In these messages of the young people’s training we all must see a heavenly vision. We need God’s unique vision. In Acts 26:19 Paul said, “O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” As we shall see, the background of this heavenly vision was the Jewish religion.
This background was present in Matthew 16, where we have a revelation of Christ and the church. The Lord Jesus did not come to the heathen, pagan world. He came to God’s people, a people who had the holy Scriptures, who worshipped in God’s temple, and who offered the sacrifices according to God’s divine regulations. These people were very scriptural. None of the first followers of the Lord Jesus were pagans. They all were religious people who had a background in the Scriptures, in the worship of God, in God’s law, and in the general knowledge of God. Suddenly, the Lord Jesus appeared and called some of them, and they followed Him. One day, the Lord took His disciples “into the parts of Caesarea Philippi” (Matt. 16:13), far away from the temple and the holy city, to the border of the holy land. After bringing them there, He asked them a question: “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matt. 16:13). After the disciples gave some answers, the Lord said, “But whom say ye that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). Why did the Lord ask them this question in “the parts of Caesarea Philippi”? The fact that the Lord took His disciples there strongly implies and indicates that He is absolutely different from the typical religion. The Lord Jesus is the living Christ, the living Son of the living God. He is not a part of dead religion; He is altogether different from religion and stands outside of it. The revelation of Christ as the Son of the living God was not given in the sphere, in the realm, of the Jewish religion. The Lord brought the disciples away from everything “holy”—away from the holy land, the holy city, and the holy temple. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You may think that all these things are holy. But I shall forsake them all. Those who want to follow Me must come away from the background of religion.”
With this as the background, Peter answered the Lord’s question by saying, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). This word was not a teaching or a tradition. It was a direct revelation from the heavenly Father. It did not derive from the Jewish religion, the holy temple, or the holy city, but was something fresh and new. It did not originate with human thought or religious concepts; it came directly from the living God. After Peter spoke these words, the Lord said, “I say also unto thee, That thou art a stone and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18, Gk.). Here we see Christ, the Son of the living God, and the church built upon Him as the rock. Hence, in this chapter we have Christ and the church. Although it is wonderful to see Christ, this is not adequate. We also must see the church. Christ is only the rock, but the church is the building.
Verse 18 says that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church, and in verse 19 the Lord said, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Here we see the gates of Hades on the negative side and the kingdom of heaven on the positive side. Christ and the church will bring in the kingdom of God and will cast down and defeat the gates of Hades, the authority of Satan. This is the heavenly vision concerning Christ and the church. The vision that Christ and the church will bring in God’s kingdom and defeat the kingdom of Satan is given outside of religion. It is not a matter of culture, ethics, or morality. Rather, it is the very Christ, the Son of the living God, with the church to bring in the kingdom of the heavens and to subdue the gates of Hades. We all must see this.