The Gates of Hell

I'd like to have us to turn over to the book of Hebrews 1 and verse 1 to begin the sermon. Hebrews 1 and verse 1. God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.

For four thousand years, God worked with humanity in different ways. He worked with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He then began to form and worked through a nation, the nation of Israel. Then He worked through judges and kings and prophets within that nation. And of course, He let the nation of Israel and Judah go into captivity.

Then after four thousand years into human history, Jesus Christ came on the scene preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And Jesus announced that God would begin to work in a totally new and different way. It would be a way that He had never worked before. Let's read about that in Matthew 16. And in this chapter, we have a verse that we will be expounding on today. It will be our scripture from which we are operating. Matthew 16 and in verse 18. The disciples had been asked by Jesus, what do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? They said, well, some say you're John the Baptist or Elijah Jeremiah.

But who do you say that I am? Peter said, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus said, blessed are you, Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father in heaven. Now verse 18, the verse I really wanted us to come to. I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. Jesus was going to do something that he had not and begin to work with mankind in a way that was different than before. He was going to build and develop a church. As it turns out, this church would be just chosen and specially chosen and selected ones from different nations and races and peoples around the world.

I will build my church, my specially called out one. The word ekklesia means called out ones. He would choose and call out certain ones to be a part of a church that he would build. On this rock I will build my church. But I want us to notice also the last part of verse 18, because we want to expound on this a lot today. Jesus went on to add something very important.

And the gates of Hades. Now that's the New King James Version translation that I'm reading from. The gates of Hades. The King James Version says the gates of hell. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. What did Jesus mean by this statement? The gates of Hades. Hades is simply the untranslated Greek word. That's how you would read it if you read it in Greek. It would be Hades. So the New King James is just left it untranslated and certain other translations also. The Greek word, that's what Hades is, the Greek word is in this English translation.

The gates of Hades. What did Jesus mean by this statement? It would not prevail against the church he would build. Why did Jesus add this statement? What should we learn as members of God's church that will help us in our spiritual fight? As members of the church that Jesus built? First of all, let's get to the translation, the proper understanding of the gates of hell or the gates of Hades. The King James translation in a number of places translates Hades as hell. You really have to look up the original language to see whether it's Gehenna or whether it is Hades.

If this Gehenna is talking about the lake of fire, and there's one place that the King James uses hell for Tartaroo, a place of restraint for the fallen demons. So when you see hell in the King James translation, then you have to find out what the original language was to really understand what is being referred to. But in the Greek, as I've already pointed out, the word is Hades. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Well, the word again is Hades, and the word Hades simply means the grave. It means the domain of the dead, where you put the dead. The grave is a good translation of Hades.

What about the word gates? Gates is translated from Pule, and it means simply gate. It means door. It means entrance. So perhaps as good a translation as any here for us in English would be, the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it. The gates of the grave. This is the only place in the New Testament that this expression is found. Now some commentaries say that this expression means that Satan and his angels will never prevail against the church. They argue that the word gates here refers to where the elders of a city would gather to hold councils, and they were places of great strength. And they use this to in some way say that this is referring to Satan then and his angels not being able to prevail against the church. Well, even though Satan has certainly tried to destroy the church of God, it does appear in this verse that Jesus is not saying that it refers to Satan and the demons. He is simply saying that the grave will never be able to prevail against the church. That is, the church is not going to die away. The church is going to continue going age by age by age. The clear implication is that the church's existence, its survival, would not be easy.

I'm going to build my church, but the gates of the grave are not going to prevail against it. They will try. People, and Satan and humans, will try to put to death my church, but they will not be able to do it. The proof that Jesus undoubtedly meant the gates of the grave, not a direct reference to Satan and his angels in this verse, is that in the Old Testament there are a good number of verses that Jesus would have been very well versed in. Jesus knew the scriptures. He helped with the Father to inspire them, after all.

We find, for example, just turn to a couple real quickly, Job 17 and verse 16.

Job 17 and verse 16. Job 17 and verse 16. Will they go down to the gates of Sheol?

