warring against the gates of Hell.

[Apostle Adams Sabila]

WARRING AGAINST THE GATES OF HELL.

We are involved in a daily spiritual warfare and state of alert must be maintained at all times. The spiritual conflict in which we are engaged is with an unseen enemy and yet more and more the enemy is revealing himself to the sight and senses of men. Therefore Christians should learn to cooperate with God and engage into a spiritual warfare. During such attacks we must stand firm and resist the enemy using spiritual weapons given to us by our chief commander Jesus Christ.

Destroying all strongholds in the lives of Gods people is accomplished by launching massive spiritual weapons. Just knowing about these weapons does not bring freedom, but the launching of them (speaking out) does it more effectively through faith. These weapons are launched through our mouths filled with Gods word and are divinely powerful for destruction.

The body of Christ is a militant church and Christianity is a life of warfare. Our calling is not just about defending but it’s all about offending laying siege against the gates of hell.

Gates of Hell

Mathew 16:18 “Upon this rock I will built my church and the gates of Hell shall never prevail against it”

The fact that the army is well equipped and well arrayed does not guarantee that it will not come under attack. Every day the enemy seeks many ways to tear down the church of Christ . Therefore the church must maintain the state of alert.

The gates are for defense and doors of entrances. The old cities were usually surrounded by thick walls and high gates made of brass and Iron. Gates held a very significant meaning even in times of peace and war. The soldiers took their positions at the gates and they stopped every suspicious traveler and took record of every one passing through the gate. If by bad lack the enemies attack the gate keepers by surprise and control the gate, they took the city.

Hell also contain gates, the gates of hell are for defense of hell. Jesus promised he would have the church so brave and powerful to attack the gates of hell. Therefore, the church must come out of its fear and launch a massive destruction; bombard hell and its gates will not hold it back. Most often we wrongly plead to God to liberate our loved ones and our generation when In fact He has given us the powers and authority to exercise over demon spirits.

There are also gates of entrances to person’s body and soul which the enemy attacks. Once the gates are conquered the enemy appoints powerful evil spirits to act as gate keepers to control the person from that moment and to open up for other evil spirits to enter and carry on their evil activities in a person’s life.

“Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devil spirits and to cure diseases. (Luke 9:1)

“And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made show of them openly triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15)

God of war

God is a divine warrior; he fights with heavenly armies against His peoples enemies. The psalmist in chapter 76 describes God as a warrior. It may not appeal to Christians today, but in the Old Testament it was a metaphor that saved to emphasis His power and strength that enabled them to fight against their foes.

In Exodus God is described as Jehovah ‘NISSI’ (Exodus 17:15-16)

The word ‘NISSI’ means God is my banner. The banner was the gesture summoning warriors for battle. The banner means what the flag means now days. Whenever Moses would lift up the banner in war, it was a sign to communicate with God to come for their rescue. God remain present when He would see the flag raised from the earth. God came down to defend His people every time they needed Him the most. This is a revelation friend. Neither Moses nor his army fought the battles; Jehovah God of war fought for them and defended them from all their foes while they held up their banners. Is that not very simple? Yes it is. God is in simplicity that even a young baby can call upon Him in simplicity. You don’t need to be a professional to learn the language of God. You don’t need to know King James vision to call upon Him. You don’t need to graduate from a good university to know Him, only what you need is to lift up the name of Jesus. Praise the lord!!!

Who is this banner?

The banner is the picture of Jesus Christ. He was Abel’s sacrifice, Noah’s rainbow, Abraham’s well, Jacobs ladder and Judah ’s scepter. He was the serpent of Moses whom he lifted in the wilderness and all that looked at Him were healed. He was whom peter answered you are the Christ the son of the living God.

The tribe of Judah .

