What are the Keys of the Kingdom? What does binding and loosing mean?

What is meant by the “keys of the Kingdom” and “binding and loosing” as found in Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 1818?

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

In this verse, Jesus is speaking directly to the apostle Peter but also indirectly to the other apostles and all believers. 

Jesus' words meant that believers would have the right to enter the kingdom and would be given power of attorney (authority - symbolized by the possession of the keys), being able to open the kingdom of heaven to all who believe through the message of the Gospel. 

Believers are given the authority through the use of the Name of Jesus to perform signs and wonders, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and be an instrument of the Holy Spirit to bring the message of salvation which when believed and confessed, opens the doors to the Kingdom i.e. we are given the “Keys of the Kingdom” to open the door for ourselves and others.

The book of Acts shows this process at work through Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), Peter opened the door of the kingdom for the first time and 3000 entered.

The expressions “bind” and “loose” were common Jewish legal terms meaning to declare something forbidden or to declare it allowed as pertaining to Jewish law, and reflect an authority held by the person doing the binding or loosing. 

Jesus uses this commonly understood concept of the day to convey the truth that all believers would be given authority (an authority lost by Adam). This authority would not relate to the Jewish law, but would relate to rescuing fallen mankind from the enemy and helping them enter the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 18:18, the usage is different in that here Jesus is referring to binding and loosing in the context of believers behavior. If one believer sins against another, Jesus  provides a process by which to deal with the situation. This principle of binding a loosing reflects an authority that is given, first at an individual level, then in the group context of the ecclesia.

On earth and in heaven:

What Jesus was saying is, “I am giving you the keys to the kingdom of heaven [or, the rulership from heaven -- the Greek word basileia means reign, or rulership].  We have been raised up and seated in heavenly places in Christ. Therefore we can speak authoritatively from that position in the heavens or spirit realm. This authority also carries across into the physical realm.

Jesus was given all authority in heaven and in earth. He has given us permission to use His authority through the use of His name. He has raised us and seated us with Him on His throne. Therefore this authority given to us, extends from the heavenly or spiritual realm all the way down to the earthly realm. When we command demons to leave a person, we are positioned in the heavenly realm in Christ and they have to submit to His Name. Any further issues in the physical realm such as sickness also have to obey and leave because the earthly realm is also subject to this authority.

The same principle of binding and loosing applies to forgiveness. Jesus told his disciples that whatever sins they retain will be retained and whatever they forgive will be forgiven. This primarily applies to how we deal with people and why it is so important to forgive others. We hinder both ourselves and others by not forgiving. 

Binding and loosing also have to do with soul ties. When you take an offense, you’re tying your soul to it. You’re binding it to you. And when you bind it to you, it’s bound in Heaven, because you made that decision. When you loose people from an offense you loose that from yourself and untie the soul tie, it is then loosed in Heaven and can’t have any hold on you. 

An interesting thought: When Steven was stoned, Paul stood by holding the jackets of those stoning him. It was at Paul’s command. Steven looked up to heaven and as he died, he said that he does not hold this sin against them and ask God to forgive those stoning him. Question: If Steven had not forgiven those stoning him, could Paul have been saved?

Ecclesia does not = church

The word. "Church" comes from the Old English and German word pronounced "kirche." In Scotland, it was "kirk."

The following entries are from the Oxford Universal English Dictionary:

Church [Old English cirice, circe; Middle English chereche, chiriche, chirche; whence churche, cherche, etc.: -Greek Kuriakon...]

Kirk The Northern English and Scottish form of CHURCH, in all its senses.

The meaning of "Ku-ri-a-kos" is understood by its root: "Ku- ri-os," which means "lord." Thus, "kuriakos" (i.e., "church") means "pertaining to the lord." It refers to something that pertains to, or belongs to, a lord. The Greek "kuriakos" eventually came to be used in Old English form as "cirice" (Kee-ree-ke), then "churche" (kerke), and eventually "church" in its traditional pronunciation. 

A church therefore is something that "pertains to, or belongs to, a lord."

The word "church" would have been an acceptable translation for the Greek word "kuriakos" but most English versions of the bible translate the Greek word “ecclesia” into the word "church", which is incorrect.

"Ecclesia" is an entirely different word with an entirely different meaning than "kuriakos." In fact, the Greek word "kuriakos" appears in the New Testament only twice. It is found once in I Corinthians 11:20 where it refers to "the Lord's supper," and once again in Revelation 1:10 where it refers to "the Lord's day." In both of those cases, it is translated "the Lord's..." - not "church." This word does not appear again in the New Testament. 

