The Gates of Hell will not Prevail

Matthew 16:13-20 (NLT)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.


This is an interesting, and extremely PASSIONATE verses! This excits me!

Can you tell what Jesus is grabbing at? What can we take away from this passage?

First off, Jesus wants to know what Peter says He is! Do you notice something interesting about Peter's response? “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” How awesome is this imagery? Peter gives us a glimpse of some intense truth! Our God is LIVING... That means, God has not left, God is still here, and now is ready to advance the Kingdom! Does this excit anyone else? I can barely even think right now! I was pondering this last night, and I just became joyful. I so often forget that God is HERE and NOW, living with US! God is a LIVING GOD!

Now that we have that picture, let us look at some other pictures here! Jesus goes on to tell peter that his name means rock, and on that rock He will build His church! This is an important thing to remember! Peter's faith in the Messiah and the LIVING GOD brought him to where God could work with him to start the church.

Now, my favorite part, something I often forget, next to Living God, is "and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." Wow... I am simply amazed at this! How powerful is this! Jesus tells peter, that NOTHING can stop him. NOTHING. Jesus then goes on (and I am not meaning to not say these next few verses are not important, it is just I am not using them under this context, HOWEVER, I want to stress the importance of these verses. They do not change the meaning of the context inwhich I speak, BUT they do add to the purpose of Peter, and the authority given to him and the Chruch!) and He finishes with a few more verses.

Now, There are a few things to look at here! God wants His followers to believe in the Messiah, who has come, and that God is LIVING! Then, Jesus tells Peter, that He is going to build the church from him! THEN He tells us that NOTHING will defeat the chruch, NOT EVEN HELL!

You know what this means? Every bit of darkness, as no power. We as followers are called the Church, so that means, NOTHING, not eve the powers of HELL can defeat us. When WE the CHURCH believe in the Messiah and the LIVING God, Hell becomes a powerless and pointless thought... Powerful to know this right?

Now, as many of you know, I would never just throw this out, without backing it up with HOW this needs to be accomplished! I am not sure if we know these things, but we live in a world of darkness. It is time NOW to storm past the gates of Hell! To PUSH back the evils of this world! If God is LIVING like we BELIEVE and have FAITH in... Evil will not win. Evil cannot win, when the people of God's Kingdom, stand up, Satan will vanquish... Watch this video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcPOv8lmEi8

Powerful... Aragorn does not Believe frodo is dead, infact, he knows otherwise. He then brings courage to his people, as he is getting ready to fight all the evil that was left in the world... if you watch the movie, you realize that they get surrounded, but instead of running... they fight!! THEY FIGHT!

Now is our time, let us believe in the Living God, and let us move forward with no power of hell against us.

What would this look like! WHAT would this even mean! This is how it would look- Love winning out! Payer followed up by listening! Forgiving others! Risking it all! Making peace in every situation! Love your enemies! Stand up against oppressors! Standing with the Oppressed! Casting down anything that we put before God! Learning from God from unexpected people. Refecting murdering violence. Feeding the hungry! Clothing the naked! Visiting the prisoners! Aiding the widows! Loving others the way they need to be loved! Bringing the JOY of God to every corner of life! Healing and being healed. Trusting in God's Love, His Love for the world, and especially HIS LOVE FOR US!

Let us break down these walls, hell cannot prevail, it cannot win! Our God is living, breathing, moving and ready! God is ready, if we just MOVE WITH HIM NOW! When we do those things, God prevails. Mother Teresa reminds us that even a simple smile thwarts the powers of evil's plan.

Are we ready? Are we ready to move, to "Storm the gates of hell?" People are dying to be loved... It is time to end the reign evil thinks it has... Let us now stand with our Living God, and grab the hands of every single person!

Much Love,
Casey