In Matthew 16:18, Jesus spoke about His Church and the gates of hell. Jesus not only promised that He would build His Church upon the testimony of Peter, which happened on the Day of Pentecost, but Jesus promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church. What are the gates of hell and how shall the gates of hell not prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ according to the Bible?
What authority has Jesus Christ in heaven and on earth?
Jesus has the highest authority in heaven and earth. The Father gave His Son Jesus this position and the power after His sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension.
When Jesus died on the cross and took all the sins and iniquities of the world upon Him, Jesus entered Hell (Hades). However, the death wasn’t strong enough to keep Jesus there. After 3 days, Jesus rose from the dead and left by the power of God and left an empty tomb.
Through His death, Jesus overcame the devil that had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Jesus conquered death and legally took back the keys of hell and death.
Jesus is seated in heaven on the right hand of the Father and has the highest authority in heaven and on earth.
He is the faithful Witness, the First Begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. (Revelation 1:5).
Jesus is the Head of His Church (the assembly of born-again believers that are His witnesses on earth).
As long as the Church is seated in Christ and stays in Him, His Church has the highest authority on earth. This means that the Church has power over hell and death, the kingdom of the devil (darkness).
The Church of Jesus Christ is the most powerful spiritual organization on earth. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Body of Jesus Christ; the Church.
This is the truth, and this is the way it should be.
But how come, that many times we don’t see this truth manifesting in the natural? How come that satanic powers have free rein in the church and prevail against local churches? What must Christians do to ensure that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church according to the Bible?
The Church is an Embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
The Church must acknowledge that the Church is the embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. She is the assembly of believers, who are born again in Christ by water and Spirit. The Church is the connection on earth between people and the Kingdom of Heaven.
The assembly of Jesus Christ represents God’s spiritual power and Kingdom on earth.
The Church is an Embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven that is appointed and founded on earth and acts on behalf of Jesus Christ in His authority and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Head of the Church. He (the Word) controls the Church through the Holy Spirit Who dwells in the born-again believers.
The faithless church
The Church of Jesus Christ is spiritual and led and controlled by the Word and the Holy Spirit. Without the Word and the Holy Spirit, the church is nothing more than a (social) humanistic organization that is spiritually dead.
Without the Word and the Holy Spirit, the church is carnal and a worldly organization that is controlled and led by carnal knowledge, wisdom, and methods of this world (human wisdom, philosophies, and strategies) and uses natural means. The church will be controlled through the flesh by the darkness instead of through the Spirit by the Light.
The carnal church walks after the flesh and is led by her senses, emotions, feelings, and intelligence. The people shall be the center of the church instead of Jesus. Therefore, the church focuses on pleasing people instead of pleasing Jesus Christ and glorifying the Father.
The church shall be occupied with the things of this world and follow the spirits (trends) of this world. The carnal church shall tolerate sin and change the words of God to the lusts, desires, feelings, the will, and lives of people.
The church shall resist and rebel against the Truth of God and defile the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world (darkness).
The church shall not be occupied with the things of the Kingdom of God and shall not instruct and correct Christians in the Bible, so that they get to know the will of God and adjust their lives to the Word and will of God, and grow up into mature sons of God (this applies to both males and females), who live holy and righteous lives. But the church shall be occupied with death works that are done by the flesh.
A faithless church is carnal and operates in the physical realm
A carnal church is unspiritual and operates in the physical realm instead of the spiritual realm. Although the church has a lot of carnal head knowledge and trusts in her intellect, she is spiritually ignorant and spiritually dead. Because of that, the spirits of this world can easily enter the church through the lives of people and take their place without any resistance from the church leaders.
The church shall try to take authority over the evil powers of darkness but shall fail. That’s because the believers that are the church are dominated and controlled by the same powers of darkness, whom they seek to dominate and take authority over.
A carnal church is not able to take its position in the spiritual realm. It’s even dangerous when a carnal church tries to enter the spiritual realm, because the church will enter the spiritual realm out of the soul instead of the Spirit. This means, that they are not protected in Christ.
Without the protection of Jesus Christ, the church shall be overwhelmed by the evil powers of darkness.
This becomes visible in the natural realm by the fruit that the church (the believers) bears, the teachings and decisions that are made in the church that oppose the will of God and His Word.
