Jesus made two powerful decrees that I want to look at. First, he said he would build his church. He made it clear here that he would have a powerful spiritual entity at work on the earth that would be centered on him, his Word and his redemptive work. That entity would be called his Church. The Greek word is ecclesia which, among other things, translates as “called out ones”. Secondly, he decreed that the powers of hell would not prevail against it. The word prevail means “to overcome or vanquish, get the upper hand, to be strong against. He didn’t say the church would not face trials, troubles, persecution and hardships, he said that in spite of all those things, his people, those he redeemed, would not be overcome.

I think, to get the proper understanding, we need to look at the church from two different perspectives, what the church is, and what the church is not. Let’s start with what the church is not. First, the church is not a spiritualized nightclub where we come to unwind, party and be entertained. When you try to make the church something it is not supposed to be, you render it ineffective and irrelevant. The church does not create a sanitized atmosphere that mimics the world’s atmosphere. Secondly, it is not a spiritual “Hall Of Fame.” It’s not where perfect people with perfect pasts, who have no problems or issues look down upon an unredeemed world with a condescending, prideful attitude while the rest of humanity goes to hell in a handbasket. Thirdly, the church is not a museum where we venerate the past, wishing for the “good old days” where everything is stale, old and irrelevant.

Now, let’s look at what the church is. First it is the body of Christ. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. that just as the human body is one, even though it has many parts, the same is true of the church (1 Cor. 12:12). He continues to say that even though there are many parts, we are formed and brought together to be one body, His body. All parts, even though they are different, work together and make the body function. Tim Dilena, who pastors Times Square Church in New York City, uses a great example to illustrate this truth. He points out that a jet has a multitude of parts that aid in making it fly, each part, separately, cannot of itself fly. A seat cannot fly, a wing cannot fly, even an engine cannot fly. But, if you put them all together, they produce the power necessary to lift a 170-thousand-pound aircraft off the ground. It’s a great example that illustrates how the body of Christ, His church, works. Individually we cannot build the kingdom. But when we work together as the Body, we help build what hell itself cannot defeat.

Secondly, the church is the Bride of Christ. She is His greatest treasure, His beloved. Paul says in Ephesians 5 that He created us to be part of his bride, holy, spotless, without flaw (v 27 TPT). Jesus said his bride would represent all that He is and will ever be for the world to see. We would, through His love and power, present to the world all of His character, nature and above all, His desire for fellowship with them. We, his bride, should mirror our Bridegroom.

Thirdly, the church is the Army of Christ. The Song of Solomon describes the bride as an entity that is “As terrible as an army with banners (Chap. 6, verse 10.) We have to remember that we are in a war. We only get to wear the wedding dress for a short time, then we must put on our Armor. When Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against us, His idea was not for us to hunker down behind the walls in survival mode, holding out till Jesus returns. His idea was for us to be a formidable army that hell fears more than anything else. An army that is trained for conquest and victory, an army that fears nothing and relishes the opportunity to go into battle.

To summarize, the church is a hospital, a spiritual trauma center where the spiritually sick, damaged and dying could find the healing, wholeness and life Jesus died to give them. It is a school where we are given understanding, knowledge and instruction so that we can go into the world and fulfill his commission to make more disciples. It is an army barracks where we are trained, equipped and readied to go into battle against his enemies and defeat them. We are the called-out ones, the glorious entity He has chosen to manifest himself through. We, folks, are his church.