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 CHURCH BEING THE CHURCH

Matthew 16:16-18 "And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Jesus speaks of Peter being a rock, a small stone of the same substance as his confession. The Lord then states that upon the boulder that is the confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, upon THAT foundation, He would build His Church. Then He declares that the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against His Church.

Did you know that the gates of an ancient city were the last place of defense against attacking armies. If the gates were lost, the city would be lost, sacked and destroyed. Too often, this passage of Scripture is interpreted AS IF the Church was bastioned behind defensive walls doing its best to ward off the attack of satanic forces. That is NOT what is being declared by the Lord Jesus.

The Church is to be on the offensive, being willing to suffer for proclaiming the reality of the Gospel!

Colossians 2:11-15 "When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross."

How would it be if the Body of Christ, His disciples, His Church, lived in the reality of His victory? What if we were not timid or afraid to take the opportunities God gave to speak into the lives of the people in our sphere of influence? What if we realized that those around us who do not know the Lord Jesus and have yet to believe and receive from Him eternal life are facing the prospect of eternity separated from their Creator and all the goodness and light, He has prepared for all who will believe Him?

Satan is a defeated foe, yet his power is great, and the venom of his lies has poisoned the hearts of humankind. They have been led into deception thinking they need something more than what God provides. They do not know that the things of the world will ever deliver on the promises they make. There is no soundness of life, not true meaning and purpose for living outside the Life God promises to give to all who will believe and receive His love.

Revelation 12:11 "And they have defeated him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die." 

These people John wrote about knew that Jesus' death and resurrection had taken away sin, that they were forgiven by God of all transgressions. They had received the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit saturating their very lives with the authority of Jesus victory over sin, death, hell and the grave. They believed that the Lord would do as He always had done in confirming the truth of the Gospel with demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power. They shared the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, His Ascension and sending the Holy Spirit to empower Hid people to live out the New Life they had been given.

A little discomfort, a period of awkwardness, the risk of being laughed at, cursed at, reviled and rejected by the unholy spirit that is at work in those who reject God and His word is small potatoes when the eternal destiny of those around you is at stake. The gates of hell cannot withstand the onslaught of the Love of God in Christ Jesus, the Lord. The Church is given the mission to plunder hell, to set captives free and proclaim that Good News that Jesus Christ has done for humanity what it never could come close to attaining: eternal life as God intended.

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