When shall the gates of hell prevail against the Church?
The gates of hell shall prevail against the Church when the church abandons the Word and becomes worldly and tolerates sin in the church. Through sin, the devil and hell take dominion over the church and control the church.
The gates represent entrance, authority, power, dominion, wisdom, and counsel. In the Old Testament, we read that the elders of a city were gathered in the gates to give counsel and to make important decisions. When the church is disconnected from the Word, then through sin, the gates of hell shall prevail against the church.
This means that the church shall be inspired by the kingdom of darkness and operate in the occult power of darkness. The church shall speak and do those things that contradict the Word of God and His will.
What is a faithful church?
A faithful church is a church that is spiritual and stays faithful to Jesus Christ; the living Word and the Holy Spirit. The faithful church walks according to the Law of Christ in His authority and has dominion over the host of darkness and brings the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
Shall the gates of hell prevail against a faithful church?
No, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the faithful church, because the faithful church is spiritual and takes her position in Christ in this world and stands her ground. The life reigns instead of death.
The church takes authority and reigns spiritually over areas and claims territories and souls for the Kingdom of God. The church shall claim and save as many souls as possible from the hands of the devil, who is the prince of this world.
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 16:18)
In churches where the Holy Spirit is present in the lives of Christians, the people who live in sin and are devoted to sin will be confronted with their sins. That’s because the Holy Spirit reproves the world of sin (a.o. John 16:8-11).
When the Holy Spirit reproves them of their sins and their sinful fallen state, they have two options:
They can decide to repent of their sins, turn their lives to Jesus Christ to serve and follow Him, or to continue living in sin and stay obedient to the devil and serve him.
That’s why the church should take her place in Christ, in the spirit, in the heavenly places. The church must reign from that position and protect the church against all the evil forces of darkness.
The church should be guided by the Word and the Holy Spirit, so that the world will be reproved of sin.
The importance of knowing the Word
The assembly of Jesus Christ must know the Word and the will of God, so that the congregation will walk by faith and can pray according to the will of God and intercede not only for the believers, but also for the people who don’t know Jesus, and for villages, cities, and countries and claim them for the Kingdom of God.
Only when the church takes its position in the spirit and is led by the Word and the Holy Spirit, shall the church know and recognize its enemy.
The works of the devil and hell shall become visible by the Word. The devil shall come and try to enter as an angel of light through the lives of Christians. But if the church discerns the spirits, the church shall close the spiritual gates for the devil and his demons, so that they can’t enter the church.
Jesus has all authority in the heavens and on earth
Jesus has all authority in the heavens and on the earth, and He has given all authority to His church, His body. Now it’s up to Christians what they do with this responsibility, authority, and power on this earth.
And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all
Ephesians 1:22-23
What does it mean the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church?
If we stay faithful to Jesus Christ and remain in Him, then the gates shall not prevail against the Church. We should build the church upon the Rock and not only be hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word. This means that we keep His words, speak His words, and be doers of His words, and represent Jesus Christ and do what He commanded us to do. (i.e. Matthew 28:18-19, Mark 16:15-18, John 20:23).
Only when we stay in His Word, the gates of hell that represent the kingdom of the devil, shall not prevail.
That’s the promise that Jesus gave to His Church (the assembly of born-again believers that walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh).
Jesus knew the devil and He knew what His work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead would cause.
Jesus knew that the devil would be furious if Jesus would take all authority from the devil.
Therefore, Jesus knew that the devil would try anything to attack His body, His church, and destroy His body.
That’s why Jesus gave the church His Word and His promise, that as long as we stay in Him the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.
The attack of the devil and hell on the church
The devil knows how dangerous a living, victorious church is that is faithful to God and walks after the Spirit in the authority of Jesus Christ. A church that doesn’t focus on entertaining and pleasing people and their carnal enrichment and prosperity, focuses on Jesus Christ and the mission of the Kingdom of God.
The devil doesn’t want his kingdom to be destroyed. That’s why the devil has one mission, and that is to extinguish the Light.
He wants to spiritually eliminate every local church in every city. The devil succeeds in eliminating local churches by cutting them off from the power Source and connecting them to himself. This way, the church has no authority and power and is seated in darkness, operating from the power of darkness.
