Matthew 16

18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

A few years back at church-wide leadership meeting we looked at this specific passage and it's implications for us as a church.  We looked two details in particular.

• We have been given the keys to Heaven
• The gates of Hades (or Hell depending on your translation) will not overcome the Church

If you stop and put these two ideas together it's an incredibly powerful combination.  First off, we have been given the keys to Heaven. The message, which unlocks the door and offers people eternity with our Heavenly Father has been entrusted to us as the church. To remember this truth we passed out old-fashioned style keys. I still have mine attached to my key chain.

But that's only half of the equation.  The gates of Hell can't stop the Church!  Sometimes people think this verse is referring to Hell being on the offensive, and the Church stopping their advances. But if that were the case it wouldn't refer to the gates of Hell.  Hell isn't on the offensive carrying their gates.  The idea is that the Church is on the offensive taking the gospel to the World, and Hell can't stop what God is doing!

God wins!

Here's the amazing part...He was right!  Here we are 1,980 years later, and Jesus's church has overcome.

• Jesus is the most famous person in human history.
• The Bible is the most read book published book in human history (and there is no close second).
• The Church has shaped Western culture.
• All of this started with a handful of men who were mostly uneducated. Their faithfulness changed the world.

God won!

It's so easy to become discouraged by some of the shifts in modern culture.  Whether the news or prime time television, the signs of moral decay are everywhere.  The temptation is to become fearful and defensive.  There's a temptation to put our faith in politics and winning culture wars.  But that isn't how Christ Himself transformed history, and it isn't how He said we would transform history.

On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Today we are the ones entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of Heaven.  When the Church acts in faith and takes the message of Christ, they will overcome! That doesn't mean we will win every single battle, but we will overcome.  

The Church wins!

God wins!

• What do you need to be doing with the keys to the kingdom of Heaven?
• Who do you need to talk to?

Sean Chandler | Associate Pastor

Sean has been a part of the association of Hill Country Bible Churches for over twenty years. He received Christ as a youth while attending Hill Country Bible Church Austin. He attended Hill Country Bible Church NW from 1989 to 2002. At that time he began attending HCBC Pflugerville. He served as a student ministry intern there for two years. In 2008, Sean graduated from Columbia International University with a double major in Bible and Bible teaching. Sean married his wife, Jennifer, in 2006. Their first child, Liam, was born in 2012, and their second, Chloe, was born in 2014.

He blogs regularly at seanchandler.net.