Tuesday, May 18, 2021

The king and the keys


Matthew 16:13-20 / Mark 8:27-30 / Luke 9:18-21…

Jesus was revealed as Christ, the Son of God, and the Apostles were given the responsibility of founding the early church. Jesus wasn’t simply exalting Peter; He was exalting the fact that His church would prevail no matter what or who the opposition, even from within. This very fact will be proven only moments later.

The keys are the preaching of the gospel. Every preacher uses the keys of the kingdom when he proclaims the person and work of Christ and the terms of salvation.

So what are the gates of hell? Gates are defensive not offensive: to “possess the gate of your enemies” (Genesis 22:17), meant to conquer your enemy. When the gates of the city were breached, the attacking army had conquered; the gates had not prevailed. In Hebrews 2:14-15 we learn that by His death Jesus destroyed the power of the devil which is the fear of death. The fear of death is what the gates of hell are about.

So Jesus is saying that He will build His church, and the gates of hell (fear of death) shall not prevail against it. It is not so much about the assault of the powers of darkness but that the Messiah and His church will never perish. He is predicting His own resurrection, and also the resurrection of all believers (cf. Romans 8:11 / 1 Corinthians 6:14 / 2 Corinthians 4:14).  Death cannot overpower the church (1 Corinthians 15:54). The gates of Hell shall not prevail.

Now we represent the King, and we can storm the “gates of hell” and rescue people from the clutches of eternal death, rescuing those who are in fear. Our mission is to act on the truth of Christ’s statement and snatch the captives as “brands from the fire” (Zechariah 3:2 / Jude 23).

Yes this means YOU (1 Peter 2:9).

6 comments:

Even So... said...

To be included in the daily email, or to receive a copy of the reading schedule, contact us (primesoul@hotmail.com). Each day’s reading is online @ voiceofvision.org. You can also leave a comment @ voiceofvision.blogspot.com. God bless you as you join and continue in the walk with us...

MrsEvenSo... said...

Hallelujah!

Sean, Daniel's second generation offspring. said...

So basically its saying even though the crowds following Christ thought he wasn't the son of man but another person it didn't matter because they were still hearing the gospel? Like, so later when they come to believe he's Jesus they seed was already planted? This is Sean Dickinson by the way. Not sure if my name will show up.
P.S. the character code you enter to post took me longer to get it right then it did to write this whole comment. Made me smile.

Sean, Daniel's second generation offspring :) said...

I don't know how to send personal messages to you but I wanted to tell you I made a blog spot account. Just random thoughts and things that happen from day to day. Check it when you have some time. TalkingInThoughts.blogspot.com

Even So... said...

Hey Sean, thx for persevering against the blogger battle for ID...

"the gates of blogger" did not prevail...

Even So... said...

Sean, the point is that no matter how much resistance we encounter, or what it may look like in the immediate situation, God will get His glory and a redeemed people...