“And this is the blessing of Judah , and he said. Hear lord the voice of Judah , let his hands be sufficient for him and be thou a help to him from his enemies” Deut 33:7

It was customary to attribute memorable blessings to children before one dies. I want to take you to one of our patriot in the Old Testament whose name is Jacob. In the book of Genesis chapter 49, it contains the blessing of Jacob to his twelve sons. He predicted the destiny of each child before he died. But because of lack of space we want to focus on the blessings of Judah .

Judah -means praise. Genesis foretells the primarily of the tribe of Judah that produced the dynasty of David and out of it came forth the messiah Jesus Christ.

Jesus in the book of revelation is described as the lion of the tribe of Judah.

“The lion of the tribe of Judah , the root of David hath prevail to open the book and to loose the seven seals therefore”

In this chapter, the right hand of God appears and the scroll containing the decree of God for the world which is now revealed unto us appeared to John in the highland of Patmos. There was a dramatic moment of questioning in the heavens a bout who was to break loose the seven seals. John wept sore for there was none to break the seals. But the Angel of the lord comforted him and said to him, Christ figured as the lion of the tribe of Judah would break the seals.

Jesus is the lion of Judah . We also have the nature of Him who is a lion.

“Behold the people shall arise up as great lion….” (Numbers 23:24)

We are lions, let us arise and resist the devil. We are not supposed to suffer misfortunes, get sick and even die because of curses, arise up like the lion. Glory to God!!

The blessings of Judah .

1) “Your brothers shall praise you” (Genesis 49:8)

Salvation is glorious not shame. Your brothers shall praise you! I grew up in an environment where we used to believe that salvation was all about suffering and being poor. The people who when a head of us taught us wrong theologies that poverty and suffering is our assurance of inheriting the kingdom of God . That is absolutely false. God can never hold us captive through poverty or suffering. His promises are very clear; His word clearly tells us of many things concerning us. Promises of prosperity and joy for all of us. Salvation is not only the forgiveness of sins, it also comprises of our well being both spiritually and physically. Salvation is not a bout to be pitied but it’s all a bout being envied, it is about to be the head not the tail, it is about to lend not to borrow, it is about to be healthy not to be sick, it is about to be rich but not to be poor. Praise God your brothers shall praise you. Hallelujah!

2) “Thy hands shall be upon the necks of your enemies”

“…thou hast also given me the necks of my enemies” (Psalms 18:40)

“He teaches my hands to war” (Psalms 18:34)

“Blessed is the lord my strength which teaches my hands to war and finger to fight” (Psalms 144:1)

Our hands being on the necks of our enemies are signs of authority and power. Who is our enemy?

The devil is our greatest enemy, he is called the wicked one, the accuser of brethren, and he is a murderer, a liar and the father of lies. The devil is the author of all miseries and pains of death. He rules in hell, his desire and mission is to bring sorrow to the heart of God and destroy human lives. Every child of God needs to understand that we are in the war. We should arise and resist him from harming us and our loved ones. We should use the spiritual weapons given to us by our lord and captain of our salvation Jesus Christ.

3) “…He washes his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes” (Genesis 49:11)

Judah’s clothes soaked with grape juice from trampling in the wine press are symbol of the rich harvest of his land. Hungry warriors can’t fight; they will faint and die in the battle field. One of the greatest weapons the enemy employs in our lives is that he brings lack and when we lack we murmur against God and give up in our spiritual warfare. Our God has purposed to supply us with all our needs; He is our Jehovah Jireh, the lord who provides.

“The young lions do lack and suffer, but they that seek the lord shall not want any good thing” (Psalms 34:10)

When God calls He provides for His servants. From the begging of our ministry, my wife and I began to learn to trust God and walk by faith. When I got married to Mary my wife Mary, we were not able to pay all our bills, like electric bill, water and even house rent.

