Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19961103.htm

MATTHEW: JESUS AS ISRAEL'S MESSIAH AND HIS MESSIANIC KINGDOM
Part X. Christ's Messianic Kingdom Postponed
L. Christ's Edification Of The Disciples In View Of His Rejection As The King
1. Revelation Of The Gracious Person And Church Program Of The Messiah
(Matthew 16:13-23)
  1. Introduction
    1. The Church of Rome holds that the "rock" on which Jesus built His Church in Matthew 16:18 was Peter so that as the first pope, Peter's infallible authority passes through all later popes, Cardinal Gibbons, Faith Of Our Fathers, p. 95 as quoted in Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, p. 105.
    2. If that is so, that Church is in trouble: (a) Pope John Paul II recently stated, "evolution is 'more than just a theory'", Laurie Goodstein, The Washington Post, October 25, 1996, Page AO1 on the Internet. (b) Now, if evolution is more than just a theory, then Genesis 1 and 2 are errant in teaching creation without evolution, thus making the Bible untrustworthy! (c) If the Bible is untrustworthy, Matthew 16:18 in the Bible is also questionable, making Pope John Paul's elevation of evolution weaken his own papal authority!
    3. However, Matthew 16:13-27 defines the roles of Peter and Jesus to clear up misconceptions on the matter:
  2. Revelation Of The Gracious Person And Church Program Of The Messiah, Matthew 16:13-19.
    1. When Jesus elicited from Peter his confession of faith that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, He did not glorify Peter, but revealed Peter's innate weakness while elevating Himself as follows:
      1. In asking the disciples about His identity as other men viewed it, Jesus asked a very leading question, stating His identity as Messiah in the form of the words, "Son of Man," Mtt. 16:13.
      2. When the errant ideas on Jesus' identity offered by others had been reported and Jesus asked who the disciples thought He was, Peter followed Jesus' hint, saying that Jesus was Messiah and God, 16:14-16.
      3. Once Peter made this confession, Jesus contrasted Peter's innate human roots with the significant truth he had confessed that had arisen by grace through the Father's revelation, Mtt. 16:17.
    2. Now, after the beatitude offered by Jesus in Matthew 16:18, Peter's words and thoughts were demonstrated to be innately errant and not infallible at all, Mtt. 16:21-23 with Gal. 2:11-14:
      1. After the confession of Peter, when Jesus predicted His death and resurrection and Peter responded by rebuking Him for making it, Jesus announced that Satan through Peter was presenting wrong ideas, 21ff
      2. Later, when Peter was an Apostle, Paul had to rebuke Peter for living in doctrinal error, Gal. 2:11-14.
    3. Thus, we must approach the beatitude of Matthew 16:18-19 to understand it in full view of the obvious innate fallibility of the man Peter, both at the time and even later as an Apostle. We do so as follows:
      1. The "rock" upon which Jesus would build His Church comes from the Greek word, petra meaning large rock or stone cliff in contrast to "Peter", meaning petros, a loose stone, Walvoord, Matthew, p. 123.
      2. Throughout Hebrew Scriptures, "rock" is always the symbol of Deity, G. C. Morgan, Matthew, p. 211.
      3. In the context, God, not Peter authors Peter's confession of faith; similarly, Christ, not Peter provides the authority keys for Peter's later ministry of opening and shutting the Kingdom's doors, Mtt. 16:16,19.
      4. Peter helps to explain Jesus' teaching in Mtt. 16:18 in his letter in 1 Peter 2:4-9: (a) Jesus is the chief stone (1 Pet. 2:4,6-9) and (b) the believers, like Peter, are living stones, smaller replicas of Christ by divine grace who are being constructed together into a temple of God to the glory of God, 1 Peter 2:5.
      5. Thus, the "rock" in v. 18 is Christ, not Peter, and Peter by God's grace is used in building the Church!
    4. Thus, Jesus Christ is Messiah and God Incarnate, and He would graciously build His Church by using weak Peter who had been given the correct insight, and all to the glory of Almighty God's GRACE!
Lesson: The popes of Rome, including Simon Peter EVEN as an APOSTLE, are innately fallible apart from God. Thus, God's use of Peter was done by grace in spite of Peter's innate weaknesses.

Application: We must reject Pope John Paul's claim that Darwinian evolution is "more than just a theory," as that theory conflicts with God's Word in Genesis 1-2 which is more than just a myth! We do so in keeping with the main thrust of Jesus' te aching in Matthew 16:13-23 that weak, fallible Peter and thereby all who derive authority from him must be erroneous when countering God's Biblical truth so that God may be glorified alone by grace in how He chose to use the fallible Peter!