CRASHING THE GATES OF DEATH

"I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name." Isaiah 45:2-3

This prophecy was first addressed to Cyrus, a Gentile king who was called the Lord's anointed. It came down through the years and attached itself very clearly to the true Anointed of God, the Messiah. And through him applies to the church.

"I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places."

In other words; "I will give you the power to break through the gates of death."

From Matthew 16:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

And I tell you, you are Peter, (the rock) and on this rock (this confession you just made) I will build my church, and the gates of death shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:13-18

"I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron.

The Gates (the powers) of Death shall not prevail against you."

When we think of the church as an institution, or as a building, or as an organization which we maintain, we will always end up looking at a church which is standing still. Having all it can do to hold out against the ravages of time and death. In fact at times it finds itself getting heavier and bigger so it can make it through the difficult lean times but it will never move. But when we begin to get a vision of our Lord's church which he builds then we are looking at something which moves. It breaks in pieces the doors of bronze and cuts asunder the bars of iron. Then we are looking at that stone which is in Nebuchadnezzar's dream which was cut without hands rolled and smashed to pieces the feet of that giant image of gold and silver and bronze and iron and clay which represented the kingdoms of the world, and broke it into a fine powder. Then that stone began to grow and became a mountain until it filled the whole earth.

But somebody says, "Yeh, but how do you tell the difference between the church, the human institution, the work of man, and the church, the body of Christ, the living body of Christ, the true kingdom of God." The test is really very simple. If it sits there and worries about its own expansion and survival it's the church of man. If it breaks through the gates of death and sets the captives free, in fact it's the church of God.

"On this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. "

Hades, the region of the dead, is described by our Lord as a realm which exists on the other side of the grave. The rich man who never showed any mercy to that beggar at his gate, Lazarus, dies – He landed in Hades, the region of the dead. But even though Hades exists on the other side of the grave, the gates of Hades, the gates of death, open out on this world. In fact those gates of death are taking ground, they advancing, they're taking territory in this world. So that it is possible to be locked in behind the gates of death long before this body dies. People who are walking around in this world who are not alive with the life of God, who are incapable at this moment of hearing the voice of God or seeing the hand of God at work are, in fact, locked in behind the gates of death. They are already captives. The human condition of life-long bondage to the fear of death is itself a form of death. It's a living death spent behind those gates.

"The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live," says Jesus. He's talking about the walking dead, who eat, and sleep, and marry and give in marriage, and get things, and lose things but it's all going on behind the gates of death.

Every one reading these words knows from experience what its like to be behind those gates. We have known what it's like to wake up in the morning and wish we could go back to sleep and never wake up again.

We know what it's like to be consumed with anger, or to be so lonely we wish we were dead. Or to think we're happy but to wake up one day and discover it was all illusion.

Now to be made alive in Jesus is to be brought out from behind those gates. To be set free. To come out of limbo and to be able to wake up in the morning, in fact, praising God, to be alive in God, to know God, love God, hear God's voice, know his presence, fit into his purpose.

When we come out from behind the gates of death we immediately find ourselves part of that stone cut out of a mountain without hands, the kingdom of God, the church. And that's why the churchs one purpose for existence in this world is to keep crashing back through those gates of death and set other captives free.

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven, and I tell you, you are Peter the Rock and on this rock, (this thing you just said,) I will build my church and the gates of death shall not prevail against it."

We need to ask ourselves as individuals, and as a body, whether we are, in fact, part of that church, which he builds on the confession that he is the Christ, that has one purpose ... to break through the gates of death and set the captives free. Or whether we are, in fact, only part of another dead, human institution that itself is trapped behind those gates of death and is totally incapable of giving life or freedom to anyone.

God give us the courage to ask honestly what is this thing I'm part of? What is this thing I'm working in? What is this thing that feels good?

Is it his body, fulfilling his purpose? And if we should discover that it's really man's church rather than God's church, may God again give us the courage to follow him out from behind those Gates of Death so he can form us into his body, his church, his kingdom.

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God."

If it's his church it is built on this confession and on nothing else. And if we are fitting into that part of it, then the one rock bottom reality for us is that Jesus is Lord. We are not a club for nice people. We are not an agency put here to stabilize the community. We are a people raised up to confess to God and to each other and to the world that Jesus is Lord. "You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Your blood atones for our sins. Your death opens heaven for us. Your resurrection lifts us into the heavenlies. Your presence is our joy. And the doing of your will is mercy in this world is our life."

