By Kyle Long

There is a war going on right now to decide the fate of all mankind. Although this war has been raging for centuries, the demonic forces of Hell are as determined as ever to lay waste to humanity. The greatest advantage that Hell has in this fight is not its firepower nor its battle tactics. No, the greatest advantage Hell has is Christians who are too fearful, ashamed or uncaring to join in the cause. They’re too wrapped up in what others will think of them. Churches are trying to be socially acceptable places where sinners can feel comfortable just the way they are. That, my friend, is exactly what Hell is banking on in order to achieve its objectives.

We have no reason to be ashamed. We’re the people of God, the people of the name. We don’t have to cower in fear as the agendas of this ungodly generation are flaunted all over the media. It’s time for us to rise up and boldly proclaim the message of Jesus Christ like never before! The Bible says, “the wicked flees when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” In today’s battle for souls, we’ve got just as much opportunity as Hell does to reach the masses. We have all kinds of media available to us. Isn’t it about time that the church starts crashing Hell’s party?

If God be for us, who can be against us? The gates of Hell cannot prevail against the church of the living God. Hell may parade in the streets, petition the courts, protest at the steps of the capitol, invade the school systems or even try to muzzle our pulpits, but I’m here to tell you Hell is not going to succeed. Not as long as there is a body of believers who will boldly say, “the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me!”

The Bible tells us that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. I don’t look to see a godly man in the White House rescue America from its downward spiral to depravity. I don’t look to see Congress pass laws to stifle Hell’s advances. Washington doesn’t have the answers. The Church has the only answer and the only hope for this nation and this world, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through the transforming power of the Gospel and the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ that this generation will be delivered from the ravages of sin.

Sin is a disease and the Gospel is the cure. Sin is like a plague or an epidemic that will eventually wipe out every living person on the face of the Earth unless they are treated by the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. New programs are fine. Updated music is fine. Yet we should never lose sight of the fact that it is our unchanging message of hope and deliverance that will cure man’s sin. As the song said, “what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Another song said that the blood “will never, never lose its power.”

Water baptism in Jesus’ name still has the power to erase your sinful past from God’s record books. The blood of Jesus Christ still has the power to cleanse us from all sins. The Holy Ghost still has the power to transform a person from the inside out. We don’t have to be intimidated by people who think we’re irrelevant, obsolete or behind the times. As Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.”

It is Hell that should be ashamed. Hell is promoting a message of “if it feels good, do it.” It’s Hell that’s encouraging rebellion against authority and self-destructive living. It’s Hell that is making a mockery of the institution of marriage and promoting the destruction of the family unit. It’s Hell that is so perverting the minds of people that they think that Christians are the enemy. Why should we feel ashamed or intimidated in the face of such a sleazy, slimy opponent? The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; but Jesus Christ came that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly!

For many years now Christians have been accused of having their heads in the sand and hiding behind the walls of their churches. It’s time to shed that image. It’s time to change that perception. If Hell can have an in-your-face, brazen, militant agenda, why can’t the Church? We should be going after the same souls Hell is after, with more fervor and tenacity than Hell.

We can’t sit idly by and allow Hell to invade and plunder our homes, our churches and our communities any longer. We need to aggressively attack the spirits of idleness and apathy in the church today. Not only do we have a world to reach, but we also have a generation coming up in the church that is worth fighting for.

I don’t like to see young people who have been raised in church hit the door when they graduate high school. It shouldn’t be that the ones who stick around are the exception and not the rule. The Sunday school teachers can’t do it all. The youth pastors can’t do it all. It has to start in the home. Every parent reading this article needs to take a spiritual stand and say, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” Take charge of your home. Find out who your kids’ friends are, where they go and what they do. If you don’t take an interest in your kids’ lives, Hell certainly will.

I can guarantee you there’s a pervert out there who would gladly introduce your son to what the world calls “an alternate lifestyle.” What the world calls “an alternate lifestyle”, the Bible calls an abomination. There’s some jerk out there who would love to have his way with your daughter and leave her on your doorstep. He would love to leave her battered, pregnant and addicted to drugs. There’s an online predator out there who wants to meet your child in person, so he can brutally rape and murder the precious soul that God has entrusted in your hands.

