“I will build My Church
and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
What
does that statement mean to you? It is one of those scriptures that people pass
over without a lot of thought. ‘Oh that just means…..’ In this case it is ‘Oh
that just means that whatever the devil does he will not bring down the Church.’
Yes, but it means much more than that!
Jesus is saying that the Church He is building will overcome the gates of Hell.
– “I will build My Church and the gates of Hell will not stand against
it.’ The Church needs to be on the offensive against the devil and his hosts;
not just on the defensive.
The
world we are living in is a world that lies under the influence of the satanic kingdom.
“The whole world lies under the sway of
the wicked one.” 1 John 5:19 Principalities and powers of wickedness
are over every nation maintaining Hell’s grip on the Earth. We can see the
results everywhere and more and more that wickedness grows. We can see the anti-Christ
spirit – the spirit of rebellion - increasing in the earth at a rapid pace.
What
is the Church doing about it? Well a lot of Christians are eagerly watching for
Jesus to come and rescue us out of the mess in an event called the ‘Rapture.’
We are told that this is next on God’s agenda. Some are into date setting – 13,
14th, 15th, or 23rd September this year and
excitement is growing. If it doesn’t happen then, [and it won’t] they will set
another date. What we are supposed to be doing is building up the Army of God
and imparting a vision for taking the world for the Kingdom. Jesus will return
when we’ve finished the job He gave us to do – make disciples of all the
nations.
The Church that is most effective is the
Eastern Church which doesn’t have a rapture teaching. This Church [e.g. the
Chinese Church and the ‘Back to Jerusalem’ people] believe that the Church is
here to make all the nations disciples of Jesus as He commanded in the Great
Commission and they are totally committed to that end. They are overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb,
and the word of their testimony and they love not their lives to the death.
Jesus
is building His Church ‘precept upon precept and line upon line’ bringing it
into all truth. – the truth of the finished work of Christ. The Cross has taken
all legal authority from satan and given it to His Church to bring down the
‘father of lies’ and bring in the Kingdom. That one perfect sacrifice for all
time has done everything necessary for the Church to rise up in victory and'
possess the Land.' The Type of the Journey to, and possession of Canaan, is a
pattern or a map which shows us how this will be accomplished.
The
‘Rapture’ rescue is error that came into the Church and popularised by Derby.
When it made it into the notes of the Schofield bible, it became almost
regarded as ‘Holy Writ.’ – not to be questioned and has prevented Christians
from coming into the fullness of truth that will bring down the ‘gates of
hell.’ It tends to not encourage Christians to be too involved in the world because what
is the point if the earth is destined to go to rot anyhow and we are getting
out of here any minute now? The result is that Satan is having a hey-day.
For
almost two thousand years Jesus has been building His Church and the end result
is that He will have a Church that will rise up in the power of the Spirit and
demolish Hell’s grip on the Earth.
The mystery which has been hidden from
ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints…..which is
‘Christ in you, the Hope of Glory.’
Colossians 1:26, 27
I
have been studying the Word for nearly 50 years now. Once I put aside all my
ideas about the end times which I had been taught, the Holy Spirit opened up
the Bible in a new and exciting way. I have shared these things in my books “The
Other Bible Code” and “End Time Insights.”
I invite you to get hold of some copies of my books and see for yourself. www.valpym.blogspot.com.au This
site lists the places which have my books.
Sincerely Val Pym