Matthew Chapter 16

Matthew 16:1-4 ~ The Truth about Signs and Wonders

"Paul says in II Corinthians 5:7, 'We are those who live by faith, not by sight.' Faith and sight are opposites and there are people who are chasing signs and wonders in order to see things, in order to experience things, stimulations. People today are being taken in by the signs and wonders movement and many will be deceived by a false spirit performing signs."

Matthew 16:5-12 ~ The Danger of the Leaven of False Teaching

"We are deceiving ourselves. Our opinions, convictions, and beliefs do not establish truth. Truth establishes itself. That's why, when we are studying the Bible, we need to study the text, not people's beliefs about what the text says."

Matthew 16:13-16 ~ Who is Jesus?

"God Himself in human form has taken up His rightful position to inherit all things and to be the preeminence in all things. God in human form has taken His rightful position in the social and legal structure of His day, the One who is head of all things. Jesus Christ as the Son of Man inherits everything of the human race. Everybody has to answer to Him. He is the Christ, the Anointing."

Matthew 16:17a ~ The Truth of Christ Cannot Be Understood by Human Ability

"I am not talking about a mystical revelation where people come up with things from out of the clouds. I am talking about revelation of the truth of the text itself and it becoming alive, just like Hebrews 4:12 says. That's not knowledge, that is living."

Matthew 16:17b ~ The Truth of Christ is only Understood Through the Revelation of the Holy Spirit

"The reason why the truth of God must be revealed from heaven is because God has purposely chosen to make the truth a mystery that cannot be understood by human ability. All things are secret with God. It's a mystery. You can't join a religion and find out the truth of God. It must come directly from His Spirit."

Matthew 16:18a ~ Upon this Rock I Will Build My Church

"This is one of the most debated verses in the Bible. Many have just thrown their hands up in the air over a text like this and given their personal opinion, because most pastors and most Bible teachers are too busy to do extensive research to find out what the text is saying. Is there a way to determine exactly what it is saying without getting into personal beliefs and opinions? I say to you there is, and we are going to unpack this for you."

Matthew 16:18b ~ The Meaning of “Church”

"Wherever Christians were gathered together, they used the word 'assembly' not 'church' as we know it today."

Matthew 16:18-20 ~ Binding and Loosing

"Salvation isn't religious, it is spiritual. Literally, the Spirit of Christ comes in and unbinds Satan's control over a person's life and then binds that person to the Spirit of God."

Matthew 16:21-23 ~ The Gospel of the Preservation of the Flesh

"Our view and understanding of success, even as a Christian in this world is a lot different than how the Lord sees success in this world. The Lord sees His success, His mission as coming, suffering, being killed, being raised. Whereas the disciples thought that they were going to go with Him into Jerusalem and just take over, win the victory."

Matthew 16:24 ~ The Cost of Discipleship

"I'm convinced that Christians have the most difficulty, not because Satan is fighting against them, but because they are fighting against God. We are trying to get that flesh off the cross. We are trying to get our life back. I want to be in charge. I want to accomplish the things that I want to accomplish. Jesus said, 'You must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow behind Me."

Matthew 16:25-28 ~ The Consequences of Discipleship

"This is Jesus being upfront with people, telling them, 'This is what it is going to take to be a disciple.' There are consequences for surrendering to Christ, you have to give up your life. You can't just believe and go on your way. You must come behind Him and in order to do that, you must reject yourself."