Matthew 16:17-19 (NKJV) 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
We have been studying the two kinds of knowledge available to born again, supernatural people. The first is available to everyone, born again or not, and we will call it sense knowledge. There are two channels for this kind of knowledge. One is intuition. This is knowledge that is defined as the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. I believe this is centered in the emotional part of our souls. It is also a product of the patterns of our experience over time.
Information is the knowledge we gain through experience or education. It is information that comes to us through our 5 senses every day. Family, culture, economic and educational levels are only some of the things that determine what kind of knowledge comes to us through this channel.
There is another channel of knowledge available to those who are born again. We have access to both information and intuition, but our relationship to God in Christ Jesus opens up something else. In Matthew 16, Peter has an experience that shows how this kind of knowledge works. Jesus says that “his Father in heaven” revealed to Peter that he was the “Christ the son of the Living God.” Although Peter had a great deal of sense knowledge that could lead him to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah, I do not believe he would have understood that Jesus was the son of God. God revealed that to him independent of his senses.
What was the effect of this knowledge on Peter’s life? Jesus tells Peter that he has changed and that he has received something through this process. First Peter has changed personally. In verse 17, Jesus calls him “Simon bar Jonah.” The name Simon in Hebrew means reed, or one easily affected by which way the wind blows. This implies one who is unstable or indecisive. In verse 18 he says to him “you are Peter.” Peter means a piece of rock. The implication is that the unstable Simon has now become more solid. There is a piece of something in his life about which he will never waver again.
There are doctrines that say Peter is the rock upon which the church of Jesus Christ is built. That is not the case. Jesus calls Simon a piece of rock, in Greek Petros. The rock upon which Jesus says he will build his church is Petra. Although this is the feminine version of Petros, it has a different meaning. Where Petros means a piece of rock, Petra means a mass of rock. We might say that Simon has received a piece of what Jesus is going to build his church upon. That said, we can see that where Simon was once unstable, Peter is now strong and solid.
What is the rock upon which Jesus intended to build his church? Once again this is the Greek word Petra not Petros, the name he gave Peter. It is not Peter he intends to build upon. It is the mass of rock from which Peter received a piece. No one can come to Jesus except they be called by the Father (John 6:44.) How is one drawn by the Father? That person is drawn in the same way Peter understood that Jesus was the Christ the son of the living God. He or she must have it revealed to them. Revealed knowledge is the Rock upon which Jesus builds his church
Does this stability extend to Peter’s whole life? Did the knowledge revealed to him mean that he would never have areas of instability? Not at all. In just a few verses later we see that Peter reverted back to Simon. He could not accept that Jesus must go to Jerusalem, suffer and die. Simon was not a “rock” about everything. He was a rock in the area that God had revealed to him. Although he had his weaknesses, especially surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus, I do not believe he ever doubted what God revealed to him. It had been revealed. He had not come to this conclusion via his own reasoning. God showed it to him, and he could not doubt what he had been shown. .
The very same thing happens to the believer when he or she has something revealed to them by God. In that area we become unshakable. That does not mean there are never challenges to what we have learned in this way, but if we take a moment to focus inwardly, the power of revelation will firm up our doubts and faith will rise to the surface. This may be knowledge about the Word of God. It may be knowledge about who God is or who we are in Christ. It may be direction in life or ministry. Once God has revealed it to us, whatever area it is in, that revealed knowledge will always be there to strengthen us in time of challenge.
Just as with Peter, this does not mean we have the same assurance in all areas. For most of us there are areas of life in which we have yet to receive revealed knowledge. That does not mean we automatically fail in those areas. It does mean that we are more vulnerable than where we have received revelation. What we should seek to do is open our hearts to as much of what God can reveal to us as possible. Not everyone is the same. Some will be more likely to receive revelation in one area and some in others. That is why it is important to function as part of the Body of Christ. Where I am weak, you may be strong and vice versa.
The second effect of Revealed knowledge in Peter’s life is that Jesus says he is giving him the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. We looked at this briefly in an earlier post, but I want to take a little more time with it today. Jesus did not give these keys to Peter only. They came because of what God revealed to him. Revealed knowledge is available to any believer. With the revelation comes keys to unlock the power of the Kingdom of Heaven in that area.
Keys mean access and activation. I do not believe Jesus gave Peter ownership of the Kingdom. That remains in God’s hands. If we give the keys of our car to someone else, we are saying, “You have the right to drive my car. These keys enable you to access its power.” That is what Jesus says to us concerning revealed knowledge. When we see something God has revealed, we have the right and ability to access that truth. The Keys also enable us to activate what God has shown you. In any area in which we are in possession of these keys, we have what we need to be successful. That said, the main thing he says these keys enable us to do is to prevail over the gates of Hades or hell. What is locked behind those gates? I believe it is the hearts and minds of people who do not Know Jesus as savior. Although the Father in his love for us wants us to be blessed, I believe the priority of our lives should be rescuing the people behind those gates.
To do this, he uses language that is very apropos for keys. What ever we bind, lock, on earth will be bound, locked, in Heaven. What ever we loose, unlock, on earth shall be loosed, unlocked, in heaven. I do not have the space or inclination to go into exactly how binding and loosing works. Suffice it to say that what is required for this to function in our lives and ministries is revealed knowledge. In whatever area God has revealed something to us, we have the keys and, in that area, the Gates of hell cannot prevail against us.
The next thing we must ask ourselves is, “How does this reveal knowledge come to us. What can we do to be in a position to receive it? That is what I want to look at next.
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