Weekly Pursuit – Week 1 of December
Verse:
Matt. 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Excerpts:
The word “recover” means to obtain again something that has been lost, or to return something to a normal condition. “Recovery” means the restoration or return to a normal condition after a damage or a loss has been incurred. When we speak of the recovery of the church, we mean that something was there originally, that it became lost or damaged, and that now there is the need to bring that thing back to its original state. Because the church has become degraded through the many centuries of its history, it needs to be restored according to God’s original intention. Concerning the church, our vision should be governed not by the present situation nor by traditional practice but by God’s original intention and standard as revealed in the Scriptures.
In the recovery of the church, we are building the Body of Christ, the temple of God, the house of God. This was typified by the rebuilding of the temple under the leadership of Ezra in Old Testament times. Today we are rebuilding the church life as God’s temple, the Body of Christ.
All the damage that the enemy does to the church simply gives the Lord the opportunity to enlarge His Body in resurrection. Satan can never defeat the Lord Jesus. The gates of Hades can never prevail against the builded church (Matt. 16:18). The church is still going on and is still growing. Although the enemy may try his best to tear it down, we shall see the victory. We shall see that not only the Lord Jesus Himself is prevailing but that the church, His Body, the temple, also is prevailing. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 230, 234)
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