THE CORRECT MEANING OF "ECCLESIA"

The Greek word ecclesia" appears in the New Testament approximately 115 times. That's just in this one grammatical form. It appears also in other forms. And in every instance, except three, it is wrongly translated as "church" in the King James Version. Those three exceptions are found in Acts 19:32, 39, 41. In these instances the translators rendered it "assembly" instead of "church." But, the Greek word is exactly the same as the other 112 entries where it was changed to "church" wrongly.

In Acts 19, "ecclesia" is a town council: a civil body in Ephesus. 

The Greek word "ecclesia" is correctly defined as: "The called-out (ones)" [ECC = out; KALEO = call]. Thus, you can see how this word was used to indicate a civil body of select (called, elected) people.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

In the New Testament, "ecclesia" (signifying convocation) is the only single word used for church. It (ecclesia) was the name given to the governmental assembly of the city of Athens, duly convoked (called out) by proper officers and possessing all political power including even juridical functions.

Obviously, in Greece an ecclesia had no resemblance to a church. An "ecclesia" was a civil assembly in Athens even before the writing of the New Testament. 

Oxford Universal English Dictionary :

Ecclesia [mediaeval Latin, and Greek - from : SUMMONED] -A regularly convoked assembly, especially the general assembly of Athenians. Later, the regular word for church.

Thus, two of the most prestigious word resources in the English language confirm the fact that an "ecclesia" was originally a select civil body, summoned or convoked for a particular purpose. 

What, then, did the writers of the New Testament mean when they used the word "ecclesia" to describe a Christian body of people? 

We can assume that they intended to convey the original Greek meaning of the word: “a body of Christians called out of the Roman and Judean system to come together into a separate civil community”

It meant a politically autonomous body of Christians under no king but Jesus; under no other jurisdiction but that of Jesus. No man ruled them! Only Christ. And that was the reason these same Christians ran into trouble with kings and rulers; were arrested, crucified and martyred. They dropped Caesar as their King and took up Christ.

In Acts 17, verses 1-6 we see that Paul and Silas had a reputation that preceded them. They were "turning the world (system) upside down." What was their inflaming message? What were these guys doing that was "turning the world system upside down"? The answer is found in verse 7: "Whom Jason hath received (into his house): and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus."

They were announcing ANOTHER KING! Not Caesar! This was a king who was bigger than Caesar. They were forming civil bodies that no longer looked to Caesar as their king. Paul and Silas weren't "church builders" they were kingdom builders! They were dethroning rulers in the minds of the people and alienating them from the mental hold Caesar had upon them. They were teaching the principles of Kingdom government. They were putting forth the call of God to whomever would hear and obey, and those whose hearts responded to the call became citizens of Christ's kingdom and joined themselves to the ecclesia, or community of believers.

William Tyndale was the fifteenth century reformer and Bible translator martyred for his unyielding love of the truth of the Word of God. Tyndale was willing to die for God's word and truth. Tyndale, and other sixteenth-century reformers did not translate the word ecclesia into "church." They used other words like "congregation," "governmental assembly," etc. 

From Wikipedia: In January 1604, King James VI of Scotland and I of England convened the Hampton Court Conference where a new English version was conceived in response to the perceived problems of the earlier translations as detected by the Puritans,[7] a faction within the Church of England.[8]

James gave the translators instructions intended to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy.[9] The translation was done by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England.[10] 

(It was in the commissioning of this translation (KJV) that the word “ecclesia” was first translated as “church” in order to align the translation with the existing church structures, rather than aligning the translation with what Jesus intended as recorded in Matthew 16:18)

When you consider the fact that an "ecclesia" was "a civil body politic", this is strong proof that the Christian ecclesias we read about in the New Testament were independent civil bodies of Christians - independent from worldly kings and governors, ruled by the Theocratic government of God's Spirit. They wanted freedom to serve King Jesus. The ecclesia system, with it's Theocratic government and individual responsibility, is capable of freeing believers from the bondage of religion. True peace and liberty cannot be found outside of Christ. Christ's system is the ecclesia system.

Matthew 16: Peter understands that Jesus Is the Messiah, Jesus declares that on this “rock” i.e. revelation of this truth that Jesus is the Messiah, He will build His ecclesia

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my ecclesia, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

In this passage Jesus talks about the fact that a body of believers or ecclesia will be established through the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah. 

What are the gates of hell?