Where ever in fact he is at work at this moment on the earth anywhere at all building his church we will find this rock as the foundation on which it is being built, the confession that he is the Christ. The bold, strong, clear, unashamed, powerful confession that he is Lord and he is building his church here. And if we are fitting into it we will not be able to keep that confession off our lips. Even if we look like fanatics and even if we sound like fools it will come.

And as confess to God, and to each other, and to the world that Jesus is Lord he will confirm that truth. He will manifest his lordship among us and out there in the world in everything we do.

And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jona for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven. And I tell you are Peter, the rock, and on this rock, (your confession,) I will build my church"

If it's a church, it's being built not by hands of flesh, not by minds of flesh, but by God's revealing Spirit. And that Spirit continues all the time to reveal who Jesus is.

"Blessed are you Simon, Son of John, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. You didn't figure it out, and nobody showed it to you. My father by his Spirit revealed it." And the only way you and I will know day-by-day and hour-by-hour who Jesus is, is by that same Spirit. If the Spirit doesn't reveal, we don't know. But he does reveal. And as he reveals may God gives us eyes to apprehend the vision.

I will never forget this man who was reading theology until it was coming out of his ears because he was hungry for God. He was astute, he was honest, and he wanted to know but he wasn't finding anything. And he looked up this church in a telephone book. And as a total stranger, he came, sat down and said, "I want to ask you, if you can do it, to do one thing for me; prove to me that Jesus is God the Son." I said, "I can't but Jesus will. If you will open your heart and if you will make yourself available, and if you mean business, he will make that clear to you." He said, "OK what do I have to do? I'll do anything." And it could be in a million ways, but for him it was a matter of every day to take some time, go into your room and shut the door, and pray to Jesus, even if you don't know if anyone there. "Lord, if you are there, show me. I want to know. I'll follow you." And do that day after day if you have to do it for fifty days, a hundred days. He agreed. Within forty-eight hours this man knew that Jesus is Lord. He knew in the same way that Peter knew that Jesus is Lord, in the same way we know that Jesus is Lord.

He makes us alive and keeps us alive in his body by continuously revealing to us who he is. He builds his church at this moment all over the earth by opening the eyes of those who are hungry for truth and willing to face reality of who he is. And as we go forth with that confession on our lips he confirms it and he opens the eyes of the blind and he brings them into his body making them alive by his Spirit.

"And I tell you, you are Peter, (the rock) and on this rock (your confession) I will build my church, and the gates of death shall not prevail against it."

If it's his church it's crashing the gates of death. And we have to admit that we haven't even begun to crash the gates of death the way we should or the way we will. But if it is really our desire to be obedient and to let him build us into his church our one purpose for existence, our reason for being here individually and corporately, is to crash the gates of death and set the captives free.

So how do we do it?

Jesus is reading from Isaiah in the synagogue at the beginning of his ministry. He's up there and he opens the book to the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release for the captives and recovering of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed."

To go into the region of death – the territory of death and to take ground. To move among people who are already obsessed with anger, oppressed with fears, bogged down with guilt, lowly to the point of heart break, so greedy they can't see anything but what they want to get, or whatever kind of idolatry afflicts their life – to go in among such people and bring them news that will set them free — to set those captives free and raise the dead to life.

When we deliver somebody who is totally down with despair and give that person hope, we have crashed the gates of death. When somebody who is bound by an addiction of any kind, and many of us have known one kind or another in our own lives, when that person is set free by the name of the Lord, we crash the gates of death. When we bring the lonely to the fellowship of God, we crash the gates of death. When we heal the sick, when we bring them to the table of the Lord, his banquet hall, we crash those gates. The issue is not, are such things possible? Of course they're possible. This is our one reason for existence.

The issue is; are we willing to give up trying to build the church the way we want to do it, and present ourselves as a living sacrifice to him – and let him build? If we are willing to be built by him into his church on the confession that he is Lord by his revealing Spirit we will have his authority and those gates of death will yield at our command. And we will have good news for the poor. His word on our lips will release the captives, open the eyes of the blind and set the captives free.

God didn't bring us into his church in order that we might huddle together and try to be safe from this dangerous world behind the walls of a building or the structures of our own organization.

He brought us into his church, washed us in the blood of his son, anointed us with his Spirit, imparted to us his nature, so that we might go out and set the captives free.

That we might crash the gates of death and release those prisoners.

God help us to get out there and do it.