The gates of Sheol. Sheol is the Hebrew equivalent of Hades. Sheol was the Hebrew for grave. The Hebrew language word for grave. Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Sheol. So Jesus was very familiar, of course, with the Old Testament scriptures. Another place we find the gates of Sheol is in Isaiah 38 and verse 10. By the way, I think the King James has the bars of the King James. I can't remember what exactly the translation is, but the Hebrew is Sheol. They're in Job 17 and verse 16. But also notice in Isaiah 38 and verse 10.

We have reference here to the gates of Sheol. Isaiah 38 and verse 10. I said, I am in the prime of my life, I shall go to the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the remainder of my years. This is Hezekiah when he had years added to his life. So the gates of Sheol is referred to in verses in the Old Testament. Also, there are several verses in the Old Testament that refer to the gates of death. And one of those would be like in Psalm 9 and verse 13.

The gates of death. So we have this expression, the gates of Sheol and the gates of death. Psalm 9 and verse 13. We could read this one instance where we find it. There are several places where you can find the gates of death referred to. Psalm 9 and in verse 13. Have mercy on me, O Lord. Consider my trouble from those who hate me, those who lift me up from the gates of death. So the gates of death is certainly referred to in the Old Testament and the gates of Sheol. So when Jesus said in Matthew 16 and verse 18 that the gates of Hades will not prevail against his church, he was simply saying the gates of the grave are not going to be able to prevail. The church is not going to die off. The expositor's Bible commentary agrees with this. It explains the fallacy of saying that this directly refers to Satan and the demons. But the expositor's Bible commentary simply says that this expression refers to death and dying. The Revised Standard Version says the powers of death shall not prevail against it. So Jesus said that the church would not or the grave rather would not prevail against the church he would build. The church would never die away. But again, the clear application is that the church would have to struggle for its survival. And that is exactly what we find when we study the early church. And that's exactly what we see indication of down through history. And that is what we find in the church today in our time. Brother, did you know there has not been a day that the church has not struggled for its survival in its almost 2,000 year history. And it continues to struggle to this day. You and I need to understand this struggle because we are a part of it. We're a part of the church of God.

And the church will never die away. But let me add that into the church collectively will never die away, Jesus said. But individually there have been members that have caved in to the gates of Hades and who have died off. There's a warning in this, but also there's good news if we do our part that the gates of hell will never prevail against us as individual members of the church of God. We know by Jesus' statement that the gates of hell, the grave, Hades will never prevail against the church as a whole. The church is going to keep on going.

It's not going to die away. But individually, the gates of hell could prevail against you or me as an individual member of that church. Let's consider this as we go along today. First of all, let's go back then and look at the church that Jesus founded, that He said He would build. He said He would build it. When did He begin to build it? Well, after His death and after His resurrection and after His ascension to heaven. Shortly afterward, on the day of Pentecost, He began to build His church. Let's read about it in Acts 1. Acts 1 and verse 15.

Acts 1 and verse 15. In those days, and this is after Jesus had ascended to heaven, and there were just a matter of a few days before it would be Pentecost, and the start of the church, in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples. All together, the number of the names were about 120. That's the results of the ministry of Christ. Three and one half year ministry. How many people? Thousands, millions, no. 120 believers. That is in this chapter where they chose a replacement for Judas Iscariot. Well, we skip on over to chapter 2 and verse 1. We see that the day of Pentecost came. We're well aware that God sent His Holy Spirit. The disciples were filled with the Spirit of God. Peter gave an inspired message. We can read parts of it. The people were moved by what Peter said. They said, what shall we do? Peter said, repent and be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Guess what? In verse 41, those that gladly received His Word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. Oh my! You know, the church was off to a big start. It already had 120 when the day of Pentecost began, who believed, and then 3,000 more were added. Day one, and the church has 3,120. About. Not bad.

You know, furthermore, there was great excitement. Think about if you had been there, and you just came to any ordinary Pentecost, and suddenly you saw all these things to develop. This rushing, mighty wind, this inspired message, God's Spirit working mindfully. I mean, God wanted the church to get off to a big start, and it did. What if you had been there? It would have been very exciting. It was so exciting that people that had traveled in from other countries decided to stay around for a while. Ultimately, they had to go back home. They couldn't stay there forever, but they stayed around for a while. Let's read about that. An exciting beginning to the early church, the church that Jesus built. Acts 2 here, verse 42, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. Fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And God was just really making sure the church got off to a good start.

