The gates of hell will not prevail

A prophetic friend, Bob Jones, told us a few months ago that our main job now was to just stay alive until 2012. We know we are in for three more very intense years. For a time it may be a battle just to survive, but we want to do more than just survive – we must be prepared, equipped, and engaged, building the highway written about in Isaiah 40 to prepare the way for the Lord.

We are going through some trying times now, and the door for increasing persecution of Christians has been opened wide. However, this will work for our good and will be one of the best opportunities weve ever had to be the salt and light that weve been called to be. Were promised that when it gets darker, we will see more glory. When it gets more confusing, we can have more clarity. No law can ever take away the liberty we have in Christ. The more the enemy seeks to weaken the church, the stronger the true church will become.

Now is the time for the church to prove what she is made of, and she will prevail. Whenever the devil comes in like a flood, the Lord raises up a standard against him. Whenever the devil comes in like a flood, it is because he is trying to pre-empt a great move of God. The greatest of all Great Awakenings is coming to America, and it will be ignited by the onslaught and attempt of the devil to weaken and destroy the voice of the church in America.

However, it is not enough to know what is going to happen, we must be prepared, and we must stand together. This is why the seemingly unprecedented movements toward unity in the body of Christ over just the last year are so encouraging. The church is mobilizing, and she will prevail against the gates of hell that have been opened against her.

The gates of hell have been opened against the church. However, they cannot prevail against the church that is built on the right foundation, as we are told in Matthew16:13-20:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

And they said, Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

He said to them, But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon BarJonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

Here we see that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church built on the right foundationwhich is knowing who Jesus is. That is the most important thing that we can do to strengthen ourselves and the church in these timesfortify our knowledge of who Jesus is.