God's Church
Jesus said concerning the church in Matthew 16:28 - "And I say also unto thee, that thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." That is Satan and all his forces will not be able to stop the church's forward momentum. It will be such a mighty force in the earth that Satan will not be able to stop it. How different is that view from today's popular teaching on the church. The church will wax weaker and weaker and eventually only a remanant will remain and have to be raptured out of this evil world controlled by Satan. In other words, this popular view gives Satan the victory over the church in this age. Yet, is there not a view of the church that is much brighter than this? It seems to me that there is and that it is found throughout the Bible especially in the prophets of the Old Tesament and in the teachings of the New Testament itself.