Jesus was known by personal revelation

JESUS WAS KNOWN BY PERSONAL REVELATION
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 16:13-17 13
When Jesus came to the region of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people
say the Son of Man is?" 14
They replied, "Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one
of the prophets." 15
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who
do you say I am?" 16
Simon Peter answered, "You are the
Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17
Jesus replied,
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not
revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in
heaven.
Matthew 16:17 17
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood,
but by my Father in heaven.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Visions Of The Mystery Of Christ
Matthew 16:16
R. Tuck It was the end and aim of our Lord's life to revealthe mystery of
himself to his disciples. But what is so strange and yet so significant is, that he
made scarcelyany direct declarations on the subject. He evidently wantedit to
be the impression left by his presence, his words, and his works. Lateron in
his life we find more of what may, in a goodsense, be calledself-assertion. But
in his earlierministry he virtually answeredall inquiries as he answeredthe

two disciples sent from John Baptist: "Go and show againthe things ye do see
and hear." Let him make what he can of them, and of me by the help of them.
The impressions of himself had been borne in daily, for long months, upon
those disciples, and so they had gainedvisions of his mystery. What is that
mystery?
I. IT IS HIS DIVINITY. Becausethe word "divinity" has been applied to
createdbeings, many persons prefer to speak ofthe Deity of Christ. The
opened vision of the disciples found God in a man; they discernedthe "Divine-
human being, man with Godfor the soulof his humanity." It is hardly in
place to inquire what notions of incarnations of deity prevailed among pagan
nations, because suchnotions could not have reachedor influenced these
simple disciples. It is to the point to inquire how the Old Testamentrecords
and associationswouldhelp them. There were "theophanies" of various
forms, which must have been helpful and suggestive. St. Johnthe apostle, in
his Gospel, finely represents the process which had gone on in his own mind,
by the help of which he had graspedthe mystery of Christ's Deity. It was the
humanity that did it. John gives a series ofnarratives, and one after another
they make on the reader a twofold impression.
1. He says - How manifestly Jesus was a realbrother-Man!
2. But then he says - How manifestly Jesus was more than man, a Divine Man!
No true notion of Christ's Divinity can ever be attained save in the disciples'
way, by actual, constant, living contactwith Christ's humanity. It is that
extraordinary humanity which convinces ofthe Divinity.
II. IT IS HIS SONSHIP. A previous homily has dealt with this point. The
impression on which we now dwell is that the Divinity of Christ is to be
conceivedas "equality with God," not subordination or creation. The contrast
to son is servant. A servantis told the will; a son shares the will. A servant is
at the footstool;the sonis on the throne. "I and my Father are one." - R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
Whom do men say that I, the Sonof man, am?
Matthew 16:13, 17
Confessionand cross-bearing
Monday Club Sermons.I. THE CONFESSION.

1. The substance of the confession.
2. The source of the confession(ver. 17).
3. The power of the confession(vers. 18, 19).
4. The limitations of the confession(ver. 20).
II. THE COVENANT OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
1. The dignity of cross-bearing (vers. 21, 23).
2. The necessityof crossbearing (vers. 24-26).
3. The rewards of cross-bearing (vers. 27, 28).
(Monday Club Sermons.)
The Son of man -- the Son of God
J. C. Jones.I. THE QUESTION OF JESUS CHRIST — "Whom do men," etc.
1. The first word we shall emphasize is the word "men." His mind soars above
all national distinctions.
2. The other word we shall emphasize is the word " Son of man." He is
humanity condensed.
3. We shall next emphasize the two words together — men and " Son of man."
The Saviour presents Himself on the level of our common humanity, and
appeals to our common sense, ourcommon nature, to say who He is.
II. THE ANSWER OF THE WORLD.
III. THE ANSWER OF THE CHURCH.
(J. C. Jones.)
Christ the universal man
Monday Club SermonsHe is not an excrescence ofour nature. No poet He, no
philosopher He, no man of science He. He was all these in one, He was man,
thorough man, growing out of the depths of our nature. The sea on the surface
is divided into waves — go down and you will sooncome to a regionwhere
there are no waves, where there is nothing but water. And humanity on the
surface is broken into nationalities and individualities. But go down a little
way, and you will sooncome to a region where differences give place to
resemblances:force your way down and you will soonarrive at the region of
human unities, where every man is like every other man. Now Jesus Christ
emerges from the profoundest depths of our nature, from the region of
unities. No Jew He — no Greek He — no Roman He — but Man. He touches
you and me not in our branches but in our roots. Show me an oak and show

me an ash tree: it is easyto tell the difference betweenthem in the branches,
but not so easyin the roots. Show me a rose and show me a tulip: any one can
tell the difference betweenthem in the leaf, but only a very few can tell the
difference betweenthem in their seeds. And Jesus Christis the "Rootof
Jesse,""the Seedof Abraham and of David;" and all nations and all men in
their roots and seeds are very much alike.
(Monday Club Sermons)
The true idea of Christ to be obtained from the New Testamentrather than
from creeds
Monday Club Sermons.Creedsembody the ripest and most advanced
thoughts of the ages they represent. It is not againstthe use of creeds that I
speak — we cannot very conveniently do without them — but againsttheir
abuse, againstsetting them up in every jot and tittle as infallible standards for
all subsequent ages. If you look at a picture of the sky in our picture galleries,
you will find that with rare exceptions it has been rendered too hard and too
material. The skyon canvas is a ceiling beyond which the eye cannot wander.
But if you go out of the gallery a very different sky will open itself before you
— a sky which seems to recede for ever before your vision. The sky of painters
is too often a thing to be lookedat; the sky of nature is not a thing to be looked
at, but a thing to be lookedthrough. In like manner, the truth concerning
Christ as rendered in creeds and systems is hard and dry — it is the sky of the
picture. The truth concerning Christ as presentedin the Gospels is deep,
living, infinite — it is the skyof nature. And I greatlyrejoice that men try to
understand the Christ of the Gospels and not the Christ of the creeds, the
Christ of the evangelists and not the Christ of the schools. "Thouart the
Christ, the Son of the living God."
Christ the centre of theologyAn American writer says:"We have in our
congregationa little deaf and dumb boy. On Sunday he loves to have his
mother find for him the words that we are all singing, though the music never
thrills his quiet ear, nor touches his heart. He looks atthe hymn, glides his
little finger over every word to the end; if he finds ' Jesus'there, he is satisfied
and absorbedto the close ofthe singing; but if the word ' Jesus'is not there,
he closes the book, and will have nothing more to do with it." So should we
test the religions of the day — if we find Jesus the central thought of any
system of theology, it is good, it will do for us; if not, turn awayand have
nothing to do with it.
Christ mentally conceived

Monday Club Sermons.He was conceivedoverthirty years ago in the nature
of man, but in the text for the first time is He conceivedin the mind of man;
and the conceptionin the mind was as necessaryto our salvation as the
conceptionin the nature.
Opinion sought by a question
Monday Club Sermons.BenjaminFranklin made an experiment, one of the
most daring ever made by mortal man. Seeing a cluster of thunder-clouds
hanging overhead, he let fly into their midst a paper kite, to which was
attacheda metallic chain. As the kite was flying among the clouds, anxiety
weighedheavily on his heart. At last he presumptuously applied his knuckles
to the chain and calledforth sparks of wild lightning; and had the streamof
electricitybeen a little stronger at the time, the philosopher would have met
with instantaneous death. He has left on record, that so surprising was the
discoveryto him, that in the ecstasyof the moment he expressedhis
willingness to die there and then. In like manner there were clouds of opinion
afloatin societyrespecting JesusChrist, indeed the thunder-clouds were
gathering fast. "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? .... Some say
that Thou art John the Baptist" — that is one cloud. "Others, Elias" — that is
another cloud. "Others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets" — that is a cluster
of clouds. Everything seemedmist and haze, vagueness and uncertainty. Jesus
Christ prayerfully and anxiously flies a question into the midst of these dark
clouds. What will the result be? His heart trembles, therefore He prays. See
the question fly — "But whom say ye that I am?" What answerwill be called
forth? " Simon Peteransweredand said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God."
The Christ of God
J. H. Evans, M. A.I. THE QUESTION — "Whom say ye that I am?" It is a
greatmercy that Jesus calls out the faith that is in His disciples. By what
various means of questioning does He speak? Sometimes by conscious
afflictions; by our very fails. This is the question of questions; not what we
think of Churches, disciples, but of Christ.
II. THE ANSWER — "Thou art the Christ," etc. There was little comparative
light in the apostles before the Day of Pentecost;the Holy Spirit must teachto
saving profit. But they were still His disciples, though their faith was small. It
is humbling that, having so much more light than they, we should have less

love. All the glory of Christ as the Mediator hangs upon the glory of His
Person. If a mere creature, His work is comparatively nothing.
III. THE VAST ENCOURAGEMENT— "Blessedart thou." The infinite
condescensionofJesus. He takes notice and encouragesthe weakestfaith.
1. How blessedthe condition of those who have been taught this lesson. "Flesh
and blood hath not revealedit." Nature, education, miracles, never taught it.
What a foundation for strong confidence. He, the Son of God.
2. How greatthe sin of the man who rejects this Son of the living God.
(J. H. Evans, M. A.)
Peter's faith
E. Stock.I. PETER'S FAITH.
II. THE SOURCE of Peter's faith.
III. WHAT PETER'S FAITHQUALIFIED HIM TO BE.
IV. THE SPECIAL REWARD of Peter's faith. Conclusion:How can we
become stones in Christ's Church? Notnaturally. Only by having Peter's
faith. In Jesus as "the Christ." In Jesus as "the Son of God." How may we get
this faith? God alone can give it — ask Him.
(E. Stock.)
Peter's compression
A. Thompson.How hearty and distinct is this utterance!This is the first "
ConfessionofFaith." This is the true Apostles'Creed. These are the prime
and essentialarticles ofcatholic verity, upon which rest all sound theologyand
all saving faith. In this short but illustrious statement, says a greattheologian,
you have the whole truth with respectto the Personand the work of Jesus
Christ.
1. It is plainly implied that Jesus Christ possesses human nature, a true body
and a reasonable soul. He put the question as the Son of man. He was a real
man.
2. The confessionofPeter assertsthe divinity as well as the humanity of our
Lord. He calls Him the " Son of the living God." This expressiondenotes
Divine nature. He is set forth as a Divine Personin the Old Testament. He
manifested Himself in this characterin the days of His flesh, etc. Had He been
less than Divine, He could not have been the Saviour.
3. The confessionofPeter assertsthe truth with regardto the office or work
as well as the Personof the Son of God. He declares that He is the Christ, that