Notice that all who believed were together and had all things in common. Oh, there was a unity there was a togetherness there was an excitement. In verse 45, some of the locals sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as everyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart. They were just there purely worshiping God and fellowshiping together, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added, continued to add to the church daily those who were being saved. Yes, the church was with one accord. There was great unity. They were together in doctrinal purity. There weren't any false doctrines around yet. And you know, you'd have to say there's no problem after day one and the first maybe few days or weeks of the church. We don't see any problem as far as the gates of hell are concerned. There are no threats of the church's survival at all, it would seem. In chapter 4, this went on. This excitement and this togetherness went on for some time, maybe a few weeks or maybe possibly a few months. I guess we could stretch it out. I don't think it could go right on and on forever, but it did for a little while. The believers altogether, people selling things and having fellowship together, everybody having their needs provided for. There was just a lot of excitement in Jerusalem. In Acts 4, verse 32, the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. Brethren, we're going to bring out later, this is one of the challenges of the church of God. Always has been. It's a challenge for our time and it's a challenge. It will prove to be a challenge for the early church before too long. To be of one heart and one soul. To be united.

But that's exactly what God wants. He wants us to be united. To be of one accord and one heart. Well, the early church was. The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own. But they had all things in common. And with great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. The church was just off to a fantastic start. What a marvelous beginning for the church. How could the gates of Hades, the grave, ever threaten or be a problem to the church? Well, right away there was persecution. You could go back now earlier in chapter 4 and also in chapter 4 and also in chapter 5. And there was persecution by the Jewish leadership. The scribes and Pharisees and others did not like what was going on. And they even arrested the apostles, some of them, and threatened them and beat them. And they commanded them not to speak anymore in the name of Jesus Christ. And the book of Acts and the Epistles are a continuing chronicle of the opposition and the persecution in the early church. Well, they met opposition. They met persecution. You know, opposition, an outside enemy, could destroy an organization. An outside enemy can destroy a nation. Now, sometimes a nation becomes stronger because of an outside enemy. For example, in World War II, the United States was very strong because there was a common enemy. Everybody rallied together in a way that we don't see today in our current war in Afghanistan. Not everybody pulling together. We're not made stronger as we were in World War II. Sometimes a common enemy, and the same thing happened in Great Britain, there was a common enemy. A common enemy, an outside opposition or persecution, can make a group stronger. It can unify them so that they fight against the enemy. But also an enemy, if allowed to do so, if a group is not made stronger by opposition, then the opposition can destroy that group. Well, the church stood up strong. You look at the book of Acts. The apostles did not cave in to all the threats. They were arrested. They didn't cave in. They stood strong in the first decades of the church during the 30s and during the 40s and into the 50s. And I would say on up to the 60s, the church met the opposition and the persecution and was made stronger by it, the church as a whole. They stood up to the persecution before them. Many of them later would begin to weaken. After all, you can begin to get weary in fighting battles. You can want maybe peace with the enemy, but how can we make peace with the enemy when the enemy is Satan and his world? The church has to always fight. There's never a day that the church has not fought for its survival. Brethren, there's never a day where we individually don't fight for our spiritual survival. Or else, ultimately, if we don't fight for that survival, we will cave in to the gates of Hades, the grave. And we'll get the upper hand. We will die off unless we keep up our daily struggle. Down through history, the church of God faced opposition and persecution. The early church eventually weakened. All the big guns, Peter and Paul and all the apostles, were no longer on the scene. And we read in the latter New Testament era a totally different set of circumstances than existed in the early church, where they were all together with one accord and the one heart. There began to be people leaving the church. There began to be false apostles and teachers. There began to be people that weakened and became lethargic in the latter New Testament church. I'm jumping ahead a little bit. We're going to get into that in just a moment.

And so the church ultimately was no longer in Jerusalem. The church ended up in John's time in the area of Ephesus, more headquartered out of that area. Ultimately, the church would fade away in an area and it would reappear in another area. Sabbath keepers, holy day keepers, those who believed in the millennium. We read about it in parts of like Armenia, in Asia Minor, in Europe.

The church would show up ultimately in England and in the New World. But you know, all along the way, then God's church was being threatened with its existence, but it never died away. You wonder sometimes how small may the church have become in numbers.

It may have at times gotten down to some pretty small numbers.

