The Church Built on the Rock
Contents
title; The church built on the rock (Matthew 16:13-18)
It is despair to save even a single soul on its own. How can we become a church that saves all peoples? How will the church become the body of the Lord that fills all things? Does the church, the body of which the Lord, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, is the head, really shows its power? But the reality may not be so. And there are many churches that do not. What could be the cause? How can I recover?
1. We must overcome the powers of Hades
We must contribute to the power of Hades by knowing the reality and reality of the spirits of evil. The generation obsessed with the visible is dark in the spiritual world. Our wrestling is not in flesh and blood. We must fight against the spirits of evil in heaven. The disciples asked Jesus to restore Israel, but the Lord went to the cross to restore the kingdom of God. He won the spiritual warfare by his resurrection. He has all authority in heaven and on earth and is in charge of the church, making the world sinful, corrupting, and leading to death and victory over the enemy, the devil, and saving countless souls who are caught up in the spirits of evil and are enslaved to sin.
This battle is the battle of eternal life and the battle to secure the kingdom of heaven. Truly, it is something that everyone should ask for, and the Lord clearly showed it on the cross. However, due to spiritual ignorance, the fallen world ignores and ignores the life that the Lord wants to save through the shed of blood, which is more precious than the whole world, and neglects it and gives it to debauchery, and is locked up in the power of Hades. Man does not have the wisdom and strength to fight for himself. You must put on the full armor of God. We must repent of our ignorance and arrogance to fight without weapons. Our faith stays in this theory. It must be freed from dead faith that cannot move the soul.
The standard of defeat and victory is the Word of God, the sword of the Holy Spirit that defeats the spirits of evil. The battle to win against the powers of Hades is not a vague battle. clear and specific In other words, to oppose all lies by discerning the Word of God is to oppose the powers of Hades. When we believe in and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, it is like declaring war that we will live according to the Word of God. It is a declaration of war against the forces of untruth and lies, ruled by the spirits of evil. Just as the Lord fought to the point of bloodshed, He wants us to fight the same way. We do not shed blood on our own, but rely on and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His blood on the cross. You will overcome with the strength the Lord gives you. It is the exercise of rights by the authority of the Lord. Because the Lord is risen, our victory is guaranteed. There is no defeat for those who truly depend on the Lord by faith and abide in the Lord. This is faith standing on the rock.
2. The Church Built on the Rock
To abide in the Word, we must stand on the rock. You must know and believe in Jesus Christ. We must believe that the Lord is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that faith is actually manifested as a power in our daily lives. The fact that the Lord builds the church on the rock, that is, faith in Jesus means that the Lord lives and works in our hearts. Spiritual warfare actually unfolds in our hearts. We defeat the powers of Hades by expelling all lies and untruths that have entered our hearts.
The Lord must come and work as the Holy Spirit because fallen man cannot stand against the spirits of evil on his own, cannot discern lies, and fulfill the truth of God's Word. The stronger the will of the Holy Spirit, the will of the Lord's Word, works in us, the more the Lord's victory bears fruit in us, and we transform into a heart where the Word of God rules. Obeying God's word through the Lord's work in this way is to overcome the evil spirits and the powers of Hades, and the church is to be established as a church that saves souls.
Being with the Lord is full of the Holy Spirit, and the more you know Him in the Word, the more you will dwell in amazing power. This is qualitative church growth. For this work, the Holy Spirit must work with the fullness of grace. The more the lusts of the flesh die every day, and the more repentance and obedience grow according to the Word of God through the working of the Holy Spirit, we will become more full and reveal the infinite possibilities of the Lord. We must grow into such a church. All saints must be armed with this grace. This is what the Lord is building upon the rock.
The church must be restored. The will, power, and authority of the risen Lord must be revealed without limits. Thus, all nations must be saved. The salvation of one soul must also be accomplished to the marrow of the soul. The Lord will work on those who always live in the faith that confesses that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.