is, the Messiah, etc. And for what end? It is to save sinners. This is the great
work given Him to do. He is the only, the all-sufficient, Saviour of sinners. To
Him alone belongs all the glory. Believestthou these things? Is this thy
heartfelt creedand confession?
(A. Thompson.)
Christ's appeal to our individual faith
Ellison Capers.This is a most pertinent question now. Reasons whywe should
ask it of ourselves.
I. We are in danger, as the disciples were, of being affectedby the crude
opinions of men about our Lord, and His religion, and His Church.
II. The question is vital, for it asserts the greattruth that only a deep, strong
faith will ever inspire confidence in others.
III. It shows us how dear to Christ is the personalfaith of the soul.
(Ellison Capers.)
Right apprehensions of the characterof Christ essentialto salvation
Dr. T. Raffles.I. THAT THERE ARE MANY OPINIONS ABOUT CHRIST.
1. As regards His Person.
2. As regards the nature of the work which He came to accomplish.
3. As regards His religion, His acquirements, and His claims.
II. IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT WE FORM CORRECT
AND DECIDED OPINIONSON THIS SUBJECT. Ouropportunities of doing
so are very great.
(Dr. T. Raffles.)
Whom do men say that I am?
H. W. Beecher.I. THAT WHEN CHRIST BECAME A MAN HE COULD
NOT SEEM DIVINE ACCORDING TO THE PRE-CONCEPTIONSOF
MEN, who lookedfor the exhibition of that which appeals to the sense, and
who did not look for inward harmony. Christ did bring with Him the Divine
nature, but not the attributes of Jehovahdisclosedin their amplitude. He
humbled Himself.
II. EVERY PERSON CAME TO CHRIST THROUGH SOME ELEMENTS
THAT WERE IN HIMSELF. Some came to Him through the door of
sympathy; some from lowermotives. What is Christ to you? Is He part of
your life?

(H. W. Beecher.)
The personalaffirmations of Christ
G. W. McCree.Whatdid Christ teachconcerning Himself?
1. He affirmed the divinity of His redemptive mission.
2. His independence of, and separationfrom, the world.
3. His pre-existence.
4. Some of the affirmations of Christ containmost impressive representations
of His characterand work — "I am the Breadof Life," "I am the Light of the
World," "I am the Door," "Iam the True Vine."
5. Some of the affirmations of our Lord contain wondrous glimpses of His
grace and glory.
6. His secondcoming in greatglory.
(G. W. McCree.)
Public opinion concerning Jesus Christ
W. Cuff.1. Was not Christ superior to what men thought about him? He did
not stoopto public opinion, but was anxious to know that men had clear and
right conceptions concerning Him; that He did not live and teach in vain.
What are men saying in yonder workshopof you?
2. We must try and find out what is the public opinion to-day about Christ,
and instruct, correctit, gently.
(W. Cuff.)
Christ's divinity incidentally indicated in the New Testament
W. Cuff.It is in these incidental ways that we see Jesus Christbest. Yes, and I
will venture to saythat it is in these incidental ways we see all men best. We
do not understand men best because we see them in their greatefforts. Please
do not take me to the poet, if you want me to understand him thoroughly,
when he has got his pen, ink, and paper ready to write his greatpoem. I
should see him then in a greatmood, but I should not see him in an incidental
way, and in all the little things that make up the man's character. I do not
want to see Mr. Gladstone when he is braced up to chop down an ash-tree;
nor do I want to see him as he has braced himself to make a greatspeechin
the House of Commons. I should want to see him as his wife sees him; and I
venture to say that we should understand him better in that than in any other
way. Your wife knows you better than anybody else;she sees youin the little
things of every-day life, and it is in these incidental ways that the greatthings

and the greattruths come up all through the life and teachings ofJesus
Christ. You do not value that clock yonder for its striking capacity. I do not
know whether it strikes at all; however, it has a very fine musical bell in it that
knocks offtwelve, when it is twelve, in a quick or slow manner, but you would
not value it for that. You value the clock forits capacityto tell you every
minute of the time and every hour of the day. And just as you look at the little
things on the face, and getthe minutes as well as the hour, you value the clock
for its correctness.
(W. Cuff.)
Varied views of Christ
W. Cuff.We find Christ so differently because we seek Him in such very
different ways. We cannothave a uniform Christ any more than we can have
a uniform experience. In essence,in character, in love, in pity, Jesus Christ
will ever be the same to every sinner who comes to Him, but as we come to
Him we shall seemto have a very different Christ, because we use our own
glasses, and, therefore, see Him from different points of view, and have
different convictions about Him. Here is a person who comes to Jesus Christ,
who has been educatedand brought up in a manner of refinement and beauty,
whose home has been the centre of everything that was charming; his mother
was gentle, and sweetas anangel, his educationfrom boarding-schooldays
until he settled himself in life was all that could be desired to train the taste, to
balance the judgment, and to make the characterround, unique, and
beautiful. By-and-by he comes to Jesus Christ, and he comes along such a
different path to that man over there, for he was born down a back street,
where hardly a gleamof sunshine ever burst through his mother's window,
and he hardly ever saw a beautiful flower;certainly his boyish feetnever
tripped along a greenfield; he never heard the birds sing in the wood, nor saw
the light and charm of nature as others have seenit; rough, rude, uneducated,
unable to read one word of the .New Testament. By-and-by that man comes to
Christ, and he sits in the church at the Lord's table by the side of that other
educatedand refined Christian. If they compare notes they will seemto have a
very different Christ, because they came along such very different roads up to
the cross. Ibelieve, brethren, that that first view of Jesus in the soul's
experience makes a vast deal of difference to his whole thinking and to his
whole life about the Saviour whom he first saw. Oh, what passionburns in one
man, and what calm, strong, intellectual, and dignified faith wrestles and
grapples in the other, as he comes up first to look at Jesus Christ. John
Newtonsaw Him like this: —
"I saw One hanging on a tree

In agonies and blood,
Who fixed His languid eyes on me,
As near His cross I stood;
And never till my latestbreath
Shall I forgetthat look,
It seemedto charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke."James Allen saw Him like this: —
"Sweetthe moments, rich in blessing,
Which before the cross I spend,
Love and health and peace possessing,
From the sinner's dying friend.
Here it is I find my heaven
While upon His cross I gaze,
Love I much? I've more forgiven,
I am a miracle of grace."Sothe poets and hymn-writers came to Him
differently, and seemedto take a different view of Him.
(W. Cuff.)
The revelationof Christ often misinterpreted
H. W. Beecher.Payson, whenhe lay on his bed dying, said: "All my life Christ
has seemedto me as a star afar off; but little by little He has been advancing
and growing largerand larger, till now His beams seemto fill the whole
hemisphere, and I am floating in the glory of God, wondering with
unutterable wonder how such a mote as I should be glorified in His light;" but
he came to that after a long life.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The revelationof Christ an inward power, rather than a s
H. W. Beechercientific belief: — But how many people there are whose Godis
no bigger than a confessionof faith! How many persons have a God that is
like a dried specimenof a flower in a herbarium, which is goodfor science,
and for nothing else? But Christ is a power — a glory — a life; and he that
has come to Christ, and acceptedHim even in the smallestdegree, to him it is
given to become, and to know that he is becoming, a sonof God. To all of you
I say, stand fast in the faith, in the inward sense, ofa living Saviour. Love Him
and trust Him.

(H. W. Beecher)
The revelationof Christ perfectedin heaven
H. W. BeecherAndremember that what you see now is full of mixture — that,
like ill-blown glass, it is full of crinckles — that it is full of elements that are
drawn from the peculiarities of your ownnature. Look upon Christ as one
that, all after, much as He is to you, is to be revealedin you — that is to say,
when you have grown, when you have been cleansed, whenyou leave this body
behind, and when you rise to stand face to face with God, the little that you
knew before will be as what a man has seenwho has never been out of his
garden here comparedwith what he would see if he were, by some power,
translated into a tropical forest. He has seengrowths in a northern clime
largely developedunder glass, but oh, to see the growths that have been
developed by the tropicalpowers of nature! And when we shall see Him as He
is-in magnitude — in wonderful disposition — in profound, and sweet, and
life-giving influences — then, with an ecstasyofjoy, we shall cast our crowns
at His feet and say: "Notunto us, not unto us, but unto Thy name be the
praise."
(H. W. Beecher)
Perverse views of Christ
W. Cuff.Well, now I must gatherup the fragments and close;and I will do so
by saying that there will be, as there have been, very different answers given
as to who the Son of man is. There always were different answers;there
always must be; because men look at Christ as they look at other men and
other things. We do not all look at the New Testamentthrough the same
mental laws;and that makes all the difference in the answerwe shall give to
the question, "Whom do you say I, the Son of God, am?" You know if you go
to the photographer's shop and ask the artist to be kind enough to let you look
through the lens coveredby that little black piece of cloth, and if you look at
the chair on which you have to sit for your portrait, it is reversed, and the
opposite of what you expectedit to be. That is how some men look at other
men. They always see them reversed — very different to what they are. That
is preciselythe kind of lens that many bring to the New Testamentto look at
Christ.
(W. Cuff.)
Religious affections produce a convictionof reality
J. Edwards.Spiritualthings have the influence of reality upon renewed
persons. Their eyes are opened to see that the doctrines of the Bible are really

true. Notall religious affections are attended with this conviction, because not
produced by the spiritual illumination of the mind. Whore the understanding
is spiritually enlightened, the affections do not spring from so-called
discoveries, from a strong confidence of their goodestate, from a strong
persuasionthat the Christian religionis true as the result of education, or
from mere reasons and arguments. Spiritual affections spring from the beauty
of Divine things; their beauty is discerned through the illumination of the
mind; and this view produces the convictionof their reality.
I. DIRECTLY. The judgment is directly convincedof the divinity of the
gospelby the clearview of its inherent glory and excellence. Manythings in
the gospelare hid from the eyes of natural men which are manifest to those
who have a spiritual sense and taste, and to whom the beauty and glory of the
gospelare revealed. To them alone religionbecomes experimental. Were it
otherwise, the illiterate and the heathen could not have so thorough a
conviction as to embrace the gospeland hazard every earthly thing for its
possession. Godgives to these some sort of evidence that His covenant is true
beyond all mere probability or historical evidence, which the illiterate are
capable of, and which produces the "full assurance offaith." They become
witnesses to the truth through being spiritually enlightened. "Infidelity never
prevailed so much in any age as in this, wherein these arguments (from
ancient traditions, histories and monuments) are handled to the greatest
advantage." To be a witness is to see the truth.
II. INDIRECTLY.
1. This view of Divine glory removes enmities and prejudices of the heart, so
that the mind is more open to the force of the reasons whichare presented.
2. And, by thus removing hindrances, it positively helps reason. "It makes
even the speculative notions more lively." In this waytruly gracious affections
are distinguished from others, "for gracious affections are evermore attended
with such a conviction of the judgment."
III. SOME CONCLUSIONS.
1. There is a degree of conviction which arises from the common enlightenings
of the Spirit of God. This may lead to belief, but not to the spiritual conviction
of truth, and the apprehension of its Divine beauty and glory.
2. There are extraordinary impressions on the imagination, which are
delusive, and produce only a counterfeit faith.
3. Those beliefs of truth, which rest merely upon our supposed interestin
what the gospelreveals and promises, are also vain.

