Day 37: Make Satan Nervous

Concerning the power that God’s people are to have against the enemy, Jesus made this statement:

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades [‘hell’ kjv] shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

Most Christians interpret this verse as follows: ‘Well, here we are, beleaguered and besieged inside the city. Maybe if God is really good to us, the gates will hold out and Satan won’t be able to get in.’ If that is how you understand this verse, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

The real picture is totally opposite of this typical view. When the church is built upon the Rock, Christ Jesus, then it can go out and storm the gates of hell. And the gates of hell cannot keep the church out!

We find one of the great messianic promises to Abraham and to his seed in Genesis:

“And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.” (Genesis 22:17)

We are the descendants, the ‘seed of Abraham’ (Hebrews 2:16), through faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing that makes the devil more afraid than the prospect of the saints of God discovering this fact and starting to do it. It is up to us, and it is in our power, to administer the defeat Christ has already inflicted. I believe both heaven and hell are waiting for us to do it.