Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 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. 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.” Matthew 16:15-18.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Your inheritance is in the Church. It is only in the Church that the gates of hell shall not prevail against you, for Jesus, as I foretold to Abraham on Mt. Moriah when he was willing to offer his dearly beloved son to Me, is the seed that would be born in his line that would take down the gates of (את) His enemies. He is the Messiah and Lord.
Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of (את) His enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:15-18.
I do not do anything unless I first reveal My secret counsel to My servants the prophets. Amos 3-7. Why? So they can agree with My Word and speak into the earth. This gives Me authority under their dominion, for I have given man dominion over the earth, to enter the earth realm and perform My Word as spoken. My prophets set things in motion to open the way to Me. And Abraham was a prophet. Genesis 20:7.
The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” Genesis 18:17-19.
When I promised Abraham that his line would bless all the nations of the earth, I gave the honor to him that through his line the Messiah would be born into the world according to the flesh. And I did this because he was willing to offer His beloved son of My promise to Me so I offered My beloved Son of My promise (Genesis 3:15) to the world through his line.
Jesus is head of the Church. The Church is His Body and His bride. Before Jesus died and was raised from the dead, there were only two groups in the earth, the Gentiles (those who did not believe in Me and did not know Me because they did not have My Word) and the Jews (the people who believed in Me and knew Me for I entrusted My Word to them). But Jesus came and changed everything. He released all people from their sins by His blood and saved you from the second death, that is, eternal death, apart from Me forever in hell. He took possession of the gate of hell and dispossessed it of its power.
“Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Revelation 1:17-18.
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the seed of Abraham. Hebrews 2:14-16.
Jesus, as Son of Man, has taken the keys away from Satan, to whom Adam had handed over his dominion authority. He has dispossessed the enemy and has given His victory to the Church, His body on earth. He took down the dividing wall and made those who believe in Him, both Jew and Gentile, into one new man, the Church.
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:11-22.
Jesus is your good Shepherd, He is the light of the world, He is the bread of life, He is the way the truth and the life, He is the resurrection and the life, He is the vine, and He is also the “gate” or the “door.” He is the only way to Me. He is the gate to My house, to My Kingdom. There is no other way in than being part of His body, the Church.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:7-10.
Jesus has the keys to the Kingdom and He has entrusted all the keys to His body His Church as its head. The Church is built on the rock of the revelation of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are [j]the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 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. 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. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Matthew 16:15-21.
Just as I pulled the bride of the first man out of his side, the Church came forth as His bride from Jesus’ wounded side on Calvary, as signified by the blood and the water, and received the gift of My Spirit on the day Pentecost was fulfilled. Thus the Body of Christ, the Church, the first born again believers became the dwelling place of My Spirit, each one a sanctuary. And the Spirit, the water, and the blood all testify as one to the eternal life that is yours in Jesus.
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is the chief stone, choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5.
Now it is no longer just two groups of Jew and Gentile, there are now three, the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church. The Church is the called-out ones of the prior two who have united as One with Me in Christ. Only those in the Church are saved, it is only there that the jaws of Hell cannot prevail against you, that is, against My Church, the strongest of all institutions on earth for it is a Heavenly one.
The Church—one new man built on the revelation of Jesus Christ, with Christ as its head and all believers as members of the body, the family, in Heaven and on earth.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10.
The Kingdom of Heaven is the Church. No one entered Heaven after Adam’s sin until Jesus died and I raised Him from the dead. The Patriarchs, prophets, and believers of the Old Covenant were waiting in Paradise, also called the “bosom of Abraham,” which was the Garden of Eden descended below the earth with an abyss that could not be crossed between it and hell, Ezekiel 31:16; Luke 16:22-27, until the Messiah came and paid with His own eternal blood. And when Heaven opened it was all those saved by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony that went up with Jesus from Paradise through the gates to My heavenly Kingdom.
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things. Ephesians 4:7-9.
