I know that this is a long proof and explanation but please bear with me on this one.
The main verse we will be looking at is Matthew 16:18Matthew 16:18) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.Let's look at this verse as a child with simplicity, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church"The Church is built upon the foundation of Christ JesusColossians 113) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14) In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: We are as true believers already been translated into the kingdom of Christ, made fellow citizens with the saints and are part of the household of God Ephesians 2 19) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20) And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;Now also notice, this, are we in the process of being redeemed or have WE ALREADY BEEN REDEEMED by the blood of our Lord and Savior? The answer, we already have been redeemed (and now of course we wait for the resurrection)Ephesians 2:1) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sinsSo looking at this verse and many more of the such that we could, we see that we are currently already redeemed, else we would still be dead in our sins.In Galatians 3:13 is states, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us"Now that we have established that we have been redeemed, that we who are in Christ are broken free from the condition of being dead in our sins and the law because of what He did for us on the cross, let us examine what we are alive toJohn 14:6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.Without a relationship with the Lord Jesus, can anyone every know the way to follow, meaning to actually follow it? No. Can any man without Christ know the truth of which to live, to follow after? No. Can any man without Christ know, that is to say have eternal life, what it is to truly possess it? NoSo we conclude that only in Christ can a man know the way, the correct way in a world filled with the broad way; only in Christ can a man know the real truth, the richness, the beginning of the comprehension of deep truth; only in Christ can a man possess eternal lifeSo far we have concluded what is stated in the immediate above paragraph, and that we as true believers are redeemed, are not dead in our sins because of that redemption, that we in our current status, made fellow citizens with the saints and are part of the household of God, and that apart from Christ a man is lost not knowing the truth, not knowing the way, and does not have eternal life.Now for the fourth part of John 4:16, "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, no man ever has a relationship with the Father. Thus after all this we can conclude that all those in Christ, know the way because they truly know Christ, they know the truth even in a world filled with corruption, lies and falsehood, they have been redeemed and saved from the condition of being dead in sin, they have a relationship with the Father through Christ Jesus, and They have the life, eternal life in Christ Jesus. All of these things are true for all true believersSeeing as we have established these things, let us move on the second part of Matthew 16:18, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."Who is Christ talking about when He says "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Who else but the Church, the bride of Christ.We are given countless warnings with the word if in them but I want you to see something that came upon me a couple days ago.Hebrews 125) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: Why?6) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.In verse 7 of Hebrews 12, enduring does not mean in the sense of those in groupA get chastised and withstood it; and then groupb gets chastised and does not withstand it. No it is purely talking about whether a person is receiving divine correction, or divine chastisement at all or not. Meaning that if a person, and I don't care how long they have claimed to have a relationship with Christ, with God; If they can just say I don't want to be a Christian anymore, if they can just up and leave the faith, and go back to the conformity of this God hating world under any circumstance, and not receive any correcting, and discipline from the Father to get them back on the correct path, the straight and narrow, then I say and tell you truly that they NEVER had their Father in heaven, nor a relationship with Him! Hebrews 12:8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.Mark my words, God will break His children, humbling them to bring them back to the truth, that they are dead and lifeless, weak, and helpless apart from God. What God said in Jeremiah 32:39-41 was speaking to Jerusalem saying39) And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40) And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41) Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.BUT I say unto you truly, God is zealous for His chosen people, not just in Israel, not just in Judah, but for all those in the Church as well. When God said "Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul."Do you think that God would not make sure with His might, by all His power, that His elect will enter into the promise land of eternal life? Do you really think that Christ is going to let any of His church, and I mean any of them perish in the gates of hell; that Christ who CANNOT LIE, stated with His own lips, "I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.", shall even let one member of the Church, a genuine, transformed born again, saved by his blood, drawn to Him and elected by the Father, regenerated by the Holy Spirit believer is going perish in the gates of hell, that the gates of hell shall prevail against them? I think not. People speak with many ifs, but I speak with many certainties, things of inevitability, things that are solid in scriptural teaching. Are we above heeding the warnings of God, No, but if we have been truly elected of God, He WILL persevere His elect, He WILL lead us to the promise land, we WILL see victory and be with God forever. IF we are TRULY his, God WILL uphold us, cause us to persevere. God upholds and strengthens His elect with a mighty hand, with power unbreakable. Who can pluck, if God doesn’t will it to be plucked? Who can uproot when God wills that it be uprooted not? Who can escape from the presence of God, from the control of God who is absolutely sovereign in all majesty and power? When can the will of man override the absolute, going to happen, can’t return back void word that proceedeth from the mouth of the living God? I will say it again, “Mark my words, God will break His children, humbling them to bring them back to the truth, that they are dead and lifeless, weak, and helpless apart from God.” Will something that God wills to happen, any individual whom God elects to be saved not be saved under any circumstance? Nay, I tell you truly, the purpose that God has purposed WILL be executed.Psalm 33:11) The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.Proverbs 19:21) There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.Isaiah 14:24) The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand And how do we know that we are truly His, look at the book of 1 John and look what is said in 1 John 5:13) "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." Test ourselves in the light of scripture Hebrews 4:12) “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
