The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail
Bible Text: Matthew 16:13-18 | Speaker: Pastor Jerry Irwin | The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail
Matt 6:13-18
13. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
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.
The phrase pulai hadou (gates of hell) is a Jewish expression meaning “realm of the dead.”
The Septuagint version of Job 38:17:
“Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness [puloroi de hadou]?”
They appear again Isaiah 38:10:
“I said in the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol Ipulais hadou] for the rest of my years.”
In both passages, pulai hadou is a euphemism for death. Notice the parallelism in both passages. The gates of hell represent the passageway from this life to the grave. Consequently, Jesus’ promise to Peter is not about storming Satan’s lair and conquering demonic powers. Our mandate is to “hold fast.” “To stand” (Eph. 6) So the promise Christ gave to the church is a guarantee that the church will not be vanquished by death. Those who confess Jesus as the Christ know that death is not the end. We have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57). Jesus isn’t asking us to conquer anything, except perhaps our fear of the grave. So then our responsibility is to fortify ourselves in faith, building ourselves up, being strong in the belief that a victory has been won for us by the Captain of our Salvation. The metaphor is that of a city fortified by walls and gates that secure our most treasured possession; the grace and peace with GOD.
I realize that preaching with persuasion is a goal every pastor or evangelist desires. But I realize that my competition is very strong, for many of you have preached to yourself so powerfully that my attempt is basically an uphill struggle to undo the misconceptions that you have come to accept about your life and the relationships with those you love. In fact, for the next few minutes, I’m going to try to convince you to stop talking yourself out of what God is trying to talk you into.
My suspicion is that in a crowd this large, there are bound to be people present who are wrestling with questions so engrained in your spirit that it will take the power of God to get you past your past. In a real sense, all of us reason within ourselves, and make decisions that affect our future and the future of those we love.
Listen, the call of Moses occurred on the backside of Midian. Moses was reluctant, and offered excuses for why he was not a good choice for a task so great as to lead GOD’S people out of Egypt, and take them to a land of promise. But God promised that He would go with Moses and shew him HIS glory in such a mighty way. We all know his story. And when time came for Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to Let My People Go; GOD went with him and stayed with him all the days of his life. He came to the gateway to the land of promise, sent out 12 spies to survey the land and the peoples of those cities. Another young man named Joshua was emerging as a leader in
Moses’ church. He was mentored by Moses, and assured by GOD that he had a destiny. Moses had laid his hand upon him, and there was a divine anointing upon his life.
Numbers 14:6-9
6. Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, who were among those who explored the land, rent their clothes
7. And said to the entire assembly, the land we passed through was exceedingly good.
8. If the Lord be pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
9. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.
Don’t rebel, don’t be discouraged, don’t walk away from your destiny. Don’t forfeit your future. Don’t let fear and doubt keep you from your future blessing! Don’t lose opportunity because of your fear of people or what they might think of you or say about you. God is with us! He’s with me when I feel HIM and He’s with me when I don’t. He’s with me when I’m right, He’s with my when I’m wrong. He’s with me when I’m faithful and He’s with me when I’m not. He loves me at all times, and He’s for me, fights for me, prays for me, leads and guides me thru tough times, and if God be with me and for me, and by HIS right hand upholds me, then who or what could be against me.
Here is how you do it!
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
On Your LIPS! The Hebrew word for meditate is haga, and it means to mutter!
Your life will follow the direction of your conversation. Your courage and trust comes from your lips for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. But so does fear, doubt, worry and discouragement. Both the conversation that you have with others, but the conversation that you have with yourself!
I have fear, but fear doesn’t have me.
Discouragement is the result of our talking to ourselves. Our problem is that we spend too much time listening to ourselves and not enough time talking to ourselves. Lloyd Martin Jones
Psalm 42:5
Why, my soul are you so downcast? Why are you so disturbed within me? Put your hope and trust in the Lord for I will yet praise HIM, my Savior and my GOD.
Deut. 31:1-8
1. And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
2. And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
3. The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.
4. And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed
5. And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
7. And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
8. And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.