The church built by Christ will bring in the kingdom. Verse 18 speaks of the church, and verse 19, of the kingdom. Verse 19 says, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” When the church is built, the kingdom will come. The church and the kingdom are two aspects of one thing. The proper church is also the prevailing kingdom.
In verse 19 we have the keys of the kingdom and in verse 18, the gates of Hades. We have seen that the gates of Hades refer to the power of Satan. Now we must see that the keys of the kingdom refer to the authority of God. Which is stronger—the power of Satan or the authority of God? Of course, the authority of God is much stronger than the power of Satan. The church built by Christ is the kingdom of heaven, and this kingdom has the authority of God. Thus, the power of Satan cannot prevail against the builded church.
Certainly you have never seen such a church in Christianity. But what about the church in the Lord’s recovery today? We need to be fair in answering this question. Although the church life in the Lord’s recovery is much better than anything in Christianity, it is still not that high. We must go higher and higher. Whenever we come together, the kingdom of heaven must be present, and the authority of God must be here. Then the power of Satan will be defeated. The day is coming when such a church will be built up among us. I believe that in many major cities there will shortly be churches that are the kingdom of heaven filled with the authority of God and able to defeat the power of Satan. Although this has not yet been accomplished, we have the Lord’s promise: “I will build My church.”
Today the Lord Jesus is still building the church. At present we cannot find such a prevailing church in London, Paris, or Rome. Although there are thousands of Christians in these cities, there is no church like the one described in Matthew 16. Praise the Lord that He is recovering the church life! In Stuttgart there is a church different from anything found in Christianity. We admit that not even the church in the Lord’s recovery is fully built yet; we are still in the initial stage. But the Lord will continue to build His church. He was building yesterday, He is building today, and He will be building tomorrow. He will keep on building until the church fully becomes the kingdom of heaven possessing the authority of God to defeat the power of Satan. When that day comes, the churches will be ready for the rapture; they will be ready to be taken by the Lord as His Bride. At that time the Lord Jesus will come back.
We know that when the Lord Jesus comes back, He will come as the Bridegroom. In order for the Bridegroom to come, the Bride must be prepared. If the Lord came back today, would the Bride be ready? Certainly not. How can the Bridegroom come if the Bride has not been prepared? For centuries Christians have been talking about the Lord’s second coming, and many are still doing so today. The more they talk and wait for Him to return, the more He seems to delay His coming. The reason for this is that the church has not yet been built. It would be a shame to the Lord to come back without having a built-up church. His enemy, Satan, would say, “Jesus, have You come back? What about Your promise in Matthew 16? Jesus, You still have not built Your church! Look at Your church. It is a mess, filled with idolatry, fornication, division, and confusion. Is this the church You promised to build?” What a shame this would be to the Lord! Therefore, the Lord continues to build His church.
The Lord is not building with a large number, but with a rather small number. Nevertheless, in the various major cities strong churches will be built up. Then at His coming back He will be able to say to Satan, “Satan, look! In all these major cities I have built up My church. In My church there is no division, confusion, idolatry, or fornication. Satan, what do you have to say about this?” At that time, the Lord Jesus will be able to boast to the enemy. However, today He can do little boasting concerning the builded church. Therefore, we all must press on and give the Lord the opportunity to build up His church in a pure way, in a victorious way, and in a prevailing way so that He can put His enemy to shame. Even now the Lord has a church in New York and in Los Angeles, the devilish center of the movie industry. Is this not a shame to Satan? In these churches there is no division, confusion, idolatry, or fornication. There is only the all-inclusive Christ. Hallelujah! I strongly believe that the time is coming, perhaps within ten years, when the situation regarding the church will be beautiful. The Lord’s promise to build His church will be fulfilled.