Upon This Rock

Colin Melbourne

© 05-08 Born-Again-Christian.Info

Who is the Rock - Peter and the Popes: Or The LORD Jesus Christ?

If you are confused about the vital passage, Matthew 16:13-20, ask the Lord to open your eyes by His Spirit right now, so that you may escape the snares of the evil one, and come into the Carpenter's Arms, safe and secure forever.

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 Bar-jona: 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. Holy Bible Mtt. 16:13-20 KJV

What Christian can read this precious word without their heart leaping with joy?

For it is the Word of God, within which is the revelation that saves, the keys to Heaven, and the authority to overcome the strongholds of Hell.

Its meaning is crystal clear to all not blinded by Satan, and only a perverse antiChrist would dare tamper with divine Scripture.

No wonder Satan has endeavoured to subvert, contradict, and destroy the untold blessing this Word contains. He's led billions into Hell with his lies about it.

The Truth Will Set You Free

Here is what it means:

After showing Himself to Israel, raising the dead, driving out demons, and healing all the sick that came to Him, the Carpenter from Nazareth took his disciples aside to ask who the people thought He was.

The world missed it by a mile of course, supposing He was Elijah or John the Baptist; then He put the disciples on the spot, asking them:

'Who do you say I am?'

Thomas fiddled with his sandal straps, Judas plucked some grass and let it drift on the wind, most looked at their feet, but something welled up in Simon's heart, and looking Jesus in the eye he stood up and declared.

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Well done Peter!

That thrilled Christ's Heart, and He confirmed it was true by saying,

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

This is the revelation that saves; that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, Almighty God in the Flesh, God's Eternal Son. And the only way to get it is by direct revelation from the Father in Heaven. Jesus taught that no one could come to Him unless His Father drew them.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Jn. 6:43 NIV

The Revelation that Saves

Christ then emphasized this Gospel fact by a delightful word-play using Simon Peter's name. Because He was speaking in Aramaic,^• a derivative of Syrian, its import was lost on the disciples, as it is in the English translation; it was fully revealed when the Holy Spirit translated it into Greek.

Jesus said, 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.

What did God mean in delivering this statement?

It is clear and simple:

Peter had just given the testimony that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus confirmed it was accurate, adding that this testimony can only come by direct revelation to a believer from God the Father in Heaven. Furthermore, this revelation is the foundation Rock upon which He will build the Church of God. Believing that Jesus is the Christ is the only foundation on which anyone can stand before God. He is the Rock of Ages; all else is but sand.

Have you got that revelation right now?

Lord; open their eyes to see your Glory in the LORD Jesus Christ!

Isn't that simple? Doesn't that sit sweetly in your spirit, and conform to every other Scripture?

Don't be robbed of the peace, joy, and salvation Christ died to offer you. Accept the Truth right now.

Peter - Piece of Rock: Christ - The BedRock

In the Greek, we see this meaning enunciated clearly through a clever word play.

The Greek used for Peter is Petros. A masculine noun, signifying a stone, a piece of rock, larger than a pebble. But the word the Holy Spirit used for rock is Petra. Which is a feminine noun implying bedrock, massive, and immovable. The Church is built upon the bedrock that Jesus is the Christ, not a piece of rock. That foundational inner knowledge is a God-given revelation.

You are Petros and on this Petra I will build my church.

You are Petros (a stone who'd had The Rock revealed to him), and on this Petra (the bedrock revelation that Jesus is the Christ) I will build my Church.

Isn't that beautiful?

Christ confirms that this is the whole point by ending the conversation with a warning not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

Why? Because it must come personally by direct revelation from Father in Heaven. Think back to the time He drew close to you, and as you heard the Gospel message, or read the Gospel Scriptures, God's Light shone in your heart. You knew, you simply knew, that Jesus was the Christ.

Inner revelation: then it was up to you to repent, believe, and accept Christ, or continue to reject Him.

The Serpent's Coiled Tongue

Yet what does Satan try to do with this beautiful passage?

He attempts to convince you that Christ was saying that Peter, not He, was the foundation of His Church; that Peter was the Rock upon which we stand steadfast and secure before God.