(J. Edwards.)
St. Peterhere confesses thatour Lord is
W. Denton, M. A., W. Denton, M. A.I. (1) The Christ — not merely an
anointed one, as priests and prophets of old might have been anointed, but
that He is the One anointed of God, having receivedthis gift in a super-
eminent manner.(2) The Son — not one sonmerely out of many, but that He
was so beyond all others, and in a way which singledHim out from them. Son
and only-begotten, not by grace, but of the substance of the Father.(3)The
Son of the living God — not of the gods of the heathen world, the objectof
Gentile idolatry, but the Sonof the One living, and true God, who has life in
Himself, who is uncreatedlife — the living life-giving principle to all
mankind.(4) That He is Christ and at the same time Sonof the living God —
in contradistinction to the crowd, who believed Him to be the Baptist, Elias, or
one of the prophets; PeteracknowledgedHim to be Christ, and the Son of the
living God.
II. IN THIS CONFESSIONTHERE ARE INCLUDED THESE. TRUTHS —
(1) The nature which Christ took;the human nature, that is, which was
anointed or consecrated.(2)The anointing which He received, the fulness of
the Holy Spirit, imparted without measure to Christ at His conception.(3)The
objectof this anointing — that He might be the Christ, the King, the Priest,
the Prophet of His people.
(W. Denton, M. A.).This truth was not revealedto Peter —(1) By carnal men,
nor indeed by men at all, since man cannot of himself make knownthe things
of the Spirit;(2) Through mere carnal reasoning (1 Corinthians 2:11.);(3) Nor
was it the revelation of Christ's flesh. It was not merely that Peterhad been
able to pierce beyond the veil of Christ's human nature, and through that, and
by means of that, to understand the Divinity. No. It was the direct act of the
Father, by which he was enlightened.
(W. Denton, M. A.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17)Blessedart thou, Simon Bar-
jona.—Looking to the reality of our Lord’s human nature, its capacityfor
wonder (Mark 6:6, Luke 7:9), anger (Mark 3:5), sorrow (John 11:35, Luke
19:41), and other emotions, it is not over-bold to recognisein these words

something like a tone of exalted joy. It is the first direct personal beatitude
pronounced by Him; and, as such, presents a marked contrastto the rebukes
which had been addressedto Peter, as to the others, as being “without
understanding,” “oflittle faith,” with “their heart yet hardened.” Here, then,
He had found at last the clear, unshaken, unwavering faith which was the
indispensable condition for the manifestation of His kingdom as a visible
societyupon earth. The beatitude is solemnised(as in John 1:42) by the full
utterance of the name which the disciple had borne before he was calledby
the new name of Cephas, or Peter, to the work of an Apostle. He was to
distinguish betweenthe old natural and the new supernatural life. (Comp.
John 21:15.)
Fleshand blood hath not revealedit unto thee.—Better, It was not flesh and
blood that revealed. The words are used in their common Hebrew meaning (as
in John 1:13; 1Corinthians 15:50;Ephesians 6:12) for human nature, human
agency, in all their manifold forms. The disciple had receivedthe faith which
he now professed, not through popular rumours, not through the teaching of
scribes, but by a revelation from the Father. He was led, in the strictestsense
of the words, through the veil of our Lord’s human nature to recognise the
divine.
BensonCommentaryHYPERLINK "/matthew/16-17.htm"Matthew 16:17.
Jesus answered, Blessed[or happy, as μακαριος signifies]artthou, Simon
Bar-jona, (or the son of Jonas,)namely, in being brought thus firmly to
believe and confess this most important truth, on believing and confessing
which the present and everlasting salvationof mankind depends. For flesh
and blood hath not revealedit unto thee — “Thou hast not learned it by
human report, or the unassistedsagacityof thy own mind; but my Fatherin
heaven has discoveredit to thee, and wrought in thy soul this cordial assent, in
the midst of those various prejudices againstit which present circumstances
might suggest.”Our Lord proceeds, and promises, (alluding to his surname of
Peter, from πετρα, a rock,)that he should have a principal concernin
establishing Christ’s kingdom. Thou art Peter — As if he had said, “Thou art,
as thy name signifies, a substantial rock;and as thou hast shownit in this
goodconfession, Iassure thee that upon this rock I will build my church.
Faith in me as the Son of God shall be its great support, and I will use thee as
a glorious instrument in raising it: yea, so immoveable and firm shall its
foundation be, and so secure the superstructure, that though earth and hell
unite their assaults againstit, and death in its most dreadful forms be armed
for its destruction; the gates ofhell, or the unseen world, shall not finally
prevail againstit to its ruin: but one generationof Christians shall arise after

another, even to the very end of time, to maintain this truth, and to venture
their lives and their souls upon it, till at length the whole body of them be
redeemedfrom the power of the grave.” See Doddridge, who further observes,
“This is one of those scriptures, the sense of which might be most certainly
fixed by the particular tone of voice and gesture with which it was spoken. If
our Lord alteredhis accent, and laid his hand on his breast, it would show
that he spoke, not of the person, but of the confessionofPeter, (as most
Protestantdivines have understood it,) and meant to point out himself as the
greatfoundation.” Compare 1 Corinthians 3:10-11. In confirmation of this
sense, it may be observed, that when our Lord says, Upon this rock, he does
not make use of the word πετρος, as if he referred to Peterhimself, but πετρα,
which is an appellative noun, and immediately refers to Peter’s confession.
“But if, when our Lord uttered these words, he turned to the other apostles,
and pointed to Peter, that would show he meant to intimate the honour he
would do him, in making him an eminent support to his church. This is the
sense which Grotius, Le Clerc, Dr. Whitby, and L’Enfant defend. But to be a
foundation in this sense, was notPeter’s honour alone; his brethren shared
with him in it, (see Ephesians 2:20;Revelation21:14,)as they did also in the
powerof binding and loosing, Matthew 18:18;John 20:23. — On the whole,
how weak the arguments are which the Papists draw from hence, to support
the supremacyof Peterin their wild sense ofit, is sufficiently shown by Bishop
Burnet On the Articles, p. 196;Dr. Barrow On the Creed, sermon twenty-
eight; Dr. Patrick in his sermon on this text, and many more not necessaryto
be named. There seems a reference in this expressionto the common custom
of building citadels upon a rock.” The gates ofhell — As gates and walls were
the strength of cities, and as courts of judicature were held in their gates, this
phrase properly signifies the power and policy of Satan and his instruments:
shall not prevail againstit — Notagainstthe church universal, so as to
destroy it. And they never did, for there hath been a small remnant in all ages.
And they never will, for faithful is he who hath made this promise, and he will
certainly fulfil it.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary16:13-20Peter, forhimself and his
brethren, said that they were assuredof our Lord's being the promised
Messiah, the Son of the living God. This showedthat they believed Jesus to be
more than man. Our Lord declaredPeterto be blessed, as the teaching of God
made him differ from his unbelieving countrymen. Christ added that he had
named him Peter, in allusionto his stability or firmness in professing the
truth. The word translatedrock, is not the same word as Peter, but is of a
similar meaning. Nothing canbe more wrong than to suppose that Christ

meant the person of Peterwas the rock. Without doubt Christ himself is the
Rock, the tried foundation of the church; and woe to him that attempts to lay
any other! Peter's confessionis this rock as to doctrine. If Jesus be not the
Christ, those that own him are not of the church, but deceivers and deceived.
Our Lord next declaredthe authority with which Peterwould be invested. He
spoke in the name of his brethren, and this relatedto them as well as to him.
They had no certain knowledge ofthe characters ofmen, and were liable to
mistakes and sins in their own conduct; but they were kept from error in
stating the way of acceptanceand salvation, the rule of obedience, the
believer's characterand experience, and the final doom of unbelievers and
hypocrites. In such matters their decisionwas right, and it was confirmed in
heaven. But all pretensions of any man, either to absolve or retain men's sins,
are blasphemous and absurd. None can forgive sins but God only. And this
binding and loosing, in the common language of the Jews, signifiedto forbid
and to allow, or to teach what is lawful or unlawful.
Barnes'Notes on the BibleAnd Jesus answered, Blessedartthou ... - Simon
Bar-jona is the same as Simon son of Jona. Baris a Syriac word signifying
son. The father of Peter, therefore, was Jona, orJonas, John1:42; John 21:16-
17.
Blessed- That is, happy, honored, evincing a proper spirit, and entitled to the
approbation of God.
For flesh and blood - This phrase usually signifies man (see Galatians 1:16;
Ephesians 6:12), and it has been commonly supposedthat Jesus meant to say
that man had not revealedit, but he seems rather to have referred to himself.
"This truth you have not learned from my lowly appearance, frommy human
nature, from my apparent rank and standing in the world. You, Jews, were
expecting to know the Messiahby his external splendor; his pomp and power
as a man; but you have not learned me in this manner. I have shown no such
indication of my Messiahship. Fleshand blood have not shown it. In spite of
my appearance, my lowly state - my lack of resemblance to what you have
expected, you have learnedit as from God." They had been taught this by
Jesus'miracles, his instructions, and by the direct teachings of God upon their
minds. To "reveal" is to make known, or communicate something that was
unknown or secret.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary17. And Jesus answeredand said
unto him, Blessedart thou—Though it is not to be doubted that Peter, in this
noble testimony to Christ, only expressedthe conviction of all the Twelve, yet
since he alone seems to have had clearenough apprehensions to put that
conviction in proper and suitable words, and courage enoughto speak them