The phrase the “gates of hell” is translated in some versions as the “gates of Hades.” The gates of hell or gates of Hades is found only once in the entire Scriptures, in Matthew 16:18. In this passage, Jesus is referring to the building of His ekklesia: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my ekklesia, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

At this time Jesus had not yet established His ekklesia. In fact, this is the first instance of the word “ekklesia” in the New Testament. The Greek word ekklesia means the “called out” or assembly. In other words, the ekklesia that Jesus is referencing means the assembly of people who have been called out of the world by the gospel of Christ. 

Ekklesia is wrongly translated into the word "church" - see the next post on the translation of ekklesia.

Bible scholars debate the actual meaning of the phrase “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” One of the better interpretations to the meaning of this phrase is as follows. In ancient times, the cities were surrounded by walls with gates, and in battles the gates of these cities would usually be the first place their enemies assaulted. This was because the protection of the city was determined by the strength or power of its gates.

As such, the “gates of hell” or “gates of Hades” means the power of Hades. The name “Hades” was originally the name of the god who presided over the realm of the dead and was oftentimes referred to as the “house of Hades.” It designated the place to which everyone who departs this life descends, regardless of their moral character. In the New Testament, Hades is the realm of the dead, and in this verse Hades or hell is represented as a mighty city with its gates representing its power.

Jesus refers here to His impending death. Though He would be crucified and buried, He would rise from the dead and build His ekklesia. As such, Jesus is emphasizing the fact that the powers of death could not hold Him in. Not only would the ekklesia be established in spite of the powers of Hades or hell, but the ekklesia would thrive in spite of these powers. The ekklesia will never fail, though generation after generation succumbs to the power of physical death, yet other generations will arise to perpetuate the ekklesia. And it will continue until it has filled its mission on earth as Jesus has commanded:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

It is clear that Jesus was declaring that death has no power to hold God's people captive. Its gates are not strong enough to overpower and keep imprisoned the ekklesia of God. The Lord has conquered death (Romans 8:2; Acts 2:24). And because “death no longer is master over Him” (Romans 6:9), it is no longer master over those who belong to Him. 

Analysing Matthew 16:18:

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my ekklesia, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”

There are really only three parts to this expression—"The gates” is one part. “Of Hell” is another part. And “Shall not prevail against it” is the third part. Let’s take those parts in reverse order.

First, the phrase “shall not prevail” is from the Greek word katischuo, which itself comes from two Greek words kata meaning “against” or “upon” and ischuo which means “to be strong” or “to have strength.” Put them together and you have katischuo, which means to have the strength to go into battle against the foe. Not only that, it means to have the strength to have the victory over your foe. It’s not only the strength to fight; it’s also the strength to win. “Prevail” is a good translation; so is “overcome.” It’s a military term. It’s what an army needs to win the battle.

But this is in the negative. Jesus is saying that the Gates of Hell—whatever they are—may fight the ekklesia but they will not win. The battle will rage long and hard, soldiers will die on every side, and the gates of Hell may win a few skirmishes, a whole string of battles, but they will not win the war. The gates of Hell are strong, but they aren’t strong enough.

Second, the phrase “of Hell” doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it means. When we hear the word “Hell,” we think of a place with fire and brimstone, a place were lost men and women suffer eternally. The Bible indeed speaks of such a place and it is called Hell.

But the Greek word Jesus used is hades. It does not always refer to the place of eternal torment. Did you know that in Greek mythology there was a character whose name was Hades? He was the god of the underworld. Specifically, he was the god of the realm of the dead. Hades just comes from two Greek words. It literally means “not to see.” Hades in the Bible generally refers to the invisible realm of the dead. In that sense it corresponds to the Hebrew word sheol. It is that shadowy, unseen world where the dead go. And here’s an important fact: When the Bible speaks of Hades it is not necessarily making a distinction between the saved and the lost. It is simply the land of the dead.

Let me say it plainly. The Bible does teach that some will suffer eternally in a place of terrible torment. The Greek word most often used for that place is gehenna. But when the Bible speaks of the invisible realm of the dead, the word it uses is hades.

So Jesus is saying that the gates of the realm of the dead will never overpower the ekklesia. But what are the “gates?”

Third, the word “gates” is a very common Greek word. “Gates” are a means of entrance by which you pass from one realm to another. Gates serve two purposes—they keep people in and they keep people out. For instance, this same word is used for the gates of the city of Jerusalem, for the gates to the temple, and for prison gates. Gates are a means of access, a means of entry.

If hades is the land of the dead, what is the gate by which you enter that realm? Death. You have to die to enter the realm of the dead. Death is the gateway to hades.

What, then, is Jesus saying? He is saying that death and all its ugly power will never overcome the ekklesia He is building.

