"THE FURTHER REVELATION: ONE WITH THE SON"

MF Blume
February 26, 2000 am

Matthew 16:13-25  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? And they said, Some [say that thou art] John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 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. 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. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Let's continue feasting on the bread and wine this morning!



The revelation of Jesus being the Son of the Living God is a very important revelation. Before we proceed, let us make sure we understand the revelation Peter received. We preached a bit about this before and called the sermon "The Confession of the Rock." Being the Christ, the Son of the Living God, means that Jesus is the Long-awaited Messiah. Peter received revelation about the identity of Jesus, but did not get that next part.

Notice that Jesus said, "And I say also unto thee, Peter."

I believe that many people here today have received the revelation of Jesus' identity. Notice that Peter was told Jesus would build His church upon this Rock of confessing that Jesus was the Son of the Living God, and then Jesus said something important that leads to this further revelation. Since Jesus is the Son of the Living God, and Peter had faith in that, then Peter would be part of the church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against Peter. Recall what Jesus called Peter:
Matthew 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona:
Peter was called SIMON BARJONA. Why "son of Jonah"?
Jona 2:6  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars [was] about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
Jonah was caught behind the BARS OF DEATH. THE GATES OF HELL would no more keep Peter in the grave than the bars of death held Jonah down. So Peter was like a SON OF JONAH, so to speak. King Hezekiah spoke about these gates, also .
Isaiah 38:10-11  I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the LORD, [even] the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Hezekiah said that once behind the gates of the grave (Hades=Hell), that he would be cut off from the inhabitants of the world.

But Jesus said the gates of the grave would not hold out against the Church.

BUT PETER MISSED THAT FURTHER THOUGHT. We know that Peter missed that because we read of Jesus speaking about His death.
Matthew 16:21-22  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Peter told Jesus to never think of doing such a thing. Now, if Peter did not understand that, and we know he did not understand it, then he certainly had no faith nor understanding in the fact that the Church is united to Jesus, either. Notice that Jesus rebuked Peter and then encouraged him at the same time. Did you know that lack of understanding could cause you to hinder God's will in your own life and even the life of others? God wanted Israel to enter Canaan, and the people doubted God. God wants to move so much, AND WE CAN HINDER HIM. God wants us to build our new church building. So God rebukes such thinking.

But Jesus also ENCOURAGED PETER.

He said...

Matthew 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
He said that if Peter could only see that faith in Christ's death would cause Peter to be considered DEAD, also, to his old life, then Peter would FIND HIS LIFE AGAIN. I already lost my life and found it again! I found my life again when I resurrected with Jesus, after dying with Him. But, like Peter, many of us do not have that revelation. Let me talk about some examples that will help us understand if we truly have this further revelation or not.

Trouble is coming.

The margin reference to that statement tells us that the greek also implies, "Pity thyself, Lord." Jim and I were talking, and God helped me to say that VICTORY is not something a Christian can GET, and then LOSE. We need to see our union to Him. The reason we can loose things in earth and have them loosed in heaven, is due to the fact that we are in UNION WITH JESUS CHRIST. Some think only Peter had the keys, and they make all kinds of jokes of going to Heaven and seeing Peter at the gate.
Matthew 18:18-20  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
The above verses applied to ALL of the disciples. The reason Eliakim would close a door that no man could open, was because he had the key of David. Some might ask if I think I am God, being able to close a door that no man can open. Isaiah 22:22 says Eliakim would close and no man open. Didn't God raise Christ from the dead? Eliakim was the son of Hilkiah. That is certainly being raised by God and set up, as Eliakim's name means!!!

We need a revelation beyond His identity.

Did you know that lack of revelation of union to Him leaves you unsaved. And those of us who are saved are saved because of that faith and that alone. But some of us need this further revelation. We need the faith in the BLOOD so we can be saved. BUT WE NEED THE FAITH IN THE BODY FOR OUR POWER AFTER WE ARE SAVED. If you react to problems the same old way, that means that you did not receive this further revelation yet. How God must grieve over His people suffering when there is no need of suffering. Don't walk away and say that you do not care to put forth the effort to understand what God is trying to say about this. If we plant our roots only so far along in this Bible, and not even try to understand the rest of the it, then we might as well cut out the few verses we understand and throw the rest away. Peter never saw beyond the identity of Jesus. We might not understand that we are ONE WITH THE SON. Notice the above verse said, "Their righteousness is of GOD."
1Corinthians 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

DO WE BELIEVE THIS OR NOT?

Lets get stirred and come to the altar this morning and CLAIM WHAT HAS BEEN PAID FOR US ON THE CROSS.