Pray for Your Church (1)
“And 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.” Matthew 16.18
A watershed moment
This verse is a watershed moment in the gospel of Matthew. A corner is turned; a direction is indicated; and a promise is given, which brings together everything Jesus taught and did to sharpen the focus of His mission.
Prior to this verse, Jesus had been teaching solely about the Kingdom of God. Not about being saved. Not about going to heaven. Not about gaining church members. His first public words were about the coming of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 4.17). His parables and teaching all pointed to a new reality, a new social order, a new ethic—the Kingdom of God—which He had come to herald and to embody. And indeed, Jesus’ every action, whether calling disciples or healing the sick or casting out demons, signaled that the new reality He proclaimed had come to earth in Him.
And now He began to unfold more of the details concerning how this great Kingdom would make its appearance on and bring its blessing to the earth.
In the context of our text, Peter and the others had just passed a crucial test: They recognized and confessed Jesus, the Son of Man, as the Son of God and the Christ of Old Testament promise. Jesus heartily endorsed Peter’s confession, assuring him that he had not come to this understanding on his own; rather, God the Father had made it plain to him (v. 17). Salvation is by grace.
Jesus immediately solidified Peter’s faith by permanently changing his name to “Rock” (Πέτρος, Petros, v. 18). Then Jesus used a cognate of Peter’s name to affirm that it is on the bedrock (πέτρᾳ, petra; cf. Matt. 7.25 where Jesus used πέτρᾳ earlier) of his confession—salvation is through faith (Eph. 2.8, 9)—that Jesus would do His most important Kingdom work. Peter’s confession—not Peter himself—is the bedrock of Jesus’ great Kingdom work in time.
And what is that work? Given all that Jesus had taught thus far about the Kingdom, we can imagine that the disciples might have been a little confused when He said He would build His Church, rather than His Kingdom, on the bedrock of confessing Him as Son of Man, Son of God, and Christ. This, after all, is the first mention of “church” to this point in Jesus’ ministry.
But the Church is the in-time agency through which the Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. The Kingdom is a spiritual realm; the Church is a physical entity. But is is also a spiritual one; thus it partakes of two worlds at once, and is able to channel the spiritual into the physical to make all things new. The Church is both the sign that the Kingdom has come and the outpost from which the Kingdom advances in the world. Our text is a watershed moment of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and it signals an important focus for every believer’s life and prayers.
Your church.
Not a chance
Anticipating what lay ahead for this project, Jesus sought to put His disciples’ mind at ease about the outcome of His plans. We can honestly say that there’s not a chance in hell anything is going to keep Jesus from building His Church. He says so Himself.
Jesus says the gates of hell cannot stand against the Church. We should not think of this as is often taught, as if the Church were battering down the gates of hell to occupy that dark terrain. Why would we want to go there? Instead, let’s think of the gates of hell in more Biblical terms.
The gates of a city were where the officials—in the case of the Jews, the elders—sat to watch over the city, protect its citizens, make judgments concerning right and wrong, and develop counsels and plans for the prosperity of the city. Think: Ruth 4. The gates of hell are the devil and his minions and the counsels, stratagems, plots, and schemes they pursue against the eternal plan of God. And in the case of many, many people—all those who have chosen to believe the lie rather than the truth about God (Rom. 1.18-32)—those plans and schemes have been very effective. Even individual believers are unhorsed from time to time in our journey of salvation by the gates of hell figuring out some new way to trip us up or lead us off course.
But there is no chance the counsels of hell will keep Jesus from building His Church. Indeed, His will and plan and strength will prevail over whatever the counsels of hell might throw against Him, and will do so through the power of His Kingdom advancing in and through His Church (cf. 1 Cor. 4.20; Dan. 2.44, 45; Dan. 7.13-27).The Church has more wisdom, more power, more energy, and more light than all the counsels and schemes of the devil and his minions. Nothing they might contrive to stop the Church can succeed.
Jesus’ agenda and ours
From this point forward, building the Church becomes publicly known as the Lord’s agenda, the cornerstone of which will be laid in His own death and resurrection. Advancing the spiritual Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ objective. The Church is the vehicle through which that is to be accomplished. And making disciples is the means Jesus has chosen for building His Church and advancing His Kingdom. All for the glory of God and Jesus Christ His King.
Jesus prayed for this effort (Jn. 17). Paul worked and prayed for this agenda. So also Peter, James, John, and all the evangelists and apostles of that first generation.
Jesus is building His Church. If we are following Jesus, we will be seeking to do the same. And that effort begins in and is sustained by prayer. And that work of praying for our churches—praying for your church—must ever include pleading with Jesus that our church will submit to Him—His agenda, His plan, His goals, His methods and means, His quality standards, and all the rest. We are called to work with Jesus, by His Word and Spirit, to build His Church. And that work must always include a prayer something like this:
Lord Jesus Christ, Architect and Builder of Your Church, grant that we in our church—pastors, leaders, and members—may always be devoted and submitted to You, according to Your design and plan, to build our church as a sign and outpost of Your Kingdom.
For reflection
1. Why did Jesus suddenly shift the disciples’ focus from Kingdom to Church? What are the implications of this for us?
2. Why is it important that churches should always keep focused on the Kingdom of God as their objective? What happens if they don’t?
3. Why is prayer essential for sustaining Jesus’ agenda and project? How do we benefit from praying about this?
Next steps—Preparation: Pray for your church using the prayer at the end of this column or some version of it. Share that prayer with some Christian friends today.
T. M. Moore
Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Knowing Jesus
Being confident witnesses begins in our relationship with Jesus, in knowing Him. Two books can help you grow in Jesus. To Know Him is a brief and lively exposition of Philippians 3.7-11 and explains what Paul means by this. You can order your copy by clicking here. Be Thou My Vision offers 28 daily meditations on Jesus, drawing on Scripture and writings from the period of the Celtic Revival. Order your copy by clicking here.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