There was persecution, opposition. Many times some of the believers would move on to another area. And sometimes those who stayed behind would blend in. They lost their zeal and, as far as fighting the enemy, the opposition. But the church would always appear somewhere else. It never died away. We know that in more recent times it came from England to the United States.

We know the work of Mr. Herbert Armstrong and the church of God that he came into contact with. But you know, Mr. Armstrong always faced opposition. In the early years he founded churches because of the believers from his campaign. He would put leaders that he thought were responsible to guide them. Before too long the group would be arguing and fussing among themselves, or the leader would begin to get into false teachings and doctrines. Then he founded Ambassador College and he had a trained ministry. But you know, I became a part of that trained ministry beginning in the late 50s at Ambassador College, graduating in the early 60s and have been in the ministry of that church, of the church of God. And there has been persecution, opposition, and difficulty all along the way. It was never easy going. There were always people I remember as a student. One of the faculty members became disgruntled and left. You could go back to any age and during the years that Mr. Armstrong was guiding and directing in the church, and you will find that there were those who became disgruntled and who left. Of course, in the 1970s there were some major problems. Do I need to elaborate? Major problems that developed in the 70s.

Mr. Armstrong died in 1986. There were challenges in the early 80s. We were in Oregon at that time. Mr. Armstrong even came up to Seattle and gave a sermon. There were some challenges before the church at that time that he addressed. So there's never been an age, really, in the early church or today that the church has not had to stand up and be strong. We have to stand up today. The United Church of God has been in existence now for almost 15 years. This is coming around the last of April 1st of May. Almost 15 years. 1995. But there are challenges that we've had along the way. You think they're going to ever go away? No, we'll always be having some challenges before us. Just as Mr. Armstrong did and just as the church has had down through the ages. Down through history, there has been much than opposition, much persecution, much difficulty that has threatened the survival of the church, including today in our time. But the church has survived, and here it is. There would never be a time we could go back to 31 A.D. when the church was founded. You could not find a time that somewhere there were not members of the church of God. Somewhere in Asia, in Asia Minor, in Europe, in the New World, you would find the church of God. It has not died away. The gates of hell have not prevailed. You know, I want to expand a little bit that the gates of hell can be more than just persecution and opposition. Certainly, Satan is the chief enemy of the church. He has strived to extinguish the church down through the ages, and he is the chief enemy of the church today. He hates us. You think he wants us to go on forward preaching about God's kingdom? Well, that's the time he's going to be in prison. You think he wants to go on forward being united and able to work together and be a people in one accord, in one heart? No, Satan would like to divide us. He's working diligently in that direction. But you know, there are infinite ways, including, and we'll get to that, even things outside of just Satan's direct influence. What about the weakness of your own human nature? You know, you could weaken. You could become lethargic. You could begin to let down, and then the gates of hell could prevail against you as a member of God's church. But, you know, if we stay close to God, that will not happen to us. But there are infinite ways that we could be brought to the gates of death or the gates of Hades. Let's turn over to Revelation 2, and we see some of those threats to the survival, our spiritual survival, as members of the church that Jesus built. Let's come to Revelation 2 and read verse 4. Revelation 2 and verse 4. And John here wrote down these words, coming from Jesus Christ, actually, to the Ephesian church.

Revelation 2 and verse 4. Nevertheless, I have this against you. Oh, this church had labored, it had works, it had patience, it could not bear those that were evil, it tested false apostles, and persevered and had patience, but there was a problem this church came to have.

I have this against you that you have left your first love. They had lost their zeal.

They had become lethargic. And Paul, in the book of Hebrews, warned the Hebrews of lethargy.

Some of the people that he wrote to were neglecting their salvation. They had not grown spiritually. He said, when some of you should be teachers, you have need of milk and that someone teach you again. Some were forsaking church services, forsaking the assembling of themselves together.

They were in danger of fiery indignation, Paul wrote in Hebrews chapter 10.

You know, Jesus warned about our time that because evil would abound, iniquity would abound in our time, the love of many would grow cold. What love? The love for God? The love to know God as we heard in the sermonette? The love for the truth, the Bible? The love for prayer and Bible study? The prayer for our fellow mankind? The love of many would grow cold.

