WORD24/7 Inspiration: Building The Church (1)

He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God”Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. Matthew 16:15-18 MSG

Frequently I hear prayer leaders quote this scripture with no explanation to benefit the church. It’s imperative to know what happened before Jesus made that comment which has now become a cliche for believers with no understanding and the devil will always play on the church’s ignorance to prevail us.
To understand this statement the context must be known.
Remember the church in the above can either be a believer, (1corinthians 6:19) or the universal Church of the living God with various denominations.

The Pharisees and Sadducees questioned and tempted Jesus for a sign which most believers still do today. He called them hypocrites because they lacked discernment.
He warned His disciples when they forgot to take bread with them and told them to be aware of the false teachings(leaven) of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples themselves lacked discernment and understanding about what Jesus had told them,He perceived it and asked them. “Do you not understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand?”

They caught a revelation about the whole discourse in verse 11.
In verse 13, He popped up a very profound question after this discourse.
He asked,”Whom do men say that I am”?
This question led to the statement Jesus made which has now become a cliche with poor understanding in the church of the living God.

NEXT: BUILDING THE CHURCH 2

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