe." Sure enough there was that same water pipe protruding from a levy behind our house extending across the street and disappearing into an embankment on the other side. It still had a serious water leak coming out the side and the water made a trench as it flowed across our front yard. I was surprised to find that the things in the spirit realm had the same form as things in the natural, but that was part of the lesson that God wanted to teach me. As I looked at the pipe with the water leak, the Holy Spirit spoke very plainly from within me. He said, "You know what to do about that." I said, "Yes, I know." Then I pointed to the breach in the water pipe and said, "In the name of Jesus, be repaired!" To my amazement, the water flowing across the yard began to flow back into the pipe. When all the water had gone back into the pipe, the pipe sealed up and there was no more leak. The ground also covered over the trench and repaired itself.

The Holy Spirit began to explain to me. He said, "Everything in the spirit responds instantaneously to the Word, especially when spoken in the authority of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. When you speak the word, it happens right then in the spirit. Everything flows from the spirit realm into the physical, just like water flowing through a pipe. Everything is created or changed first in the spirit before it manifests in the natural. When you speak the word, things change immediately in the spirit, and they would manifest immediately in the natural except there is a leak in your pipe. When you look at, and consider, and are influenced by the physical circumstances, you develop a leak in your pipeline which slows up the flow of things from the spirit into the natural. That is why it takes longer for some things to manifest than it does others. Sometimes you are so moved and influenced by physical circumstances that the break in the pipe is so severe that nothing ever gets through and nothing changes." Remember when Jesus prayed in the "Lord's Prayer": "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? (When we are spiritually mature, our will and God's will become one because we take on the mind of Christ.) Jesus was praying that the will of the Father would flow unimpeded from the spiritual realm (heaven) into the natural realm (earth).

The Holy Spirit went on to explain to me that as you look upon and receive the physical situation, that is the vision you have in your spirit and that is the way it will be in the spirit (or in heaven) and that is what will flow into the natural. In other words, if you see yourself in the natural as being poor and out of a job for instance, and you continue to look upon that physical circumstance and believe that you are poor and out of a job and that becomes the spiritual vision you have, that is what will continue to manifest because that is what you are speaking and believing.

Remember God said "I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB!" That relationship was immediately created in the spirit and it never changed because God never changed His word. A man might say "I am broke" or "I am poor". As long as that is his word and he doesn't change it, he will stay broke and poor the rest of his life because he has LOOSED poverty in the spirit (or in heaven) to flow to him and as long as he believes he is poor and speaks the word of poverty, that is what he will have. However, if he knew and believed that he was a child of God, and knew that Jesus had redeemed him and he didn't have to be poor any more, he would change his word and say, "I am greatly blessed, I have abundance." Yes, when this Christian finally knows who Jesus is, and understands that he is joint heir with him because Jesus lives in him and is part of him, and Jesus is not poor or suffering need, his spiritual vision would change. He would speak the word of blessing and abundance and things would be changed in the spirit. Curses would be replaced by blessings. Poverty would be replaced by abundance. In effect, the Christian is BINDING poverty in heaven, so it is bound from manifesting in the earth. He is loosing abundance and blessings in heaven, therefore they are loosed to flow to him in the earth. The same principle also applies to sickness.

Everything comes from the spirit realm. It always has. God is a spirit and He created all things. He lives in the spirit, not in the natural. Heaven is a spiritual place, it is part of the spirit realm. God created the physical heavens and the earth by speaking the word and releasing His faith and vision. In Genesis 1:25 it states that God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the earth after his kind. Now, if all the physical animals were created after their kind (after the pattern of), where was the original kind to start with? In heaven of course. The physical creation merely manifested what happened in the spirit when God spoke the word. The spiritual creation always takes place first. Things always happen first in the spirit, then they manifest in the natural. "LIVE IN THE SPIRIT!" said the Holy Spirit. "When you speak the word and use the name of Jesus, the spirit realm responds.

