"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).Contrary to popular interpretation, this is not a picture of hell on the offensive, attacking the church. This is a picture of hell gated shut, and the church storming upon it and rescuing its victims. ("And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.") The church of Jesus Christ has been called to storm the gates of hell! And He has promised that hell shall not prevail!
Historically, the saints on earth were called, "the church militant," and those in heaven, "the church triumphant." War is our calling. Victory is our promise.
The Christian life is not one of comfort and ease. Ministry means being in the trenches, as Paul says, "In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings" (II Corinthians 6:4-5).
Once you get a taste of this battle, there is no going back. When there is a war to be fought, when our most precious freedoms are at stake, when there are lives being sucked into eternal destruction, Christians cannot be content to lead comfortable lives.
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