out, and readiness enoughto do this at the right time—so he only, of all the
Twelve, seems to have met the present want, and communicated to the
saddenedsoul of the Redeemerat the critical moment that balm which was
needed to cheerand refresh it. Nor is Jesus above giving indication of the deep
satisfactionwhichthis speechyielded Him, and hastening to respond to it by a
signalacknowledgmentofPeterin return.
Simon Bar-jona—or, "sonofJona" (Joh1:42), or "Jonas" (Joh21:15). This
name, denoting his humble fleshly extraction, seems to have been purposely
here mentioned, to contrastthe more vividly with the spiritual elevationto
which divine illumination had raisedhim.
for flesh and blood hath not revealedit unto thee—"This is not the fruit of
human teaching."
but my Father which is in heaven—In speaking ofGod, Jesus, it is to be
observed, never calls Him, "our Father" (see on [1317]Joh20:17), but either
"your Father"—whenHe would encourageHis timid believing ones with the
assurance thatHe was theirs, and teach themselves to callHim so—or, as
here, "My Father," to signify some peculiar action or aspectof Him as "the
God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ."
Matthew Poole's Commentary Our Lord appeareth here to be mightily
pleasedwith this confessionofPeter and the rest of his disciples, (for we shall
observe in the Gospel, that Peterwas usually the first in speaking, John6:68),
he pronounces him
blessed, and giveth the reasonof it afterward.
Simon bar-jona, that is, Simon sonof Jona, or, as some would have it, sonof
John (they think Jona is a contractionof Johanna). Our Lord gives him the
same name, John 21:15.
For flesh and blood hath not revealedit unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven. By flesh and blood our Saviour meaneth man, and the reasonand
wisdom of man. Thus it is often used in Scripture, Isaiah40:5 Galatians 1:16
Ephesians 6:12. Some note it always signifieth so when it is in Scripture
opposedto God. Thou hast not learnedthis by tradition, or any dictates from
man, nor yet by any human ratiocination, but from my Father which is in
heaven. This confirmeth what we have Ephesians 2:8, that faith is the gift of
God. No man cometh to the Son, but he whom the Father draweth, John 6:44.
Men may assentto things from the reports of men, or from the evidence of
reason, but neither of these is faith. Faith must be an assentto a proposition

upon the authority of God revealing it. Nor doth any man truly and savingly
believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Sonof God, and the Saviour of the
world, but he in whom God hath wrought such a persuasion;yet is not the
ministry of the word needless in the case, because,as the apostle saith, faith
comes by hearing, and ministers are God’s instruments by whom men believe.
No faith makes a soul blessedbut that which is of the operation of God.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Jesus answeredand said unto him,....
Not waiting for any other declaration from them; but taking this to be the
sense ofthem all, he said,
blessedart thou Simon Bar Jona, or sonof Jona, or Jonas, as in John 1:42.
His father's name was Jonah, whence he was so called:so we read (i) of R. Bo
bar Jonah, and of a Rabbi of this very name (k), , Rabbi Simeon bar Jona;for
Simon and Simeon are one, and the same name. Some read it BarJoanna, the
same with John; but the common reading is best; Bar Jona signifies "the son
of a dove", and Bar Joanna signifies "the sonof one that is gracious". Our
Lord, by this appellation, puts Peter in mind of his birth and parentage, but
does not pronounce him blessedon that account:no true blessedness comesby
natural descent;men are by nature children of wrath, being conceivedin sin,
and shapen in iniquity: though he was Bar Jona, the sonof a dove, and his
father might be a goodman, and answerto his name, and be of a dove like
spirit; yet such a spirit was not conveyedfrom him to Peterby natural
generation: and though he might be, according to the other reading, Bar
Joanna, or the son of a gracious man, yet grace was not communicated to him
thereby; for he was not "born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God", John 1:13. He was a blessedman, not by his first,
but by his secondbirth; and the reasonwhy our Lord makes mention of his
father, is to observe to him, that he was the son of a mean man, and had had,
but a mean education, and therefore his blessednessin generalwas not of
nature, but of grace, and this branch of it in particular; the knowledge he had
of the Messiah, was notowing to his earthly father, or to the advantage of an
education, but to the revelationhe had from Christ's Father which is in
heaven, as is hereafteraffirmed. He is pronounced "blessed", as having a true
knowledge ofGod, and of his Son Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal;
and all such as he are so, appear to be the favourites of God, to have an
interest in Christ and in all the blessings ofhis grace;are justified by his
righteousness, pardonedthrough his blood, are acceptedin him, have
communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, and shall live eternally with them
hereafter.

For flesh and blood hath not revealedit unto thee: nothing is more frequent to
be met with in Jewishwritings, than the phrase of "fleshand blood", as
designing men in distinction from God: so the first man is said (l) to be
"the workmanship of the blessedGod, and not the workmanship, "offlesh
and blood".''
Again (m), , "fleshand blood", who knows not the times and seasons, &c. but
the holy, blessedGod, who knows the times and seasons,&c. Instances ofthis
way of speaking are almostwithout number: accordingly, the sense here is,
that this excellentconfessionof faith, which Peterhad delivered, was not
revealedunto him, nor taught him by any mere man; he had not it from his
immediate parents, nor from any of his relations, or countrymen; nor did he
attain to the knowledge ofwhat is expressedin it, by the dint of nature, by the
strength of carnal reason, orthe force of his own capacityand abilities:
but my Father which is in heaven; from whom both the external and internal
revelation of such truths come; though not to the exclusionof the Son, by
whose revelationthe Gospelis taught, and received; nor of the Holy Ghost,
who is a Spirit of wisdomand revelation, but in opposition to, and distinction
from any mere creature whatever. Neither the Gospel, nor any part of it, is an
human device or discovery; it is not after man, nor according to the carnal
reasonof man; it is above the most exalted and refined reasonof men; it has
in it what eye has not seen, nor earheard, nor has it enteredinto the heart of
man to conceive of: its truths are the deep things of God, which the Spirit of
God searchesand reveals:and which men, left to the light of nature, and force
of reason, must have been for ever ignorant of, and could never have
discovered. The Gospelis a revelation, it consists ofrevealedtruths; and
which are to be receivedand believed upon the testimony and credit of the
revealer, without entering into carnal reasonings, anddisputes about them;
and it is the highestreason, and the most noble use of reason, to embrace it at
once, as coming from God; for this revelation is from heaven, and from
Christ's Father; particularly the deity, sonship, and Messiahshipof Christ,
are doctrines of pure revelation: that there is a God, is discoverable by the
light of nature; and that he is the living God, and gives being, and life, and
breath, and all things, to his creatures;but that he has a Son of the same
nature with him, and equal to him, who is the Messiah, and the Saviour of lost
sinners, this could never have been found out by flesh and blood: no man
knows the Son, but the Father, and he to whom he reveals him; he bears
witness of him, and declares him to be his Son, in whom he is well pleased;
and happy are those who are blessedwith the outward revelationof Jesus

Christ in the Gospel, but more especiallysuch to whom the Father reveals
Christ in them the hope of glory!
(i) Juchasin, fol. 85. 1.((k) Ib. fol. 105. 1.((l) Zohar in Gen. fol. 43. 3.((m) R.
Simeon in Jarchi in Gen. ii. 2.
Geneva Study Bible{4} And Jesus answeredand said unto him, Blessedart
thou, Simon Barjona:for {k} flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
(4) Faith is of grace, notof nature.
(k) By this kind of speechis meant man's natural procreationupon the earth,
the one who was made, not being destroyed, but deformed through sin: So
then this is the meaning: this was not revealedto you by any understanding of
man, but God showedit to you from heaven.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/matthew/16-17.htm"Matthew
16:17. Simon, son (‫ב‬ ַּ‫)ר‬ of Jona, a solemnly circumstantial style of address, yet
not intended as a contrastto the designationof him as Peterwhich is about to
follow (de Wette), in connectionwith which view many expositors have
allegorizedthe Βαριωνᾶ in an arbitrary and nugatory fashion, but merely on
accountof the importance of the subsequent statement, in which case
Βαριωνᾶ is to be ascribed to the practice of adding the patronymic
designation, and blending the βάρ. with the proper name (Matthew 10:3; Acts
13:6; Mark 10:46).
ὅτι] because thou art favoured far above my other followers in having had
such a revelation as this.
σὰρξ κ. αἷμα] ‫ב‬ ָּ‫ש‬ ָׂ‫ר‬ ‫ב‬ ָּ‫ד‬ ָּ‫ר‬ (among the Rabbis), paraphrastic expressionfor man,
involving the idea of weakness as peculiarto his bodily nature, Sir 14:18;
Lightfoot on this passage;Bleek’s note on Hebrews 2:14. Comp. the note on
Galatians 1:16; Ephesians 6:12. Therefore to be interpreted thus: no weak
mortal (mortalium ullus) has communicatedthis revelation to thee; but, and
so on. Inasmuch as ἀποκαλύπτειν, generally, is a thing to which no human
being can pretend, the negative half of the statementonly serves to render the
positive half all the more emphatic. Others refer σὰρξ κ. αἷμα to ordinary
knowledge and ideas furnished by the senses, incontradistinction to πνεῦμα
(de Wette, following Beza, Calvin, Calovius, Neander, Olshausen, Glöckler,
Baumgarten-Crusius, Keim). Incorrectly, partly because the lowerpart of
man’s nature is denoted simply by σάρξ, not by σὰρξ κ. αἷμα (in 1 Corinthians

