SETTING THE PRISONERS AND CAPTIVES FREE !

When Jesus came to this earth to destroy the works of the devil, He laid aside His authority as God. On earth as the 'Last Adam', He walked and ministered with authority and dominion. Satan was completely defeated by Jesus. He was brought to naught and made of no effect. Jesus made a big "zero" out of the devil !

Now this authority and dominion are the 'keys' which have been restored to redeemed mankind who, through faith, are now His church and His body on earth. As a defeated foe, the only thing that satan can do on this earth is what we in our ignorance have been letting him do. With this revelation from God's Word, we can rise up and bind satan. When we bind the strong man and spoil his house and when we command demon spirits to flee in the name of Jesus, we are walking in the 'power and authority' that we were given. Matt. 12:28-29, 2 Corin. 10:4

The church, which Jesus said He would build has been a ‘SLEEPING GIANT’. Now, it is awakening to operate in it's God-given authority and it will demolish the strongholds of satan !

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As I awoke this morning, March 15, 2007- still lying in bed between asleep and awake, I began praying and asking God to reveal to me something new today. It was as if He was just waiting for me to ASK !

Our pastor said the same thing this past Sunday. He was talking about when Moses said unto God, '.... If your presence doesn't go with me and your people then we will not go ', Exodus 33: 12-17.

God was just waiting for Moses to ask Him to go. I then asked Him, 'God, I don't want to go unless you go with me'. God is waiting for all of us to ‘ASK’ Him to go with us as we step out in faith and speak with authority against the enemy! We have been given the 'KEYS' - doesn't that mean something to you?

Jesus walked into Hell with authority and took back the keys that satan stole from man in the garden of Eden. Ever since then, they have belonged to us but we haven't yet begun to use the power and authority they really hold. Until now!

So as I hovered between being awake and asleep, I was asking God to go with me to a place I had never gone before. It's like He was saying - ' What would you like today my child?' I asked the Holy Spirit to let me – discover the hidden treasures that would reveal to me what the 'KEYS' really meant. I wanted new Kingdom revelation and for Heaven to invade my soul in a new and fresh way, and that is just what I got!

'KEYS' have been coming into my husband's and my life since Kris Vallotton spoke a prophetic word into our lives last May. I never collected 'keys' before, nor did I have a passion to, but 'keys' were being given to us left and right. I have since been on a quest before God to find out what all this means. I wanted to know the purpose and plan for the 'keys' and what 'gates' they were to open.

Allow me to continue to share with you the treasures He let me find. Fasten your seatbelts!

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Through out the Old Testament, worship had always centered around the tabernacle, the synagogue or the temple. There was 'no church' as we now know it today. There were three things which we need to learn about the church from this first time Jesus mentioned it.
1) The church would be built by Jesus on the revelation from the Father that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
2) The gates of Hell would not be able to hold out against the church.
3) The church would be given the 'keys' of the Kingdom of Heaven and have the power of binding and loosing. Matt. 16:13-19

Peter knew by a revelation from God that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. This was the truth upon which the church was to be built! Matt. 16:18 The first characteristic of the church is that Jesus would build it. It would not be built by men's traditions or programs. The second characteristic is that the gates of hell would not overcome it.
(Amplified Bible:) - I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it - or be strong to its detriment, or hold out against it.
And the third characteristic was that of 'binding and loosing'.

So just what are the 'keys' and what 'gates' do they open ?
The 'keys' refer to the authority we have been given on this earth. The 'keys' can either lock or unlock the 'gates'. The gates are another word for the governments or any entity whether it be a person, a family, an organization, a city, a state or a nation. Genesis 1:26

These 'keys' were intended by God to be used for good on this earth. However, when Adam and Eve sinned, they surrendered the 'keys' to satan who had come to steal, kill and destroy that which God had created. The 'keys' of authority under the control of satan became the 'keys' of death and Hell. These were the same 'keys' of authority which Jesus snatched away from the devil after He had delivered our sins to the depths of Hell.

When Jesus came smashing victoriously through the gates of Hell, He took these 'keys' of authority away from satan. Satan no longer has any legal authority on this earth in the believer. And since these 'keys' were restored to their original owners on this earth, they were no longer to be misused as the 'keys' of death and destruction. Instead they became known as the 'keys' of the Kingdom of Heaven.

So as we, the body of Christ, use our God-given 'keys of authority' according to His will, we are establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth. It is very important to understand what Jesus meant when He said that the gates of Hell would not overcome the church. In our natural way of thinking we picture a gate as something that is attached to a fence or a wall. With a picture like that in our mind, it is hard to gain any real understanding of the verse - '... and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it'. Matt. 16:18b
Since most of us have never been attacked by a gate!

In biblical times, the government and business of a city was usually conducted at the 'gates'. The gates provided security of a walled city, and also became a reference to a city or nation's government. Proverbs 31:23
When God blessed Abraham, He referred to it as 'possessing the gates' of his enemies. It was a blessing. Genesis 22:17
A blessing was also placed upon Rebekah and was referred to as 'possessing the gates' of the enemies. Genesis 24:60
To possess the 'gates' of the enemy it means to take over and control it’s government. We are also considered to be gates where we allow what comes in and goes out.
Today we are to possess the 'gates' of our enemies in the spirit realm by taking authority and dominion with aggressiveness, and to conduct violent spiritual warfare as the 'gates' are back and - taken by force!

King Solomon spoke of this: Proverbs 14:19 ' ... The evil will bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous. ' So why do we cower inside the gates (inside ourselves) in anxious fear? It is the church, not satan who should be taking the offence! We, the church should be storming the gates of hell and forcibly advancing the Kingdom of God in our churches and throughout our city, our state, our nation, our world, our families and in our very own lives.

We already have the 'keys'! It’s our God given ‘rights of authority’ to speak up against the enemy and take back what he is stealing from us. We have the authority to bind satan and his demons and we have the 'keys' of authority to loose all the captives!
So, church – what are you waiting for?

When we win the battle in the realm of the spirit it will be manifest in the natural. And as believers we must exercise our authority and dominion on earth. We must now accomplish and enforce on earth what has already been accomplished in the rest of the universe - what is an established fact in heaven. It’s time church to wake up and be bold about who you are and who God made you to be and start walking in the authority God sent His Son to give us.

Now, go set the prisoners and captives free - including yourselves! In the Name of Jesus!