Building and battling

Matthew 16:18 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 body of Christ has a great mandate of partnering with Jesus in the work of building His church. But how best can we build if we don't engage in battle? Shall we sit back and simply keep to ourselves as the devil does all the wreckage to the world our their? Rather we need to awaken and battle. 

At the back of our minds, we have to know what we carry in the realm of the Spirit. Firstly we have the authority to do so as Matthew 28:18-20 says. Christ delegated this authority to make disciples not to any other entity but the church. Authority is only as good as to the level to which we exercise it.

Secondly we have to be aware that we are victorious in Him who overcame the powers of darkness at the cross, Colossians 2:15. The devil was stripped of his armour. He is powerless to do anything except through lies. We thank God that through the cross we are more than conquerors. So in essence the church of Christ demonstrates the victory which Christ already won for us to the rest of the world. Christ didn't trample against the enemy for himself alone but for us, hallelujah.

What do we need to do then to build the church effectively? We must go all out in the offensive attacking the gates of the enemy rather than keep to ourselves, defending what we have. The armour of God keeps us safe and well protected. But there's more. There are other weapons listed in the Bible we can use to attack the enemy's gates. The best way to win a game of football is always by attacking the other team, not simply defending.

When I write this I always think about parenting. Christians are busy raising their children in the fear of the Lord but the irony is who is going to marry your well behaved child if you don't take up the responsibility of sharing the gospel to the other children of their generation who are rapidly getting spoilt? And how about sharing the gospel too to the teachers who handle them at school, to the neighbours where they play from and you can think of as many levels wherever this applies. So it's good to ensure your house is well kept but if the neighbourhood is full of gangs, robbers, your not so safe. 

This is what the Bible means by attacking the gates of hades or hell, which literary means Satan's invisible kingdom. 

EK