When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom
do men say that I the Son of man am? And they
said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist:
some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the
prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say
ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. And Jesus answered and said unto him,

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto
thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it (Matthew 16:13-18).

Jesus is not talking about building His Church on
Peter. There have been all kinds of controversies about
this. But that is not what He was talking about. When
Jesus said this He was using two different genders. He
used the masculine gender in one and the feminine
gender in the other. So he couldn’t have been referring
to Peter both times.

He told Peter, “This truth has not come to you
from flesh and blood, but from My Father in heaven.”
What did Peter receive? A revelation from God—a
spiritual revelation. That did not come through his
eyes or his ears or any of his physical senses. It came
from his spirit into his mind.

Jesus said to Peter: “Your physical senses did not
reveal this truth to you. My heavenly Father revealed
it to you. Because of this revelation, you are a rock. You
have a foundation.”

In another incident He told Martha that Mary
sat at His feet, heard His Word and chose that good
thing which nobody could take away from her
(Luke 10:40-42). What was it? The Word of God.

A revelation of God’s Word comes from your
spirit into your consciousness. No human being on
earth can take that away from you. Only you can
turn it loose or ignore it until it becomes inoperative
in your life.

It will lie there dormant until once again it
becomes the foundation for your faith. If you stir it up,
the seed will germinate again. It will come alive.
Jesus told Peter: “You are a rock, because what
you have received is a revelation from God. I will
build My Church on that rock—the foundation of
revelation knowledge—and the gates of hell will
not prevail against it.”

Kenneth Copeland Ministries