But why did He say that? Because He knew something his disciples didn’t know. If you have your Bible, drop down just three verses to verse 21: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” To us, this is old news. We’ve heard it a thousand times. But to the disciples, this was first they had heard about it. Jesus … the Messiah … the Son of God … was going to die.

Now connect verse 18 with verse 21. When Jesus said the power of death will never overcome the ekklesia, he said it because when he rose from the dead, he broke open the gates of hades. Up until Jesus’ day no one had ever escaped from the land of the dead. But Jesus did. And he came out holding the keys in his hand.

That’s what Revelation 1:18 says. “I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” How do you get the keys to Hades? You break the gate wide open. You die and then you come back from the dead.

And that is why the gates of Hades—death itself—can never overpower the ekklesia. Because Jesus Christ has died and come back from the dead and he holds in his hand the keys to the gates of Hades.

What and Where is your Soul? (Part 2)

Part 2

That’s why God brings revelation. Some of it you can really get, some of it you have to think about it, but think about it while you’re clean. All right? I’m not even necessarily talking about sin. I’m talking about deposits… Do you know God does things with the layers of your soul? He said: “Don’t leave that part out. That’s the best part!” You can give layers of your soul to Him and He does things with them. Here’s one: You are seated in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus. And when you get born again, they take a layer of your soul, you know what it looks like? A transparent image of you, and it is literally seated already, right now, in Heavenly places. And your soul, down here inside of you is being affected by that, or you still wouldn’t be alive right now sitting in this meeting. So Heaven also can affect you. 

So you do things with the layers of your soul. He uses layers Himself. People sometimes have dreams at night. They think it’s their spirit being taken, but it’s actually a layer of their soul that looks like them. To foreign countries, they preach the gospel in the known language, and people get healed and saved, then they come back, and they wake up, and they kind of remember, but they don’t know how it happened. You gave Him permission. Because you are not your own when you receive Him… 

You are perfectly and wonderfully made in Their image. And the way the Holy Spirit does so much is with the layers of Himself. And you’re going to learn in the years ahead that what you put in there, will make you more effective, walk in more power, receive more understanding. You start sticking revelation in there, your soul is going to prosper. So before I teach you to release the anointing. It’s already living in you. You know you get a deposit of that too? “How does that happen?” You get a deposit put in your soul when you are born again. They take a layer of your soul to Heaven. It is seated in Heavenly places. It’s not a spiritual thing or symbolic. It’s really there. It’s like you being there. And because they take the layer, they put something in you. Do you know what it is? 1 John 2:27. When you receive Jesus Christ, you receive a deposit of the anointing and it abides in you. It abides in you. It abides in one of the layers of your soul. That’s a good thing that brings light, it brings life to you, and power available for you to use it in the earth. And tonight you’re going to be taught how to release it…"

“You got bushwhacked! You’re going to hear about Heaven and earth living in you. And then I’m going to impart even more into you. I’m going to impart the “lightning power of God”. What is that? That’s some of God’s own personal power that you as His child have access to. Because you’re seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You have access to what Christ has access to. And He is His Father. He is your Father. You have access to use that power on this earth. What does it do? The same thing it did the first time He used it. It kicked the devil out! 

Isn’t this wild? I love God. He had an army, one third of all the angels was the army, and there was nobody to fight. There was no war in Heaven until Lucifer tried to take over. But an army was there! Michael’s headquarters was operating. They were all being trained, and they had nothing to do but maneuvers. It’s really true. They were there. Michael is the captain of the host in Heaven. He has a headquarters. And there’s a lot of activity of them coming and going all of the time. Fighting on behalf of you. 

They actually are brought back and they have to play. God has places in Heaven for angels to play. Because they need “R n R”. You’re there getting your reward. They’re still fighting for you. They’re always fighting for you. The host are. He makes them stop and play. And the other thing He’s telling me to tell all of you: “You got to pray, but you’d better play”. In this season on the earth, we will learn to play if you never did before, you will learn to play! It makes you a better person. The world also has no problem doing their job, and then stopping and playing. There the ones getting all the good vacations. Aren’t you tired of that? Well you’re going to own those places they come to vacation, ok? We are going to play and pray at this time on the earth. You’re supposed to enjoy your life. So you need to learn to play and pray.”

“You need to learn to watch what you do when God said guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life. He is not talking about this physical heart. He is talking about the heart of your spirit, which is right here. Right here is where all of the activity takes place in your spirit. It’s the very heart of your being. The heart of your spiritual being. This is also where the heart of God is, right here. His heart is an amazing thing. It’s absolutely beautiful. Almost blinding, it’s so beautiful. It’s what sends the rainbows shooting out of Him. The waves of glory that are living and moving in and out of Him. And so life flows from here. 

Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life. Why would He say guard it if there wasn’t a need? You guard it against darkness coming in. You guard it, so that nothing of the enemy can get into you by the choices you make with your will, which is also a part of your soul. Your soul is of major importance to you. Your will is there. Your mind is there. The things you think on. The decisions you make. Your emotions. They’re either going to be strong, and filled with joy and victory and excitement and expectancy, or the enemy’s going to get a hold of them. 

So you don’t enter into things that hold great darkness. You just can’t do it. You may have gotten away with it in the past, but we’re in an accelerated season. And the blessings are going to start coming quickly. I promise you, they will start coming quickly to you. Your rewards that He said you would have on earth are going to start coming quickly. You’re not going to wait years and years for them. They’ll actually overtake what you actually do, that you would have gotten them for. We’re in that season. 

The consequences are also going to come quickly. That’s so you don’t get off the path and start getting away with getting other things that you used to do. We’ve got to change the way we live. When you chose Him, you chose a lifestyle. You didn’t chose a way out of Hell. You chose a lifestyle. To be like Him. He came to save this world. We have a mission. Save the world. Change the world, and get them saved through Him. So if you say you don’t have a vision or a purpose, that’s it right there. If He didn’t give you anything else, that’s it. 

And He is totally taking every area of society. I absolutely agree about the entertainment industry. It’s going to be turned upside down. They want people to come and watch their garbage, they’d better start changing what they’re putting out there. And they don’t show that stuff in Heaven, and they have movie theaters in Heaven… 

God loves stories. That’s why Jesus talked in parables. I love the whole story thing. He’s writing another story. It will be one of the greatest films every show in all of eternity. It’s us doing the manifested works. You’re going to be in it starring. The world’s going to be looking at you. They’re going to be watching your race, and we are going to manifest for God.”

“This is so simple. We’re going to get rid of anything that was placed in the layers of our soul, and that way your soul can prosper. And you’ll begin to prosper after tonight, because your soul will be healthy. Not only is it going to be empty of that, it’s going to be filled up with God. You’re going to empowered. The anointing going to be stirred up, you’re going to be releasing it. The more you release, the more you get. That’s why it was only a deposit. That right there is the deposit in your soul. You’re just going to keep getting more and more. The more you release, the more powerful it becomes. And then you get filled with the lightning power of God that destroys darkness…

He took me forward in time, and I saw believers doing this? “So what’s in your layers?” …Have you got anything you need to be cleaned out of the layers of your soul? What does your soul look like? What’s in your layers? 

…And you know what happens? When you allow things to deposit in the layers of your soul, you know people say, “It opens the door to the enemy”, you’re actually opening a layer. When you embrace the things of the enemy, or run after that, you open a layer of your soul, and things are deposited in there from the enemy, and that gives him entrance. It’s not about being demon possessed. Everybody thinks everybody’s possessed with something. It isn’t always that. Sometimes it is, but that’s your spirit, not your soul. He wants to possess your spirit, because he wants to get in your body. He doesn’t have a body. We’re made in God’s image. He is not made in God’s image. The devil doesn’t hate you, he is terrified of you. Because you have the power of God on the inside of you and when he sees us begin to operate the way we are, he’s really going to get terrified. 

And the reason why the darkness will get darker is because He’s erasing the “gray” and there’s nothing but light and darkness. Guess what? Let’s do a math thing right here. If He says great darkness is coming on the earth, but then He says, “It will never be greater than the light”. I think that means there will be more light than darkness. Don’t you think so? So stop looking at the world turning all evil and bad and wicked right now, we haven’t even begun to walk in what He has for us. But we will, and if you don’t believe it, just wait and see what happens!

“So right now we’re going to declare some things as an act of your will. Let’s just say this first:

‘Father, I want to be squeaky clean. My soul, I want it to prosper. So I’m receiving revelation, and tonight I’m going to loose anything that’s been deposited in my soul that doesn’t belong to You. Whether a person, a place, or a thing, I’m breaking that. I’m going to send out that layer that I’ve retained, whether it was another person’s soul, an addiction, a traumatic experience, whether it was a person, place, or thing. I’m not keeping anything. So Father as an act of my will, I loose from my soul anything that doesn’t belong to You, that resembles darkness in any way. That keeps me in bondage, in turmoil, in lack, or addictive behavior. And now I renounce any association with any of the people, the places, or the things that I gave myself to, and I call back that part of myself that I gave away. I receive it back in Jesus’ name, so my soul can be whole.’ 