You know, the loss of first love would be another way that we could be brought to the gates of death. We're to lose our first love because God does not accept that. He doesn't accept lethargy. He does not accept losing our spiritual zeal.

Another way would be doctrinal error, that we could lose our zeal and be heading right straight toward the gates of the grave, the gates of death, in Revelation 2, in verse 14.

The Pergamos Church had a problem. They got involved in false doctrines.

And in verse 14, I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel. And eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. And in verse 15, thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. So the Pergamos Church got involved in false doctrines.

Many of these doctrines had roots that went back to ancient false religious worship. The doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, ancient false worship of pagan heathen peoples.

Jesus warned about false prophets. He warned about how they would come in sheep's clothing, but immorally were ravenous wolves. Let's turn to Acts 20. The Apostle Paul. You might want to keep your finger here. We're coming back to Revelation in just a few minutes, but in Acts 20, Paul warned about those who would come with false teachings and false doctrines.

You know, we have to be very careful then that we ourselves don't get involved in any false doctrine. Doctoral error would be certainly a way that would lead to the gates of death or the grave, spiritually. Acts 20, in verse 27, Paul says, I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves. He's talking to the elders in the church at Ephesus. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God. One of the places where we find the name of the church that Jesus built. The church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Now this would be savage wolves from outside the church. No doubt stirred up by Satan to devour the church. Savage wolves would come in, not sparing the flock. In verse 30, and he says, also from among yourselves, that is from within the church, from among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. There would be ones from inside the church who would also speak perverse things. Teach false doctrines to try to get people to follow after them. We've had some of that in our time. There was a big falling away from the truth in the mid-90s, those who would draw us away from basic doctrines and teachings of the Bible. In fact, that's why United Church of God came into existence to stay true to the doctrines and teachings of the Scripture. So we've had to stand up. Mr. Armstrong had to stand up. He many times would shake his face and pound on the podium that he would not compromise with God's laws and would not deny God's Word and God's name. We feel the same way. We want our teachings and doctrines to be based fully upon the Scriptures. We don't want anything that is error, any doctrinal error. We know that would lead us in that way toward death, the gate of death or the grave. Peter also warned about false teachers bringing in destructive heiresses. Jude also, let's turn to Jude, verses 3 and 4. Jude writing probably around the 70s AD somewhere.

Peter and Paul were both likely dead at this time. And the church, some of the members, were being influenced by the false teachers that were coming around with their false doctrines, getting a following after themselves. And Jude was very alarmed by what he saw going on. Jude, verse 3, beloved, when I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly. The word means to struggle for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. People were getting away from it. They were losing it. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. Ungodly men, who turned the grace of our God into licentiousness, and denied the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So already an apostasy was setting in, and Jude was having to write about it. You know, John also wrote about it. We won't read those verses in John, but there were people leaving the church. John said in 1 John, chapter 2, they went out from us, but they were not of us. Maybe never converted. If they were converted, then they had lost their zeal and the truth. So they went out from us because they were not of us. John writes a lot about false apostles and false teachers that had come on the scene. So in the latter New Testament church, there was a real struggle going on. John and Jude and some of these had to stand up for the truth. Encourage people not to follow after the false teachers with the false doctrines. Let's go to Revelation 2 and read verses 20 and 21. So we say that the church of God indeed did have to struggle for its survival. It had to struggle for its first love, not to lose the first love. It had to struggle for doctrinal purity. Here we find the church needing to struggle against false religion. Revelation 2 and verse 20.

I have a few things against you. This is the Thyatira church because you allow that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess to teach and beguile my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, but she did not repent. And in verse 24, But to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they call them, I will put on you no other burden. Satan was trying to infiltrate the church and the members of the church to get them involved with this woman Jezebel. Who was that? It will appear to refer to the false religious system of this world. Brethren, we can have no part of the false religious system of this world. It's Sunday worship. It's keeping up Christmas and Easter and the holidays that go back to ancient paganism. God's church is to have nothing to do with that. I would say this. There's a modern-day false religious system, or Jezebel, around it. We have to be aware of as well.

True Christians are not to have communion with the false religions of this world. They cannot touch the unclean thing. They are to come out and to be separate, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 17.

Let's go to chapter 3. We're reading through the messages to the seven churches, and we're seeing other things that can lead toward the gates of death, the grave, that could keep us out of the church of God or cause us to be no longer a member, a live and active member of the church that Jesus built. In Revelation chapter 3 and verse 1, To the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead.

