AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE
I want to start with a quiz to determine your animal kingdom IQ. I’ll give you a type of animal, and you'll see if you know what a group of that animal is called.
Here’s the types of animals: Elephants. Fish. Lions. Crows. Penguins. Apes.
Do you know what those animals are called in a group?
Here's the answers: A group of elephants is a herd. Of fish, a school. Lions make up a pride. A group of crows is a murder. Together, penguins make up a rookery. And a group of apes is a shrewdness.
The idea is that individually each of these types of animals is called something, but when they join together, they have a new name, a new identity. Each individual plays a distinct role in the greater good of the group. If you study nature, you’ll discover if one of those animals drops out of the group, the life expectancy of that individual goes way down, and the quality of life of the group is reduced as well.
New question: What do you call a collection of two legs and arms and hands, a liver, a heart, two kidneys and eyes, and a nose? A body. Again, individually each one of these parts is called something, but when they join together, they take on a new name. While each part has a distinct role, that function is for the greater good of the body. If one of these individual parts is separated from the group, that individual part’s life expectancy goes way down, and the quality of life for the body goes down without it.
Here’s another question: What do you call a group of people who have surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? You call that group of people the church.
The Most Important Sentence
In their popular worship song, “Build Your Church,” Maverick City sing,
Upon this rock, You build Your Church.
And the gates of hell will not prevail.
When we bind and loose, we proclaim Your truth
And in Jesus' name, we will not fail
Never fail, oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, He's building a church now, now, now
Those lyrics are based on an encounter Jesus had with his disciples.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
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. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
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.” (Matthew 16:13-19)
I don’t know if there’s ever been a more important sentence uttered about the church than what Jesus says in verse 18, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.”
I Will Build My Church
Jesus’ five amazing words, “I will build my church” have been so important to me over the years. They remind us that it is His church, and He is the One who builds it. We partner with Him in His work. We teach, disciple, baptize. But God is the One doing the heavy lifting; we simply join Him in what He is doing.
You get to partner with Jesus in building His church. How cool is that? You do that every time you share your faith or invite someone to church, every time you serve on a Sunday morning or disciple a young believer.
Jesus promised to build His church, and He uses us to do it!
Jesus’ words also mean that Jesus promised us. Jesus predicted us. And not just us. All around the world, He is keeping His promise to build His church.
Some believe the church today is declining, but nothing could be further from the truth. We have had a bit of decline in the West, and so it’s easy to assume that’s the case everywhere. It is not. Around the world, thousands of people are becoming Christians every single day.
Jesus is building his church, and it is thriving. A few examples:
Africa: In 1900, there were about ten million Christians. By 2000, there were 360 million Christians.
China: In 1940, there were about four million Christians. Today, experts believe there are well over one hundred million. Some expect China to soon have the most Christians of any nation in the world.
You may know churches in places like China often face persecution. That’s another amazing facet of Jesus’ promise – He builds His church even in the face of persecution.
The original Christians faced persecution from the Roman Empire, but Christianity far outlasted the Roman Empire.
Persecution has not died out. In fact, more people have died for their faith in Jesus in the last hundred years than in all the other centuries put together. But even in those places where persecution is happening, the church is strong and thriving.
Every time the church gathers anywhere in the world, we confirm what He said is true!
Every time someone gives their life to Jesus, anywhere in the world, we confirm what He said is true!
Every time persecution comes, but the church remains, we confirm what He said is true!
HELL IS ON THE DEFENSIVE
Next, Jesus says, “The gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” Gates are not an offensive weapon. No one ever ran at someone carrying a gate. At least not that I have ever seen. Gates are defensive. Jesus is not saying that Hell will storm the church, but we’ll be able to survive it. He’s promising that when we go on the offensive, Hell will not be able to withstand the onslaught.
The victory is already won.
The picture we get in Matthew 16 is of a victorious Savior, an already defeated and defensive Hell, and an advancing and ultimately victorious church.
God has given the church the mission of pushing back the darkness by being the presence of and proclaiming the story of Jesus and rescuing people from an eternity in hell.
God has his enemies, but He has no rival.
His church will last forever. Everything else will fail, but the church will never fail.
Our church in Tulsa, Oklahoma is alive, healthy, and thriving. It’s true of churches all over the world.
God is taking ground! Satan is on the defensive, and Jesus is building His Church!
Crash
I forgot to tell you what my favorite animal group is called. My favorite name for a group of animals is the title of a group of rhinos. Did you know that rhinos run 30 m.p.h. but can only see 30 feet in front of them? Do you know what they’re called in a group? A crash! I love that. That’s what Jesus wants His church to be!
The truth is, we don’t know the future. But the future belongs to God. And what we need to do together, as a church, is run into God’s future like a bunch of rhinos who run 30 m.p.h. even if they can only see 30 feet in front of them. You know why? Because what’s at 31 feet doesn’t matter to the rhino – it better get out of the way!
TAKE ACTION
What would it look like for you to courageously walk in faith, advancing Jesus’ Kingdom, knowing the gates of Hell will not prevail against you? Might you ... start volunteering in the church? Invite friends to join you this Sunday? Give way more generously to Jesus’ mission? Go on a mission trip? What is God calling you to do? It’s time to crash.
*If this has been helpful, please send me a message and let me know. And please help me by sharing this post with others who could benefit from it. My writing aims to help people enjoy a vibrant relationship with Jesus, and it is an honor to be on this journey with you.
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