Gates of hell and the advancement of the kingdom

Today,near the close of his msg, our pastor quoted the verse where Jesus tells Peter that upon this rock He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it- he then made a point that gates are generally a defensive measure and suggested that we are not to simply "hold the fort" but advance the kingdom against the gates of hell and that they (the gates) would not be able to withstand this advance:)

This was a new take on this verse for me and I was very much moved by it. Have any other saints on SI had/heard this perspective before? And if so what strategies have you successfully employed in doing this?

It's funny you mention this because my wife and I were watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy over the long weekend and in two of the movies the walls needed to be breached by the enemy forces.

They did this in several ways: 1) going over the top using ladders and ropes 2) using explosive device to breach the wall 3) battering rams 4) catapults.

Persistence, coordinated effort, courage, cunning, and willingness to sacrifice oneself were all necessary in order to breach the walls.

I think all these things are necessary to prevail against the gates of hell.

Attacks against a defensive wall are of no use unless the army gets through to the other side.

It seems the modern Church has tried a lot of things to try to damage the gates of hell, but to a large degree thus far the gates of hell have prevailed. I think this is because there are not enough Christians willing to scale over the top or run through the breaches that have been created.

The initial verse that comes to mind is:

Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

John came preaching repentance and the Kingdom of Heaven as well as Jesus, the apostles, and the early church. This is the very message we should be preaching as well to advance Gods Kingdom against the forces of darkness and hell.

As a result of this preaching sinners who hear the message are apprehending/pressing into the kingdom.

Preaching the Gospel, repentance, and the Kingdom of God is an offensive form of warfare advancing the truth with a violence so to speak. When sinners hear the call they willingly take or receive the truth in the same manner.

Another portion that comes to mind about our warfare in advancing the Kingdom against the gates of hell is:

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (13) Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; (15) And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (18) Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

In this portion we see both defensive and offensive equipment in the advancement of the Gospel and the Kingdom. Once we put on the whole armor of God we take the offensive by faith using Gods Word preaching the Gospel and most importantly praying in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to empower us to take the armor and advance Gods Kingdom being witnesses for Him and the Gospel.

Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The very same anointing and commission that was upon Jesus is also upon His church for Jesus Himself said:

John 14:12-13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (13) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

My thoughts.

The only way a gate or wall prevails is if is not attacked or attacked half-heartedly.

So I guess the question is do we storm the gates to rescue them or do they have to find their own way out.

I always took the imagery of the gates of hell not prevailing against the Church as meaning they cannot withstand the assault by the Church. But I may be wrong in my thinking about that.

Gates of a city in the bible often refer to the place where in ancient times the elders would gather to take counsel together and govern the city. To 'sit in the gate' meant you were in a position of authority in that place.

Therefore the gates of hell could refer to the authority and government of hell, namely Satan and the rulers and principalities of that kingdom. i.e Satan's kingdom will not overcome the church.

Fletcher,

I agree with your pastor. The Church in America has been in a defensive posture for far too long, just trying to hold on until Jesus comes.

Well, the walls have been breached. The doors have been opened to the enemy, because the Church has failed to be the salt and the light that God has called us to be.

The greatest weapon that the Body of Christ can use to take back territory that has been given to the enemy is "prayer warfare."

The greatest offensive weapon in our arsenal is the "Word of God" that is alive, powerful, and sharper that any two edged sword. We must use the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit to drive the enemy back out of our regions, and wherever he has taken ground.

This involves much more than just binding and loosing, because the enemy is there because he has been given a legal right to be there through sin and iniquity. The Church must take responsibility for this and have times of corporate repentance.

"God looked for a man among them that would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Him for the land, so that He would not destroy it, but He found none." (Ezekiel 22:30).

Today,near the close of his msg, our pastor quoted the verse where Jesus tells Peter that upon this rock He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it- he then made a point that gates are generally a defensive measure and suggested that we are not to simply "hold the fort" but advance the kingdom against the gates of hell and that they (the gates) would not be able to withstand this advance:)

JFW, that is a good thought. Sounds like your pastor has been praying!

Brother Elijah,
Ha actually you are spot on! They have felt compelled to pray even more as 2015 closed and 2016 begins even tho visiting pastors always seem pleasantly surprised a usually comment from the pulpit how much we like to pray+:) they always say, "this is a praying church"!

I love my pastor, he truly has a pastors heart, is burdened for the lost and has created a discipleship program that is quite effective in leading one into an intimate conversational based relationship with God.
While I don't always agree with everything they might say or do, I nonetheless trust the Lord to correct either myself or the issue at hand and just pray about it and then let it go and listen..... I'm pretty sure my pastor is doing the same.
It's interesting that this past Sunday marked the beginning of 21 days of prayer and fasting for our church. It's very encouraging to me that tho this is a seeker friendly service, they are faithful to seek His kingdom and see it advanced.

Bro. Fletcher, that is what it takes to make it in this hour. Jesus said this type cometh not but by prayer and fasting only. If the devil can, he will attack people and do his best to distract them from spending time in prayer. Prayer is where we get our strength and vision.

The bible says let God be the truth and every man a liar. As long as it lines up with the Word, support him. Pastors go through lot. And keep me in your prayers. I welcome prayers from people who love the Lord and know how to get ahold of God.