Well, we could, and this church is admonished, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain.

This church was spiritually dead. What does that mean?

It means it wasn't doing anything. It wasn't growing. It wasn't doing a work. You know, then as a church, we don't want to ever be a church that is not preaching the gospel, that is not doing a work, that's not doing anything. As a member of that church, we don't want to ever be inactive. We want to be involved. Brethren, let us be involved in the church. Let us be involved in the preaching of the gospel, praying for it and helping every way that we possibly can in the commission that God has given to the church. Let us also be involved in growing and overcoming, working together, fellowshiping. Follow the advice of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, and let us stir up the gift of God.

Brethren, we all need to take this to heart, the message today. We don't want the gates of Hades to prevail against us as individual members of the church of God. It's not going to prevail against the church as a whole. Jesus has promised that, but it could prevail against an individual member of the church. The attitude and the spirit that we want to have is a lowly spirit. It's not one that's high and mighty and exalted. It's not one of thinking that we are rich and increased with goods. If I look at Luke chapter 18 and verse 9, Jesus spoke this parable to some that trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Oh, they were rich. They were increased in goods. They had need of nothing, and they despised others. Two men went up to a temple to pray. One a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, thank you, I'm not like other men. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. Well, look at all that I do. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. He felt so good about himself. How do you feel about yourself? Do you feel pretty good about yourself? Then you might fit right in where the Pharisee is and where the laodicy and smugness is. Or do you feel bad about yourself and feel like you're coming up short? And when you've done even trying to do to the best of your ability all the things required of you, you still feel like you're the unprofitable servant. Still not doing it like you should and like you'd like to. And you come up short. Well, that's where the tax collector was in verse 13. The tax collector standing afar off would not so much as lift or raise his eyes to heaven. Didn't even feel like looking up. He felt so bad about himself. But beat his breast saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus said, for everyone who exalts himself shall be abased and he who humbles himself will be exalted. So we have that challenge of always maintaining a humble and lowly opinion of ourselves. We allow for the possibility that this indeed is talking about chronological ages of the church and that the Ephesian church, which lost its first love, would refer to the apostolic age. And they did lose their first love. You can read about it in the book of Hebrews and also the epistles of John and Jude.

And then did the church go through the chronological ages? We see something there.

If that be the case, which it very well may be, and we allow for that in our church teaching, then the Laodicean church would be the church condition at the end of this age. Brethren, that ought to make us tremble a bit in our hearts. To think about that, that may be referring to many of us, or at least some of us. Ones that are neither turned on or turned off, neither cold nor hot, rich and increased with goods, complacent, smug.

If indeed there is something to chronological ages of the church, then there is to come that attitude at the end of this age. And that should create some fear in our hearts. That's scary when you think about it. How do you feel about yourself? If you're lukewarm and complacent, then you head into where that big gate that leads where you don't want to go. You know, there are many other ways that lead to the gates of Hades. Certainly the way of division would be one way. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10 that there was carnal division and strife in the church at Corinth. And he wanted them to speak the same thing. He wanted them to have the same mind and the same judgment. I'm calling upon all of us here in the Raleigh congregation that we all do have the same mind and the same judgment. That we are united. God hates division. We are to stand fast in one mind and one spirit. We are to endeavor for unity. That means to work, roll up our sleeves, put out effort for unity. Division, going an independent route, going a separate way, a way that seems right to us individually. Separate from the church is a dangerous way to go.

It's not the way that you want to do it.

Jesus' last prayer that he gave before his crucifixion was that those in the church he would build, quote, may be made perfect in one. You can read that in John 17 and verse 23. Jesus prayed that those in his church he would build may be made perfect in one. Are you an agent for unity and peace? Or do you sow discord and division?

If you sow discord and division, you can be sure that's not going toward the right gate that you want to go through. Another way that gate that leads to Hades or the grave would be rebellion against authority, not coming under the government that is in the church. Oh, you know, in case we didn't know, there's still there's government in the church. Council of Elders is our governing body. Do you respect them? Do you pray for them?

