And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. Matthew 16: 18-20, NKJV.
Merciful God and Father, thank You for the privilege of prayer. May we be blessed as we engage in the study of Your Holy Word. This is our prayer in the glorious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today we are going to be meditating upon the second revelation in Matthew chapter 16 – the power behind the invincibility of the church of Christ.
Our Scripture for today has sparked many a discussion. Many people, not to say, most people, are of the opinion that this Scripture is implying that Peter, is the foundation upon which the church of Jesus Christ is built. I believe that it is this Scripture that has prompted the stories of Saint Peter, as the gate-keeper in heaven.
Today, let us compare Scripture with Scripture, and see where this will lead us, and what scriptural conclusion we can arrive at. Let us look first at the original words of our Scripture for today: In referring to Peter Jesus said: “You are Petros, and upon this petra, I will build my church. . .”
Petra – the Rock, is the foundation of the church. And the Rock is Jesus Christ. The same word petra, is found in 1 Corinthians 10: 4: “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” Emphasis supplied.
Here is another text with the same original word petra, referring to Christ: ” ‘ “ A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” ‘ “ (1 Peter 2: 8). Emphasis supplied. The church of Christ was not built upon a fallible man. It was built upon the infallible God-Man, Jesus, the Christ!
Christ is not only the Rock upon which the church is built. He is also the head, “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5: 23).
When the dispute arose in the church at Corinth and each convert was claiming to be a follower of one of the apostles, the apostle Paul informed them, in a very clear manner, that no human being, no matter how knowledgeable, or eloquent, or spiritual, could claim to be the foundation of the “body of Christ” (Ephesians 4: 12), which is the church. They were merely builders upon that foundation that had already been laid. The apostle Peter was no exception. Besides, the only person the gates of hell have not prevailed against – is the Man Christ Jesus!
As we said yesterday, whenever a revelation is given, it is always safe to ask God, where or from whom, the revelation is coming. Whenever God is about to reveal something to His people, you can be sure that the Adversary, is also preparing his counterfeit revelation to try to counteract the, “Thus saith the Lord.”
Remember what happened in the Garden of Eden? God had already revealed to Adam and Eve, His will for them, yet the Adversary found the way to wittingly distort the revelation, by making some very slight, but significant, changes. Listen to his conversation with the woman:
” ‘ “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ‘ ” The woman said to the serpent, ‘ “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ‘ “You will not surely die,” ‘ the serpent said to the woman” (Genesis 3: 1b-4). Emphasis supplied. We know how that part of the story ended.
The Adversary is still at work today. Nevertheless, when God speaks – He speaks plainly; and we can take Him at His Word. All revelations are not from God, but if we ask Him, with a willingness to obey His revealed will – He will make His revelations known to us!