In Matthew 16:18 we find Jesus Christ proclaiming: “… on this Rock I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Today, more than half of those claiming to be part of His church believe that He built His church on the Apostle Peter. Others who make up “the church” believe that Jesus left them in charge of defining the rules of engagement with the Lord, Adam and Eve having set the perfect example. Satan has re-defined the Words of Christ relative to WHO is a part “the ___________ (fill in the blank) church” which is, of course, their god’s one and only denomination, faith, congregation, cult, etc.

Satan has also changed the CHARACTER of those who claim to be part of THE ONE AND ONLY CHURCH. In other words, SATAN HAS PREVAILED AGAINST “THE CHURCH” by transforming it from Christ’s tiny, restrictive, mustard seed-sized group into his (Satan’s) tree-sized, “come on in” conglomerate (Mat. 13:31,32). Though he has destroyed “THE _____________(fill in the blank) church, he has not prevailed against God’s one true, Law-keeping church. Both of these Truths will be proven Scripturally in this series. Read Ephesians 4:5.

God’s people are those Very Elect saints who are truly His disciples and prove it by obeying His Holy Spirit which abides in them and directs every aspect of their lives. This is the same Holy Spirit that wrote God’s Law in their hearts as prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31 and Hebrews 8:8-12. Nothing has changed. Israel then is Israel now. The only change is in the spiritual realm. In order to identify modern-day Israel read Who and Where is Israel Today? Key word–Today. God’s true church is Scripturally called “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16) which is the “Commonwealth of Israel” (Eph. 2:12), meaning that, small as it is, her obedient brethren are found throughout the earth. In First Corinthians 3:16,17 and Second Corinthians 6:16 true saints are told that “you are the temple of God,” and that “the temple of God is holy, and the Spirit of God dwells in you.” What does that say about sin? The temple of God reflects the one whose temple they are and the one in whom His Holy Spirit dwells and leads (Rom. 8:14/ 1 Jn. 3:1-10).

In Romans 8:14 God, through the Apostle Paul, tells us that only those who are LED BY GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT are true sons of God. In First John 2:6 we are told that if we call ourselves Christ’s spiritual brethren we must “walk even as He walked.” Read Who Are Christ’s Brethren? Key word–Brethren. He walked (lived) in obedience to the Holy Spirit which He received at the time of His baptism (Mat. 3:16). By His obedience to the Father’s Law the man Jesus proved Himself to be God’s Son. Note that it was only after receiving the Holy Spirit that His ministry began. We must walk (live) as He walked in order to be sons of God as He was the Son of God. Until the Day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. Jesus was the ONLY Son of God on earth. Now there are several thousand. It is only for those few Law-keeping souls for whom Jesus died. Read about these people in the Friends series. Key word–Friends.

As stated earlier, Satan has changed everything Jesus said and the apostles wrote. In doing so he has deceived “the church” into believing him–Adam and Eve being the premier examples. As this series will attest, the devil has spiritually defiled and laid waste to what is commonly known as Christianity. Because of his (Satan’s) success, Christ has no place in the modern, end-time (Laodicean) church. Instead He “stand(s) at the (church’s) door and knocks” (calls out to those inside)–Rev. 3:14-22. Note verse 20. Only those who come out and “dine” with Him on His Words will rise to meet Him in the clouds upon His return to earth during the first resurrection (there will be no so-called “rapture”). These are they who will have obeyed His command issued in Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1. These, and only these are His spiritual children. Read The Three Resurrections. Key word–Three. For this series focus on the first resurrection.

Again, Satan has changed everything relative to God’s church. By keeping salvation seekers ignorant of God’s Word, he has captured the hearts of billions of salvation seekers over the past 1900 years. Christ’s true church is comprised of the Lord’s tiny remnant of Truth seekers whom He, through the Apostle Peter, characterizes as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people who have come out of darkness and into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). These few true believers have joined the “commonwealth of Israel” and are partakers of the promises thereof (Eph. 2:12).

As is evidenced in Revelation 3:14-22, today’s Laodicean Era church has been overtaken by God’s ultimate enemy who has changed her into a two-headed, multi-bodied religious beast known as “the church,” which in reality is composed of hundreds of counterfeit churches, each with its own god, its own savior and its own plan of salvation. What those trapped inside her do not know is that their god is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4) and their savior is whatever each denomination has designed him to be. Recall that Paul warned the church early on that if someone came preaching “another Jesus,” she would embrace him along with another spirit (2 Cor. 11:4). Satan has provided for the church other gods and other messiahs and she, like Adam and Eve, has been deceived into dining at his smorgasbord of the religious options available to them.

Jesus rightly said in Revelation 12:9: “Satan has deceived the whole world.” His ultimate prize is the Institutional Church. He already has everyone else. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:13,14; 22:14, FEW would enter the narrow door to His church and walk His commanded way while MANY would enter the wide door to Satan’s church and walk his broad, any way is okay, way. MANY have been called to follow Jesus, but FEW will be chosen for having answered His call.

We will now return to the beginning of this lesson where Jesus is proclaiming the creation of His soon-coming church. In Matthew 16:18 He is speaking with the Apostle Peter. Because man (under Satan’s control) has always wanted to control the salvation process, he (man) has grasped the reins of control by claiming that the church was built on the Apostle Peter, the idea being that if the church was founded on a man, then man would control her. As a result, man in fact does control 99% of professing Christendom.

With that in mind we will examine exactly what Jesus said which will help to explain why the church has, from early on, been a man-based, man-dominated institution. Jesus said to the apostle: “You are Peter (petro), and upon this Rock (petra) I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

The word Jesus used to describe Peter (petro) refers to a small pebble which man can do with whatever he wants. However, the word He used to describe the foundation of the church (petra) refers to a mountain that man cannot manipulate–meaning Jesus Himself. Elsewhere in Scripture Jesus is referred to as the Rock (petra). Two examples are First Corinthians 2:4 and First Peter 2:8. The two “rocks” Jesus referred to relative to the church’s foundation are totally different. Jesus would not build His church on the apostle, or any other man. Jesus is THE ROCK (petra) upon which He built His tiny church which has remained miniscule to this day, numbering only a few thousand world-wide. This contrasts to Satan’s Catholic/Protestant Religious System which has approximately 2.5 billion adherents globally.

A house is only as sturdy as its foundation. No matter how well the structure is put together, when the foundation fails, the house falls. This is true regardless of the size of the structure. Jesus compares the foundation of man’s spiritual “house” to sand (Mat. 7:21-27). He is referring to believers individually as well as their religious organizations. Sand is nothing more than miniscule rocks which can be formed and reformed into any shape man wants them to be. As the following posting will remind us, man has shaped his religious organization into hundreds of different forms having different doctrines, different names, etc. However, each has been constructed on the same foundation–sand. And Satan–the master foundation provider and church designer smiles, knowing that he has his church exactly where he wants her. For this reason God commands Truth seekers to, “COME OUT OF HER AND BE SEPARATED FROM HER; DO NOT TOUCH THAT UNCLEAN THING. Read Second Corinthians 6:14:-7:1. L..J.