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Upon this Rock

Matthew 16

¹³ When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

¹⁴ And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

¹⁵ He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

¹⁶ And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

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.

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.

"Whom do men say that I am?"

As we read verse 16, we see that Peter answered Jesus correctly when he accurately described who He is -- He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then stated, "...upon this rock I will build my church..." (verse 18). What did Jesus mean by that?

The Founder and the Foundation

Upon close examination of this passage, we saw that God the Father had revealed to Peter exactly Who Jesus was.

The "foundation" or rock that Jesus Christ would establish His church upon was that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, both the Founder and the Foundation.

Why is this important?

Because when this truth is absent in any church, it is not built on the foundation of Christ's church.

Jesus is the Founder - not man, nor priest, pope, or pastor. God's Word is the Foundation - not man's doctrine, traditions, rituals, or catechisms.

"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." -Matthew 16:18

When Jesus declares that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church, here He reveals to us that there will be enemies who will fight against it by opposing the truth that He is the Son of the living God, and therefore, attempt to distort, corrupt, and oppose the truth of the gospel. Remember, man's traditions will not gain you access to heaven. Following Christ will. And Christ has promised to preserve His church and make it secure upon the foundation which it was built upon.

Like Peter, let us proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and in the same way that Jesus built His church upon this rock, may we seek to build our lives upon this same solid foundation.

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