Because I can see in the spirit, I see things living in people like dark matter shooting out of you, like fast!”

What and Where is your Soul? (Part 1)

The Temple: Spirit, Soul, & Body 

Sermon by Kat Kerr

Part 1

“So He gave me this amazing message called: “The Temple: Spirit, Soul, & Body”, and of course you are a spirit, most people know we’re a spirit. We have a soul, and we live in a body. 

Actually your soul is part of your spirit. It’s the core part of it. One of the most important parts of your being is your soul. 

It’s talked about so many times in the Word, yet everybody overlooks it, yet it affects so many parts of your being, your entire being. Your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. That pretty much says everything about you right there, doesn’t it? And what you allow to be placed in your soul, will affect your mind, your will, your emotions. When you let darkness enter in, it’s going to affect your mind, your will, and your emotions. And your soul can’t prosper. Now I didn’t know all this about the soul, until He showed me this… He gave me a message called: The Temple: Spirit, Soul, and Body, and how those three things represent the Trinity. We are made in Their image and after Their likeness, and they’re all each different beings. Jesus is God in the flesh. Your body represents that. God come in the flesh. Your spirit represents the Father. He is the Spirit, and the Father of spirits. But your soul, represents the image of the Holy Spirit. 

And He said, “I’m going to show you a revelation that many people talk about. They don’t understand…” (that’s what revelation does -- it reveals), He said: “Everybody wants to know how can the Holy Spirit be in Heaven, be on earth, and be in us, all at the same time?” And the Father said: “Because He is a layered being.” He has layers, unlimited layers of Himself. Not like stacks of paper. And I don’t like to use this, but it’s the only thing I can think of, it’s like an onion (which is very spicy). If you took a layer of an onion off without cutting it, it would sit there by itself, like a round whole, right? It would look just like the onion, but it would be a layer of it. Then there’s another layer, another layer, another layer, but it’s still all an onion. (He said He likes a “tender, flakey, biscuit better!”). He actually said: “Why don’t you use a tender, flakey biscuit? That sounds so much more appetizing!” And if you don’t know the Holy Spirit, you’re going to find out about Him. The Drama King. The call Jesus the “King of Kings”, and He is The Drama King. 

And so He is a layered being and He began to explain to me that when He sends a layer of Himself somewhere, it is a “whole” of Himself, because He’s God. It doesn’t matter how many layers He sends somewhere, everybody here, you could be filled, the infilling, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, means He sent a layer of Himself into you when you got baptized in the Holy Ghost. Why do you think He calls it “baptized”. The infilling means He sent a layer of His being, and it lives in you, and that makes you the temple of the Holy Spirit. Is that cool? That means He’s there. He’s with you, 24/7. And He moved in.

“And so that’s why your soul has layers in it, and it represents Him, because He can send a layer of Himself wherever He wants to.”

In the earth, over the earth. In every one of us. He still has unlimited layers, but everyone of those is a whole, and that whole is aware of everything. It goes on, all at the same time. Your soul has layers in it. It has layers, and you deposit things in those layers. And many people who struggle to get healed or delivered of things like addictions, or other things like that, they don’t understand why. I used to deal with that a lot. I did deliverance before, in prophetic ministry. And I knew, I would tell people, “Break that tie. Break that soul tie with that person.” But you can make a soul tie with a person, a place, or a thing, because you “give yourself” to it. The Word says “Give yourself to God”. It talks about you giving yourself to darkness. You give a layer of your soul to darkness, and they have the right to torture that. And people have nightmares and dreams. That’s inside. They don’t know why. It’s because they need to get that out of their soul… Anyway, the spirit represents the Father, I’m just going to go back there for a minute. He is light. Our spirit is made out of light. But your soul also, because it is a part of your spirit, the core of your spirit has light in it. And the way you become light in the world, whatever you join yourself to, a husband and wife, you give a layer of your soul to each other. That’s what binds you in marriage, by the way. The ‘bonds of marriage”. You’re bonding together. That’s how that happens.

“Some people understand about breaking the soul ties. If it’s an abusive relationship, you have to break that. What people do, is they call back that part of themselves they gave away, and send away the part they retained of that person. What they don’t understand is, it’s actually a layer of your soul that you give them to each other. And that’s why it talks about in the Bible, certain sins are worse than the others because of what happens when you do that. You’re giving a layer of your soul away. 

