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PREACHING AGAINST THE GATES OF HELL

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Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.


Have you ever truly thought about the word rock in this verse? What rock was Jesus talking about? In Matthew 16:13 we see Jesus and his disciples coming into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, which was an ancient Roman city located at the Southwest base of Mount Hermon, which present day is an uninhabited location in the Golan Heights area. This is not to be confused with Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean, Caesarea in Israel or Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia. Caesarea Philippi was a city located within the region known as Panion, which was the region of the Greek god Pan (fertility god) a pagan city filled with immoral corruption (fascinating study). The cave there was used to throw sacrificed carcasses into after the ceremonies as the water within the cave could never be measured and was speculated to be at least 800 feet deep. The Pagans believed the water symbolized the Abyss (Hell) and the cave was the gate to the underworld (Hell). Watching the water flow red out of the cave gave confirmation that the god of the underworld had accepted their pagan sacrifices.

In verse 13 it says Jesus only came into the coast as you could only see the hill from standing below it. I don't feel that Jesus actually took his disciples up the hill into the city as I think they would have fled seeing all the evil there.

Jesus knew his time was growing short and this is why he brought his Disciples to Caesarea Philippi to stand on the very rock of evil to show them the purpose of his ministry and the continued work of the Disciples to bring the word of God to all nations no matter how corrupt they were so the Disciples would not fear what they were about to face. This is why Jesus kept asking them who he was because he wanted them to be aware and prepared for the journey they were about to take after his death and resurrection. Peter's eyes were opened to the fact of who Jesus was and why he was sent here teaching the things he taught as being the only son of god. Upon this rock of evil I will build my church (we who are Gods vessel) and that no evil will they fear as I pour out my Spirit upon them that Satan and his demons from Hell (gates of hell) can not come against that Spirit in them.

The keys of the kingdom of heaven they were given (as we too are given) was and is Gods power and authority as we are the vessels of God used by him to bind the evil here on earth through Gods' power in heaven and to loose that evil in man by the power of Gods' word in heaven that loosens the evil in man here on earth. We do preach against the gates of hell as we bring the good news of Gods' Salvation to his people so they can be loosed of the evil forces in the world to live eternally with the Father.
 
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The koiné Greek word for "gates" is pule (poo'-lay) which means: the leaf or wing of a folding entrance (literally or figuratively)
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Nowhere in the entire New Testament— from Matthew to Revelation, —does pule depict either devils or demons. In every case, pule depicts literal gates; which tells me that just as the holy city of Rev 21:10-Rev 22:15 is a heavenly colony enclosed with walls and gates, so the unholy city of hell is a penal colony enclosed with walls and gates.
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Now, the interesting thing about hell's gates is that they are powerless to confine the Lord's church; so that if one of the Lord's sheep should somehow slip through a crack and end up in the wrong place; they will be able to slip past those gates and stroll on out of hell's penal colony like a tourist in Venice.
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