From that point on, only see things the way they are in the spirit. Live in the spirit, in that realm where the thing is done. Do not give heed to the physical. Live in the spirit until the thing is manifested in the physical realm." Next was when the Holy Spirit said to me: "Don't you think that with all the Christians running around binding Satan that he ought to be pretty much bound by now?" Then He said, "This (meaning all these things that you have seen and I have explained to you) is the meaning of binding and loosing!" To restate this once more, we can bind things from moving from the spirit realm into the natural. For instance, if we pray for healing but keep on looking at the physical circumstance of disease in our bodies and listening to doctors and others telling us how sick we are, we develop a severe leak in our pipe and the flow of healing that is trying to manifest and get to us from the spirit realm is severely impeded. If we allow ourselves to receive the words of sickness that are being spoken to us, or we agree with them, we change the vision in the spirit and it conforms to our words and our faith (according to your faith be it unto you--either good or bad) and sickness flows to us. There is no leak in the pipe now because the spirit has now been made to conform to the physical and sickness flows to us unimpeded. In order for us to get well, we must once again go into the spirit and speak the word of healing and believe it and see it created, then look at and believe only that vision and give no heed to the physical circumstances. Live in the spirit where the healing has already occurred or the situation changed, and it will soon manifest in the natural. By living or walking in the spirit, you loose that thing to manifest in the natural.

Now let's go back to Matthew 16 and pick up where we left off in verse 13: "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that you are John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven."

Notice that the religious people of the day did not have accurate spiritual revelation of who Jesus was. Some were saying he was Jeremiah, others John the Baptist, and some were saying he was Elijah. They came to wrong conclusions because they were making their judgment based on physical fleshly understanding.

Why was it so important to Jesus for His disciples to know exactly who He was? Because without the deep spiritual understanding of who He was, they would not know the power in His name, or the authority of the Word. Neither could they know and understand their power and authority through Him. Remember John 1:1 says "...the Word was God..." And later on in John 1 it tells us that the Word was made flesh! Jesus was the Word! Jesus told Simon that he was blessed because he had spiritual revelation of who the Word was. He also had spiritual revelation of the Word spoken by Jesus. Jesus and His Word are one. The Word was with God, and the Word was God! You and your word are one also. Out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaks; and as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Luke 6:45 and Proverbs 23:7). Out of the vision you have in your heart of yourself and your circumstances your mouth speaks. If you speak words of poverty and lack, if you speak words of sickness or failure, that's what you are. You are a poverty stricken, sick, failure. You and your word are one.

Many times YOUR WORDS ARE NOT ONLY THE RESULT OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES, YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES ARE THE RESULT OF YOUR WORDS! Through your lack of spiritual revelation, you have formed wrong beliefs which caused wrong visions to be formed in your heart; and then out of the abundance of this vision in your heart you have spoken faith-filled words which have loosed these evil things WHICH YOU CREATED in the spirit to flow to you and manifest in the natural. Whereas, the freedom and all the good things that God has prepared for those that love Him have been bound because there was no spiritual revelation of the Word.

Understand this, having spiritual revelation of the scriptures is having spiritual understanding of the Word, which is having Jesus. Jesus was the spiritual Word made flesh. When you hear the word in the spirit and receive the revelation, you receive Jesus. When you know and understand the word, YOU KNOW JESUS! You have spiritual revelation of Him. And that can only come from the Father. You can't get it from flesh and blood. I could write ten thousand pages on this subject and unless God is revealing it to you by His Spirit, you would only poo-poo it and say that I'm a crazy dreamer who doesn't know what he's talking about. There are so many denominations because religion operates mostly in the revelations of flesh and blood. Many ministers who stand in the pulpits and teach and preach to the people of God received most of their understanding when they went to a seminary and were taught by men who themselves were taught by other men who were taught by other men etc. But, praise God, we don't have to operate in the revelation of who men say that Jesus is or what man thinks the revelation of the word is. We can receive spiritual revelation from our heavenly Father as he speaks to us through His Holy Spirit. We no longer have to be bound by religion and man's physical interpretation of the scriptures.

