THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL…

Hello beloved,

Jesus said to Peter in 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.” So, the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. I think everyone understands that from this passage. In order to prevail against something, you would have to be on the offensive. So, the gates of hell are on the offensive…against the church of Jesus Christ. That’s us Christians. I’ll get to the point. We must go out and fight this battle.

I won’t spend long elaborating, so let me just state some points:

1. The Word of God is called the Sword of the Spirit. Occasionally a sword will be used to block an attack, and God’s Word is good for this use. But, a majority of the actions a sword performs will be that of the offensive variety. The Word of God should be used as an offensive weapon. We have got to take His Word out into battle. And get this, we are definitely going to offend some people. That’s right, you are called to offend people from time to time. Someone might even get mad at you…and want to hurt you…and maybe even kill you. Well, that’s what we are called to. Jesus said in Mt. 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This scripture leads me to my next point.

2. You are called to be persecuted…if you want to live a godly life. 2 Timothy 3:12 says “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”. Do you want to live a godly life? Then you will be persecuted. This leads to a better question though “Are you being persecuted?” I’m not saying that you are ungodly if you aren’t being persecuted. But, if you stand on God’s Word, people are going to dislike you. Trust me on that. We’ve got to be willing to stand on God’s Word, even if nobody else stands with us. We might even have other Christians telling us that what we are doing is “radical” and that “you’ve gone too far”. My point is, people are going to attack you when you stand on God’s Word. And, don’t be surprised if it comes from Christians.

3. We must take the battle to the streets. I think everyone would agree with me that abortion in America would end if the church of Jesus Christ ever decide for it to end. If every single Christian in this country left church this Sunday and decided that they would go to the abortion mills in their vicinity and stand in the fronts of the mills, the mills would be shut down. No one would be able to get in, and no one could do anything about it. We are the church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. This principle could be attached to lots of other things.

4. It’s gonna cost you something. In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” When you decide to truly deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus, it will definitely cost you some things that you now hold extremely valuable. You must completely deny yourself. You might have to go to jail. You might lose your job. You might get sawed in half by a muslim. But, you’ll definitely please God.

I guess my biggest point in all of this is that we have to realize that we are to engage the enemy. Despite what you have been taught, you must know that you will definitely offend people at times if you stand on God’s Word. You will definitely suffer persecution if you want to live godly. There are alot of things that will happen to you when you are truly following Christ. But, no matter what happens to you, know this: you can rejoice! I’ll leave you will this excellent scripture from 1 Peter 4:12-19:

12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And,
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

It’s time for a commitment beloved.

In Christian love,

Adam Tennant

ACCOUNTABILITY

7/25/07

ACCOUNTABILITY

Hello beloved,

I’m gonna make this very short because I want all of you to read it.

The Bible says in Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” So, who are you being sharpened by? It is drastically important to have someone, or a group, to hold you accountable. I meet with a group of godly men, led by a godly authoritative figure, once a week(at the sacrifice of our sleep-5:30am). I wouldn’t trade this for the world. He uses the ultimate Authority, God’s Word, to direct us and correct us as we all read through the entire Bible yearly. We are also able to confess our sins, one to another.

I’ve dealt with the issue of submission to authority on several accounts lately. That is, people who struggle with authority. There is one thing I have always realized about submitting to authority: it’s a choice. Without getting too deep into this one, let me just say that if you don’t have any authority in your life, you are in a dangerous place. The most important authority is, of course, the Word of God. But, other than that, you also need someone(godly) who will hold you accountable. Please remember this: YOU MUST SEEK OUT AUTHORITY! There are several people that follow after me, as I follow after Jesus. But I follow others as they follow Jesus. It’s important to know that your spiritual authority is not going to come looking for you. You must follow him(or her for the ladies).

So, beloved, please examine yourselves to see if you are truly in submission to authority. If not, please find some. For your sake and for your family’s sake.

In Christian love,
Adam