Upon this Rock..........

“UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH; AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.”

In Matthew 16, the Lord questions His disciples as to the sayings of men concerning Him. This leads to the confession of Peter, and also to the gracious revelation of the Lord concerning His church. It may be well to transfer the whole conversation to our pages —it all bears so directly on our subject.

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias: and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said; Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I also say 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.”

Here we have the two main things connected with the proposed building —the Rock-foundation, and the divine Builder. “Upon this rock I will build my church.” But who is, or what is, “this rock”? some may inquire. Clearly, we answer, the confession of Peter; not Peter himself, as the apostasy teaches. True, he was a stone —a living stone in the new temple; “Thou art Peter” —thou art a stone. But the Father’s revelation, by Peter, of the glory of the Person of His Son, is the foundation on which the church is built —“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But the glory of the Person of the Son in resurrection is the unveiled truth here. “Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Immediately on the confession by Peter, the Lord intimates His intention to build His church, and asserts its eternal security. “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

He Himself, the fountain of life, could not be conquered by death; but, in dying as the great Substitute for sinners, He triumphed over death and the grave, and is alive for evermore, as He said to His apostle John after His resurrection: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Rev. 1:18) What majestic, what triumphant words are these! They are the words of a conqueror —of one who has power; but of power over the gates of Hades —the place of separate spirits. The keys —symbol of authority and power —hang at His girdle. The stroke of death may fall upon a Christian, but the sting is gone. It comes as a messenger of peace to conduct the weary pilgrim home to eternal rest. Death is no longer the master, but the servant of the Christian. “For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours: and ye are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:21 – 23)

The Person of Christ, then, the Son of the living God —in His resurrection-glory —is the foundation, the solid and imperishable foundation, on which the church is built. As alive from the dead He communicates life in resurrection to all who are built on Him as the true foundation stone. This is plain from what Peter says in his first Epistle. “To whom coming, as unto a living stone… ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house.” And further down in the same chapter he says, “Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious,” or “an honour.” (May both reader and writer note well these two most precious truths in connection with our “Rock foundation.”) —divine life and divine preciousness are communicated to, and become, the possession of all who put their trust in Christ. “To whom coming,” not to what coming, it is the Person of Christ we come to, and have to do with. His life —life in resurrection —becomes ours. From that moment He is our life. “To whom coming, as unto a living stone… ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house.” Christ’s own life, as the risen Man, and all that He is heir to is ours. Oh, wondrous, marvellous, blessed truth! Who would not desire, above all things, this life, and this life beyond the power of death —the gates of Hades? Eternal victory is stamped on the risen life of Christ, it can never more be tested, and this is the believer’s life.