THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST

9/
5/
93
THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST
I CHRONICLES 29: 9 - 11
"HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY"
(PAGE 638 COME ALIVE BIBLE)
JESUS CHRIST said, "I will build My church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16: 18).
Who is acting? "I will," Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.
What is the action? "Build My church."
What can be the expected response? The "gates of Hades (hell)
shall not prevail against it."
It is Jesus Christ, God incarnate, Who promises this action. He
who created the universe has little difficulty building His
body, the church.
Someone looking at the vast expanse of the sky punctuated on a
dark night by countless seemingly useless points of light formed
by limitless stars asked, "Why did God go to so much trouble?"
The response, "What trouble!"
The promised action is the building of His church. This is the
first time "church" is mentioned in the Bible. It translates the
Greek word EKKLESIA, meaning the "called-out ones."
The reference isn't to erecting a building, it isn't a religious
institution, nor an ethnic group. It is used to designate a
covenant community, a committed people. Notice the possessive
pronoun, "MY" church.
Observe the to-be-expected reaction to His action. The fact "the
gates of hell shall not prevail" means they sure are going to
try. However, they shall not triumph.
At the city gates of ancient towns the elders of the city would
gather as a council and plan the affairs of the city. In time of
pending conflic ...

---

There are 11418 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.