The church

https://odb.org/2024/09/09/what-remains

Matthew 16:17-19 –

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

One new thing I learnt today from Matthew 16 is that preceding the above passages is verse 13, and Matthew writes that as Jesus entered the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked the disciples who others and they say He is. Some say He is John the Baptist while others say He is Elijah or Jeremiah. But Peter, when specifically asked, answered that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Caesarea Philippi was the region known as Bashan, where the people in the past used to worship false gods and performed child sacrifices. It is believed that Bashan was the entrance to the underworld.

That was why Jesus mentioned the Gates of Hades when He proclaimed that He would build His church upon the rock – that the Gates of Hades would not prevail against it. We, of course, know by now that the rock is Peter’s revelation that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of the living God. It is upon this revelation that Jesus will build His church as that’s the foundational teaching for our faith that distinguishes us from other faiths. As believers, our faith is founded upon the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, the only one who is unblemished and without sin who became the Lamb of God and who died on the cross for our sins and rose victorious 3 days later having overcome the sting of sin, which is death. That is why the Gates of Hades, which is death, will not prevail against the church. The whole doctrine of our faith as expounded by the Apostles, especially Paul in his letters, is the death and resurrection of Christ, as the Son of the living God.

Thus, the church, wherever it may be, is ultimately that of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Saviour. He will build it and equip it. Wherever He calls us to, we may serve Him and fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives for that season, but it is He who builds it and gives it its increase. It is not the building but the congregation. It is more than the bricks and mortar, but the spiritual lives of the people. It is where God is leading us as a congregation that matters. Where He wants us to be and what He wants us to do in the midst of what He is doing. May we as a congregation participate in the work He is doing in our midst so we may live and serve Him and be at the centre of His will!

My prayer for us this morning, myself included, for the coming week is that our Lord Jesus Christ may grant us wisdom and discernment in all the things we do at work, in school and college, and in the church that we may excel, and that many others may be blessed by the work of our hands and His name will be glorified on earth as it is in heaven! Amen!