We have a president and we have an administration team that works under the direction of the Council of Elders. Do you pray for the administrative team as well? Do you pray for the ministry? You know, the Scriptures say, obey those that have the rule over you. Yes, rule. Are you L.E.?

Obey those that have the rule over you. How about it applies to me just as much, if not more, than to you as your pastor here? I must be under government.

I must look to those over me when there's a question or when there's a need for any direction or guidance about anything. I'm not to go off and do my own thing and, well, this is the way I want to do it. This is the way I want to run the church. No.

So I'm under government. There are rules and things that we follow.

Any family or any nation or any church that doesn't have government is heading toward anarchy.

We see some of that in their own country and it doesn't work. There's government in the church that Jesus built.

And we're to follow the leadership. We followed that under Mr. Armstrong's leadership.

Today we have the Council of Elders as our leadership, our home office. But rebellion or rejection of government would be another way that would lead to the gates of death.

You know, there are many, many other gates. My time is running down that we could go into. What about just the cares of the world? Jesus said the cares of the world and the material things of this world, the desire for riches, can choke the Word of God but lead toward the gates of death. What about a root of bitterness? Something has happened to you. You just can't get it out of your mind. There's a grudge. It's deep. It's lodged in your mind and your heart. The Apostle Paul says that that will defile you. A root of bitterness. He said many, in fact, were defiled by a root of bitterness. Guard your attitude. Don't ever let it become bitter because there may not be any rescue from that unless you draw real close to God in prayer and let God clean out that bitterness from your heart and from your mind. Keep your attitude sweet, teachable, humble, and yielded before God. Don't let it ever become bitter because a root of bitterness is a sure way of heading toward the gates of death or the gates of the grave. Brethren, did you notice that the gates of Hades is plural? We've covered just a few today, but there are so many gates that lead to the grave, that lead to death. We've covered many of them today. The loss of first love, false doctrines and teachings, false religion, being spiritually dead, being lukewarm or smug and complacent, the cares of this world, a root of bitterness, division and strife, going your own independent way, rebellion against government and authority. You know, these are just a few of the ways of those gates. There are many others, no doubt we could add. But I want to now mention, as we come onto the latter part of this sermon, a gate that is singular that we do want to go through. Turn over to Matthew 7. There's another gate, a whole different kind of gate that we want to go through. But as we've been bringing out today, it's not an easy one to go through. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 14. Well, verse 13 and 14. Matthew 7 verse 13. Enter by the narrow gate.

Now this is singular. It doesn't say gates, does it? Enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And we've been commenting about that up to this point. There are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life. And there are few that find it. It's not easy to become a member of the Church of God.

It's not easy to remain a vibrant, growing, and strong member of the Church of God. You can let any number of things come in to weaken you and begin to lead you in the wrong direction toward the gates of Hades or the grave instead of the gate that will lead to life. This gate here is one that we come to that's pretty narrow. With God's help we can squeeze on through it, but it's not very broad. It's pretty narrow. Just can enter on through this gate. But it's the one that leads to life. It's the one that we want. The word gate here is the same Greek word that is used in Matthew 16, 18. The one in Matthew 16, 18 just happens to be plural. The gates of the grave versus the gate that leads to life. You know, sort of like a math problem. You like mathematics, arithmetic. There is no number of wrong answers to a problem, but there's only one right answer. You've got a math problem. There's just one right answer. You can come up with an infinite number of wrong answers, and that's the way it is with the Church of God. There's only one way that we can ever enter into life is through that narrow gate. That's the only way. There are an infinite number of ways that we can enter into death.

In the early Church and down through the ages, yes, the Church has had a struggle for its survival. The biggest enemy of all has been at work. He's tried to work from without and persecute the Church and destroy the Church, and he's tried to work from within and to infiltrate and to have certain men creep in unawares and bring false doctrines and false teachings.

On top of all that, we have our own human nature. The flesh works against the spirit. We have our carnal human nature that also is pulling us downward toward the gates of death, the grave.

We can be sure that Satan constantly is trying to influence us in the wrong direction. He's very much involved in trying to get false doctrines and false religion into the Church, or lethargy, or loss of first love, or apathy, or to be spiritually dead, or materialism, the cares of this life, a grudge, a bitter attitude. He's at work. How can he get to you? He doesn't care which gate you choose to the grave or to death. Satan doesn't care. Just so you take one of them is fine with him. Take anyone you want. Which one appeals to you? There are many gates going to the grave. Just choose the one that you like the best.

