"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters."
George Herbert
We've got a gazillion people trying to teach us new things, show us new skills, give us better advice... etc. but nothing compares to when God whispers His desires to our hearts. You know how you can have lots of people tell you the same thing but when a certain someone says something, it just clicks? Thats what the Word of God does. It pierces through bone and marrow.... it pierces through everything fleshly and everything that seperates us from God. It pierces through all of that to reach our hearts and change our lives. One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters... one rhema [revealed word] is better than a million logos.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Twitter
[thoughts on religion, God, life, and the world around us.]
profound words.
"God is not proud...He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him."
- C.S. Lewis
"We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home."
- Jamie Tworkowski
- C.S. Lewis
"We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home."
- Jamie Tworkowski
Posts
2 comments:
thats so true
Jesus Christ is Lord…don’t you agree? If you do, please read this letter from the Holy Spirit. Let’s begin by reading Matthew 16:13-20…
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
Some churches interpret this passage as implying that our Lord Jesus Christ meant that Peter was the “rock” and that he was the first Pope, the foundation of the church. Well, although Peter may be claimed to be the foundation of the Roman Church, let’s see if he was the foundation Christ was speaking about in these Scriptures.
The Bible cannot contradict itself for it is the irrefutable Word of God. 1Corinthians 3:11 reads; “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
While ‘Peter’ and ‘Rock’ are one word in the dialect familiarly spoken by Christ there appears to be a play on words in the Matthew 16:18 account.
In the Greek the word Peter is “petros” which is translated as a piece of a rock. The Greek word Rock is “petra” and it means a mass of rock. Therefore Matthew 16: 18 would read as follows;
“…you are petros, and upon this petra I will build my church.” Or to better understand the translation; “…you are the little piece of rock, and upon this mass of rock I will build my church.” Peter is described as another believer, not unlike yourself, that makes up the great big mass of Rock called Christ!
In the figurative use of the word “Rock” in the Old Testament, it is always used symbolically of God. (See Deuteronomy 32, 1Samuel 2:2, 2Samuel 22:47, Psalms 18:31; 28:1; 62:2; 94:22)
Paul, inspired by the Holy Ghost, has no hesitation in identifying Christ as the “Rock” in 1 Corinthians 10:4; “…for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”
Now we see what Jesus actually meant in Matthew 16:8 was that He would build His church, not upon Peter, but upon Peter’s heaven-given revelation of Christ’s deity as the “Son of the living God.”
Jesus first asked in Matthew 16:13; “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. That was information. Those people had gathered information from others.
But Peter received revelation that Jesus was the Son of the living God. He opened his heart and heard our Father in heaven. And Christ said to him, as He says to us today, “Blessed art thou Simon Barjona [add you name here], because flesh and blood did not reveal this unto you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
Notice another interesting detail in reading this verse. Although Peter had been renamed by Jesus in the Gospel of John 1:42; “Thou art Simon the son of Jona; thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone,” the Lord called him Simon Barjona in this Matthew passage. Why did Jesus revert back to his original name and not call him Peter? The answer again lies in the Hebrew meaning of the name ‘Simon Barjona.’ Simon in Hebrew means ‘attentive, hearer’ and Barjona means ‘son of authority.’ Yes, Peter had been attentive and opening his spiritual ears heard the voice of Father God reveal to him that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. In the same way we have opened our ears and heard the voice of God revealing to us that Jesus Christ is Lord! (Didn’t we begin this letter by agreeing that Jesus is Lord?)
“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” repeats Christ over and over in the book of Revelation.
Study to show thyself approved says 2 Timothy 2:15 and do not believe information from others, but instead revelation from above!
If we continue reading in Matthew chapter 16 verse 23, a mere five verses later, Jesus Christ speaks these words; “But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." Now that’s rather odd that Jesus would build His church upon Peter and five verses later refer to him as Satan, don’t you agree? Yes my beloved, behind Peter, or petros, the piece of rock, was hiding a snake. Revelation 12:9 refers to the deceiver as that old serpent the devil himself. And isn’t that where snakes hide, behind rocks? Could there be a snake hiding behind the teaching that the Church of Christ was built upon Peter? Could putting Peter as “the rock” be the stumbling block that Jesus refers to?
As you read the Bible which is a letter from the Holy Spirit then He can lead you and guide you into all truth. You have read the truth, and this knowledge of the truth shall set you free, because Jesus said so in John 8:32. And He cannot lie, because it’s impossible for God to lie! Remember, the Bible is the living Word of God spoken to us yesterday, today and forever.
Isaiah 5:13 reads; “Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.” Maybe you were once captive to believing the wrong information provided by those that did not know the truth. You have read this letter and you have learned the truth. You have received revelation that the Church of Christ is built upon Jesus Himself.
Hosea 4:11 reads; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” This is a powerful warning to God’s people NOT to reject knowledge!
Finally, If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions please do not reject this revelation. Receive this Word from God and set yourself free and more so, set others free from the wrong information that the snake behind the rock has been spreading for centuries.
Blessed art thou my beloved, for your Father in heaven loves you so much that He has spoken to you through the Holy Spirit.
Post a Comment