Protestants have a problem with verbs. Some verbs are past tense. “I built” describes an action in the past. “I build” describes an action in the present.
Jesus did not say “Thou are Peter and on this rock I built My Church. . “
Jesus did say “Thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church. . .”
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By saying “I build My Church. .” Jesus shows His Power over Time. If He did not want His Church to continually separate sheep from goats, He would have said “I built My Church”.
“build” is in the continuing present. He is speaking to Peter and to all who hold and teach The Catholic Faith. Jesus, for all the time to come, “builds” His Church in every generation.
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Catholics are blessed to similarly focus on the other verb tenses in the two simple sentences:
1. “And I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
“shall not prevail” means that evil beings will try to overpower His Church and Her Teachings. Jesus promises that Church Teachings will not be destroyed by the fallen angels who seek to “prevail” over them.
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2. “I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.”
“give” is in the continually present tense. In every generation, He “gives” the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven to all who are obedient to the Teachings of The Only Church He Spoke Into Being.
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In every generation, some are blessed to choose to be among: “You are My friends if you obey My commands.”
“are” and “obey” are also in the present tense!
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We each have free will. If we are blessed, we will choose to obey Jesus. We will not follow contradictory human opinions that come to earth from “the gates of hell”.
The fallen angels have many helpers on earth. They confuse and possess all whom they may!
