The Church Triumphant             06-20-14

We read a lot these days in Christian circles and elsewhere about the demise or some would say the apostasy of the American church. It appears that the church today has been fed and for the most part relished  a message of materialism and quality of life; a message that is largely irrelevant in most other parts of today's world and increasingly so in our own country. Seed faith,instant healing, and the 100  fold return just doesn't preach in Pakistan,South Sudan, or China where Christians are routinely slaughtered for a simple profession of faith.  

15 He *said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Matt 16:15-18 (NASB)

Peter's famous confession. What we have to understand here is that no man revealed or taught this to Peter. It was supernaturally revealed and Peter supernaturally caught it. More importantly however is Jesus' response. He would build His church on Peter's realization of WHO Jesus was, the Messiah, The Son of The Living God; not on WHAT the Son of God could do to enhance his(Peter's) quality of life. But, for the purposes of this message, it is the next statement that I want to talk about.

   and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Matt 16:18 (NASB)

I thought about those words today as I sat to write this blog. Despite the apparent failure of the church and it's search for relevance, Jesus' words tell us of a church that is rock solid and victorious against the
onslaughts of hell. Add to this the fact that in spite of all that is supposedly wrong, the Bible still commands us to assemble together. To come together to worship.

24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Heb 10:24-25 (NASB)

And herein starteth the message. As you probably know I have a couple of little girls that are very close to my heart. Chloe and Maddie Grace are like my own kids. I am still waiting for the day that I wake up and find out that Chloe has finally turned into an obnoxious teen. But, until that time whenever she leaves and goes back to Georgia my heart aches for a while and I miss her. At any rate last weekend Chloe and Maddie came over to Memaw's to water her plants for her and to see if the tomato plants had any ripe tomatoes that they could pick. During the visit Chloe walked into Memaw's bedroom to say hello and Memaw was tired and probably didn't look too good to a six year old. Chloe visited for a brief time and then left. That was that.

The following day was Father's day and I was tied up with Memaw. My children called me and that made my day and as it got to be around 9 P.M. I thought all the Father's day festivities had passed. But, I received a phone call from Shelley and she told me that Chloe and Maddie wanted to give me something. As it turned out they had made me a homemade Father's Day card. You know, the kind that take their place of honor on the frig. Well, as we were out in the parking lot Shelley told me that Chloe had asked her Sunday School class that day to pray for Memaw. "She didn't know what was wrong, but God did," was the way that she had put it to her class. So, she led her class in prayer for my 94 year old invalid mother and here is my point. Had there not been a church with open doors to go to that day Chloe would've been at home. Had there not been a man or woman sacrificing their time to teach young children about Jesus and praying and whatnot, that corporate prayer of six year olds would have never gotten off the ground. Had they not taken the time to "assemble together" it would have been just another day in the life.

With this simple illustration God showed me that indeed the church is not totally compromised and there are still good, Bible believing churches out there. If you have found a good one, then it is in your best interests to support it any which way you can. If for no other reason than to make it possible for the little children, the next generation to have a place to go to learn about the Lord Jesus. Our generation did it for us. Don't we owe our children the same?

 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
Psalms 78:2-4 (NASB)



God Bless