When Christ said, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” it was because of Peter’s great confession, and he was to have the single honor of opening the door of the kingdom of heaven first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. It should be obvious from the Word of God that the rock Jesus was referring to was not Peter–but himself. If Jesus had given to Peter and to the rest of the apostles the authority to forgive sins, when men came and made their confession, Peter would have said to Cornelius, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through certain authorized ministers of his you may receive remission of sins. Is Peter the rock on which the Church is built? When I was depending upon you, it was milk and water stuff you were giving me, now, thank God, I am milking me own cow and it’s the cream of the Word I am getting.”, Another story is told of a little lad sitting on the curb in Johannesburg in South Africa, reading a New Testament when the priest passed by and, recognizing him as a child of a family belonging to his flock, said, “My boy, what is that book you are reading?”. And now verse 43: “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” How does Peter proclaim remission of sins? Was not that private judgment? The other man built his house on the solid foundation of rock. . (1 Corinthians 3:11) This observation by the apostle Paul warns Christians that it is possible to build either successfully or with awful failure on the foundation that Jesus Christ has laid for us. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord then declared to him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”. Later when Jesus said He would build His church on the "rock," He used a different Greek word petra, which refers to a large rock (as in a mountain cliff). Is Amos 8:11-12 a prediction of the Great Apostasy? On the day of Pentecost it was he who opened the door of faith to the Jews and in Cornelius’ house it was Peter who opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. There does seem to be a measure of testimony that would intimate that possibly that was true, but when they tell us that he was in Rome from A.D. 42 to 67, we have positive evidence to the contrary because those very years are covered largely by the book of Acts. But it is perfectly clear that the Church is a great spiritual company, not necessarily visible to men but one that includes all real believers, and against that Church the gates of hell shall never prevail. word; a (large mass of) rock:–rock(10), rocks(3), rocky(2). That's the … . If Peter uses the word as a reference to Jesus, then shouldn’t we? Eerdmans. Only in one instance does it seem to be linked with His work. Do you need an infallible pope to tell you the meaning of the words, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ”? What a solemn thing it is when you turn back to the sixteenth chapter of Matthew to find that within a short time after making his confession, Peter proved an absolutely untrustworthy guide. I thank God for his wondrous testimony and for the ministry of this great servant of the Lord; but I would not think that Simon Peter was a sufficient rock upon which the Church could be built. Jesus is the foundation of the church (cf. In that same statement to Simon Peter cited earlier Christ said, "Upon this rock I will build my church" (Matt. We have to ask ourselves why the Roman Catholic Church would resort to using something that we don’t have: the Aramaic text. It is used to elucidate the Aramaic kephas which is not a name in Aramaic. 28:16). And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Surely not. 2:5–6, Rev. There, Jesus called Peter to be the rock of the Church. “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” And Peter proclaimed remission of sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 16:18 when they claim Peter was the rock on which the church is built. There must be a work in the soul by the Holy Spirit of God before people can recognize the true blessedness of our Lord Jesus. Furthermore, in John 1:42 it says, “He brought him to Jesus. Our series on the Sermon on the Mount ends today with a warning in parable form: “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. Then the Lord adds, “And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter—a piece of rock, a rock-like man if we dare paraphrase—and upon this rock I will build my church.” What rock? 18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. In other words, the church built upon Peter is an outward organization. The Messiahship and Divinity of Christ are essential to the stability of the Church. They tell us that we must not use private judgment but must accept the judgment of the council and the church. 16:18. The Rock Foundation is a non-profit charity organisation that provides health care, education, social reformation, and relief materials to the needy. 16:13-20). But how are we going to decide to accept that? In 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, Paul writes, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. We do not arrive at this conclusion by any intellectual process alone. Just imagine Peter supposed to be bishop of Rome, a great Gentile city, and yet it was definitely settled there that his work was to be among the Jews. We turn from all these to the Book itself. Gal. Definition: The universal church is that organism of professing believers making up the body of Christ through baptism by the Holy Spirit, which was formed first on the day of Pentecost, is distinct from the nation of Israel, and is not limited to local congregational or denominational affiliation.Everyone, living or dead, who has ever put their faith in Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost till now, is a member of the universal church, Christ’s body, of which He is the head (Ephesians 1:22). A sermon preached in The Moody Church by Dr. H.A. Neither could he have founded the church there, because Paul was to go there and he stated himself that he did not build upon another man’s foundation. Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1995, c1985). The translation supports the view that Kēphás is not a proper name, since one does not usually translate proper names”1Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1995, c1985). One... “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it,”. We are to look to no one else as the foundation, the source, or the hope on which the church is built. “…you are Peter (πέτρος, petros) and upon this rock (πέτρα, petra) I will build My church…” Greek nouns have gender. Every Christian has the same revelation. Paul Adefarasin serves as Founder and President of the foundation. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Must I not use my private judgment and decide that I will forego the reasonings of my own intellect and let the councils tell me what to believe? The foundation operates primarily in Nigeria and the West Africa region. “By the word “rock” the Saviour cannot have meant Himself, but only Peter, as is so much more apparent in Aramaic in which the same word (Kipha) is used for “Peter” and “rock.” His statement then admits of but one explanation, namely, that He wishes to make Peter the head of the whole community of those who believed in Him as the true Messias; that through this foundation (Peter) the Kingdom of Christ would be unconquerable; that the spiritual guidance of the faithful was placed in the hands of Peter, as the special representative of Christ.” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11744a.htm). . The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the 'rock' of his Church. It is difficult to answer the question of which Protestant denomination is the right one without first laying out a... by Luke Wayne | Feb 20, 2020 | Mormonism, World Religions. “But that is not for an ignorant little boy like you to be reading.”, The lad replied, “Sure but I have a search warrant to read it.”, “A search warrant! While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. You get to studying for yourself and you are sure to go wrong.”, But Patrick said, “Out there in the shed I have a cow and when I was sick some time ago, I had to hire a man to milk her and I soon found he was stealing half of the milk and filling the bucket with water, but when I got well, I discharged him and took to milking me own cow and now I am getting the rich cream. Through faith in Christ. That may seem like a rather broad statement but I believe that I can show you that it is true. He did not know any one like minded with whom he could have Christian fellowship so when others went to the parish church, he remained at home poring over the sacred pages of his New Testament, a Book which he had never seen before but which now meant so much to him. First of all, when we look at the Greek of Matthew 16:18, we see something that is not obvious in English. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. The Church is built upon Jesus–not Peter. Not at all, it is given to the Church of God as a whole. It is the bed-rock foundation fact that Peter had just acknowledged -- namely, … pétra (4073), a massive rock or cliff.” (Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, electronic ed., G4074, Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000, c1992, c1993). I find as I read on in the Word that there was too much frailty, too much failure, too much sin in Simon Peter for me to rest my soul on him, but I do honor him as the first one who made this great confession, one in which I gladly join, “Blessed Lord, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”. Popes today are not at all bashful about telling us that there is no salvation outside the church that is built on Peter and that they are Peter’s successors. Since we do not have the Aramaic text, it is not proper to refer to it as proof of the Roman Catholic position. I assure The Rock Foundation Bible School will be a big blessing for you and your Church. 27:60) and in reference to Christ (1 Cor. It is assumed that Peter is the rock upon which the Church is built and that the church built upon Peter will never come to grief. In the eighteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, verses 15 to 18 he is speaking of any who offend and he says, “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. I have read much Roman Catholic theology, I have examined a great many volumes put out by Catholic publishers and after having compared them with the Word of God, my private judgment tells me that I dare not trust the salvation of my soul to the decision of popes or councils if they go contrary to the Book. One metaphor that has been disputed is Jesus Christ’s calling the apostle Peter “rock”: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. “The Rock! Luke 22:57-58, “But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”. The work there was commenced without any apostle. He had learned that a man may have eternal life in this world and know it, that he may have all his sins forgiven and be certain of it, that he need not go to any human intermediary but may go direct to the blessed Lord Himself to confess his sins and obtain forgiveness. A house, in this biblical parable, can refer to many things. In verses 9 to 11 we read, “For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. But observe, the Lord did not say to Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys of heaven.” Christ never gave the keys of heaven to Peter not to any one else. You will be forming your own private judgment about things and making all kinds of mistakes and going off into some heresy.”, But Patrick said, “Well sure, I have just been reading here, and it’s the blessed apostle Peter says it, ‘As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby’ (1 Peter 2:2), and sure, your Reverence, I have just been born again and I am a babe in Christ and it is the milk I’m thirsting after and I am reading the Word to get it.”, “That is very good, Patrick, but you need help and instruction, and the Almighty has appointed the clergy to be the milkmen; He has given them the knowledge of the truth and when you want instruction, you should come to the church and we will give it to you as you are able to bear it. 14:29-30, “And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 16:18). shaman. The only rock of truth is Jesus Christ; and that we, as his redeemed, need to keep our eyes on him. This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope. Safer to go to Peter than to Christ! For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Is there any question as to what that means? With respect to the foundation of the church, Scripture does speak of Jesus as the foundation: “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. All down through the ages saints of God have been following in the line of the apostles; and as a Christian minister I say to you, by divine authority, if you want remission of sins, come to Jesus, not to a priest; acknowledge your guilt to Jesus; tell Him you are the sinner for whom He died, and I dare declare to you on the authority of the Son of God, when you do that, you have remission of sins, for Jesus says, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted.” If you refuse to come, if you do not turn to Christ, your sins remain upon you for all eternity, for Jesus says, “Whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” If you are a weary, sin-sick soul, anxious to enter into peace with God, come to Christ and find salvation in Him. 2:8, speaking of Jesus says that he is “A stone of stumbling and a rock (petra) of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”. Christ, the “living Stone,” thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. And Paul goes on to say, “When I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? This passage of Scripture has been the source of a great deal of contention, of difference of opinion among theologians for many years. St. Augustine, of whom there is no greater doctor in all the Church, in his comment on the verse, says, “So then, Christ, not Peter, is the rock on which the Church is built.” Clearly, what our Lord is saying is, “This glorious revelation the Father has given to you, Simon Peter; this great truth that you have confessed—upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell—the gates of hades—shall not prevail against it.” You say, “But that is your private judgment.” Let me turn to an authentic letter written by the apostle Peter himself and learn from him what he understood the Lord to mean that day. It is not merely a natural thing. How can any one say that Christians are not capable of reading the Word of God and getting the mind of the Lord when the Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven for the express purpose of opening the truth to those who honestly seek that truth and are prepared to walk according to it? 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