The Revelation

In Matthew 16, we read about one of the greatest revelations of all time.  Jesus is asking the disciples who people are saying He is. After several answers are given, rambunctious Peter who was good at sticking his foot in his mouth blurted out, “You are the Christ the Son of the living God.” Rather than being rebuked, Jesus commends the less than perfect disciple and responds by saying, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  This entire conversation took place at the site of Pan--the premier god of that day. This god represented universalism—involving sexual orgies, the worship of nature, and what we would call today the worship of humanism.  No doubt Jesus had this idol worship in mind in his statement and assured his listeners that as bad as it was it would not overcome the church. We have a hard time identifying with this picture, but if you go to a place like India you understand.  They have more than 330 million gods which includes almost everything.  In the city of Tirupati, they have a temple which is considered the most sacred worship center in all of the country.  More than thirty thousand people visit it daily giving in excess of more than 500 thousand dollars in contributions every day.  People bring their gold and other precious possessions and throw them upon the altar.  The rich, the poor, the elite and the common all come to worship.  Each year the country celebrates a festival where they bring their gods on trucks and throw them into the river.  After they cast them in, the professional divers dive into the water break the plaster off, harvest the metal and take it to the market in order to sell it.  You ask “How can people be so deceived?”  You might say “America could never be so naive.” Yet we are in a society submerged in the worship of self, pleasure, and wealth. So much so it is creating tidal waves of opposition against the worship of the one and only true God. Bibles, prayer, crosses, and other religious rituals and items are being banned from the public arena. However, what the believer must keep in mind is the fact that we have a revelation; this satanic push will not prevail against His church. Regardless of how negative it gets, the Church will triumph and will stand victoriously.