You Talking to Me? – Part 46

While we’re still in the gates, let’s finish the job.

Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 21, 24, 26, & 28 – And God said . . .

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Our focus today is still Jesus’s imagery of “the gates of hell” of which He spoke in Matthew 16:13-20.  I’ve done what I can with limited space and time to give you a clear understanding of the imagery Jesus used concerning “the gates of hell.”  But in order to bring this portion of the “You talking to me?” series to a definable conclusion, I want to take you back to Mark 16:15-20, and what we call the Great Commission.  I only want to talk about six of the words Jesus spoke as He authorized that commission.  Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world.”  I remind you again that the word used for “world” in the Greek language is “kosmos.”  It means the world system.  Remember, Satan is the God of this world.  Man’s system, as it exists in the world, still falls under the thumb of Satan.  But the Church has been given its orders.

We are to “go ye into all the world,” and to accomplish that, we must go through “the gates of hell.”  And it is in that arena that we are to occupy until Jesus comes.  We are still fighting the good fight of faith every day.  We still battle against the enemy of our spirit every day.  We still have battles to fight, and victories to win.  We can go into every battle we face with full confidence and assurance that we will win, that no weapon formed against us will prosper, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against us.  YES, I’m talking to you! 

Where does God want you?  The term “the gates of hell” is plural.  Through which gates does Father desire you to go?  Is it business?  Government?  Education?  Health care?  Industry?  Performing arts?  Graphic arts?  Sports?  Politics?  All of these worldly elements have points of entry.  In today’s world, they are the gates of hell.  Every arena I have named if rife with demonic influence of potential power, riches, fame, and pleasure.  These are the very gates of hell.  God has called us to charge into those gates, not blindly, but led by His Spirit, trained and instructed in His Word, and made fully competent by Holy Ghost for every function we are called to fulfill.  It’s time we became more familiar with the landscape inside the gates of hell by stepping outside the comfort and beauty of our air-conditioned sanctuaries.  It’s time we became more serious about the callouses on our knees  than the comfort of our backsides on the pews.  And it may actually do us some good to add to our litany of choruses some songs of battle that “we are able to go up and take the country” so we can enter the sanctuary singing “I went to the enemy’s camp, and I took back what was stole from me.”  It’s war, my friend.  Attack!  And YES, I’m still talking to you!

Manna for Today – Genesis 1; Psalm 119:89; Proverbs 4:20-23; Mark 11:22-26; Romans 3:4