The Rock Of The Church

The Messiah's statement that "upon this rock I will build my church" of Matthew 16:18 (KJV) has been interpreted by some to mean that the "rock" was Peter, thereby, in effect, making Christ's Church the Peter-ian Church, rather than the Christ-ian Church. But it is historically impossible for Christ's Church to have begun only when that statement (see also Through The Gates Of Hell) was made to Peter (see also The Joppa Lessons Of Jonah And Peter). Why? Because, according to the Holy Scriptures, both the foundation Rock, and the Church that was built upon it, existed long before Peter was even born.

The Rock, Who was Jesus Christ, existed at the time of the Exodus (see also Moses Of Midian):

"^10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea [see also Abraham's Seed: From The Nile To The Euphrates]; ^10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ^10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; ^10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:1-4 KJV)

Christ's ("that Rock was Christ") Church also existed at the time of the Exodus i.e. "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness":

"^7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

^7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina [see Paul's Geography Lesson], and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us" (Acts 7:37-38 KJV)

"Upon this Rock I will build My Church"

The Messiah always (in the "Old" or "New" Testament!) taught that it was only through Him that salvation can be accomplished. It has been the task of salvation that the Father sent "the LORD God" to do, in preparation for the Father's coming (Revelation 21:1-4). No one, including all of the people (e.g. Adam and Eve, Moses, Abraham, David, and many others) who saw "the LORD God," ever saw the Father.

"^6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day [see When And Where Your Eternal Life Will Begin and The Eighth Day: What Does It Mean?]. ^6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

^6:46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father." (John 6:44-46 KJV)

The Messiah did the actual work of Creation ("For by him were all things created"), including His Christian Seventh-day Sabbath (see How Many Days Of Creation Were There? and Why Observe The True Sabbath?). He has been the Rock of His Church right from the beginning ("all things were created by him, and for him ... he is the head of the body, the church").

"^1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: ^1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: ^1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: ^1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

^1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: ^1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

^1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence." (Colossians 1:12-18 KJV)

Moses was the first to "publish the name of the LORD" (see also What Language Is Pure?):

"^32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. ^32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

^32:3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. ^32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deuteronomy 32:1-4 KJV)

Moses knew Who the Rock was (if Moses had been alive at the time when the Messiah was born as a man, Moses would have had no problem recognizing Him), and that the Rock had been at work right from the time of Adam.

"^32:6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

^32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. ^32:8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel." (Deuteronomy 32:6-8 KJV)

Amidst his many times of trouble, King David also knew Who the Rock was - in this example specifically referring to His Coming down upon Mount Sinai i.e. David's "the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook ... There went up a smoke" perfectly matches "^19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly" of Exodus 19:18 (KJV).

"^22:2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; ^22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

^22:4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. ^22:5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; ^22:6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; ^22:7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

^22:8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. ^22:9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. ^22:10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. ^22:11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. ^22:12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. ^22:13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. ^22:14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice." (2 Samuel 22:2-14 KJV)

David was called a man after God's own heart ("the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart" 1 Samuel 13:14 KJV) - primarily because of his obedient attitude to the LORD, but also because the very blood being pumped through David's heart contained the DNA that would be inherited by the Messiah when he was born as a mortal human - blood that would be shed on the Cross for the salvation of all of humanity, then ultimately fulfilled at and by the future resurrection (see also The Restoration Of David's Fallen Tabernacle).

"^62:1 To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. ^62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. ^62:3 How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. ^62:4 They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

^62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. ^62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. ^62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. ^62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah." (Psalm 62:1-8 KJV)

"^23:1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

^23:2 The spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. ^23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. ^23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." (2 Samuel 23:1-4 KJV)

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This Day In History, December 17

1399: Mongols under Tamerlane defeated forces of Mahmud Tughluk, Sultan of Delhi, at the Battle of Panipat.

1538: Pope Paul III excommunicated King Henry VIII after He defied Rome and established himself as head of the Church of England. British monarchs remain as head of the Anglican Church right to the present day.

1777: France recognized the independence of the New England colonies after their revolution of 1776 (at the same time however, France hypocritically didn't tolerate independence efforts by any of its own colonies throughout North America, from Louisiana to eastern Canada).

1830: Simon Bolivar died at age 47. Known as the "Liberator," he freed Columbia in 1819 and was elected its president. He then took Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru from the Spain. Upper Peru was renamed Bolivia after him.

1862: General Ulysses Grant (U.S. President 1869-1877) issued "General Order Number 11" expelling all Jews from Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

1903: Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first U.S. flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. A Frenchman, Clement Ader, had flown 13 years earlier near Paris.

1909: King Leopold II of Belgium died at age 44.

1914: Beha-a-din, the Ottoman governor of Jaffa, ordered the immediate expulsion of the 6,000 Russian Jews living in the city. The same day, the police rounded up 700 of them, loaded them on an Italian steamer, and shipped them to Alexandria, Egypt (listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire).

1939: During the Second World War (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars), the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by its crew in Montevideo harbor after sustaining damage from British warships off the Rio de la Plata in South America. Its captain, Hans Langsdorff, later committed suicide.

1967: Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt drowned while swimming off Portsea, near Melbourne.

1971: The India-Pakistan War over East Pakistan (later named Bangladesh) ended when 90,000 Pakistani troops surrendered.

1973: 32 people were killed at the Rome airport when terrorists threw bombs at a Pan Am jet and machine-gunned the terminal building.

1986: The first heart, lung and liver transplant took place, in Cambridge, England.

1991: Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev announced that the Soviet Union would cease to exist, and be replaced by a new commonwealth of independent states.

1997: General Uzi Narkiss died at age 72. Under his command, Israeli troops liberated Jerusalem's Old City during The Six Day War (listen to our Sermon The Balfour Declaration).

2005: U.S. journalist Jack Anderson died at age 83. In the time before today's "politically correct" tyranny turned "reporters" into obedient voices for government/political propaganda, corporate sponsors or special-interest "minorities," Washington-based Anderson was best-known for his fearless investigations and exposure of numerous corrupt politicians and government bureaucrats during the Nixon administration.