By Jenni Campbell
When Jesus Christ of Nazareth told Peter that the gates of hell will not prevail against his Church which he would build, he was more serious than a massive heart attack.
When he instructed his church to take the gospel to the world, he was not making a suggestion. This was a very clear and precise instruction. He did not leave this important mission to the whim and fancy of mortal men; he equipped the body with divine power and the sincere promise of his perpetual presence.
The church is placed by God Himself as the head and never the tail. This is not man’s ordinance. It is not bourne on the pride or aspirations of men. It is not a self-appointed position. God’s church does not stand based on its influence, according to its numbers, or in its own reach, but by the Spirit of the True and Living God.
So, when the church refuses to take up the assigned mission, it is not just putting up resistance according to the exigencies of situations or circumstances of its time; it is outright disobedience; it is a grievous denial of the power and presence of Christ.
It is now poignantly clear that when the same Peter, who understood the truth and power of Christ and who was present with Him, denied Him at the crucifixion, it really was a foreshadowing of what the church was to become under world pressure.
Locked Within The Four Walls
Note: Peter denied Christ thrice. The church has sunken to a new low and has further to sink if the current trend continues.
Locked in a self-imposed prison of four walls on a Saturday or Sunday, the church refuses to engage the world. The body chooses, instead, the easy way out – spreading the gospel among the dwindling pews of the converted or those who dare to come on their own accord.
This act of disobedience is prevalent among Christians in many countries across the globe, especially since the COVID-19 plandemic.
So when news is emerging, especially from parts of the United Kingdom and Europe, that churches are being closed in droves and sanctuaries are being utilised as bars, hotels, brothels, and for other celebrations of the oracles of Satan, it is not entirely surprising. These bodies have denied Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit and have placed themselves in the very mouth of the enemy, spitting out meaningless rituals like nobody’s business, only to be devoured by him.
Christ’s declared truth that the gates of hell will not prevail will always be active and enforced, despite the failures and closures of churches globally. The true Christian, who knows Christ and the power vested in the body, will stand, even if alone, in the face of great oppression and the threat to his or her very life.
In Iran, Christianity is illegal. Yet, despite facing imprisonment, torture, and execution, millions of Iranians are forsaking the Muslim faith and converting to Christianity.
There are more than 1.2 million believers residing within reach of the brutal Islamic Iranian regime.
This phenomenon is happening despite the regime’s efforts to target believers and spread false information, and encourage a negative opinion about Christianity.
Recent Christian converts are enthusiastically communicating about their changed lives with friends and loved ones — despite very near, clear, and present danger. Their discreet but persistent witness accounts for the extraordinary number of new Iranian believers who meet in small house churches.
Standing For The Truth
There are myriads of stories of Christians in strict Muslim countries being burned at the stakes for standing for the truth. But regardless, Christians who know their God will continue to stand.
In these end times, the enemy is determined to break through weak fences and push past compromised churches and the corrupt governments they bow to, in order to pursue its unrighteous agendas.
Despite Christ’s Great Commission, too many churches have chosen to remain silent, forgetting the very scriptures they tout from strange-fire pulpits week after week. They cower in the face of the slightest opposition, give in to empty symbolisms and vain glories, abandoning the flocks as lambs to the slaughter as the beast system bears down.
Last week, a declaration for a National Day of Mourning was made by the Jamaican Government. The Day of Mourning was called in the wake of the brutal sacrifice of eight-year-old Danielle Rowe and other children who have been slaughtered or abused.
Blessed are they that mourn and the promised comfort it brings. We have been comforted many times before. But, unless real healing takes place, look out; we are likely to be plunged into mourning again, seeking more comfort in very short order.
The very factors that led to the continued slaughtering of our people remain at play and will deliver the very same results.
The enemy knows this and has no problem with it as it satisfies his bloodlust.
God’s Prescription
Unless the nation heals, the perpetual loss of our people—children and adults—to wickedness will be the lot of the land. For the nation to heal, the Scriptures provide a very potent prescription. Those who are called by the name of God must humble themselves, repent, turn from wickedness, pray, and seek God’s face.
Real change demands a specific course of action, and those who are unwilling to follow God’s prescription chose instead to go according to Satanic lead for reasons we are yet to understand.
The Jamaican head of State, Prime Minister and others in leadership signalled their choice. It was the easy way out—the Day of Mourning. It did not require repentance, nor turning from wickedness, nor seeking God’s face. Unfortunately, the church was among them.
One day of mourning was immediately followed by a fulsome return to the ways of wickedness, corruption, murder, deceit, and a raft of sexual immoralities.
When the church allows itself to be led against what God has established, it is not only in disobedience, it is in abject denial of who God is. It has no fear of Him and has no wisdom.
The unwise church does not possess the will to reject the state’s invitation to ignore Godly instructions. It has no power from the Holy Spirit and will not be able to stand against state oppression in these end times.
But like the Christians in Iran, the righteous army of God will not relent.
The power and instructions given by Christ are still in effect. While the majority of Jamaicans ignored the instructions to adorn themselves in black on mourning day, there was no national call for repentance or anything else. Life continues as before, and the emissaries of Satan are emboldened in the face of a weak church.
But, like the new converts in Iran, the Remnant Army of the True and Living God will stand against the wiles of the adversary. Death should never be a deterrent to following Godly instructions. For if we live, it is Christ, and to die in Him is gain.