How ludicrous and blasphemous, how could anybody be duped by such blatant corruption of Christ's meaning. Putting a man in the place of God.

Nobody knew better than Peter that he was anything but the foundation of Christ's church. In the very next passage of Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ calls him Satan.

Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Mtt. 16:23

Peter - Infallible First Pope?

Roman Catholics swallowed Satan's lies and claim Peter as their first Pope, infallible in faith and morals. Shortly after Peter was called Satan by Jesus, he denied Christ, not once, but three times in a single day.

Years later, Peter was so led astray again by Satan that the Holy Spirit had to use Paul to rebuke him publicly for his error. (Ga. 2:11) Peter, like all of us, was fallible until the day he left his body.

Peter would be appalled to be called Pope, the Rock of the Church of Christ.

'No!' He would cry. 'The LORD Jesus Christ is The Rock! He alone is the foundation, the cornerstone, and capstone of the Church. He is the only infallible person to have ever walked this earth: Almighty God in the Flesh. How dare you put me in place of Christ!'

The Rock: Almighty God in the Flesh

Christ illustrated His Messiahship in quoting the following prophecy:

The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. Mtt. 21:42a NIV

Peter himself endorsed this fact by quoting it before the Sanhedrin, saying:

He (Christ) is, 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Ac. 4:11

(Note Peter personalised it, 'you builders rejected'.)

Peter cites this passage again in 1 Pe. 2:4-8 confirming that Christ, not he, is the Rock upon which the church is built.

The Holy Spirit through Paul reminds us that the Jews in the wilderness drank water from the rock. (See Ex. 17, Nu. 20) And that rock signified Christ.

...for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 1 Co. 10:4b

Jacob declared in blessing Joseph, that he would be fruitful and strong:

...because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel... because of the Almighty who helps you. Ge. 49:24-25

Moses proclaimed:

Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect. Dt. 32:4

David's constant theme song was:

O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Ps. 19:14

David proclaimed that there's only one Rock:

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation... My salvation and my honour depend on God, he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Ps. 62:1-2,7

Isaiah also sang:

Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. Is. 26:4

The Scriptures exhort us to trust in One Rock, Almighty God, who came in the Flesh: The LORD Jesus Christ. He is the Rock: All else is sand.

Ratzinger Says He is the Rock

Roman Catholic false teaching declares Peter to be the Rock, and that appointed popes, and their cardinals, succeed him in this role as the rock upon which we are to stand. The legitimacy of the papacy hinges entirely on this Scripture.

Cardinal Ratzinger claimed the title Pope Benedict XVI, and declared on April 20th 2005:

'By choosing me... the Lord has called me to be a rock on which everybody can stand with confidence.'

You can now see that this is utter blasphemy, a sinful man subverting the place of Christ.

And this demonic claim is based upon the Roman Catholic Catechism that unequivocally states:

The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the 'rock' of his Church. This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994, Para. 881

That's the lie they spin to the gullible. That Peter, not Christ, is the Rock, and that this office is passed onto the papacy; the cardinals and bishops, ruled by the Pope.

They got away with this scam for centuries by keeping the Word of God locked up in a language unintelligible to ordinary people. Only those with a vested interest in maintaining the deception were allowed access to the Scriptures. But since the valiant Reformers brought the Word out of Latin, there's no excuse for ignorance anymore. Catholic lies are exposed and the world knows the identity of The Harlot of Revelation 17. Shout it from the rooftops!

Choose Rock not Sand

Choose this day, the Rock upon which you take your stand:

The revelation from Father in Heaven that Jesus is the Christ, and in Him alone is your salvation. Or the demonic claims of the pope, and his cronies, that they are the Rock in which you can have full confidence.

Your eternal destiny depends upon your answer.

• The Aramaic words spoken by Christ in the relevant places are most likely to have been as follows: "You are KE'PHA' (a movable stone) and upon this SHU'A' (a massive rock) I will build my church."

If you know people still entangled in the RC Cult, please love them enough to warn them to repent, and come in to Christ today before it is too late. Here's some wonderful tools to help you to show them how they have been deceived.

Resources for Witnessing to Catholics
Tract image © 00-08 Chick Publns. Used by permission