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Matthew 16 reveals the way to build up the church and also reveals the enemy of the building:
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Christ, the Son of the living God, builds the church on Himself as the rock, with stones such as Peter, a transformed person (vv. 16-18).
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The gates of Hades, Satan's authority or power of darkness, attack the church to frustrate the Lord from building up the church (v. 18).
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In order to build the church, the Lord had to pass through death and enter into resurrection (v. 21):
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The church was produced through Christ's death and resurrection (John 12:24).
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The way to build up the church is to be crucified and resurrected (cf. 2 Cor. 4:10-12; Gal. 2:20).
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The church exists and is built up only in the realm of resurrection through crucifixion (Gen. 2:21-22; cf. Eph. 4:15-16).
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Peter, with a good heart, rebuked the Lord and tried to prevent the Lord from going to Jerusalem to be crucified (Matt. 16:22):
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It was not Peter but Satan who came out through one of the gates of Hades, the gate of Peter's self, to try to frustrate the Lord from building up the church (v. 23).
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The self, the mind, and the soul-life are the main gates through which Satan comes forth to attack and damage the church (vv. 23-26).
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
The “Me” in [Matthew 16:24] means a great deal. This “Me” is the pattern, the pathway. Furthermore, this “Me” is the crucified and resurrected “Me.” If we are not crucified and resurrected, there can be no church. The church comes into existence through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Not only our self, which is defiled, but even the Lord's pure, sinless self had to be denied. If the Lord had not denied Himself and gone to the cross, He could not have been resurrected, and there would have been no church. We must follow after Him. This means that we must deny ourselves as He did and must allow ourselves to be crucified as He did. Without this, it is impossible for the church to be built up. Whenever we sense that we are feeding the self-life of another, we must say, “Lord, I will follow You. I will stop having so much contact with this brother.” If you do this, the building of the church will proceed. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,” pp. 74-75)
Today's Reading
How can the church be built up in a practical way? The answer is found in Matthew 16:21 through 26. According to biblical terms, the way to build up the church is to be crucified and resurrected. Unless Christ had been crucified and resurrected, He could not build up the church. The church came into existence through His death and resurrection. Verse 21...indicates that the way to build up the church is through death and resurrection. On the mount the Lord Jesus was transfigured. This transfiguration, however, was temporary. Through death and resurrection Christ was permanently transfigured. Resurrection is a form of trans- figuration. Through death and resurrection Christ has entered into a realm of transfiguration. The church...cannot exist in the natural life or with fleshly people. It can exist only in a realm of transfiguration. As long as we are in a natural realm or in a fleshly condition, we are through with the church.Verse 22 says, “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!” With a good heart Peter was telling the Lord that God should be merciful to Him....[In this verse] the self is emphasized.
Verse 23 says, “But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan!” Then in verses 24 and 25 the Lord said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.” According to these verses, the Lord is the pattern and the pathway. If anyone desires to come after Him, that is, take Him as the pattern and the pathway, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him.
Matthew 16:18 speaks of the gates and verse 19 of the keys. In order to know what the gates and the keys are, we [again] need to consider verses 21 through 26. Satan comes out through the gates. The first gate is the self. This means that we ourselves are one of the gates of Hades through which Satan comes out. Satan may come out through the gate of self even when we have a good heart. Whether our heart is good or evil, self is the first gate through which Satan comes out. In addition to the self, verses 21 through 26 also speak of the mind and the soul, both of which are also gates through which Satan comes out. Thus, the self, the soul, and the mind are the main gates through which Satan comes forth. Many times Satan has come out through your mind because your mind has been an open gate for him. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,” pp. 79, 70-71)
Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 48