Matthew 16:13-18 – 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I like to put the scriptures down in the NIV version, but verse 18 in the King James I think is better on this.
Matthew 16:18 – 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I’m not one of those who believe this scripture is stating that Peter is the rock. I believe Peter’s statement is the rock, which is, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
This is the rock that Jesus has built His church.
With that let’s move ahead to Revelation.
Revelation 13:7- 7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
The antichrist or beast in Revelation 13:7 is given power to overcome the saints. Now if the saints are the church we have ourselves a contradiction here. However, if the church is gone already, we do not. Christ said the Gates of Hell will not overcome the My church. People will continue to get saved in the tribulation by the millions.
Tomorrow we will continue with part 2.