You don’t sell your soul to the devil. You give it to him. It’s true. You give yourself to drugs. You cause a “tie”. You cause a tie. That’s an addiction. You give yourself to that. And He said: “The reason people have a hard time breaking that, is because they may have walked away, they may have gone to recovery, they may have had prayer, but that has to be loosed from here where you deposited it in the layer of your soul.” Because you embraced it at one point in your life. You embraced it. And there’s places you can also be addicted to, a place. 

You create a tie with that place, and it has to be broken. It can even be a traumatic situation in your life, where you embrace that trauma you had in your life, and it affects you for the rest of your life. And I actually just prayed with somebody who, like two weeks ago, and she was so free. She had two abusive marriages, and wanted to be free. She said the torment’s still come to her. But it was inside her, and she didn’t understand it. She didn’t understand how it could be. I said, “I know exactly what it is, and we are going to get rid of it.” Because you have to loose that. 

The keys to binding and loosing have to do with your soul. When you take an offense, you’re taking it. You’re binding that to you. 

And when you bind it to you, it’s bound in Heaven, because you made that decision. You bound it. When you loose people from offense, and you loose that from yourself, it is loosed in Heaven. It can’t have any hold on you. I don’t care what it is. 

This is what the Father revealed to me. You can be free of anything, even cigarettes. People fight that all of the time. Believer’s fight it all of the time. I can’t get rid of it. It’s because they allowed the deposit of that addiction to be placed in here, and you have to loose it from yourself. You do it yourself. It’s with your will. Because some of those things, if you keep them in there. You see, God wants His people clean of everything, so you can be filled with the glory, and that power of God. You can stand there and say, “There is no darkness in me!”. 

When you run after witchcraft, and the movies, like Harry Potter, I’m just going to say it, the Father said: “The world is drunk on the wine of Harry Potter witchcraft”. And you may not know this, but they sell spell kits now. And your kids can buy them, and they can learn spells in this book, and they actually have magic wands and stuff, to learn how to cast spells on people. If you read all of the books in the public library, they give your kid a certificate that says you just got awarded Witchcraft 101. The enemy is using it as seeds. And so when you enter into that, a deposit of that is placed right here. He’s seeding people to receive the lying signs and wonders which are not here yet. And the reason he’ll have to use the lying signs and wonders is because they’ll know there’s a God. Right now, that’s what he uses. The lie that there is no God. 

Well, when we wipe that lie out, he’s going to have to come up with something new, because no one’s going to believe him! They literally at one point will not believe that there is not a God, because they’ve seen Him manifested everywhere all over the earth. These people handling the wealth, doing the rescuing, walking in power and authority, stopping the earthquakes - putting them back the way it was before it came. He is going to manifest everywhere in this world, until they know there’s a God. That’s with the knowledge, that’s knowing, understanding of the glory; that’s God’s power on us, we’ll cover this earth like the waters cover the sea, so they’ll know He is real. So he can’t use the lie anymore, so he will come up with the lying signs and wonders. And one of those is, that there is good witchcraft and bad witchcraft. And you can be a part of this “good” coven, I’m telling you it will happen because He showed it to me. You’ll be a part of this “good” coven where they practice “good witchcraft” and heal people, and raise the dead, and “We’re not bad”; “Do you know who we are?” “You’ve been watching us all along.”

“And the people who have received that have seeds in them. You know what happens to seeds? (We’re going to pluck any seeds out today!) He said: “You’re going to get them free. Get the layers of their soul cleaned out.” And you may not believe what I’m telling you, but I’m going to show you in the Word where it talks about it. It talks about in the Word, where your soul can be “vexed”. That’s what happened to Lot. He was around so much darkness. Your soul can be sick, can be vexed. It can be whole. It can be fruitful. It can be joyful. It even can find rest, and it says it can be clean, through truth. Obeying the truth. That’s what the Word says…” 

So today we’re going to do that, and I’m going to show you why so many believers aren’t prospering right now. Because they have allowed things. This is what Father told me: “Whatever you enter into, will enter into your life”. And I knew He wasn’t talking about being possessed… It is because whatever you enter into, will enter into your soul. Whether it’s light or darkness. He wants you to deposit light there. Then you become brighter. When it says, “Don’t hide your light”, the way you hide it is by depositing darkness in there. And a lot of the body, unfortunately, are running after vampires and witches more than they are God. And they’re depositing a lot of darkness in their souls. And they may say there a believer, and they may be a believer, but guess what? They’re not going to be able to do very much for Him. And they’re not going to be prosperous, because the Word says this: “I desire above all things, that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers” - right there. And people don’t understand the second half. Your soul can’t prosper if it’s filled with things that shouldn’t be there. 

