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.
19 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.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 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.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 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.
The Most Important thing you can know in life is WHO JESUS IS....
Not who someone says He is......
....or what others say about Him....
...but TO KNOW Him Personally.....to know Him for YOURSELF....
....because.....Jesus alone is the WAY to the Father...and there is NO OTHER
I know there are some who believe that ALL ROADS Lead to God....
...but God says THAT’S NOT TRUE....
and if He’s the one you’re trying to get to,.....it would be wise to HEAR What He says about the matter.
1 Jn 5:12 says "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1 John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
That’s why I said, There is Nothing More Valuable in our Lives than a Knowledge of Jesus
...And we need to understand that: this is not something that we can come to ON OUR OWN....
.......but It Requires a Revelation from God Himself
1 Cor 12:3 says "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
In our Text in Matt 16 verse 17 ....., Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Too many folks don’t really understand what a WONDERFUL Thing God is doing FOR US when He Reveals Jesus TO US.
If the people who Reject God ONLY KNEW ......
......what an Opportunity for the GREATEST LIFECHANGE IMAGINABLE was being offered them......
.....I have no doubt they would RUN the Altars EVEN Before the Call was given.....
Because Knowing Jesus is KNOWING REAL LIFE....
....Knowing Jesus is to be Reconciled to God....
..... and to have your sins forgiven and washed away, never to be remembered against you again.........
....to be adopted into His Family........to be His very own Child.....
.....and Have Access into His Kingdom...and His Life....and His Future.....
and to Have Everything You are Lacking ADDED to your life as Your Grow in the Knowledge of Christ Jesus.....
Now, Let’s look at what Begins to happen when you Come to Know who Jesus is For Yourself.
Verse 18 says ....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.
Now Peter is referred to in verse 16 as "Simon Peter"....
...but that’s just so we can be Clear on who Matthew is talking about.....
When this was written, most everyone knew him only as PETER.....
but when this Event took place, he was known as SIMON
This is WHERE his CHANGE Began to take place
This is When Simon got a NEW IDENTITY
Knowing, for ourselves, Who Jesus Really is, Gives us too a NEW IDENTITY
From this Point On.......Simon began to Disappear and Peter took his place......
When we REALLY KNOW who Jesus is for ourself........A CHANGE Will take Place IN US
We begin to live a NEW LIFE based on WHO HE IS TO US....
and that life is Different, and Better than the Old One.....
but to Live it to the full....we have to Let the OLD IDENTITY GO......
...and Live in the Identity we gain in Christ.
Now, there is a Message for us in the Change that Took Place in Simon Peter.....
The Name Peter means "A rock"
...and as you read about Simon Peter in the Gospels.....he looks like anything but that.....
...but Remember that, in the Gospels he was ON HIS WAY to Becoming the PETER of the Book of Acts....
And we need to know that We too are ON OUR WAY to Becoming All that we can be in Christ.
God’s not mad at us for Where we are along the way.....
He’s Patient and Full of Lovingkindness and Tender Mercies.....
So learn to be Patient with yourself when you Goof Up....
.....and Don’t throw in the towel because you’ve blown it a few dozen times or so....
.....determine to KEEP GOING.....KEEP GROWING......
and.....Keep learning about Jesus ....and Drawing Close to Him.......
YOU WILL GET THERE......
......Just Don’t Quit STRIVING and REACHING and PRESSING in to know Him more.
From that Revelation of Who Jesus Is on, Peter became MORE and More Reliable, Dependable and STABLE......
And just like Peter.....our lives gain a new Stability......
In Christ, we don’t have to be tossed about by lifes storms......
...but we can ALWAYS have PEACE and STABILITY in Jesus....
And even though that doesn’t mean that we will never have trouble.....
...it does mean that we can Remain Calm and at peace....
....we can stay full of Joy and Expectation that WE WILL OVERCOME....
Ps 34:19 says "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD deliverth him out of them all."
Our job is to just Hold Fast to the Word of Life UNTIL our Deliverance shows up in this Natural Realm
...Keep Doing what we know we should be doing
because we know that ".....In due season, we shall reap, if we faint not." (Gal 6:9)
Another Blessing of Knowing Who Jesus is for ourselves is that We Gain Authority and ACCESS to God’s Kingdom....
In verse 19 Jesus said "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 "
Keys represent Authority and Access
If you have the Keys to this building....you can come and go as you please...
You become Privileged to Partake of whatever you have a Key For.
Now, notice, Jesus didn’t say KEY, as in one......
...but He said "KEYS"....Implying ALL of the KEYS of the Kingdom of Heaven.....
If you only have a key to the front door here....
....then you can come in, but you only will have access to CERTAIN THINGS.....
There are Areas, once you get inside, that are still LOCKED....
And if you have SOME KEYS.....then that would get you into MORE of the things that are locked....
But still NOT ALL.....
However, If you have THE KEYS......then the implication is that YOU HAVE THEM ALL
and you can ACCESS Everything in the place....
With Revelation and Stability COMES ACCESS.....
....and There’s not ONE GOOD THING God’s got that He didn’t make available to us in Christ Jesus.....
Romans 8:31-32 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (CJB says "everything else too.")
In 1 Cor 3:21 Paul said "Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;"
What Things? ....ALL things!!!
....and you Access them through Getting to Know Jesus MORE for YOURSELF
And here is something else Important about Having the KEYS......
Not only can you Come Inside....but you You can Come in and LOCK the Door Behind you......
...so no one else without a key can come in and harass or harm you.
That’s the power of Binding and Loosing....
We don’t have time to go there this morning.......but I would encourage you to Find Out About it for yourself....
...there is Great Benefit to the Believer in there.....
(CLOSE)
In 2 Chronicles 15:2.....the Prophet Azariah told King Asa "The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if you seek Him, HE WILL BE FOUND OF YOU; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you."
"IF you will seek Him, He will be found of you......."
Peter Received the Revelation of who Jesus was BECAUSE, he FOLLOWED JESUS.....
.....Not just ONE DAY or Even a FEW.....
...but Peter Gave his life to FOLLOWING JESUS.....
.....And it wasn’t for NOTHING.....
Jesus said that Peter was BLESSED because of the Revelation he received of Who Jesus is.....
Blessed can be defined as Happy, fortunate, to be Envied, and EMPOWERED to Prosper.....
It is indicative of an Empowering Change for the Better.....
Simon, by Receiving the Revelation of who Jesus is was changed into Peter.....
And we also, are changed for the Better when we Know Jesus for ourselves as He is Revealed by God.
And that Change is NEVER supposed to Find an END in this life....
...but it is designed to keep Going....and INCREASING in our lives........
....taking us from Faith to Faith.....Strength to Strength....and From GLORY to GLORY
....as we come to know Him More and More.
There is NO END to the Blessing that is Ours in KNOWING Who Jesus "Really Is" For OURSELF.....
Let me encourage you.......If you don’t know Jesus today.....He will be found of you if you will SEEK to know Him......
Just come after Him by Asking Him to come into your Heart and Life.....
Declare Him to be Your Own Saviour and Lord.....
...and He will Save you and Begin Your Life’s Change for the BETTER.....
