Weekly Devotional 10-16-17 It is the Lord’s Church After All
From Matthew 16:13-18 NKJV we read; “13When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus disclosed that because He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, He had the authority to call out of humanity a group of people He referred to as His church, and that the gates of Hades (Hell) could not prevent it. That is, not even His death could prevent it. A year or so later, He did die, but death and Hell could not keep Him. As history records, three days after His death He rose again and ascended into heaven validating His claim. Before His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, He had assembled the apostles together to comfort them with these words; “16I will pray [ask] the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever– 17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19″A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:13-20 NKJV). “26When the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27). “7It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:7-15 NKJV).
Then, just before He ascended into heaven, He said to His disciples and apostles, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NKJV). Luke, in his second letter to his friend Theophilus, tells of the fulfilling of this. We read; “1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs–we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:1-11 NKJV). Thus, Jesus began the building of His church and it continues today. He used many people in its building but it was not dependent upon them.
There are times, however, when it seems that the church is about to collapse. Here in the United States for instance, there are satanic indwelt persons who continuously oppose the church. They have gained a voice in many of our institutions, i.e. various governmental institutions, educational institutions and even the professing church. That is, churches that claim to have a relationship with Jesus Christ but do not. Still, every day, there are people being added to the church. In His letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25 NKJV). Paul had been writing of Israel as a nation being set apart from salvation for a time. In that period of time the Lord was and is adding to the church from out of the Gentiles. Paul writes that this will continue until the last Gentiles to be added to the church will be. From the book of Revelation we read; “9I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 12Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1: 9-18 NKJV). This was a vision given to John, and indirectly us, of Jesus ruling in the midst of the church. The words “I am alive forevermore, Amen, and I have the keys of Hades and of Death” are words of permanency, and are spoken with absolute authority.
It is the Lord’s church after all. Nothing has in centuries past prevented its being, cannot prevent its being presently, nor will in the future prevent its being. If you haven’t, why not join the team? In doing so you will be on the winning side. The path to joining is to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved [added to the church] Acts 16:31; John 3:18; John 3:36 and (Acts 4:12).
Blessings
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Transforming Power; The Work of God on Behalf of Man