And so God’s bringing revelation about your soul. Today we’re getting that all cleaned out. And I don’t care if it was even something you experienced even as a child, a traumatic thing, for whatever reason it was embraced by your soul, you can’t get the memory out. It won’t go away from you. You have night torments and dreams. They will stop. After today you won’t have them anymore. Because guess what? They’ll be none of him in you. That’s what the Lord meant, when He said: “There’s none of him in Me”. He never embraced any of that stuff. He got filled with light. With the presence of God. With the power of God. And that’s what we’re going to be, when we begin to manifest for Him. So right along, God always brings that instruction, edification. If we need a little correction, is because He loves you, and so He’s bringing that to you. You’ve got to have the whole meal. Then you get the desert. You get to demonstrate.

“Because He said right now in this season, there is a window of revelation. Then there is a window of preparation, a short window of time for you to get yourself in order, because it’s accelerated. It’s not going to take you very long, and then the whole rest of the season will be demonstration. Amen?!

So I know you may be still trying to understand some of this, but it does talk about in the Word, your soul being sick. That you can give yourself to something. It says, don’t give yourself. Don’t mix the darkness with the light. How does that happen? It happens in your soul. And everything you put in there is going to affect your mind, your will, or your emotions. Which is what you’re going to be manifesting with. You’re going to be manifesting with what’s coming out of you. 

What you choose is your will, an act of your will. You’re manifesting that. Your emotions you give, whether it’s joy, victory, edification, excitement, expectancy is going to come from your soul. If it’s doom and gloom and depression, oppression, lack, and fear, that also comes from your soul. So we’re plucking all of that junk out of there today, so there isn’t anything left in you. Do you agree? 

What lies ahead for 2013?

Knowing the future is a very powerful thing. If we knew exactly what was going to happen, we would be able to play the stock market very profitably, buy property in the right places, make strategic decisions with 100% confidence. In fact every decision that we would normally make on a day to day basis would be affected, if we had a true knowledge of the future. 

God has put into all living beings, a survival instinct. For us humans, our interpretation of survival is affected by the most pressing need at the time e.g. money, protection, health, food,  warmth, friendship, peace, rest etc.

Knowing the future and having the wisdom to make the right decisions that lead to our survival, ensuring all our needs are met, is something we all strive for. The reality however is that for most of us, for most of the time, we don't know the future. Therefore, sometimes we don't know what the right decision is on a particular issue.

Fortunately, there are many things that we need to make decisions about for which we can obtain guidance, either from the Bible, or from others who are further down the road and they can give us advice. Of course we have to be careful about who we take advice from because not everyone will give the correct advice. Using our logic, common sense, experience, and gut feel, we process all the inputs, wait on God, listen for His voice and then need to take a step in faith. 

The "waiting on God" part, is an important step in the process because we need help in discerning the different voices. The leading of the Holy Spirit is usually gentle and peaceful, He gives us that sense that this is the right thing to do. If we don't wait for that peace, we run the risk of being led by our own selfish desires and falling into the trap of the enemy.

One thing we can be certain of is that the Holy Spirit will never lead us in contradiction to the Word of God. There are some very powerful guiding principles that will help us discern the voice of the Holy Spirit that we can find in the scriptures. The book of Proverbs, for one, is a good place to start looking for guiding principles. Another good place to find life principles is to study the parables of Jesus. There is one particular parable that we must take note of. This can be found in Luke 12:13, "The Parable of the Rich Fool". Jesus goes on to explain what He means by this parable, from vs 22 onwards.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry

²² Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life^[b]? ²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Bible is clear that God wants us to prosper, but this is not at the expense of others. Godly prosperity is not equivalent to materialism. When one becomes so disconnected from the poor and needy and live an insular lifestyle, not really being concerned to help them, not having love and compassion for the needs of others, one is surely on a slippery slope. The true test of our love for God is our love for others, especially those in need. God wants us to prosper so we can help others. We are meant to be blessed to be a blessing, not to to be selfish and squander wealth on our own lusts.

With a clear balanced understanding of the scriptures, taking especially close notice of what Jesus has to say in the Gospels, we can find some genuine guiding principles that will help us discern the voice of the Holy Spirit and make good decisions in 2013.

We dont always know what the future holds, but if we put our trust in the One who holds the future, if we take His word to heart and not just be a hearer, but a doer, we will build our lives on a solid foundation and when the storms come, our lives wont fall apart, they will be able to withstand the storm. We can therefore be assured that our future will have a good outcome because He has good plans for us. The key to a successful 2013 is staying close, living under His wings, being so close that we can hear His heart beat, i.e. having a true intimate relationship with all three members of the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.