The Gates of Hell
by Jerry Johnson, a friend and well armed man

It is unfortunate that most churches view Christianity and the call of the gospel as simply a fire insurance policy. The gospel presented from most pulpits teaches that the purpose of salvation is to keep people from the everlasting flames of hell. Now that we have "accepted Jesus as our personal savior" and are saved from hell, we congregate a few times a week as we await our deaths or the rapture, which ever comes first. There is nothing else. We may protest abortion from time to time by voting Republican, but that is about it. Such is the anemic Christianity of our day.

Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, commentators have maligned Islam, or at least the so-called "radical" elements, and have called them intolerant because they want to take over the world and crush all competing belief systems. Islam talks of Jihad or holy war as a means to achieve this goal. The "radicals," however, seem to be more consistent than their liberal Islamic counterparts. They understand that in the end, quoting the Highlander, "there can be only one."

Our Lord has also declared Jihad and He made this declaration of war against all the nations of the world. In Matthew 28:18-19 He stated, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." As unbelievable as it may sound, there are
those today who loudly profess their orthodoxy and yet deny the very command they claim to uphold. Okay, they may not totally deny it for they do send out missionaries (holy warriors), but what they do deny is the final victory. Notice that the Lord Jesus said, "make disciples of all nations." He did not say "TRY" to make disciples of all nations or "ATTEMPT" to make disciples of all nations. And since it is the Lord Jesus, the one who declared that "All power in heaven and earth has been given unto me", should we not expect that He will accomplish this military objective? Should we not expect that all the nations will become His disciples? Shouldn't we understand that this is our Jihad, our holy war, declared by Christ on all nations?

Remember another promise made by our Lord, "...on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." I cannot tell you how many times I have heard modem evangelists teach that no matter how aggressively the "gates of hell" attack and no matter how small the numbers of the church get to be, the "gates of hell" will never achieve final victory over the church. "Gates," however, are always used as a means of defense, not as weapons of offense. What the Lord Jesus was telling the disciples, who were then commissioned to "make disciples of all nations," is that the "gates of hell," the last line of defense for those who oppose the gospel of the Lord Jesus, will not stand-up to the weapons of the church, i.e. the gospel, the Word of God which is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the "gates of hell" that will cower before the church of the Living God. It is the "gates of hell" that will be shaken. It is the "gates if hell" that tremble before the blood bought treasures of King Jesus.

Read the words of the Westminster divines: "In the second petition, (which is, Thy kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel-officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends." (WCFLC 191)

So are we called to simply "accept Jesus as our personal savior?" Or are we called to cast "down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." Unlike Islam, we understand that, "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (bombs, guns or terrorism) but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds" (the gates of hell), which will not stand against a God fearing, people loving, gospel proclaiming church!

So what should we believe? First, that Satan and hence the "gates of hell" are alive but NOT well on planet Earth. As the Most Rev. Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr. would say, "Satan is bound, not crowned." Second, that the Lord will not require the obedience of unbelievers until our obedience is complete (II Cor.1O:6). So what should we do? First, we should not give ear to the defeatists! Second, we should bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ on a daily basis. How? By seeking out His will which is found in holy Scripture. Remember that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." And what greater work can we do than "make disciples of all the nations" and in the process "pulling down strongholds (the gates of hell)." Third, we should understand that we are engaged in Jihad, a holy war in which there is no middle ground no neutrality. And finally, we should and must realize that the victory is already ours through Christ our Lord. Amen.