In verse 18 the Lord seemed to be making a hidden reference to the words in Matthew 7, in which He spoke of those who build their houses upon the sand, and when rain and water and wind come, the houses totter to the ground. Then He said that we should build our house upon the rock so that it will not fall when the rain and water and wind come. The Lord said that the church is built upon the rock, which means that the church will never fall. The rain may come, and the water and wind may do their work, but the building will not fall. Even if the church is subject to the rain, water, and wind, it will never collapse, because it is firmly built upon the rock. It is stable, unshakable, and immovable. This is the underlying nature of the church. Paul told Timothy that the house of God, which is the church, is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The church is like a pillar; it can never be moved. A chair can be moved and shaken, but a house can never be moved from place to place. The underlying nature of the church is a building that is upon a rock. Such a rock is stable and unshakable. God's children are little stones (lithos) upon the unique rock. In writing the second chapter of his first Epistle, Peter said that we are God's living stones, and that we are being built into a spiritual house (v. 5). Every brother and sister is a living stone that is built upon the rock. The superstructure of the church is of the same substance as the foundation. The material for the superstructure is the same as the material for the foundation. The church has no bricks; it only has stones. The tower of Babel was made of bricks, which are manmade imitations of stones. But in the church there is no brick, no manmade stability. The church is built upon the rock. Every one of us is a stone, and we are built together piece by piece into a spiritual house. Our eyes have to be opened to the intrinsic nature of the church. The Lord's church is something unshakable. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord continued, saying, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." This is something unshakable; this is what the church is all about. The foundation of the church is a rock, something unshakable, and the church itself is made of stones which are also unshakable. Can we then say that the ministers within the church are shakable? This is what we are talking about here. We are not here to talk about the church. We are here to talk about the very person of the ministers. The ministers must not be shaken, because they are the stones. The Lord said to Peter, "You are Peter." This means, "You are a stone." "And upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Peter represents all the ministers of the church. A minister and servant of God must be a stone. Although the stone is not as big as the rock, it has the same nature as the rock, and it is equally unshakable.

In verse 19 the Lord said, "I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens." The Lord's promise to Peter was also a promise to the church. This promise became the church's possession in Matthew 18. But the Lord first gave it to Peter. This shows us clearly that the Lord considered Peter as one of the ministers. The Lord gave him the keys of the kingdom of the heavens so that he could open the doors. On the day of Pentecost, Peter opened one door, and at the house of Cornelius, he opened another door. He opened the door to the Jews, and he opened the door to the Gentiles. This is what one stone has done. Before Simon became Peter (a stone), he could not exercise the keys. Today not all who are called Peter are Peters, in the same way that not all who are called by the name of Israel are men of strength. A man can be called Israel yet be a weak person. Here was a person whose name was Peter. The Lord put the keys in his hand. But he could exercise the keys only after he truly became a Peter, a stone. When that day came, whatever he bound was bound, and whatever he loosed was loosed.