Is there anything that shall stand? a good question to think about as we enter a New Year, 2019? We live in a world of decay. All things are passing away; from the lowest creature to the highest, it is here but for awhile and then it is gone. Kingdoms, empires, cities, families, are all liable to decay, change, and corruption. Here is a universal law that shall prevail. There is something very saddening and somewhat depressing in this. Solomon asks, “What profit hath a man in all of his labor?” All that a man toils for and accumulates is after awhile left to another. Is there anything that shall stand? Shall anything last or endure? Is there anything that we could say, this shall continue forever. In Matthew 16:18 we have a positive answer, Christ said to His disciples, “Upon this Rock I shall build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!” Christ gives an exception to the rule. The thing here is a created thing that is in the world, yet, not of the world. That is, it is not of the substance of the world, and yet it is a visible collection of the substance of the world. There are five things in the text that are well worth consideration. Number one, we see a building, “My Church.” Secondly, we have a builder; Christ says, “I will build My Church.” Every building must have a proper foundation; therefore we have in the third place a foundation; “Upon this Rock I will build My Church.” This building shall not stand without perils; therefore in the fourth place we have “the gates of hell” in opposition against it. But most blessedly we have in the fifth place a promise of preservation; “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [The word prevail could be translated prevent.] The meaning of the word Church in its origin has been for the most part lost. Men think of the Church as a material building, sometimes called a sanctuary, cathedral, or auditorium. The original word meant ‘called out ones.’ When it was used in the book of Acts it referred to believers called out of the society of unbelievers. We understand therefore (from Matthew 16:18) that it is impossible for the Spiritual Assembly of God’s people to perish. Christ by His Spirit calls them and fitly frames them together. They are established on the foundation of the doctrine of His Person and work of redemption. The Church of Jesus Christ is the creation of His own hand. It is called in scripture “His Body” and He is called its “Head.” Therefore for the body to perish it necessarily means that the Head must perish, and that is an absolute impossibility. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble…God is in the midst of her; [the Church], she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early” Psalm 46:1: 5.
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