15:50 the expressionflesh and blood is employed in quite a peculiar, a
physical sense), partly because ἀπεκάλυψε (Matthew 11:25)compels us to
think exclusively of a knowledge whichis obtained in some other way than
through the exercise ofone’s human faculties. Fora similar reason, the
blending of both views (Bleek)is no less objectionable.
It must not be supposed that, in describing this confessionas the result of a
divine revelation, there is anything inconsistentwith the fact that, for a long
time before, Jesus had, in word and deed, pointed to Himself as the Messiah
(comp. above all the Sermon on the Mount, and such passagesas Matthew
11:5 f., 27), and had also been so designatedby others (John the Baptist, and
such passagesas Matthew 8:29, Matthew 14:33), nay, more, that from the
very first the disciples themselves had recognisedHim as the Messiah, and on
the strength of His being so had been induced to devote themselves to His
person and service (Matthew 4:19; John 1:42; John 1:46; John 1:50); nor are
we to regardthe point of the revelationas consisting in the ὁ υἱὸς τ. θεοῦ τ.
ζῶντος, sometimes supposed(Olshausen)to indicate advanced, more perfect
knowledge, a view which it would be difficult to reconcile with the parallel
passagesin Mark and Luke; but observe:(1) That Jesus is quite aware that, in
spite of the vacillating opinions of the multitude, His disciples continue to
regard Him as the Messiah, but, in order to strengthen and elevate both them
and Himself before beginning (Matthew 16:21) the painful and trying
announcement of His future sufferings, and as furnishing a basis on which to
take His stand in doing so, He seeksfirst of all to elicit from them an express
and decided confessionof their faith. (2) That Peteracts as the mouthpiece of
all the others, and with the utmost decisionand heartiness makes sucha
declarationof his belief as, at this turning-point in His ministry, and at a
juncture of such grave import as regards the gloomy future opening up before
Him, Jesus must have been longing to hear, and such as He could not fail to be
in need of. (3) That He, the heart-searching one, immediately perceives and
knows that Peter (as ὁ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀποστόλωνκορυφαῖος,Chrysostom)
was enabled to make such a declarationfrom his having been favoured with a
specialrevelationfrom God (Matthew 11:27), that He speaks ofthe distinction
thus conferred, and connects with it the promise of the high position which the
apostle is destined to hold in the church. Consequently ἀπεκάλυψε is not to be
understood as referring to some revelationwhich had been communicatedto
the disciples at the outset of their careeras followers ofJesus, but it is to be
restrictedto Peter, and to a specialrevelation from God with which he had
been favoured. This confession, founded as it was upon such a revelation,
must naturally have been far more deliberate, far more deeply rootedin

conviction, and for the Lord and His work of far greaterconsequence, than
that containedin the exclamationof the people in the boat (Matthew 14:33)
when under the influence of a momentary feeling of amazement, which latter
incident, however, our present passagedoes notrequire us to treat as
unhistorical (Keim and others); comp. note on Matthew 14:33.
Observe, further, how decidedly the joyful answerof Jesus, with the great
promise that accompaniesit, forbids the supposition that He consentedto
acceptthe title and dignity of a Messiahonlyfrom “not being able to avoid a
certain amount of accommodation” to the ideas of the people (Schenkel;see,
on the other hand, Weissenborn, p. 43 ff.).
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK"/context/matthew/16-
17.htm"Matthew 16:17-19.Solemnaddress of Jesus to Peter, peculiar to Mt.,
and of doubtful authenticity in the view of many modern critics, including
Wendt (Die Lehre Jesu, i., p. 181), either an addendum by the evangelistor
introduced at a later date by a reviser. This question cannotbe fully discussed
here. It must suffice to saythat psychologicalreasons are in favour of
something of the kind having been said by Jesus. It was a greatcritical
moment in His career, atwhich His spirit was doubtless in a state of high
tension. The firm tone of conviction in Peter’s reply would give Him a thrill of
satisfactiondemanding expression. One feels that there is a hiatus in the
narratives of Mk. and Lk.: no comment, on the part of Jesus, as if Peterhad
delivered himself of a mere trite commonplace. We may be sure the fact was
not so. The terms in which Jesus speaksofPeter are characteristic—warm,
generous, unstinted. The style is not that of an ecclesiasticaleditor laying the
foundation for Church power and prelatic pretensions, but of a noble-minded
Mastereulogising in impassionedterms a loyal disciple. Even the reference to
the “Church” is not unseasonable.Whatmore natural than that Jesus,
conscious thatHis labours, outside the disciple circle, have been fruitless, so
far as permanent result is concerned, should fix His hopes on that circle, and
look on it as the nucleus of a new regenerate Israel, having for its raison d’être
that it accepts Him as the Christ? And the name for the new Israel, ἐκκλησία,
in His mouth is not an anachronism. It is an old familiar name for the
congregationof Israel, found in Deut. (Matthew 18:16; Matthew 23:2) and
Psalms (Matthew 22:26), both books wellknown to Jesus.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges17. Bar-jona]“sonofJonah.” Bar is
Aramaic for son; cp. Barabbas, Bar-tholomew,Bar-nabas.

for flesh and blood, &c.] Notman, but God; “fleshand blood” was a common
Hebrew expressionin this contrast.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK"/matthew/16-17.htm"Matthew 16:17.
Μακάριος, blessed)This word signifies a condition not only blessed, but at the
same time rare; see ch. Matthew 13:16. Jesus had not previously told His
disciples explicitly that He was the Christ. He had done and said those things
by which, through the revelation of the Father, they might recognise Him as
the Christ.—ΣίμωνΒὰρ Ἰωνᾶ, Simon Bar-jona)This express naming signifies
that the Lord knoweththem that are His, and recalls to Peters remembrance
that sample of omniscience whichhad been given to him in John 1:42; cf. ibid.
Matthew 21:15.[738]—ΣᾺΡΞΚΑῚ ΑἿΜΑ, flesh and blood) i.e. any man
whatsover;flesh and blood are put by metonymy[739] for body and soul: see
Ephesians 6:12; Galatians 1:16. No mortal at that time knew this truth before
Peter;see Matthew 16:14.—ΟὐΚἈΠΕΚΆΛΥΨΕ, hath not revealed)The
knowledge ofChrist is not obtained except by Divine revelation; see ch.
Matthew 11:27.—ὁ ΠατήρΜου, κ.τ.λ., My Father, etc.) By these words the
sum and substance ofPeter’s confessionis repeatedand confirmed. The
heavenly Father had revealedit to Peterby the teaching of Jesus Christ, and
thus inscribed it on the apostle’s heart.
[738]Peterhimself hardly thought that he was so acceptable [before God].
Blessedis the man, not he who attributes aught to himself on his own
authority, but whom the Lord pronounces to be blessed.—V. g.
[739]See explanation of technicalterms in Appendix.—(I. B.)
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - Jesus answeredand said unto him. This
weighty and momentous answeris given alone by St. Matthew. St. Mark, who
wrote under the instruction of Peter, and for Roman Christians, mentions it
not; the other two evangelists are equally silent, having evidently not
understood the specialimportance attachedto it. Blessedart thou, Simon Bar-
jona. "Blessed,"as in the sermon on the mount (ch. 5.), expressing a solemn
benediction, not a mere encomium. Peterwas highly favoured by a special
revelation from God. Christ calls him "sonof Jona," to intimate that Peter's
confessionis true - that he himself is as naturally and truly Son of God as
Peteris son of Jona. So Christ addresses him when he restores the fallen
apostle at the Sea of Galilee after the secondmiraculous draught of fishes,
reminding him of his frail human nature in the face of greatspiritual
privileges (John 21:15, etc.;comp. Matthew 1:42). Simon would be the name
given at his circumcision;Bar-jona, a patronymic to distinguish him from

others of the same name. For (ὅτι). This introduces the reasonwhy Christ
calls him "Blessed."Fleshand blood. This is a phrase to express the idea of
the natural man, with his natural endowments and faculties. So St. Paul says
(Galatians 1:16), "I conferrednot with flesh and blood;" and "Our wrestling
is not againstflesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:12). The Son of Sirach speaks of
"the generationof flesh and blood" (Ecclus. 14:18). No natural sagacity,
study, or discernment had revealedthe greattruth. None of these had
overcome slownessofapprehension, prejudices of education, slacknessof
faith. No unregenerate mortal man had taught him the gospelmystery. My
Father which is in heaven. Christ thus accepts Peter's definition of him as
"the Son of the living God." None but the Father could have revealedto thee
the Son.
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
JESUS KNOWN BY PERSONALREVELATION NO. 2041
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAYMORNING, AUGUST 26,
1888 BY C. H. SPURGEON AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON
“When Jesus came into the coasts ofCaesarea Philippi, he askedhis disciples,
saying, Whom do men saythat I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say
that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias;and others, Jeremias, orone of
the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom sayye that I am? And Simon
Peteransweredand said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And
Jesus answeredandsaid unto him, Blessedart thou, Simon Bar-jona: for

flesh and blood hath not revealedit unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven.” Matthew 16:13-17
THIS is one of the earliestplaces in the New Testamentin which we find any
mention of the church. Jesus says, in verse eighteen, “I will build my church.”
It is very significant that our Lord should connectwith the church the right
idea of Himself. In our text we have the test question which must be put to
everyone who is to be admitted into the assembly of the Lord—“Whom sayye
that I am?” The first question to be put to one who would join the church is,
“What thinkest thou of Jesus?”You cannotbe right in the restunless you
think rightly of Him. If you do not begin aright with Jesus, the Christ, the Son
of the living God, you will not go on aright, and your joining of any visible
church will be a mistake which will be injurious both to yourself and the
church. Beloved, let it be with you first Christ, then the church. There is a
certain style of preaching in which the church is the leading idea, meaning, to
a greatextent, by “the church,” the priest, as the dispenserof ordinances and
the voice of God. But as for us, our chief word is not “church,” but “Christ,”
and not even the church of Christ, but Christ as very God of very God—the
Son of the Highest. First Christ, the root, then the church, the outgrowth, first
Christ, the builder, then the church, which is His building. The most
important question is not, “To which part of the church do you belong?” but
“Do you belong to Christ, who is the Son of the living God?” This must be
decided by that other question, “Whom say ye that I am?” If you know
Christ, if you rest in Christ, if Christ be to you “the way, the truth, and the
life,” above all, if Christ be “formed in you the hope of glory,” your
connectionwith the true church, the church of God’s electionand redemption,
is clearand certain. In putting the question about Himself, our Lord made a
distinction betweentwo classesofpersons, who are named as “men,” and as
His disciples. He inquired, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”
These “men” formed their judgment of Christ according to flesh and blood,
they went upon the ground of carnalreasoning, or else they followedcurrent
opinion. They went upon natural and not upon spiritual, grounds, they
discernednothing of spiritual things, their judgment was that of flesh and
blood. What conclusiondid they arrive at while guided by flesh and blood?

