The Gates of Hades are upon us, but it's not what you think

Jesus famously said in Matthew 16:18, " . . . on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

I've always considered the "gates of Hades" to mean forces from without. However, in light of current trends I've come to believe it means forces from within: mainly false teachers and apostasy within the church.

There are people who want to "remake" Christ's church, to lay a new foundation. I'm talking primarily of the "NAR" and Word of Faith. They claim great authority and new revelation. They proclaim "thus says the Lord" when the Lord has said no such thing. But no foundation can be laid other than that which has already been laid. " . . . having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone . . . " Ephesians 2:20

A lie from without can easily be seen as a lie, but lies from within aren't as easily recognized as lies. Stay alert.

Psalm 82 is probably addressing the people you are referencing in your post.

A gate is not an offensive weapon, It is a defensive weapon, to keep people out.

The gates of hell is the gate that i sused to try to keep the church out from its cities to rescue people in those cities and bring them to christ.

thats the way I have always seen it anyway

The gates of hell will not keep the church from doing its purpose which is to go into the world and help rescue people from hell

Hades had a right to keep men dead. Christ's kingdom came to free all men, even those already kept by Hades.

the serpent was an enemy within as well . And we see how dangerous that is to be unaware of it

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

your right the enemy came from without but infiltrated through false doctrine turning minds against the truth which all believers know

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”
‭‭John‬ ‭18:37‬ ‭KJV‬‬

We can’t let false doctrines turn our minds from the gospel that’s all Satan can do to get us and all we have to defend against

Amen.
The Church is defiled by the same means that men are.

Mark 7
18And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

"The gates of Hades" was either used as a metaphor as an actual description of the gates of Hades (in the heart of the earth). Since Christ said there was an actual chasm (or gulf) within Hades, those could well have been literal gates. But Sheol/Hades was a virtual prison for the OT saints until the resurrection of Christ. And when He arose from the dead He either literally or metaphorically destroyed those gates in order to bring the OT saints to Heaven.

There are a lot of misconceptions regarding that phrase.

The "gates" spoken about were the portico/hall at the gates/entry to most sizeable cities, at which the city fathers sat daily (shaded from the elements) to hold council together.

So the best exegesis that I have heard is that the [councils of the world/Satan/unbelieving world governments] will never prevail to destroy the Church that Jesus is building.

Really it has nothing to do with the living and true Church at all. Rather it is their antagonist.

Here is their fate BTW.....

Isa 24:21
It shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth the kings of the earth.

Isa 24:22
They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days (GWT judgement) they will be punished.

My friend, at this point you seem to be the only one who sees this situation with an unclouded mind.

INSIGHT & GROUNDING:

A.) Sometimes a good Christian will have some legitimate, and biblical, insight into the state of the world.

B.) Sometimes, in an effort to properly ground that insight, that good Christian will, quite reasonably, go to the scripture.

C.) Sometimes, although that insight is biblical, the Christian will pick the wrong verse to ground that spiritual insight.



Sometimes a Christian will have spiritual insight that is right, and good, and biblical... but they pick the wrong verse to ground their insight.



Hope you all have a great weekend.
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I love your reasoning, logic, knowledge and manner of communication.
Thank you.

And it is these souls (among others) that he shall bring down to the clouds to meet us in the future when we are raptured up?

1 Thessalonians 4
14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

So "sleep" = waiting for the Rapture?

(Sorry to have gotten off-topic.)

You have a great weakend too, Bro Maxwel.

(Maxwel is me favorite brew. )

Lay a new foundation is not so wrong, But it depends on whether it is systematic and correct. If it can maintain a complete architecture without departing from Christ and Bible, I don't think it is a problem.

The Gates of Hades means a dark place outside of our world to keep the dead.

"Sleep" is a metaphor for the death of the saints. When you lay a person in his grave, it gives the appearance of repose -- sleep. But no one sleeps six feet under.

I would add the ELCA, and the conservative conflation of the Cross and the elephant

NAR?

I don't think we should discount the fact Christ forums are not immune to this either.

Yes, there's that. And there has always been the false Roman and Orthodox Catholic sects posing as Christian churches.