And what are they singing? “Worthy is the Lamb!” for that is the only reason any person is there in My Kingdom. Revelation 5.
And there is no need for a temple there, for the whole kingdom is the church of the firstborn, My children by their new birth in Christ by My imperishable Word. No one is there but those who are part of My glorious Church, washed in the blood of the Lamb and filled with My Spirit that has raised them there.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:22-27.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:22-24.
And who is My Son coming back for at His second coming? His glorious bride, the Church! No one will go up except those who are in Him, which joins you to His body the Church. And you are the members of the Church, for the Church is made of you who are believers. There is no Church without the Head and the Body, and you are an essential part as a member of the Body of Christ. Without you, it is not complete and without Him you are not complete. The two have joined as one in the marriage feast of the Lamb.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:25-33.
Very few understand the Church as My apostle Paul did. By revelation by My Spirit he saw it in the light of a marriage covenant as I do. Because of divisions that have occurred in the Body, people today think of “Church” as different denominations and will “leave” one church to go to another. But this is not the case. The Church is one body which consists of Christ as the head and all believers as His body. No separation. One unified Body and bride. When you receive Jesus as Lord you become a member of the glorious Church and you join as one body with those on earth and those who are in Heaven. Where the Lamb is, there is the Church.
My Heavenly City the New Jerusalem is the Church, and when the Body of believers on earth is caught up into the clouds to join with Jesus in your glorious resurrected bodies the Church will be in My Kingdom complete. Those left in the great tribulation will be those who were not part of the Church, the Gentiles (nonbelievers) and the Jews (those who are in Covenant with Me through Abraham and Moses but have rejected Jesus as Messiah). But in that period of tribulation, all the Jews and many of the Gentiles will receive Jesus as Lord and wash their robes in the Blood of the Lamb and become members of the glorious Church and welcome at the marriage feast of the Lamb.
And on the last day, when I make new heavens and a new earth, the heavenly Jerusalem will come down like a bride out of Heaven and join Heaven and earth and I will give all the kingdoms of the earth in all its newness and free from the curse again to the believers. All those who have rejected Jesus will be locked in the lake of fire and Heaven and earth will be the Church where you will reign with Me forever.
There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:3-5.
Jesus is the new and living way for you to follow right to My throne. But what do I even tell you about that way? It is the Church. But you who are in Christ are in the Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Storms can hit it but it is built on the rock.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a [h]sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 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. Hebrews 10:19-25.
Do not neglect gathering together in your local church. Assemblies of Zion on earth joining with the worship in Heaven of your fellow believers. Isaiah 4:5-6.
Make sure you have taken Jesus as your Lord and founded your life on the revelation of the good news of your salvation. Make sure Jesus is the Shepherd whom you follow.
Remember, hell has a gate and death is the shepherd who will lead you there. And death came into the world through Adam’s sin in giving in to the devil. He was pulled through the gate of hell.
This is the way of those who are foolish, and of those after them who approve their words. As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd; and the upright shall rule over them in the morning, and their form shall be for Sheol to consume so that they have no habitation. But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. Selah. Psalm 49:13-15.
And hell is never satisfied, it wants to gobble up as many unsuspecting souls as possible to herd them into the misery of the lake of fire.
There are three things that will not be satisfied, four that will not say, “Enough”: Hell and the barren womb, earth that is never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough.” Proverbs 30:15-16.
As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man. Hell and destruction are never satisfied, nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied. The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, and each is tested by the praise accorded him. Proverbs 27:19-21.
What do you do when Satan tries to pull you through the wide gate to Hell? You stand on the solid rock on which I have raised the Church. The revelation of Jesus. For Jesus gives you good news:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
And He gave you authority who are His followers and believe in His Name, to cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead in His Name. To shut the gates of hell, to dispossess them by taking possession of them.
I love you. You are safe in the Church; the gates of hell cannot prevail against you. Satan will never prevail against the Church of the firstborn—the Body of Christ. Your inheritance is in the Church. For that is the House of God and the gate of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Church.