OVERCOMING THE GATES OF HELL!

By Pastor Michael Olawore
New Wine Church, London

Sunday 16 October 2011

Foundation Scriptures: Matthew 16: 13-18 
Last week we began to examine the significance of Jesus’ conversation with His disciples in Matthew 16 in which Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah, in response to which Jesus stated that He would build His church and ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail’. We concluded that although this conversation arose in the context of Jesus establishing His disciples’ understanding of whom He was, it was also the mechanism by which Peter was revealed to himself.
In the statement ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail’ Jesus established with finality that the church will overcome any and every assault of the enemy. Today, I want to examine Jesus’ declaration further. Before embarking on further analysis of the substance of Jesus’ declaration, His choice of words bears closer examination: the word ‘prevail’ means to be strong to the detriment of another and denotes overcoming and being of superior strength. From Jesus’ statement therefore we can understand that the gates of hell will not be of superior strength or overcome the church and instead, that the church is strong to the detriment of the gate of hell. You are not inconsequential or a weakling; you are stronger than the enemy and despite the gates of hell’s propensity to intimidate you, they will not overcome you. It is important therefore for you to know who you are. As a member of the body of Christ you are stronger than the enemy.
In Jesus’ further statement in Matthew 16: 19 ‘And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’ we are given insight into the reason that the gates of hell cannot prevail. Jesus, in speaking about the gates of hell (plural) and confirming that He will give the church the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (also plural), was assuring us that there is a solution to every problem, and regardless of the magnitude of the problem with which we are confronted, we will always be provided with a means of escape.
The walls of Jericho were described in Joshua 6 as being ‘tightly shut’, providing neither a means of exit or entrance, however God gave Joshua the ‘key’ to this city which was in the instruction to march around the city daily for six days and then on the seventh day, to march around the city seven times and then to let out a shout. The keys that you have been given are the keys of the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ and therefore are not subject to the natural realm or indeed, men’s opinion but are based upon your authority in God.  There is no gate that can confront you for which you do not have the key and I declare therefore that every gate of the enemy must crumble before you!
I want to look at a number of fundamental truths that will deepen our understanding of Jesus’ statement as follows: 

1. Establish Who You Are
You are not a product of your background: In 1 Chronicles 4: 10 we see that Jabez was more honourable than all his brothers however, had been given a name synonymous with pain and distress as a result of the painful circumstances of his birth which he was eventually able to address in prayer to God.  You must refuse to define yourself in relation to your background.
Further, you are not a product of your circumstances: In Mark 10 we are told the story of Jesus’ encounter with the beggar Blind Bartimaeus who was named in reference to his situation. You must be clear that you are not your circumstances and your situation does not define you. You are what God says you are and you must refuse to be defined otherwise.
Within Moses there was a deliverer yet, he paid more attention to his condition, describing himself as being slow of speech. Similarly, within Gideon there was also a deliverer through whom God would bring about victory for the children of Israel and yet he considered himself to be insignificant and hid himself within the winepress maintaining that he was the least of his father’s house. Likewise in Jeremiah there lay a great prophet whom despite his protestations that he was a child, God used to speak to the nations.
In 1 Corinthians 1:27 we see the qualifications of those that God uses, namely what the world considers to be foolish to shame the wise, the powerless to shame the powerful, the despised and counted nothing at all to bring to nothing what the world considers to be important. In this description of God’s selection criteria we can find ourselves. God does not look for our expertise but uses us where we are to affect our generation, despite our inadequacies. It is the bigness of God who sees us not in terms of where we are but where we will be that enables us to be sure that there is hope in our future. You must stop undermining who you are in God and instead align yourself with how God sees you.
If we turn back to Jesus’ discourse with Peter we understand that he was previously known as Simon, the meaning of which is a reed, denoting weakness and instability of character. Until he understood who Jesus was, his true identity as defined by Jesus whom called him Peter (which means rock), had eluded him. This is the same Peter whom after Jesus’ resurrection preached a message that led to 3000 people being saved, an illustration of the truth that once our identity in Christ is discovered and understood, our potential is limitless.
Every manufacturer of a product first constructs a prototype which is subjected to gruelling tests to ensure its quality and durability. When God created you the prototype was Jesus who was wounded, rejected, ridiculed and eventually crucified and taken to hell. I can only imagine the celebration in hell on the first day after Jesus’ arrival which would, no doubt, have only intensified on the second day with the enemy congratulating himself on what appeared to be the total conquest of Jesus. The mood however would have been very different on the third day when the power of God showed up and enabled Jesus to break free from death and deliver the keys of hell to the church. Jesus went through the most incredible turmoil and trauma to empower us to rule and reign over the forces of darkness.

2. Know What You Have
We have a tendency to focus on what we do not have however God has revealed what we have in Him, having made clear from the very outset that we have been given dominion.
The word ‘testament’, which is used to define the distinct parts of the bible, means ‘will’ which of course is the legal mechanism by which an inheritance is bequeathed upon the death of the person making the will. The word of God therefore defines all that we have inherited in God. Jesus said that we have been given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore rather than focus on what we consider that we do not have, we must focus on what we have.
In Acts 3 when Peter and James encountered the lame man begging at the temple gate called Beautiful Peter’s response to the beggar’s request for money was ‘Silver and gold I do not have’ – many of us stop there but as you will notice, having made clear what he did not have, he went on to say ‘but what I do have I give to you’ and commanded him to health.
You have authority in God, a delegated power; you have what it takes to function irrespective of what you have been through. You have been given authority to function and if you refuse to utilise that authority, it remains useless. Psalm 110:2 says ‘The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies’, making clear that the rod has been sent out and we have the power and right to rule.

3. Work With What You Have
Jesus said ‘I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven’ assuring us that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, however the responsibility to exercise that authority is ours; Jesus will not do it for us. Whatever heaven has prohibited, you have the authority to prohibit. The power has been given, however the responsibility to exercise that power and therefore to determine what happens to you is yours. You have the responsibility to discover what heaven has allowed and disallowed and act accordingly. Often, we are happy to accept the keys but reluctant to exercise the power, however the authority and the exercise of the authority must go hand in hand.
In the days of Elijah the prophet had declared by the spirit of God that there shall be no rain except at his word. By the spirit of God he exercised the same authority in declaring the sound of the abundance of rain and prayed until the manifestation was experienced. The fact that you are exercising your authority and are not seeing the manifestation immediately does not mean that your authority is ineffective. Be assured that there is a response in the spirit realm to the exercise of your authority. Elijah held on and travailed in the place of prayer until the rain came; I encourage you to determine to do likewise as there will be a manifestation of everything that you are praying for in faith. 
Jesus has assured us that the gates of hell shall not prevail over your life, your home or your family - instead, you can be assured that you, being of superior strength to the powers of darkness, will overcome the gates of hell!