Satan is always the opportunist. He’ll take a soul any way he can get one. He’s not picky or selective. He doesn’t care about race, creed or gender. Its makes no difference to him if he gets someone from a bar stool or a church pew. The church should be no less opportunistic when it comes to winning souls for the cause of Christ. We can’t be choosy about who comes into our churches. Christ died for every last one of them. Black, white, rich or poor; it doesn’t matter. It’s up to us to reach them.

Satan is not going to back down or give up in his quest to destroy God’s most precious creation, mankind. He’s not going away and he doesn’t have pity for anyone. He’s a ruthless, merciless tyrant who is bent on taking as many souls to Hell with him as he possibly can. His methods are radical. He’ll get a man in a white coat to pull a baby nearly out of its mother’s womb, jab a pair of scissors into the back of its skull and suck its brains out with a vacuum. Satan’s not some little guy with a pitchfork and a pointy tail. He’s a sick, cruel monster with absolutely no conscience.

It’s time we get radical with our methods. It’s time we get fanatical about our message. It’s time we bombard the enemy’s territory with the Word of God, the name of Jesus, the Holy Ghost and the blood of Christ. Nothing can stop a pure, holy, righteous, blood bought, truth loving church! It doesn’t matter how powerful a hold Satan has on this world. The Bible tells us that greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. Satan’s kingdom cannot stand against the power of God!

Everywhere you turn, there’s a constant onslaught of immorality and devilish devices invading the media. Why don’t we start invading the airwaves? Why don’t we start invading the printed media and the Internet? The church has been accused of trying to cram religion down people’s throats, but Hell is doing the exact same thing with its message. It’s time to shove Hell out of the way and claim some territory for the name of Jesus! We need to have the spirit of Caleb, and say “we are well able to go up and take the land!”

These motivational speakers who call themselves preachers don’t scare Hell one bit. Their positive mental attitude, feel good messages aren’t a bother to Satan. The fact that they’re filling up stadiums with people and telling them God loves them just the way they, are is no worry to him. He’s probably gleeful seeing them get up there behind their fancy pulpits and never address sin or tell a person how to be born again. In fact, they don’t say anything that rocks the boat. That suits Satan just fine.

Who is on the Lord’s side? Let’s sound an alarm to this generation. Let’s blow the trumpet in Zion. Let’s draw a line in the sand and tell Hell we dare it to cross. We don’t need to negotiate with it. We don’t need to make concessions with it. We need to overthrow it! It’s not time to let up on preaching old-fashioned repentance. It’s not time to let up on preaching about holiness, righteousness and abstaining from worldly lusts. It’s time to boldly proclaim to the world, as John the Baptist did, to repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It’s time to boldly proclaim the biblical, born again experience. It’s time to boldly proclaim to all men to come out of sin and be separate from the world.

The sun is about to set on this age and the trumpet of the Lord is about to sound. Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be at the coming of the Son of Man. The Bible tells us in Noah’s day that every imagination of man’s mind was only evil continually. Mankind was wrapped up in the pursuit of pleasure. Violence filled the Earth. There were absolutely no moral restraints whatsoever. They did anything their hearts could possibly imagine. Finally, there came a day when God said enough is enough. We are fast approaching such a day again.

The time for the church to act is now. We are the only hope this world has. If we don’t go get them, Hell surely will. The Bible says to overcome evil with good. God’s love for man is too deep, His mercy too great, His grace so amazing that it far exceeds Hell’s capacity to be victorious. “We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, that we should show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light!”

We’ve got all the power of Heaven behind us. If we don’t rescue souls from the clutches of Hell, no one else will. They’ll perish into eternity with absolutely no hope. Jesus said “he that is not with Me is against Me.” There’s no middle ground in this fight. Will you join in the cause of Christ, or will you casually sit by as Hell devastates your world around you?

“The church has the only answer and the only hope for this nation and this world, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through the transforming power of the Gospel, and the cleansing power blood of Jesus Christ that this generation will delivered from the ravages of sin.”

Nothing can stop a pure, holy, righteous, blood bought, truth loving Church! It doesn’t matter how powerful a hold Satan has on this world.

From, “Apostolic Witness”, May/2008, by Kyle Long