The conclusions were diverse, “Some saythat thou art John the Baptist; some,
Elias;and others, Jeremias, orone of the prophets.” Error is multiform, truth
is one. A thousand lies will live together, and tolerate eachother, especiallyat
this time, when errorists are all crying out, “Castin thy lot with us; let us all
have one purse.” A thousand false gods will stand together in the Pantheon,
but if the ark of the true God enters Dagon’s temple, Dagonmust come down
on his face and be dashed to pieces. Jehovahis God alone, and will not brook
a rival. Truth is of necessityintolerant of error. Do not misunderstand me—I
believe in the fullest religious liberty, and that conscienceowesallegianceto
none but God, but I
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speak of principles, holiness cannotendure sin, righteousness cannotbear
injustice, and truth cannotconsortwith error. “What concordhath Christ
with Belial?” The results today of the judgments of men about Christ are very
many, but they agree in this, that they contradict the one and only truth.
Today, some say, “He is a goodman,” others say, “Nay, but he deceiveth the
people.” Some saythat He is divine, though not actually God, others that He
has become God, though He was not always so, and a third company think
Him a divine man. Some agree that His teachings were admirable for the
occasions onwhich He delivered them, but that they are somewhatstale in
this advancedage, while others ridicule His teachings as altogether
impracticable. The doctrines of flesh and blood concerning Jesus are very
various. They were also contradictory, for, if Jesus was Johnthe Baptist, He
could not be Jeremias. Certainspirits contradicted all the opinions which are
registeredin our text, for they called the master of the house Beelzebub. The
apostles quoted to their Lord the bestthings that had been saidof Him, but
they hardly liked to foul their mouths with the basertitles. Fleshand blood
make many guesses,but they settle upon no one, the enemies of the Lord are
at war with eachother. In this case, as in others, the false witnessesdid not

agree. The judgments of men here recorded are respectful to our Lord Jesus.
It is usual nowadays to speak very respectfully of Him—if there can be any
respectfulness in words which deny His Godhead. Todaythey rend the
seamlessvesture of the Crucified. They retain His example, and profess to
value it, but His sacrifice they fling aside as a rag of superstition. They dare to
deny His miracles while they applaud His precepts, they will have nothing to
do with the doctrine of the cross, but with the self-denialof the cross they
affectto be enamored. Our Lord will not thus be divided. Those who take not
a whole Christ take not Christ at all. Whether the conclusions offlesh and
blood are respectfulto Jesus ornot, they are every one of them wrong. In the
favorable summary here given, not one conjecture of men is correct. Jesus
was not John the Baptist, nor Elias, nor Jeremias, norone of the prophets.
Assuredly He was not Beelzebub. Men did not know what Jesus was. They
neither knew Him, nor His Father. The characterof Jesus is much too hard a
nut for philosophic teeth to crack. Menwonder at Him, and as the case may
be, they admire or abhor Him, but who among them can declare His
generation, or read the enigma of His person? He is spiritual, and they are
carnal, He is holy, and they are “soldunder sin.” The brightness of His glory
blinds them. The pure in heart shall see God, but those who are in love with
evil cannotsee the fullness of the Godheaddwelling bodily in Jesus. They
guess, and reason, and blunder. Jesus is to them a stone of stumbling, and a
rock of offense. The conclusions offlesh and blood are unblessed. No blessing
attachedto any of the various notions which men hold concerning the Son of
man, but that judgment which came by revelationfrom the Fathermade
Simon Peterblessed, and our Lord beheld and declaredthe blessing. Gazing
at Jesus as if he were John the Baptist, or Elias, brought no blessing with it,
and if Jesus be not known by the revelationof the Holy Ghost, He is not
known as a well-spring of blessednessto the soul. If you know no more of
Christ than the world knows, than the learned know, than the philosophical
know, you have not found the blessing. If you know no more of Christ than
you have found out for yourselves, even by reading the Word of God, unaided
by the Father, you are not blessed. If you know no more of Jesus than flesh
and blood has revealedto you, it has brought you no more blessing than the
conjectures oftheir age brought to the Phariseesand Sadducees,who
remained an adulterous and unbelieving generation. There was a handful of

people in the world in the Savior’s day who were known as His disciples. To
them He put the question, “Whom sayye that I am?” They were disciples,
that is, learners, they were not so much “thoughtful men,” as the cant phrase
now is, as learners. They receivedwhat He imparted to them, His, “Verily,
verily,” being to them better than reasoning. As disciples, they were also
servants—theylearned obedience. Theyknew Jesus by following in His steps.
Put these two things together, learners and servants, and you will see how
different they were
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from the men of the world. “Men” were not learners, for they already knew,
they were not obedient, for they followedtheir own devices, and boastedthat
they were never in bondage unto any man. The chosenof Godreceived by
grace that humble spirit which confessesits ignorance, and is willing to learn,
that yielding spirit which lays aside its own will, and is eagerto obey its Lord.
Judge you, dear hearers, to which you belong, whether you are “men,”
boasting of your intellect, guided by “fleshand blood,” or whether you are
“His disciples,” who judge after the Spirit, and are taught of the Father.
Considerwhether the Fatherhas revealedthe Son unto you. If you belong to
this latter class you are among the blessed. The benediction of the Savior falls
like morning dew upon your hearts at this time, “Blessedart thou, Simon Bar-
jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealedit unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven.” You have now fully before you the subjectof our morning’s
meditation. May the Spirit of Godguide us into it! I. Our first observation is
this—THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS DIFFERS
FROM THAT OF THE WORLD. It is more serious, more thoughtful, more
personal. Men of the world said, “We do not know who Jesus may be. He is a
very remarkable person, He disturbs the quiet of the age, and He is certainly
out of His element among us. We do not know who He may be, and we do not
particularly care.” Herodcame to the hasty conclusionthat John the Baptist

was risen from the dead. Others said, “It is very likely Elijah, who was to
appear before the coming of the Messiah.” Athird party, hearing of His
sorrows, thought that he might be Jeremiah redivivus. He might be some
other prophet, but it did not matter which. The disciples had arrived at their
conclusionsolemnly, thoughtfully, carefully, eachone for himself, and when
the Saviorsaid to them, “Whom say ye that I am?” they would any one of
them have spoken, only they had fallen into the habit of making Peterthe
foreman and mouthpiece of the twelve, and so he spoke first, and said very
properly and positively, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To
my mind these words have a tone of deep solemnity. Evidently the man means
what he says, values the truth he speaks, and attaches deepimportance to it.
The replies of the world were flippant and frothy, but the answerof the
apostles was devoutand deliberate, for they judged the subject to be one of
the highestimportance. Now, beloved, what do you think of Jesus? Is His
name a weighty matter with you? Do you see that your view of Him is the test
of your state? Have you weighed it well? Is He God? Is He the sent and
anointed of the Lord? Has He washedyou in His blood? Have you takenHim
to be your all in all? Personally, for yourself, have you done this, and done it
with care and deliberation? Will you repeatyour choice this morning? Well,
then, in this you are what a disciple should be. In the next place, the disciples’
knowledge is more definite, more clear, more assured. If you had askedthe
outsiders about Jesus, theywould have said, “Well, perhaps He is John the
Baptist, or perhaps He is Jeremias,” but their notions were all in the clouds,
they could not make Him out. They saw that Jesus was a mysterious person, a
holy person, a compassionateperson, a wonder-working person, but who He
might be they could not make out. But to the disciples Jesus was known, and
His personality was distinct. They knew enough to say for certain, “Thouart
the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I will not enlarge upon this, but come
to close grips with you. Do you believe in Jesus by an inward discernment of
Him? Is He to you, clearlyand distinctly, the Sonof man and the Son of God?
Is He to you, definitely, your Savior, whom God has setforth to be the
propitiation for your sins? Is He your surety, substitute, and sacrifice?
Beware ofa misty religion! Beware ofthat which is without form, for it is sure
to be void! Beware ofthat which is undefined and indefinable, because there is
nothing solid in it! Beware of the religion which cries with the poet laureate,

“Behold, we know not anything”! This may suit brutes, but will never satisfy
men. Let the things visible go. They should go, for they are only a daydream,
but I pray you, as Rutherford says, “tighten your grips” upon eternalthings.
Realize the Christ, and hold Him fast. Make
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sure work with Him. Know what you do know concerning Jesus. Have no
secondhandinformation, no hypothesis, no inference, but say, “Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God”—notthe Son of a mere abstraction, but of
JEHOVAH, who lives, thinks, and acts. A disciple’s knowledge, then, differs
from the common, windy knowledge ofmen, in that it is definite, clear,
assured. Thirdly, this knowledge ofthe disciples was unanimous. Outside the
circle Jesus was a dozen things, inside the circle he was only one—“Thouart
the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Beloved, men sometimes talk to us of
the divisions in the Christian church, and it is a pity there should be even the
semblance of a division there, but I am bold to say that there is no real
division in the true church of Jesus Christ. Those who are really taught of the
Father believe one doctrine concerning Jesus. If I were to lead upon this
platform a representative of any one Christian denomination who was
spiritually in Christ, his opinion of the Lord Jesus would be the same as mine.
A thousand of us would eachone say, “He is the Christ, the Son of the living
God.” Put believers on their knees, where they talk to Christ, rather than of
Christ, and they all say the same thing. Peter was answering his Lord when he
made the confessionnow before us. When we speak to one another we are
warped by party forces, but when we speak to our Masterwe all speak the
same language.
“The saints in prayer appear as one, In word, and deed, and mind; While with
the Fatherand the SonSweetfellowshipthey find.”

All the spiritual in the world are one. We believe in Jesus Christ as man, as
God, as Messiah, as Redeemer, as He by whose merit and precious blood we
are saved. We alike glorify Jesus, onwhom all our hopes are fixed. Glory be to
His name forever and ever, brethren, we, without exception, join in the
generalverdict of the church of God—“Thouart the Christ, the Son of the
living God”! Furthermore, the true disciples’ knowledge ofChrist differs
from that of men in that it is permanent. The verdict of men concerning Jesus
is changeable as the wind. In one age Jesus was houndeddown as the
Nazarene, the blasphemer. By and by men would set up His statue in the
Pantheonamong the gods. In one age, His teachings were held to be deeply
philosophical, and the gnostics beganto mystify them at a great rate, at
another period they were denounced as visionary, or ridiculed as absurd.
Christ is sometimes up in the market, and sometimes down in the market, but
mark you, He is not in the marketat all. He can neither be bought nor sold.
They say well of Him one day, they speak ill of Him another day, what matters
it what they say? He needs no honor from them, and He fears not their
dishonor. Unless they will believe in Him as Lord and Savior, it is of no
importance what they think of Him. Till they submit to Him as their Prophet,
Priest, and King, their thoughts of Him are vain. As dogs do bay the moon,
and yet the moon shines on, so do men howl at Jesus, orcringe at His feet, but
He shines on in steadfastlight. True believers have always the same idea of
Christ. They grow in the extent of their knowledge, theygrow in the depth of
their convictions, but when they begin with Him He is the Sonof the living
God to them, and when they know Him best He is still both Christ and God.
In every country and in every age, during every phase of the world’s fickle
thought, the disciples of Jesus hold fastby His Messiahshipand Godhead, and
on this rock they build their hopes. The belief of disciples differs from the
notions of “men,” in that it is more glorifying to Jesus. Menmake Him John
the Baptist, but that earnestman was not worthy to unloose the latchets of His
shoes. Theymake Him Elias, the prophet of fire, as if He would call fire from
heaven upon men to destroy them. Whateverthey judge Jesus to be, they do
not agree to sing with the virgin, “My soul does magnify the Lord, and my
spirit hath rejoicedin God my Savior.” As for me, my tongue can never speak

