Nowhere in Scripture do we find any indication that the apostles themselves understood Jesus’ comment meant hat Peter was more important than the other apostles. Nor is there any indication at all that the role of apostleship was to continue through a process called “apostolic succession,” beyond the twelve themselves. But what we do see is the apostles leading the charge into Satan’s territory, the world.

The picture in this verse is not one of the church bunkered down, pulling closed the doors of protection against the onslaught of the demonic world. Rather Jesus foresees the church advancing into enemy territory, against the very barriers of demonic influence. And the church will prevail because it is founded on the solid truth that, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” as Peter so aptly put into words.

While Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2) and the god of this age (2 Cor 4:4), the church through the centuries has indeed made huge strides infiltrating the world system. The persecutions of Nero did not prevail, the church only grew. By the 4^th century Christianity had become the dominant religion in the empire. Even to this day, the message about Christ is going out to people groups around the world, with more missionaries than ever in history, translating, preaching and discipling. Even in communist and Islamic countries, the message is penetrating deeply. And this despite severe persecution. It seems that the more the church is persecuted, the more it flourishes.

The battle continues to be waged to this very day. Yet the church’s victory is not a passive one. The “Great Commission” is to go into all the world preaching the gospel (Matt 28:18-20, Mark 16:15). We are equipped for the spiritual battle with the armor of the Spirit (Eph 6:10-17).  We are given instructions on how to conduct the spiritual battle, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Cor 10:3-5). No spiritual fortress will stand before the church! Above all, we must take our stand on the rock-solid truth that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” There is no other foundation than this.