Sunday Reading: Matthew 16:13-20
Key Verse: Matthew 16:18
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Devotion:
This is one of those statements in our bibles that churches will take to mean that this is where their own particular church started and was built upon Peter rather than Christ. How wrong we can be by supposing that anything could ever be built upon a human other than Christ Himself. Each of the disciples showed themselves to be men of faith who upheld Christ’s teachings but each of them also had their own issues and problems. Just as they did, we have our own problems that we have to fight against, things that will tempt us away from Christ back into the world.
It is Christ Himself who reminds the disciples that it is not anyone’s words here on earth that tell us that Jesus is God but it is the very words from God Himself that reveal such truths. It is the Holy Spirit that reminds us of the truth and guides us through our lives. So long as we are willing to listen to that truth and not to be misguided by man own teachings we will be able to remain in the absolute truth. But, as is the case most of the time, we are led astray by things that sound good and that make us feel good at the time. We need to be careful to make sure that we do follow God’s Word and keep His Word close to our hearts.
That is why God gave us the bible, so we could know the truth and discern that truth as well. It is no good reading all the books of man and drawing conclusions from them if we are not going to compare them with the truth that God gave us. If the teachings of man will uphold God’s Word, then we can trust them. If they cannot be confirmed with God’s Word then we should not be entertaining them. Christ made sure that the disciples would understand that evil would not prevail against His Truth, that His truth would stand forever and was established through Him, God. Peter was just one of the disciples that would carry that word forward and make sure others knew the truth! But that was not the end of it because Christ knew what still lay ahead for Him to do in order that all believers could receive eternal life...
Points to Ponder:
When was your church building established?
God is The Alpha and The Omega!