a thousandth part of the praises my heart adjudges to Him, and alas, my heart
does not worship Him a thousandth part as much as He deserves. WhenI
have striven
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with all my might to extol Him in my discourse, I feel ready to bite my tongue
for being so slow and slack. I go home, saying to myself, “A pretty herald of
your King art thou! You did concealHis excellence insteadofcommending it
to the eyes of men.” Brethren, “words are but air, and tongues but clay,” and
our Master’s glories are too greatto be set forth by such poor means. Oh, that
we knew how to extol Him! Away, you men of the world, with your
comparisonof Him to this or that mortal, you are blind as bats! As well might
you compare the sun to glow-worms. Come, angels and archangels,and help
us with your burning words! Nay, even you must fail. Jesus is infinite,
incomparable. The brightness of the Father’s glory is not to be set forth by
our words. Once more, the knowledge whichdisciples have of Christ differs
from that of the world, in that it is more influential. The world is not
influenced by believing on Jesus as Johnthe Baptist, but we are greatly
influenced by believing that He is the Son of God. This takes possessionofour
heart, our head, our eye, our hand, our foot, our body, our soul, and our
spirit. This Son of God is Lord over us. He sits supreme upon the throne of
our hearts, and our lives show that He rules and governs our thoughts. Is it
not so? This is no inert opinion, but a living, active principle. I leave these
things with you that you may searchyourselves, andsee whether you belong
to the mass outside, guessing and blundering, or whether you are of the inner
circle, which are taught of the Father, and therefore know the Son. II.
Secondly, and this is a very important point, THE KNOWLEDGE OF
CHRIST POSSESSEDBYTRUE DISCIPLES IS RECEIVED IN A
SPECIAL WAY. “Fleshand blood hath not revealedit unto thee.” Beloved, if
we know the Savior aright, we have not learned it alone by the instruction of

other men. Peterhad heard others speak, but he did not know Jesus as the
Christ till the FatherrevealedHim. Paul tells us concerning the Gospel, that
he neither receivedit of man, neither was he taught it, but he receivedit by
the revelationof Jesus Christ. I grant you that God uses men to instruct us,
but all the prophets and apostles couldnot teach us Christ if the Father did
not revealHis Sonin us personally. Holy men are the pens, but God Himself
must write with them, or they will write nothing on our hearts. God must
revealJesus to us, or we shall never see Him, howeverfaithful the minister
may be. Nor had Peter found out the nature and glory of the Lord Jesus by his
own reasoning. These were the flesh and blood by which Jesus is never made
out. No doubt, as he read the Old Testament, he said— “This prophecy and
that are fulfilled in Jesus,”but even that would not have sufficed to make
Jesus knownto him as Christ and God. The Father, who sent Jesus to us,
must also make Jesus knownto eachone of us, or we shall remain in
ignorance of Him. Man cannot by searching find out God, nay, not even God
in Christ Jesus. Petercame to the conclusionthat Jesus was the Son of the
living God, because the Father in heaven made him to see and know that it
must be so. We do not even discoverChrist merely by reading the letter of the
Word of God. God teaches us saving truth through Holy Scripture, and by
our devout meditation thereon, but these operate not of themselves effectually,
but only as He is at the back of them. You might go on hearing, reading, and
thinking, and yet never discern the Lord’s Christ. The true disciple’s
knowledge ofChrist comes not through flesh and blood, but by revelation of
the Spirit, who is sentof the Father. Can you follow me experientially in this?
Has the Father revealedChrist to you by a birth in you? You can never know
the Fathertill you become a son, you can never know the Son till you are
yourself a son. A spiritual faculty must be createdin us, by which we are
enabled to perceive the Son of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,”
and nothing more, and flesh cannot discern spiritual things. “Thatwhich is
born of the Spirit is spirit,” and spirit alone canenter into the spiritual world,
and understand spiritual things. “Ye must be born again.” You must be
begottenagainof the Father, otherwise Jesus Christ will be as little known to
you as the light of the sun is known to dead men. Moreover, the Father must
also purify us. As we have already heard, “the pure in heart shall see God.” It
is only when the Fatherby the Holy Spirit purifies the mental eye, by

cleansing the heart and life, that we are able to understand and perceive the
true nature, work, and offices ofthe Lord Jesus Christ. Regenerationmust be
followedup by sanctificationif we would obtain edification in the things
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of Christ. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord,” he may have the
Lord set before him, but he cannotsee Him without holiness, he may hear
about Jesus, he may read about Jesus, but he cannotsee Him as Christ and
God unless his nature is sanctified. There must be a charactergiven
corresponding in a measure to that of Christ before we can perceive Christ.
Do not misunderstand me, you can believe Christ to be divine, you can believe
Him to be sentof God, you can believe all this as a matter of orthodoxy, and
be lost today, and lostforever, but to know Jesus as the Christ, to know Him
so that you are acquainted with Him even as you are acquainted with a friend,
must be given you of the Spirit of God or you will never attain it. Fleshand
blood cannot revealthis to you. Let me refresh the memories of God’s people.
Have there not been times with you when the Sonof God has been revealedin
you with power? Certainof these occasionshave happened when you were in
trouble, you found no rest till you thought of Jesus, your Lord and God, and
then your peace was like a river. The storm ragedtill you saw Jesus walking
on the waves, and bidding them be still, and then you said, “Truly this is the
Son of God.” Remember when you were burdened with sin—you can never
for getthat! You were crushed to the earth under your load of guilt, and Jesus
was revealedas the Sinbearer, and as you kissedHis pierced feet, and He
spoke pardon to you, you knew that He was God. Had He not said of old,
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and
there is none else”? At times my heart has been so full of joy that I could
hardly have endured more. Jesus has beenheaven within my heart. In
standing alone, contending for the faith, I have enjoyed a sweetcontentin the
sole fellowshipof my Lord. In His presence, anxieties and fears have fled

away, and questions have been solved once for all in a peacefulsense of
infinite love. Son of the Highest, You are revealedto me in Your own light,
and I am glad! This revelation of Christ must be given to eachone of you, or
else you will miss the blessednessto which Simon Peterhad attained. I am
obliged to be brief where I should like to enlarge, but time will not tarry, even
when we are spending it best. May you enjoy a personalrevelation in your
souls by which the divine revelationin this Book shall be made your own
forever. III. Thirdly, THIS KNOWLEDGE HAS ITS OWN PECULIAR
MARKS! It comes not by flesh and blood, but by the teaching of the Father,
and it has characteristics allits own. First, it has this mark—it comes with an
infallible certainty to the heart. If you read of Jesus in books, orhear of Him
from ministers, it is well, but if the Father reveals Him to you, it is infinitely
better, for then no shadow of suspicionrests upon the testimony. The witness
of God cannot be questioned. Men must not wonder that we grow indignant
when the glorious truths concerning our Lord are questioned, for to our
hearts they are not in the region of things to be disputed. There is constructive
blasphemy in discussing those facts concerning the Son of God which the
Father has revealedto us. When such questions do cross our minds, they are
exceedinglypainful to us, and we chase them out as thieves which defile the
temple of the Lord, but when the Fatheris revealing Jesus as the Christ, the
intruders do not come near, they could not. There is no doubting when the
Father is witnessing to the heart. Doubts cannotcome, as fire among stubble
burns up the dry straw, so does the Father’s witness consume questioning.
“Oh,” says one, “but the Fatherhas never spokento me in that way.” I am
sorry for you. Ask Him to do so. I am glad that you confess your want of such
an experience, but it is a very serious want. The Lord must deal with you, His
Spirit must come into contactwith your spirit, there must be an inward
illumination by the Holy Ghost, or else you will never be truly blessed. It was
not only what Peterknew, but the way in which he came to know it, which
made Peterblessed. Truth thus revealedcomes with a force far transcending
the arguments of pure reason. Notwithstanding the precisionof mathematical
demonstrations, I venture to assertthat what the Holy Ghostwrites on the
soul is even more sure to him who receives it. The demonstration of the Spirit
is the

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most certain of demonstrations. To the illuminated mind the witness of the
Father is absolute certainty. Oh for more of it! In the next place, this
knowledge has this peculiar mark, that it is attended with sacredoperations.
When the Father reveals Christ to a man, He at the same time reveals the man
to himself. This discoveryof the sin and ruin of self leads on to humiliation,
contrition, repentance, and renewal. The man is moved to desire holiness, to
long to be like Jesus, and this is a blessedfruit of knowing Jesus. All manner
of holy and blessedwork goes onin the heart at the time when Jesus becomes
known, faith, hope, love, patience, zeal, and joy in the Holy Ghostcome with a
discoveryof the glories of Jesus. He is that living and incorruptible seedwhich
lives and abides forever, and from Him there grows up in the soul all those
holy fruits which are well pleasing unto God. If you have Christ, you have the
new birth, you have the heavenly life, you have holy aspirations, and you are
on the way to the attainment of perfection. There also comes with this
revelation a remarkable restfulness. The mind before flitted about like a bat
at eventide, but now it rests like the dove when she was claspedin Noah’s
hands, and takeninto the ark. Get a revelationof the Lord Jesus Christ in
your soul from the Father’s self, and “the peace ofGod, which passethall
understanding, shall keepthy heart and mind.” I cannot describe that peace,
indeed, I can describe nothing, but must leave you to feel it for yourselves.
We read in the Gospels that, after our Lord had spokento the winds and
waves, “there was a greatcalm.” It was not only “a calm,” but “a greatcalm.”
Did you ever feel that profound serenity, that unbroken rest? Even desire, at
such a time, seems to sleep. You could not wish for more. You remember
nothing grievous, and you foresee nothing alarming. You have all things in
Christ Jesus your Lord, and you feel like singing all the time. This is one of
the marks of the revelationof Christ in the soul, it brings an inward repose
which is the pledge and earnestof the heavenly rest. There is this one more

