The Gates Of Hell
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.
A gate is not an
offensive weapon, but a weapon of defense.
When the enemy came, the gates would be shut to keep the enemy out.
When friends came, the gate would be opened to allow the friends an
entrance. A gate is where
governmental decisions are made, where a person runs to and through when the
enemy is chasing them. A gate is an
entrance and exit point, not a weapon, but a means of defense.
1.
Of cities, as of
Jerusalem #Jer 37:13 Ne 1:3 2:3 3:3 of Sodom #Ge 19:1 of Gaza #Jud 16:3
2.
Of royal palaces #Ne
2:8
3.
Of the temple of
Solomon #1Ki 6:34,35 2Ki 18:16
4.
Of the holy place
#1Ki 6:31,32 Eze 41:23,24
5.
Of the outer courts
of the temple, the beautiful gate #Ac 3:2
6.
Tombs #Mt 27:60
7.
Prisons.
a.
Acts 12:10 - Peter
escaped from prison through the iron gate into the city.
It is very important to understand that Peter escaped from the prison to
preach again, but James was killed by Herod.
b.
Acts 16:27 – The
jailer saw the prison doors opened and was going to kill himself, but Paul and
Silas stopped him.
8.
Caverns #1Ki 19:13
9.
Camps #Ex 32:26,27
Heb 13:12 The materials of which gates were made were,
a.
Iron and brass #Ps
107:16 Isa 45:2 Ac 12:10
b.
Stones and pearls
#Isa 54:12 Re 21:21 c. Wood #Jud 16:3 probably.
10.
At the gates of
cities courts of justice were frequently held, and hence "judges of the gate"
are spoken of
a.
Ruth 4:1 – Boaz went
to the gate, gathered the officials of the city together to discuss the kinsman
redeemer with the “first” kinsman redeemer.
b.
Deuteronomy 16:18 -
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy
God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with
just judgment.
c.
Deuteronomy 17:8 -
If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood
and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters
of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the
place which the LORD thy God shall choose; (go on to verse 11)
d.
Deuteronomy 21:19 –
(verse 18-21 – The stubborn son shall be stoned by the men of his city,
according to the decree of the elders at the gate)
e.
Deuteronomy 25:6,7 –
The proper decree concerning the kinsman redeemer shall be determined at the
gate of the city.
11.
At the gates
prophets also frequently delivered their messages
a.
Proverbs 1:21 –
(Wisdom) She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the
gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
b.
Proverbs 8:3 –
(Wisdom) She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in
at the doors.
c.
Isaiah 29:21 -
That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth
in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
d.
Jeremiah 17:19,20 -
Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the
people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in
all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD,
ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that
enter in by these gates:
e.
Jeremiah 26:10 -
When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s
house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of
the LORD’S house.
12.
Criminals were
punished without the gates
a.
I Kings 21:13
b.
Acts 7:59
By the "gates of
righteousness" we are probably to understand those of the temple #Ps 118:19 "The
gates of hell" (R.V., "gates of Hades") #Mt 16:18 are generally interpreted as
meaning the power of Satan, but probably they may mean the power of death,
denoting that the Church of Christ shall never die.
Prevail = 2729
katiscuw katischuo kat-is-khoo’-o
AV-prevail against
1, prevail 1; 2
1) to be strong to
another’s detriment, to prevail against
2) to be superior in
strength
3) to overcome
4) to prevail
Two ways of looking at this passage:
1. Satan cannot stand against the church or stop the church as the church advances the kingdom of God,
2. or the church will survive the onslaughts of Satan and his kingdom.
Many will say these two thoughts are exactly the same, but they are not. The first is positive, as the church preaches the gospel, baptizes the saved, and teaches all things in the Bible; Satan is powerless to stop these good spiritual advances. The second is negative and teaches that the church is barely able to survive the onslaughts of Satan against her. The second teaches that Satan is almost as strong as the local churches he is fighting against, while the first teaches that Satan can do absolutely nothing to stop anything the church does for the cause of Christ.
If the true local
churches will step out by faith, believing the promises of God, Satan is
completely powerless to stop them.
The church can do anything God directs them to do, however impossible it may
seem, as nothing will be impossible.
God is the power of the churches, not the people, not us, not our power,
strength, honor, or glory.
The idea most church
members have is that hell is going to conquer us if we don’t cower behind the
four walls of our church buildings, and that we are barely hanging on the way it
is and we don’t need to stir hell up against us.
That is a false idea. The
truth is that we can stir up hell, and they can do nothing to stop us, if we
rely on the promise of God to defeat hell.
Luke 23:23 states,
And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified.
And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.
Satan may cry loudly, and think they have the advantage, even the
victory, but they don’t know or understand what is really happening.
Defeats are turned into victory through the power of God.
Jesus is telling the
church that the defenses of hell will not withstand the onslaughts of the
church. The church will be able to
go right into the habitations of hell with complete eternal victory.
The church will be able to have complete victory, not because we are
strong, or stubborn, but because of the power of God, as we accept this promise
of God. It doesn’t make any
difference how strong the defense of hell is, or what the defense is, the
church, if the promise of God is used, will be able to overcome that defense.
The Philistines put
Goliath before the people of Israel, but God gave the victory over that giant.
God gave the victory, not because the people were strong, or stubborn, or
even together. God gave the victory
because David believed the promise of God that no uncircumcised Philistine (or
any other person) can defeat the promise of God.
The church doesn’t
need to be passive, waiting, with trembling, the onslaughts of hell.
We can be active in going into the very depths of hell to retrieve the
souls that are there dying, but not quiet dead yet.
We may be trembling, but the reason we are trembling is because we do not
trust nor rely on the promise of God and his eternal power.