The gates of Hades is plural. This means that Hades affects the church in many ways. Satan uses many different ways to bring the church into death. From the day the church came into being, the gates of Hades have been dealing with the church through various stratagems and in many ways. As soon as the Lord began to build the church on the day of Pentecost, the gates of Hades were shaken. These gates, however, began to actively try to drag the Lord’s church into death, to shut it in death, and to hold it in death.
In the early stage of the church, the gates of Hades utilized the Jewish religion, the Roman Empire, and Greek culture, uniting these three great powers to affect the church. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, the sign put on the cross was written in three languages—Hebrew, Latin, and Greek (John 19:20). The presence of these three languages signifies that the Lord Jesus was crucified by the Jews, the Romans, and the Greeks. Moreover, after the Lord Jesus began to build the church, these three groups—the Jews, the Romans, and the Greeks—joined together to deal with the church. Do you know who opposed the church in the early days? It was the high priest of the Jewish religion. Who put the apostles into prison? It was the rulers of the Roman Empire. Those who read church history know how much the Roman Empire persecuted and ravaged the church. At the same time, Greek philosophy also caused a great disturbance to the church. The opposition from Jewish religion, the persecution of the Roman Empire, and the disturbance caused by Greek philosophy were all used by the gates of Hades to deal with the church.
However, the Lord said that the gates of Hades would not prevail against the church. The church is something in resurrection. People may try to hold the church in death, but the church will come out of death. The church is in resurrection and can overcome death. It is not possible for the church to be held, detained, by death. After the Lord Jesus was put in the tomb, people thought they had accomplished their job, yet He came out of the tomb in three days. It is the same with the church. Throughout the generations people have tried to put the church in death and hold it there, and seemingly some succeeded. But little did they know that the church would rise up again after a little while.
Hades does not have only one gate; it has many different kinds of gates. When Satan was not able to defeat the church through the persecution of the Roman Empire, he changed his tactics to welcome the church. This is the reason that the Roman Empire accepted Christianity as its state religion in the fourth century. This was a gate of Hades. Nevertheless, even though it seemed that the gate of Hades dragged the church into death, history tells us that after a period of time the church emerged from death, according to its true nature.
The things spoken of above are great matters. Now I would like to speak of some small matters. I believe that Hades has small gates as well as big gates. Hades utilizes not only big things but also small things to deal with us. It uses small things such as our family, our career, and our physical body to deal with us. When a person rises up for the testimony of the church, dealings immediately come to him from every direction. A while ago some brothers talked with me concerning the matter of serving the Lord full time. Some asked if it would be best to serve the Lord full time, and others asked if it would be preferable to serve the Lord while holding a job. My feeling was that regardless of the way that was taken, the gates of Hades would be waiting. If we serve without holding a job, the gates of Hades are waiting; if we serve while holding a job, the gates are also waiting. It is the same with marriage. Some say it is best not to be married. We need to be careful, however, because a few gates have been prepared to deal with the unmarried. Some say it is best to be married and have a family. We need to be careful as well with this because a number of gates have also been prepared to deal with the married. One gate is called the wife gate; another is called the son gate. Still another is called the daughter gate. These are all gates of Hades. Those with experience know what I am speaking of. Dear brothers and sisters, if we do not have the power of resurrection within us, the gates of Hades will press us until we have no way out. When we serve without a job, we may think that it is better to have a job. Yet it is possible to be held even more by a job. Before some were married, they thought that everything would be fine once they were married; they thought that they would be able to serve the Lord with peace of mind and have a good family to bear a good testimony for the Lord. After they were married, however, they sensed that there are more gates of Hades. While there may be only one gate holding us prior to marriage, there may be three or four gates trying to hold us after we are married. When we served the Lord alone, we felt lonely and hoped that the Lord would give us one or two co-workers for coordination. We thought that this would be wonderful. However, after being with a co-worker or a companion for a long period of time, we may run to our room, sighing and saying, “I wish I had no co-workers. I wish I could be alone.” Oh, dear brothers and sisters, there is no place without a gate of Hades, and there is nothing that is not a gate of Hades. Any place and anything can hold us in death. The question is not where we are outwardly but whether we are living inwardly. If our inner nature is resurrection, nothing can imprison us. Even if it seems that we are being imprisoned, we can rise up again. The church cannot be held by the gates of Hades.
Many people think that it would be wonderful for someone who serves the Lord to have a spiritual wife. But I can tell you that very often a wife can turn out to be a gate of Hades. John Wesley, a well-known figure in church history, was truly a powerful man. Two centuries ago he not only brought a revival to the churches in England but also a great turn to the English society. However, he had a very unreasonable wife who was a gate of Hades to him, a gate which always tried to hold him down. Sometimes she would even humiliate him publicly while he was preaching. Without the resurrection life, John Wesley would have been imprisoned in Hades in no time by his wife.
Satan tries his best to destroy the testimony of the church, to damage the testimony borne by the church for Christ. But praise the Lord, even though the church may have a dark age, may enter the tomb, and may seem to be shut in by the gates of Hades, after a while the church will come out again in resurrection. The church, built with living stones, has the resurrection power, the resurrection life, and the resurrection nature, which cannot be overcome by the gates of Hades. It may seem as if the church has fought many losing battles throughout the centuries, but the church is still here. Even though the church appears to be finished, the church is still here when everything else is finished. We may be defeated, but the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church. We may be in desolation, but the church is still here.
Why is it impossible for the gates of Hades to prevail against the church? Why are the gates of Hades unable to successfully hold down the church? This is because the church is built upon a living rock, which is Christ, who is the Son of the living God, the Lord of resurrection, and the almighty Lord. The church built upon Christ can never be defeated by the gates of Hades. Therefore, the testimony of the church can never be destroyed by the gates of Hades.