mark about it, that this conviction of the Godhead and glory of Christ abides
forever. The man who has obtained his religion from other people may have it
takenawayby other people, but he who has receivedit from the Father, holds
it by a tenure which cannot be broken. That which we have learned from the
Father will never be unlearned. Nothing can erase whatthe Holy Spirit has
engraved. Beloved, I beseechyou beware of a homemade religion, cobbled on
your own lapstone. Equally, beware of a religion which is a sortof patchwork,
made up by the kind contributions of Christian friends, and none of it your
own. Beware ofthat oil which you borrow, you must go to them that sell, and
buy for yourselves. No man among you can drink from my pitcher, you must
go to the wellhead, eachone for himself. Jesus stoodand cried, “If any man
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” There is no safe religion in the
world but that which comes through a personalapplication to Jesus, and a
receptionof Him for yourself. In this matter, God Himself must revealJesus
to you, for He Himself says, “No man can come unto me, exceptthe Father
which has sent me draw him.” The Spirit must take of the things of Christ,
and show them to us, or we shall never receive them. Everyone that has been
taught of the Father comes to Jesus, andcomes to Jesus to remain, all short of
that is temporary and delusive. Get the better part by sitting at the feet of
Jesus, and it will never be takenfrom you, but religion which does not come
by a personal revelationis a mere mirage—there is no reality about it, and it
will disappearlike a dream of the night. IV. Lastly, THIS KNOWLEDGE
SECURES PECULIAR PRIVILEGES TO ITS POSSESSOR. Whatsays the
Lord Jesus? “Blessedartthou, Simon, Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not
revealedit unto thee, but my Fatherwhich is in heaven.” How was he blessed?
Simon Peterwas blessed, first, because he had eternal life. How do we know?
Our Saviorsaid, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.” “This is life eternal,” if you
know Jesus as sent of God, you have eternal life. The knowledge ofHim is life
eternal. You read about Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony, and the like, but you
certainly do not know them. You cannot know them. You know about them in
proportion to your scholarship, but you do
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not know them as living persons, oras sent of God to you. They are dead and
gone long ago, and to you they never had an existence or a mission. At this
hour you know something about the Presidentof the United States, but you do
not know him. With regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, you not only know a
greatdeal about Him, but I trust you know HIM. Do you know Jesus
Himself? Have you ever spokento Him? Has He everspokento you? Have
you ever leanedyour head on His bosom? Do you know His heart? Does he
know your heart by your having told your heart to Him? Is He a friend, an
acquaintance, a brother to you? This is life eternal. This kind of knowledge is
revealedto us by the Father. Fleshand blood cannot make us friends of
Christ. The apostles knew Christ after the flesh, yet this was not the cause of
their blessedness, but the Fathergave them a revelationwhich brought
eternal life with it. Again, Peterwas blessedbecause this knowledge was an
evidence that he was a peculiarly favoredman. What a question is that, “Lord
how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” The
world does not know Christ, it cannot know Him. It is to His chosenthat He
reveals Himself, the rest believe not, and therefore see Him not. To His chosen
He comes and speaks withthem as friend with friend. He takes them apart
and looks into their hearts, and hearkens to their sorrows, and in return opens
His heart, and says to eachone of them, “I have loved thee with an everlasting
love.” What a favor to be so instructed of the Father as to know the Son! If
you know Christ, the Fatherforeknew you. “Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” If you know Christ,
your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, you are in the family register
of heaven, and you shall, by and by, be with Him where He is. Well did the
Savior say, “Blessedartthou.” He that knows Christ is in a favored position
whereverhe is. In every condition he is blessed. You are very ill—you are
blessedin being ill. You are prospering in the world—if you know Christ,
your prosperity is blessed. Do you lament that you are going down in the
world? Mourn not, for your adversity is blessed. You are very simple-minded,
and have not much education. Nevermind, you are blessedif you know
Christ, His knowledge is the most excellentof the sciences.Are you

wellinstructed? Rejoice notin all knowledge, but glory in this one thing, that
you know Jesus, and are blessed. Does the world curse you? Fret not. Does the
devil snuff at you? Tremble not, but resisthim. Jesus says you are blessed,
and I know that he whom Christ blesses is blessed, and none shall reverse the
word. I close, desiring that every man among you may know this blessedness
to the full. If you do know it, it will qualify you for honorable service. Peter
was the man, who knew and confessedthe Lord’s Christ as the Son of the
living God, and he was not only blessedhimself, but he was chosento be one
of the first stones ofthe church whose foundation courses were then being
laid. Peter was describedby his Lord as a piece of rock, and on that rock
would the Lord build His church. Peter was to have the keys, because in his
faith in the SaviorGod he alreadypossessedthe key of all Gospeltruth.
Having receivedthe word by a revelationfrom the Father, he became a fit
person to be built into the church at its first founding. He who clings to Christ
for himself is the man to help others. Unless you do first of all know Christ by
the distinct revealing of God, what canyou do? So you would run, would you?
Wait till you are sent! And you are not sent yourself if you do not know Jesus
Christ whom God has sent. So you would deliver a message,wouldyou? Wait
till you know it! And you do not know it unless you have a personalknowledge
of Christ as God’s Messiah, and as the Son of God. I may be speaking to some
young brother who thinks about preaching, or to some sisterwho looks
forward to teaching in the Sunday school, do not set up to teach what you do
not know. If you have never been taught of the Father, wait till you have been.
Pray that you may now be taught of the Lord. He that would teacha trade,
but has never practicedit, will make a foolof himself, and he that would go
and tell of a Christ he has never known is foolish even to think of it.
Volume 34
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Go home, and pray the Fatherto revealHis SonJesus Christ to you. Then,
when you go out to speak, you will speak with confidence. Men, perhaps, will

say, “He is very dogmatic.” But a brave confessionis much needednowadays.
You must be sure of something, or you will teachnothing worth learning. A
man must have a fulcrum, or fixed point, or his lever is useless, ifeverything is
uncertain to you, one thing alone is certain, namely, that you had better let the
matter alone till you have found out something certain. If you have no
foundation for yourself, you cannotbuild up others. Therefore, do, first and
foremost, cry to God, “Lord, reveal thy Son in me!” It is a prayer I would
have you all put up, “O Lord God, the giver of Christ, shine into my heart,
that I may see Your unspeakable gift! By Your Holy Spirit enable me to know
who and what Jesus is, that I may acceptHim as You have proposedHim to
me. You did give Him out of Your bosom, give Him into mine. Enable me to
speak of Him, as of one whose glory I have beheld, whose powerI have felt.”
Do not suppose, my hearers, that you will find out the Lord Christ by your
own wit and wisdom. Young man, do not say, “I will be a student, I will by my
own ability discoverthis Son of man.” Remember that Jesus canonly be seen
by His own light. Only Godheadcan teachus Godhead. Christ is a book in
which no man canread except Christ Himself shall spell the words to him.
Jesus is His own interpreter. He is the door, but He is also the key. He is to be
seen, but He supplies the light in which He is to be seen. Jesus came forth
from God, and the powerto know Jesus also comes forth from God, so that all
comes from God, and unto God let us return it, adoring Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, one God foreverand ever. Amen.
GREG ALLEN
"The Blessed Confession"
Matthew 16:13-17
Theme: The "blessed confession" of the church is that Jesus is "the Christ,
the Son of the living God".
(Delivered Sunday, June 10, 2007 at Bethany Bible Church. Unless otherwise
noted, all Scripturereferences are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James
Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

This morning, we're gatheredtogetherto hear a "confession".
Now that I have your attention; I should tell you that I don't mean a
"confession" in the sense of an admission of guilt. What I'm talking about is a
"confession" in the sense of a formal statement of essentialdoctrinaltruth.
(And let's face it. If I told you at first that we were going to hear "a formal
statementof doctrine", I probably would have lostyour attention right away!
But now that I have it; I promise I'll try to hold it.)
* * * * * * * * * *
I suppose that, in our day, a goodway to scare people off at the beginning of a
sermon is to tell them that we're going to talk about a particular “confession
of faith”. Mostpeople think that only preachers could possibly be interested in
such things.
But I hope you know that it wasn'talways so. It used to be that most
Christians within the protestanttradition were well-taught in one of the great
"confessionoffaith". There have been many greatones. If you were raised
with a Dutch Calvinist background, for example, you would have been taught
the Heidelberg Confession. If you are from a Presbyterian background, you
would have learned the WestminsterConfessionofFaith. Many
Congregationalistslearnedthe Savoy DeclarationofFaith and Order; and
many Baptists learned the Philadelphia ConfessionofFaith. And of course,
for many centuries Christians all around the world recited"the Apostolic
Creed".
But this morning, I ask that we look at the greatest“confession” ofthem all. It
happens to be a very short one. I think you'll have it memorized before our
time this morning is over. But short as it is, it is also a remarkable one. It
would be right to refer to it alone as "the blessedconfession";because it is the
only "confession" thathad the direct endorsementof God's own blessing
placed upon it immediately after it was first uttered.
This confessionis the confessionupon which all others absolutely mustbe
based. In fact, I would go so far as to saythat it is the one confession--above
all others--that it is essentialto believe in order to be saved.
This "blessedconfession"was first uttered by the apostle Peter;and is found
in Matthew 16:13-19. It's there that we read;
When Jesus cameintothe region of Caesarea Philippi, Heasked His
disciples, saying,“Whodo men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”Sothey
said, “Somesay John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiahor
one of the prophets.” He said to them, “Butwho do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered and said,“You arethe Christ, the Son of the living
God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, SimonBar-
Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father
who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this
rock I willbuildMychurch, and the gates of hades shall not prevail
againstit. And I willgiveyou the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whateveryou bind on earth willbebound in heaven, and whateveryou
loose on earth will beloosed in heaven (Matthew 16:13-19).
There's much to be found in this passage--more, in fact, than we candeal with
in just one week. In this passage,we have one of those rare occasions--one of
only two in the New Testament--in which our Savior spoke in during His
earthly ministry of the church that He promised to build. The church that He
shed His own precious blood to redeem is, obviously, a subject that is near and
dear to His heart. And my hope is that, if He so wills, we will reserve some of
our future times togetherto talk about some of the remarkable things He says
in this passageaboutthe church: such things as the solid foundation upon
which the church is built, or the certain security it is given in this world, or
the greatauthority He has granted to it.
This is one of the most crucialpassages in the Gospelof Matthew. It is a
passageto which so much in this Gospelhas been leading to. It is truly one of
the greatpassagesin the Bible. There are vital truths revealedto us by our
Lord in it; and we dare not rush through it.
And so, today, I ask that we just focus in on the important "blessed
confession"ofthe church that it contains--the confessionthat Jesus is "the
Christ, the Son of the living God".
* * * * * * * * * *
Now;this "confession" wasfirst uttered at an important juncture in Jesus'
earthly ministry.
He had been receiving increasing oppositionfrom the religious leaders of the
day. Most recently, they came to Him along the shores of the Sea of Galilee
and "tested" Him; demanding that He give them a "signfrom heaven". Jesus
had been performing many signs that were more than sufficient for anyone
who truly wanted to know the truth about Him. But the Pharisees and
Sadducees were notsatisfied. They wanted to set the terms, and have Him to
prove Himself in accordance withtheir demands--even though they were
clearly not interested in believing in Him at all.
Jesus, ofcourse, refusedto do as the Phariseesand Sadducees demanded. He
told them that the only sign they would receive from Him is "the sign of the

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