How does the devil cut off the church from the power Source?
The devil cuts off the Church from the power Source by removing the words of God and the testimony of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, which is the foundation of the Church and replaces them with worldly knowledge and wisdom of man.
The devil wants to build the church upon human knowledge and powers. Because the devil knows that without Jesus; the Word, the church has no power at all. Besides that, it will ensure that Christians shall depart from the Word and keep living in sin.
Sin gives access and power to the devil and hell. The more the church tolerates and allows sin, the more power will be given to the devil and his kingdom.
As long as Christians live in sin, the kingdom of darkness; the devil and hell, have power and dominion over their lives. Because of that, the devil has power over the church.
The church shall live in darkness and be controlled by the powers of darkness and is led by the wisdom and knowledge of this world and false revelations. This wisdom and knowledge of the world and these false revelations rebel against the Word and the will of God.
What happens when the gates of hell prevail against the church?
The counselors of the kingdom of darkness shall inspire church leaders so that they shall be deceived and deviate from the Word and a holy lifestyle. The church thinks she is inspired by the Holy Spirit and that she lives in freedom. But the truth is that she is bound by hell.
The lifestyle of carnal Christians gives access to the devil and hell. They will be inspired by the evil spirits of darkness and follow up their counsel. Because of that, Christians become lukewarm and tolerant.
The church shall no longer intercede for the people and guard the spiritual gates of the church, but shall leave the gates wide open for sin and death to enter.
They think that they are merciful and walk in love by being tolerant to people and by allowing pagan religions and philosophies and allowing sin. However, the truth is that they are workers of iniquity and servants of the devil.
Because of this human behavior, the Body of Christ is affected by sin and death. Sin proliferates like cancer in the Body.
Everything that takes place in the spiritual world will eventually become visible in the church, in the lives of Christians.
Therefore, if the gates of hell have prevailed against the church, this becomes visible in the lives of the members of the church and the fruit they bear.
A lukewarm church that walks in sin
They shall persevere in sin and live in rebellion against the Word and grieve the Holy Spirit. They shall be lukewarm and spiritually slumber. Their tongue shall be an instrument of the devil and shall be used for his kingdom.
They shall live like the world, complain, and be unforgiving. They shall be unhappy, depressed, overwhelmed by fear, self-pity, self-rejection, and suicidal (thoughts). They’ll divorce, commit adultery and other sexual uncleanness and perversion, and they will be affected by sickness, which leads to death.
When these things occur in a church or congregation, it’s not God’s or Jesus’ fault. But it is the fault of the church, that didn’t stay loyal and faithful to the Word and the Holy Spirit, but are led astray and entered self-chosen paths. The church has put the counsel of the world above the counsel of the Lord. (Read also: Stop blaming God).
Therefore, let the church of Jesus Christ repent and renounce sin, by removing the sin from her midst. This means, that the church shall not allow herself to be led by her carnal senses, feelings, emotions, opinion, and intellect (flesh). But that the church shall be led by the Word and the Holy Spirit.
The responsibility of the church of Jesus Christ
If there are members in the church who don’t live according to the Word and do things that go against the will of God, then it’s the church’s responsibility and task to confront the person. So that the person is able to repent of the sin on the testimony of the Word.
However, if the person is not willing to repent, then it’s the responsibility of the church to remove the person from the church and deliver the person to satan.
This may sound harsh, but it’s necessary. Because through the sin of the person, the devil and hell shall enter the church and shall affect the lives of the other believers. That’s why it’s so important to remove sin from the Body of Christ.
Conclusion
Let the church return to the Word, remove the sins and iniquities out of her midst, and take her position in Jesus Christ. So that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. But that the church shall become a living militant and victorious church, that is seated in Jesus Christ.
If you want to read more about the devil’s tactics and his attack on the church, you can read the following blog posts by clicking on the links:
- The world church is being prepared for the antichrist
- How doctrines of devils are killing the church; the Body of Christ
- Is Jesus thrown out of the church?
- The church seated in darkness
- What is wrong with the church?
- How do you recognize false prophets?
- Many pastors are leading the sheep to the abyss
- The power of the devil is powered by sin
- The wolves in sheep’s clothing wreak havoc
‘Be the salt of the earth’
