Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 16:18 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.
Notice that Jesus let it be known that Peter did not perceive of this by natural means of understanding, but that it was revealed by divine providence. Jesus stated on numerous occasions, i.e. Jn 6:30 & 14:24, that he received understanding of the Father's purpose for His earthly life by divine providence. As we see in verse 17, the divine providence of Peter's revelation is none other than God the Father too. However, when Jesus left the earth, He promised to send another divine revelator, the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26, 15:26, & 16:17).
Proverbs 25:2 says: It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. I believe that God concealed a message in this scripture. Take a look at verse 18, "thou art Peter...". The Greek word for Peter is Pétros which means rock, stone or pebble. The next portion of the verse says "and upon this rock I will build my church...". The word rock in this part of the verse in Greek is Petra which means a rock, cliff, ledge or large stone. A cliff is made up of several stones cemented together. A ledge is a protruding rock from a cliff or mountain. Peter (Pétros) an individual disciple represents an individual stone. The rock (Petra) which means cliff or large stone represents Peter's proclamation that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God is the cliff /ledge foundation upon which Jesus builds His Church.
Images of a Ledge From a Cliff
Each individual disciple (Pétros) who's foundational belief is "Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God" is with whom Jesus builds His Church. Jesus will not build His church with anyone who claims to be His disciple and do not have this fundamental belief as their core foundational belief.
1Co 3:10
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildth thereupon.
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildth thereupon.
1Co 3:11
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Each yielded pétros is able to receive divine instruction from the Holy Spirit regarding their domain upon the (Petra) foundation which Christ is building His church upon. As each pétros takes its position given him by the Father through the Holy Spirit, they begin to fit snugly together forming the Church which is Christ's body.
When the nerves in our body parts (members) are damaged or are not properly connected, instruction from our heads (brain) cannot be received. Therefore, our body will not do what the head wills it to do. It is the exact same when we, pétros are not yielded to the Spirit, we cannot receive the will of God for our lives and cannot be used in the formation of His church.
I looked up the word church and basically the word means assembly. I then did a word study on assemble. We are already aware of the definition of assembly that means to assemble together as a group. However, I recognized three other meanings of the word listed them below:
Assembly
I A group of machine parts that fit together to form a self-contained unit
II A unit consisting of components that have been fitted together
I inserted these definitions of the word assemble using the verse in Mt 16:18 below:
I Upon this rock I will build a group of parts that fit together to form a self contained unit (which
would be Christ, the Head and Chief corner stone plus His body.)
II Upon on this rock I will build a unit consisting of components that fit together
III Upon this rock I will build a set of pieces (group of disciples) that work together in harmony as
a method by which I will bring about my Father's will upon the earth.
a method by which I will bring about my Father's will upon the earth.
These definitions give new meaning to Mat 16:18. Considering these definitions of the world assembly, which means church, we see that Jesus is still in the process of building His church. The church not having been completed is probably why we have not seen the full manifestation of the Power of God in the earth. Perhaps too, this is why it appears that that the gates of hell have prevailed. When the church is completed, men will begin to see the most awesome terrible power of God operating in the earth; and will no longer dare to think of Christians as weak, let along open their mouths to say that they are.
We hear quoted quite often that Christ is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle. Let us read what the actual word says below:
Eph 5:23
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the savior of the body
Eph 5:24
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the savior of the body
Eph 5:24
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything
Eph 5:25
Eph 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it
Eph 5:26
Eph 5:26
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27
The he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
The he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
First we see that Christ is the head of the church and savior of the body. If the church is the body of Christ, then Christ is the savior of His own body. Not a mortal physical body, but the church, the body Jesus is currently in the process of building.
Secondly, we see that the church Christ is building is subject to Him. Not partially, kind of or somewhat, but totally subjected unto Him. Remember, we are talking about the church (Organic Church) that Christ is building and this is what it looks like; a church totally subjected unto Him. Any church not totally subjected unto Him is a counterfeit.
Thirdly, Christ is sanctifying and cleansing His church. Any church that is in the process of sanctification and cleansing looks absolutely nothing, and I repeat, nothing like an unbeliever even though the sanctification process has not been completed.
Lastly, when the sanctification process is completed, the church will be without spot or wrinkle, and will be holy and without blemish. This is the church Christ will present to Himself.
Are you a pétros which Christ will use to build His church?
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