In verse 18, Jesus goes on to say: "And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Even a casual reader of the Bible knows that Jesus was personified throughout the Bible as the ROCK. But the name Peter also came from a Greek word "petros" which meant rock. Jesus is saying to Peter, "you are rock" because he had spiritual revelation of Jesus, or the Word. Because of this, the Word was in him. Jesus was part of Peter, because Peter had revelation of the Word. Peter was in the word because Peter lived day and night hearing and meditating the words of Jesus. Just the same as Jesus said I and my Father are one because He was thinking the same, speaking the same and operating in the same understanding as His heavenly Father; Jesus and Peter were one because they were in agreement and operating in the same revelation.

Therefore Jesus said to Peter, "You are rock" (because you have spiritual revelation of me), "and upon this rock" (rock of revelation knowledge of Jesus, or the Word) "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Finally in verse 19 Jesus tells His disciples: "And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." What is the purpose of keys? Keys are used to unlock something. The keys to the kingdom are used to UNLOCK THE CHAINS that have us BOUND here on earth. The keys that will loose us are the SPIRITUAL REVELATIONS of the Word of God. We must first use these keys to unlock our spiritual understanding; to change our spiritual viewpoint.

For example, as we get the spiritual revelation that we have been set free from the curse of the law, we begin to walk in blessing instead of cursing. Things start to go right for us instead of everything going wrong. Because before we believed that we were worthy of being cursed and believed and said things like, "It's just my luck, if anything can go wrong it will." But when we received revelation of the redemption of Jesus and the fact that we have been made worthy through His redemptive work, we are loosed from that chain of curses that has bound us on earth and the blessings that have been created by the word in the spirit are loosed to flow to us. But before we can be set free or loosed on earth we must be loosed in the spirit or in heaven. We must be set free by the spiritual revelations of the Word.

But, on the other hand, if we are operating in physical understanding of the Word we are bound on earth by religion, law, and the traditions of men not to mention sickness, disease, poverty, worry, etc. If we, like the Pharisees, reject the spiritual revelation of the Word, then we have bound the things of the spirit of God on earth, so they are bound in heaven and can't flow to us and manifest in our lives. In fact, if we have any problem whatsoever in our physical lives, any circumstance that has us bound in any way; or any thought or idea that keeps us from experiencing perfect joy and freedom, it is because we are lacking complete spiritual revelation of God and His word in some area. We are bound on earth because we have bound it in heaven. The Word can be bound by preconceived ideas.

In other words by saying, "this is the way we have always heard this scripture taught, so it must be right." (There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death). The Word can be bound by our denomination. (We don't believe in that or we believe this). The Word is often bound by our lack of faith. Remember, in Matthew 15:30 many people were loosed from their physical afflictions (the lame, blind, dumb and maimed were healed) because they knew who Jesus was and had faith that He would heal them or they never would have gone up to the mountain looking for
Him. They had a spiritual vision of Jesus as their healer, therefore that healing was loosed in the spirit and was manifested in the natural, in their flesh.

On the contrary we find that Jesus could do no great miracle in His hometown because of their unbelief. Their vision of Jesus as the carpenter's son, who had grown up before their physical eyes, had them bound. Their knowledge of Jesus based upon their physical understanding had their minds bound on earth, therefore no miracles could flow to them on earth because the miracles were bound in heaven.

If the blessings of God are not flowing to you on earth it is because you have the keys to the kingdom and you have bound them through Pharisaical carnal mindedness; through walking after the flesh and giving heed to physical circumstances; or through operating in a physical understanding of the Word instead of SPIRITUAL REVELATION; and, or, unbelief.

If, on the other hand, you are being set more free daily, if the chains that have bound you are falling off, then you are operating in revelation knowledge of the Word. You have spiritual revelation and understanding of the scriptures. You know who Jesus is and you know who you are because the Word is in you and part of you and you are part of the Word. Through the use of the keys of the kingdom, (the spiritual revelations of the Word and who Jesus is), you have unlocked the chains of bondage and have been loosed here on earth, and the blessings of God and all the things that Jesus obtained for us on the cross of redemption have been loosed in heaven to flow to you.

Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever! Amen.

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