Fall
1994
The Foundation Upon
Which The Church Is Built
Wade E Taylor
“He says to them, But whom say you that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said to him, Blessed are you,
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not
revealed it to you, but my Father which is
in heaven.
“And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and
upon this rock I will build My Church; and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Matthew 16:15-18.
The foundation is established and the Church is built upon,
our “ability to hear” the voice of our Heavenly
Father.
Jesus, after a night of prayer, choose twelve disciples who
lived and moved with Him in all He did and said. Then, after
two and one half years of ministry with them, He asked a vital
question, "Who am I?"
If our Sunday school pictures were accurate, Peter would
have said, "Lord, it is very obvious." But this
is not the way He looked. Jesus had emptied Himself of Deity
and became a servant. Isaiah tells us that He was "as
a root out of a dry ground: He hath neither form nor comeliness;
and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should
desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2b).
Never once in His ministry did He remind others that He had
been born in Bethlehem. He became "Jesus of Nazareth"
so those who followed Him could only come to truly know Him
through the revelation of His Father.
Because the life and ministry of Jesus was completely submitted
to His Father and He only moved and ministered under the guidance
and anointing of the Holy Spirit, it was impossible to know
who He was through observation.
He did this to confuse the natural mind, so His identity
could be known only by revelation. This was a divine arrangement.
Thus, there was an intense anticipation within Him as to what
His disciples would say when asked this question about His
identity.
Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God." And Jesus answered and said,
"Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
(observation) hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
(revelation) which is in heaven."
In other words, Jesus said to Peter, "You have not identified
me through your natural man by hearing what I say or do, but
you have identified me through your spiritual man, having
heard from My Father.”
“Simon Barjona, I say to you that you are
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
Church." Matthew 16:18a.
Jesus is the "Rock" upon which the Church is to
be built. The word Peter means "a small stone."
Peter, then is a small "stone" of the same substance
as Jesus, the Rock.
Jesus is saying, "I am the Rock, I hear from My Father
and I always do what my Father tells me. Now, Simon Barjona,
you are "Peter," a small stone. You also are hearing
from the Father, just as I hear. You are now of the same substance
I am of. On this, the ability to hear the voice of My Father,
I will build my Church."
From the twelve who had been prayerfully picked, two and
one half years of ministry was required to bring one of them
to the place where he could hear directly from the Father.
"I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys
of the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 16:18b-19a). What
are these keys?
When we receive a "Word" from the Lord, we also
receive the enabling grace for its performance. When Peter
asked Jesus if he could come to Him walking on the water,
Jesus answered, "Come." Peter did not walk on water;
rather he walked on a specific "word."
"From that time forth began Jesus to show
to His disciples, how that He must go
to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of
the elders and chief priests and scribes, and
be killed, and be raised again the third day."
Matthew 16:21.
Now the ministry of Jesus is finished. He has a convert who
can hear from His Father. All He need do now is to go to the
cross to pay the full penalty for sin.
When we hear from the Father, the Gospel is released to go
forth into the entire world. This happened through Peter's
sermon on the day of Pentecost. Three thousand were added
to the Church, and it is yet happening though those who are
taking time to hear from Him.