Monday, November 9
The Enduring Promise and Our Response
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” - Matthew 16:18
In our text for today, we have the first mention of Christ’s church. It was yet future, as He said, “I will build my church.” There is a “kingdom” battle going on, as the Lord Jesus promised that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” When we are born-again we change kingdoms! He has “delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (Col. 1:13)
The point that we must take note of here is that Jesus Christ said that He would build His church. He bought the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28), gave Himself for the church (Eph. 5:25), and promised that He would protect it as the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That is Christ’s enduring promise to the church!
What is our response? We must obey Him. When Jesus Christ commissioned His church in Matthew 28:19-20, there is but one command. We are to make disciples! (teach, Matt. 28:19) When the Lord Jesus ascended back to the Father, there wasn’t much in the way of the usual measures of success left behind: no buildings, no companies, and no monetary fortune! What He did leave behind were the changed lives of men and women who followed Him, His disciples. In Mark 16:20 we read of these disciples, “And they went forth, and preached everywhere.” Disciples respond to Christ’s command to reproduce themselves, making disciples both through the local church ministries and through worldwide missions.
Praise God this morning for His promise that no matter what happens, His kingdom will prevail.
Is your response to God’s enduring promise the same as the first century disciples who went everywhere preaching the gospel?
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