The Rock and the Keys SERIES: Intro

"He said unto them, but whom say you that I am? 

And Simon Peter answered and said, 

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

And Jesus answered and said unto him, 

Blessed are you, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. 

And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

Matthew 16:15-19

TWO expressions in this passage, namely, 

--“on this rock I will build my church,” 

--and, “I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” have been the object of a great deal of controversy, and they often seriously trouble those who take no stock in the arguments for papal authority, which the Catholics try to draw from them. 

It is the object of this little study 

--to focus the light of inspiration upon them, 

--that they may be explained, 

1 Corinthians 2:13 ...not in the words which man’s wisdom, teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches."
E.J. Waggoner