I shared this with the youth at Youth Event over the weekend; I thought is was probably blog worthy.

While i was at a conference the other month the bloke speaking started to talk about the purpose of the church and referred to Mt. 16: 18, where Jesus says that he will build His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.

As the bloke continued to talk about this i realised that i had always thought of the church being under attack from hell, but God showed me that it was the other way around. As the speaker continued to talk God placed a vision of sorts in my mind. I thought i would share it with you.

God showed me a picture of a vast army gathered and ready to wage battle outside a heavily fortified city. They were all wearing armour like they did way back in medieval times. There were siege towers, catapults, battering rams. There were people with bows and arrows, people with huge swords, and others were riding horses with spears and swords. And then god showed me the inside of the city. There was an army massed inside the city, but they were no match for the soldiers on the outside of the walls. Then I saw the dungeons with many, many people being held prisoner inside.

As I watched I saw the army mobilize, prepare, and attack the fortified city. I saw the gates of the city crumble as the army surged forward. I saw the army inside the city being defeated and retreating. And I saw people who had been held as captives inside the city for a long time, being set free and as this great victory was won.

As God showed me this I realized that the fortified city was Hell, the soldiers in the city were demons and sin and other powers, I realized that the chains and cells that held the captives were not made of steel but rather made of sin and addiction and fear and despair.

And as I looked at the outside of the walls and the massed army of soldiers out there waging war against this fortified city I began to understand that it was Christians who were out there fighting and winning the battle, breaking down the walls and releasing prisoners from captivity.

The weapons these Christians were using were not conventional weapons. These were not bow and arrow or sword or spear, or guns or rockets or missiles.

Instead I saw the Christians praying, caring, and actively engaged in transforming lives and society. I saw people telling others about Jesus and the difference that He could make in their lives. I saw people moving from place to place starting different groups that allowed people to explore their faith.

And I realised that it was because of this stuff that they were winning the battle, because the Gates of Hell could not stand against a church, against an army such as this.

And as I watched this vision I saw the captives being released and streaming out from the city being channelled into boot camps where they learnt how to fight against what once held them prisoner and then being moved back into the front lines to strengthen the attack and help free more captives.

As I saw this vision of a mighty church breaking down the walls that held the prisoners captive I was reminded of Jesus’ words in the synagogue in Nazareth, the Message says it like this; “God’s Spirit is on me; He’s chosen me to preach the message of good news to the poor, sent me to announce pardon to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”

I was also reminded of God's promise to the prophet Joel in the old testament and a promise fulfilled by God and recorded by Luke in Acts chapter 2: “And Afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days."

God has poured out His Spirit, and now His Spirit is upon us, He has appointed us to preach the message of good news to the poor, sent us to announce pardon to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”

Will You???