Few promises of jesus are as scary and yet so encouraging as the one made to peter in matthew 1618 and i say to thee that thou art peter and upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it the first part of the promise peter and the rock has . The churchs foundation upon this rock i will build my church the churchs assurance the gates of hell shall not prevail against it the churchs authority i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. In this passage jesus is referring to the building of his church and i tell you you are peter and on this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it matthew 1618 at that time jesus had not yet established his church in fact this is the first instance of the word church in the. And i say also unto thee that thou art peter and upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it it says the gates of hell will not prevail or have strength to withstand or overcome the church it is not the other way around as it is so commonly explained. Jesus commends his outspoken disciple you are peter and on this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it v 18 since the reformation there has been a lot of discussion about this rock and what it means for the authority of the pope not much it turns out