The Gates of Hell Cannot Prevail

I believe that there is something in man that wants to worship God as his Creator, his God and sustainer. When we refuse to give in to that desire or refuse to recognize it, we end up worshipping other things. We end up worshipping cars, houses, sex, and status. All these things only give momentary pleasure or happiness but can never satisfy. I also believe that there is something in all of us that tends toward depravity and we can go either way. In God’s word we not only find hope for our souls as the Word points to God, we also find strength to fight off the demons that seek to lead us to the dark side.

Apart from having an on-going relationship with God, I believe one of the greatest things ever to happen to us is the Bible. In the thousands of years since the Old and New Testament were written, the sacred words in them have given hope, strength, peace and joy to those who adhere to the words written there. Not just the letter of the words but the spirit. The words were not written for our comfort but they are a template for us to live our lives by. The words are light which show us the state of our heart and lives in relation to God and how they should be. Thanks to the fall in the Garden of Eden, man has developed a great aversion to light. The natural tendency of man is to hide from the light and pretend that all is well.

The words written in the Bible were those men like Paul the Apostle, John Knox, Charles Spurgeon, Smith Wigglesworth, Charles Finney, John Wesley and Watchman Nee all lived by and they found God and lived great and fruitful lives. These men did great wonders and saw great revelations of God’s power as a result of these wonder. It is therefore no wonder that I marvel at the arrogance of the men of this age who say they are “Christian” but hide from the light of these words. These people say the sacred words are outdated and we should jettison them and look for other words that agree with our predilections and proclivities. We should look for words that agree with our depravities and which do not show us the wrong that we do. Because they are condemned in their hearts by the sacred words, they want to away with the words. In this they have as allies those who hate God. Those that say they as Christian do not see any wrong in the alliances they have formed because they are moved by their senses.

Ever since the birth of Christianity, several people have risen up with the stated aim of killing it. In the intervening period, they are the ones who have died and the Church has gone on. I am convinced above all that the Church can never die. Jesus declared that the gates of hell would never prevail against the church. I believe this with all my heart. Therefore when I see hell rising up against the Church, while it worries me because I remember the persecution the Church will suffer before Christ returns, I am consoled and strengthened in knowing the Church has prevailed.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.