He doesn't care. There's only one gate to life. Many gates to hell or to Hades, the grave.

Again, Satan doesn't care.

You know, the good news of Matthew 16, 18, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The gates of the grave shall not prevail against it. The good news is that Jesus had paraphrased, hey, I'm going to build a church. This is something I've never done before. Four thousand years, I've worked in other ways. Now I'm going to build a church. Special called out ones.

They will be persecuted. It will not be easy for them to be a member and continue to be a strong, vibrant member. They will be threatened, their very existence, from without as well as from within.

But the good news is the gates of the grave are not going to prevail against that church. The church is going to make it. It's not going to cease to exist.

That's reassuring to know. That's the good news. The enemies and the forces against the church will not succeed.

Now some of the individual members may fail. But the church collectively is going to continue going on.

You know, it's very reassuring to know that. That's good news in that verse too. That verse is what I consider a verse with sobering good news. It is sober to think about that it's going to be difficult. There would be efforts to destroy the church.

The good news is that it would survive all of these efforts to destroy it. It would survive.

Let's turn to just a couple of verses as we wind down. Matthew 28 and verse 20.

This is very reassuring.

Matthew 28 and verse 20.

Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Here's the commission to the church. Jesus said He would give all authority. Verse 18. He said in verse 19, Go and make disciples of all the nations. Here's our commission. Here's what we want to be busy doing with all of our heart.

Making disciples, preaching the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things I've commanded you. But here's the very reassuring words. Hey, the gates of hell shall not prevail. Those are reassuring words. These go right along with them. Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Brethren, the end of the age has not come yet.

Jesus Christ is with us today.

That is reassuring. Very much reassuring. He said in Hebrews 13 in verse 5, He will never leave us or forsake us. Now, we can expect challenges in the church. We can expect problems in the church.

It wasn't just during the time of Mr. Armstrong or during our first 15 years. There will continue to be challenges to our survival, both collectively and individually, right on to the end of the age. Christ is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He's with us.

Brethren, we can go forward with confidence as a church, collectively. The United Church of God will go forward with confidence.

You and I individually, as members of that church Jesus built, can go forward also with confidence.

Let us be stirred up then. Let's fight against the enemy of lethargy and be zealous for our high calling. Let us resist the cares and the pleasures of this world that are coming at us strong. Let us resist Satan and his efforts, his powerful influence.

And be strong when there is opposition or persecution or difficulties.

Let us be united in one mind and one spirit.

And certainly not be independent or unruly.

We are one church. We are one family.

And let's truly be the United Church of God.

You know, Jesus here in Matthew 28 is with us then. And we can go forward with confidence, preaching the gospel and making disciples and caring for them.

I want to read one final verse in Revelation 1 and verse 13.

This is also very reassuring to know.

Revelation 1 and verse 13.

And there's a description here of Jesus Christ that John saw and wrote down.

And verse 13, In the midst of the seven lampstands, which represent the seven churches, mentioned in the next two chapters, in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man is Christ, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with the golden band.

It's describing Jesus Christ. But here we have Jesus Christ, who in other verses we find is the head of the church.

You know, that's why we can take great confidence because the head of the church never changes. It's always the same. And that gives us a lot of confidence and faith.

He's guiding and directing and watching over things. He's like our CEO, our chief executive officer, working under the overall direction of the Father.

So Jesus Christ is our head. The thing I find interesting here in verse 13 is, where is He? Is He over on the sidelines, right on the periphery of the church, as far as these seven lampstands? Or is He in the middle?

He's in the middle. In the midst of these seven lampstands, Jesus Christ has been in the middle. You think He would build a church and then just kind of stay on the sidelines?

Or would He want to be involved, directly involved, in the middle?

And so, you know, for us to be strong and remain strong, always remember that Jesus Christ is our head. He is our CEO. And He is in our midst. He is in the middle, in fact, of what is going on.

Let's not ever forget that.

He is right in our midst.

So let's go on forward with faith and confidence. And brethren, we greatly encourage that Christ is with us always, even to the end of the age.

The gates of hell, the grave, cannot prevail because Jesus Christ is the head of His church, and He is the captain of our salvation.