Built on solid rock

"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."  (Matthew 16: 18)

Matthew 16: 18 is the words of Jesus Christ.  It is also a prophecy.  It is one of the prophecies in the Gospels that proves the Gospel's authenticity.  Put briefly, Jesus Christ says that the Church can never fail come what may!  The question is:  Has the Church failed?  The answer is obvious.  St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is built over the tomb of St. Peter, the Apostle who was addressed in Matthew 16:18.  Pope Francis, the present Bishop of Rome is a successor of St. Peter in a long line of unbroken succession that numbers about 265 popes since St. Peter.

In the 2000 years history of the Church, the Church had faced many near death experiences.  For over 250 years, the Church lived through a period of relentless persecution by the Roman empire.  The Roman empire became defunct and extinct just like other empires in the West and in the East.

The devil, the arch enemy of the Church attacks the Church not only from the outside but also from the inside with schisms, scandals, heresies, fratricidal wars, etc.  The Church is still standing.  Many governments had risen and fallen and forgotten by history.  What makes the Church different?  The Church has no army, no police force, no large mineral resources or gold mines. The Church has faced dire financial crisis.  But the Church is standing.

The reason why the Church is still standing inspite very severe crisis in its history is the promise of Jesus:
"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."  (Matthew 16: 18)

No army, no financial crisis, no scandal, no apostasy can nullify the promise.  It is a promise built on solid and immovable rock and that rock is Jesus Christ.