Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The Roman sect professes that the rock in this scripture is Peter himself. From George Fox's Doctrine:
"Jesus said to his disciples, 'But whom do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are Christ, the son of the living God;’ and Jesus answered and said, 'You are blessed Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven; and I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church,’ (mark, he said upon this rock, which flesh and blood had not revealed, he does not say upon you Peter), ‘and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.’ Mat 16:13-18. And Jesus showed to his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 'Then Peter took Christ, and began to rebuke him, saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!' Then Christ turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’ Mat 21-23. Now here you may clearly see that Christ does not build his church upon Peter, as a man of flesh and blood, or that which flesh and blood reveals, but upon that rock which flesh and blood had not revealed unto Peter, but the Father who is in heaven. And so I say again, it is clear, that Christ does not build his church upon Peter and his outward name, as a man of flesh and blood, nor upon that which flesh and blood may reveal, or did reveal unto Peter; but he builds his church upon that rock which the Father who is in heaven had revealed to Peter, which was, ‘You are Christ the son of the living God.’ This is the rock and foundation that the true church is built upon, Christ who bruises the serpent's head, and destroys the devil and his works; so that the gates of hell cannot, nor shall not prevail against Christ's church, and him the rock and foundation, which his church is built upon."
The Lord speaks of this same rock of understanding in Luke: For everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and does them, I will show you what he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or founded on a rock. Luke 6:47-48.
Jesus builds his Church on the rock solid foundation of faith by revelation. He builds himself (his church, his temple in your heart) in you on a rock solid foundation of the revelation to you of He who is in you being Jesus Christ; this is the beginning of true faith, the foundation of His church, His temple within your heart . If you go to Him (the word within you), and listen to his words, and then obey them, you have identified the speaker as Christ — just like Peter did in the physical realm, except your identification of Christ is in the spiritual realm within you. And just like Peter, it is your Father in heaven who reveals this truth to you when you hear Christ speak.
2 From George Fox's Doctrine:
"And though Christ blessed Peter in Mat 16:17, after his revelation, yet in the later verse, Mat 16:23, Christ said unto Peter, ‘Get you behind me Satan, you are an offence unto me, for you savor not the things which be of God, but those that be of men.’ So here it is clear, Christ did not build his church upon Peter, nor his outward name Peter, as a man of flesh and blood, nor the revelation of flesh and blood, nor upon Satan, for he bruises Satan the serpent's head; so he was not likely to build his church upon him. Therefore, any who are to succeed Peter, must receive what the Father revealed from heaven, (namely), ‘you are Christ the son of the living God,’ ‘upon this rock will I build my church;’ but when Peter rebuked Christ, saying, ‘Be it far from you Lord; this shall not be unto you,’ (namely, when Christ told him and the rest that he should suffer and be killed, and rise again the third day), Christ called Peter Satan, and told him get him behind him, as before."
So, Peter is still a man of the flesh, his chaffy flesh not yet consumed by the unquenchable fire of the Holy Sprit, which occurred at Pentecost after Jesus was crucified. So first Peter was lauded in idenfifying Christ as the Mesiaah, and then he was rebuked for speaking the words of Satan and not being mindful of the things of God — hardly a state of man that Jesus would build his church upon.
3 For whoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it. To attain salvation is to be free from sin. To attain slavation is to find the new life in God, to put on the incorruptible, to have become an entirely new creature, to have crucified the old man with his lusts and affections on the inward cross of self-denial. But if you try to please God, while holding onto your pleasures, pastimes, lusts, affections, selfish behaviors, etc., you will lose your sould and be banished from heaven. You must lose your fleshly life, to find life in God. From the Voice of the Lord: "The sacrifice of life has been given to the few who would lose their life to save it"... I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service and worship. Rom 12:1.
4 Notice: In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus is recorded as saying that some then standing with him, 2000 years ago, would see his glorious coming with the Kingdom before they died. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus is recorded as saying that all the end times prophesies would be fulfilled before the generation of 2000 years ago died, (click here to see all). These are six attestations, which prove to us that the kingdom has been available to all generations, but only to those who seize the true hope of seeing him while still living on the earth.
When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3). The heart is purified by faith in the operation of the Spirit, who convicts one of sin, and then removes the desire for that sin from one's heart.