We sold our valuable assets to enable us meet our needs but still they were not enough. We also had traveling ministry but because of lack we were not able to reach out for missions. First before we got married we had great excitements to reach mission fields of Africa together as couples. We would spent many times thanking God for many opportunities that were a head of us. We were very enthusiastic to set nations on fire for God. But after our marriage things looked like it was not going to work any more. The hours stretched to days, the days dragged into months and the months became long seasons that stretched into years of loneness and shame. Many questions arose to torment us and cast long shadows of doubt to our visions and dreams. At time we would ask our selves if we were in the perfect will of God or out side His will. Not for so long God began showing himself to us and unfolding the darksome fail on our faces and proved Himself as the covenant keeper, ELSHADDAI the all sufficient God and the Alpha and Omega. From that experience we learned that if we walk in faith and put our complete trust in God, things will start happening in our live. You need to yield totally to God and act in obedience to His word and He will perfect that which is in you. It’s not the will of God for us to die in poverty. Christ as redeemed us from the curse of poverty.

“Let the lord be magnified which hath the pleasure in the prosperity of his servants” (Psalms 35:27)

“For ye know the grace of our lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that through hi poverty we might be rich” (2corinthians 8:9)

When God speaks of prosperity, He means to be completely well in everything lacking nothing at all.

“I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in good health, even as thy soul prospered”

(3John 1:2)

4) Your eyes shall be red like wine (Genesis 49:12)

You are having a walk along the road alone. Somebody you don’t know, you haven’t met for the first time. He is a complete stranger to you, perhaps you try to still a glance at him and accidentally your eyes come into contact, eye to eye. His eyes are red like blood, what will come to your mind?

He is a murderer, he is dangerous to human. You will not wait to be told to run for your life. A red eye is what I am talking about. I am not talking about this ordinary eye we have. The anointed eyes full of the Holy Ghost. These are the eyes when women put on and the enemy the devil comes at night to attack one of her family member. She does not need to call for intercessors to come to intercede for her family or call for the pastor, she rises like a lioness in the jungle. She does not plead with the devil; she opens the door and commands the devil to leave in authority given to her by Jesus. Immediately the devil leaves very ashamed. Hallelujah!

Red eyes, you know what my friend, we are dangerous elements here on earth. This is the right time for us to show up in our enemy’s territories on red eyes, putting things in mess.

Put on red eyes, you are in the hospital, the doctor tells you your mama or your relative has a nervous breakdown, cancer, arthritis or any kind of disease. You tell the doctor, please sir give me a moment. I know this; it is not what you have just mentioned, but my old enemy the devil. I know how to deal with him.

The doctor thinks you are also out of your mind. On your way home you stop for a moment to settle issues with the devil. You are on red eyes, you tell the devil your game is over, and I am settling this once and for all. Get out of my mama, my relative in Jesus name. The next day you go back to hospital, the doctor takes some tests but finds no disease. Wow, the doctor asks you how you made it. You tell him Red eyes!

I am also another young man on red eyes. One day during my first ministry on deliverance. A lady was carried to the platform with fresh wounds on her hands and her mouth was full of foam. An old lady was by her side and she looked so sad, latter I learned that she was her mother, the issue had been occurring on her daughter every year during certain seasons. The demon lady would hurt her self on stones and walls. The fire of the Holy Spirit was burning within me and my eyes were blazing on fire. I looked at her eyes without uttering a word for almost two minutes and her eyes began blinking so fast and she shook very terribly. Immediately the demon in her screamed loudly and left her at that very moment. She gave her life to Jesus and went home completely healed. Anointing of God makes deliverance easy and very enjoyable. There is no struggle with the anointing. Demons fear when the anointing of God is in operation.

[Bob B]

That is the key to minister affectively for Christ to have a burning passion in your soul to see people set free. Greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world. When the Holy Spirit uses these earthen vessels to touch the world, what joy we have seeing His great power work in and through our lives. The gates of Hell can not hold back the liberating power of the Holy Spirit, even if these gate stand like a great dam to hold back the waters of the Spirit, they will eventually begin to leak and soon the will be ripped apart by the floods of the Holy Spirit moving through the people of God.

[Stew]

Very powerful reflection on the truth of the battle. Thank you.