Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” This episode is about how this verse shows us in an offensive position against the enemy. We get to shine a light into the darkness. We get to bring hope, love and light to all those around us. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Let’s Go On The Offensive!
Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
Father Mike talked about this verse and I thought it was so powerful. I know not everyone listening to this episode is listening to his podcast and I think everyone should hear this message so I am going to relay his message. Father Mike said when he was younger and he read this passage he thought, when it says “the gates of Hades will not prevail against it,” it meant that hell will not destroy the church. Even if the church gets really bad, hell cannot possible destroy the church. Father Mike said that is not what Jesus is saying. Jesus says, “The gates of hell/Hades will not prevail against it.” Which means not that the gates of Hades are attacking the church, but that the gates of Hades will not be able to prevent the church from overtaking hell. The gates of Hades will not be able to prevent God’s power, His Kindgom on Earth from destroying the kingdom of the evil one with His power. It’s not a defensive position, it’s an offensive position. You and I have been brought into this church and we have been made members of the body of Christ. We are sons and daughters of our Father.
Yes, there is this defensive promise that God is with us, God is for us, that He loves us and cares for us. Also, there is this offensive posture that we have which is, “Where does His light need to be shined?” “Where does His grace need to be revealed?” “Where does His hope need to be proclaimed?” “Where does His love need to be brought?” There are a lot of places without love, without hope, and without light within our world. If we are meant to be on the offensive, if the members of the church are meant to be on the offensive where the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, “where can you and I bring light today where there is no light?” “Where can you and I bring hope today where there is not hope?” “Where can you and I bring love today where there is no love?” This doesn’t have to be someone struggling in another country or another state. This could be someone living next door to you or even someone living in the same house as you.
I don’t know about you, but I found this profound. I was instantly moved by this idea. I think we usually feel as though we are on the defensive. There is so much awful in this world and we are constantly feeling like we have to defend ourselves and our loved ones against it. I love the idea of being on the offensive. I love the idea of knowing we are brining light into the darkness. I know it probably sounds silly but I picture wearing these big boots and knocking down evil’s door and shining this big spot light into that darkness. Father Mike asked some great questions. Let’s look at those questions a little closer.
“Where can I bring light today where there is no light?” Who do you know that is in the darkness right now? Who do you know is struggling and can’t see the light? Are there secrets hanging out in the dark that need to come into the light? Start in your own house. Are there people you are living with that could use a little more light in their life? Do you have family members that are struggling and you have been too busy to notice? Or maybe you haven’t been too busy, but you didn’t really know what to do so you were hoping the problem would just go away. I pray you were doing more than hoping. I pray you were praying, not only for the one who was struggling but also praying for God to show you what you could do to help. When in doubt, pray. God will always show you what to do if you ask Him. What if we all took this question to God this week. Let’s all take a few minutes and ask God directly where He wants us to bring more light into the world? We can ask God to show us who He wants us to help and how He wants us to do it.
The next question was,”Where can you and I bring hope today where there is not hope?” This is a great one because there are more and more people losing hope these days. People are losing hope in our government, they are losing hope in humanity, they are losing hope in everything. What can we do to renew the hope people are losing? What can we do to bring them a new hope? How can we get them to see that hope in Jesus is all they need? One thing I have done for my friends that were losing hope in something, like a deep desire they had, was to keep hoping for them. Hope can be hard sometimes because if you hope in something there is always the chance you may be let down. For instance if you are hoping that you get a certain job, and then you don’t, you may be let down. The thing about hoping in the Lord is, He never lets you down. He always keeps His promises. Maybe if we can show people how faithful God is to His promises then we can help them find their hope again? What other ways can you think of to bring hope where there is none? This is another great thing to take to God. Spend some time asking God to show you exactly who He wants you to bring hope to and how?
The last question is, “Where can you and I today bring love today where there is no love?” There is a real lack of love in the world right now. Where can we bring love into our part of the world? Mother Teresa said, “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action” Starting with our home, how can we add more love into our home? How can we bring more love into our work places? What about our neighborhoods, is there a way we can bring more love into our neighborhoods? Could we wave hi to our neighbors as we walk past? Instead of walking by in a hurry, maybe we could take the time to stop and ask them how they are doing? Maybe checking in with our co workers and asking how they are doing? What if you were the only person to ask them how they were doing? We never know what people are feeling on the inside. I have heard many stories of people who were on their way to taking their own life and then decided not to because someone, completely unaware of their plans, stopped and said something kind to them. Remember, you never know how one kind word can change someone’s life.
Let’s all go on the offensive. Instead of waiting for the evil one to try and ruin our day, let’s try to bring more light, love and hope into some else’s day. Yes, we always need to be ready to fight against the enemy as he loves to attack us. However, instead of just being on the defensive lets go on the offensive too. That might just knock him off his game. I don’t know if you have ever played chess, but if you have ever played with someone that is really good, they can anticipate your moves. They know if they do this, you will likely do this. Chess players are thinking several moves in advance and they run through several scenarios in their head. However, when they are playing with someone that doesn’t always do the thing they thought they would do they can get stuck being on the defensive. When this happens you are in control of the board and they are just reacting to your moves. If we are spreading love, hope and light to all we meet, the enemy will be stuck reacting us instead of us always reacting to him. What do you say, do you want to put the enemy on the defensive with me?
Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode with me today. Lord, you are amazing and we love how you have already defeated the enemy for us. We ask you to help us spread your love, light and hope to all those we meet. Lord, the world is lacking these things in a big way right now and we aren’t sure how to help spread them, please show each and every one of us how to do our part. We are ready and willing to work for you Lord, show us how, show us where, show us who. Lord, you are the light of this world and we want to spread that light to others. You are the hope of this world, help us share that hope with others, You are the love we desperately need in this world, help us to share that love with every single person we meet. We love you so much Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Tomorrow’s guess will be my sister Michelle. My sister’s witness is about how she was able to trust God in a difficult situation and how that situation turned out better than she could have hoped. If you have ever struggled to trust God, if you have ever really wanted something and struggled to trust it would come, this is the witness for you. I look forward to sharing her witness with you tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you and so do I. Have a blessed day!