Purkey’s

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Rev. Ronald C. Purkey claims no originality for this Bible study outline.

However, every outline posted on this website has been taught by Rev. Purkey.

To see more Bible study outlines go to page two: More Bible Study Outlines.

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TAKE UP YOUR CROSS

 

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 16:13-27

 

KEY VERSE And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16)

 

INTRODUCTION: The Apostle Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ appears in Mark and Luke, but Matthew is the one who fully develops the Lord’s teaching about His eventual atoning death. The importance of Jesus Christ making it clear, beyond His disciples' first level of "messianic understanding," that He would be the Suffering Servant cannot be underestimated. If Jesus had not done this, the apostles may have assumed He was God's appointed political deliverer and started preparing themselves for military leadership.

 

Even Peter the Apostle did not let go of this idea when he asked Jesus how many swords they should be carrying.

 

Another significant theme in this passage is the high level of authority given to believers in the Lord’s Kingdom. Believers have been given the keys of the Kingdom. What is bound on earth will be bound in heaven. The church's toughest task in this area seems to be how to use this authority in power only in such a way that is honoring to the Lord God.

 

I. WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM? (Matthew 16:13-20)

 

13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  (Matthew 16:13-17)

 

How confused the multitudes were about Jesus! They held Him in high esteem, ranking Him with the great prophets, but they lacked the perception to see Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God. They even compared Jesus with John the Baptist, yet these two were dissimilar in their ministries. But no man can confess Christ apart from the revelation of the Father and the witness of the Holy Spirit. A right confession about Jesus Christ is important to salvation.

 

18And 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. 19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:18-19)

 

Matthew 16:18-19 have been a battleground for centuries, the Romanists claiming from them the office of the Pope and the power of the church to dispense grace; and the Protestants seeing in them something entirely different. We will let the Bible speak for itself as we consider the symbols in these verses.

 

A. The Rock Is Jesus Christ.

 

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 16:18)

 

1. On what rock did Jesus build His church?

 

There are those who say that it was built on Simon Peter. Well, obviously it was not, because there is a play upon words here. In the original Greek it is, “Thou art Petros [a little piece of rock], and upon this petra [bedrock] I will build my church.” There are others who hold that Christ is building His church upon the confession that Simon Peter made. I don’t agree with that at all.

 

2. Who is the Rock?

 

a. The Rock is Christ.

 

The church is built upon Christ. We have Simon Peter’s own explanation of this. In 1 Peter 2:4, referring to Christ, he writes, “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.” And he remembers Isaiah 28:16, “… Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded” (1 Peter 2:6).

 

The church is built upon Christ; He is the foundation. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Christ is the stone, and He says on this rock He will build His church. The church was still future when the Lord made this statement. And please do not tell me there was a church in the Old Testament because the church did not come into existence until after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the sending of the Holy Spirit. There could not have been a church until all of these things had taken place. “I will build my church” -- this was future.

 

b. The “gates of hell” refers to death.

 

The word used for hell is the Greek word hades, the sheol of the Old Testament, which refers to the unseen world and means “death.” The gates of death shall not prevail against Christ’s church. One of these days the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. That shout will be like the voice of an archangel and like a trumpet because the dead in Christ are to be raised. The gates of death shall not prevail against His church.

 

B. The Keys.

 

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: ... (Matthew 16:19a)

 

The keys mentioned here refer to Peter’s stewardship in the kingdom. These are not the keys to the church, but the keys of the kingdom. They are not the keys to death or eternity, for Christ holds those. In the Bible, “keys” stand for authority and stewardship. Peter used these keys when he “opened the door of faith” to the Jews (Acts 2), the Samaritans (Acts 8), and the Gentiles (Acts 10). This is stewardship, not lordship.

 

C. Binding And Loosing.

 

… and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19b)

 

1. This implies applying God’s Word to people.

 

In Matthew 18:18 this is used of church discipline, and the power is given to all the disciples, not Peter alone. In Jesus’ day, the Jews spoke of “binding and loosing” when a rabbi would forbid something or permit something.

 

2. This may be translated more accurately.

 

The more accurate translation is in the Williams translation of the New Testament: “Whatsoever you forbid on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatsoever you permit on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven” (Matthew 16:19, WMS). The church does not tell heaven what to do, but obeys on earth what heaven commands the church to do!

 

Some Important Biblical Teachings

 

Ø     Peter never claimed to be a Pope.

 

Notice that Peter never claimed to be a Pope (see 1 Peter 5:1-4). Christ, not Peter, builds the church.  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 16:18) This is the first mention of “church” in the New Testament.

 

Ø     Salvation does not come by just “knowing” who Jesus is.

 

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. (Matthew 16:20) The Lord made this request because the mere “knowledge” of who Jesus is will not save you. To find salvation you must (1) know who He is, (2) what He did, and (3) accept Him by faith.

 

II. PETER REBUKES JESUS (Matthew 16:21-23)

 

For the first time the Lord Jesus announces to His disciples His death and resurrection. The time was approximately six months before He was actually crucified. Why did He wait so long to make such an important announcement? Obviously, His disciples were not prepared for it, even at this time, judging from their reaction. He repeated five times the fact that He was going to Jerusalem to die (Matthew 17:12; 17:22-23; 20:18-19; 20:28). In spite of this intensive instruction, the disciples failed to grasp the significance of it all until after His resurrection.

 

A. God’s Plan Of Salvation.

 

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (Matthew 16:21)

 

This is what the Lord Jesus did for you and me. This is the gospel: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and raised again. You must know who He is. You must know what He did for you. If you know these two things, and by faith believe and receive them, you are saved. This had never been revealed before except to Nicodemus at the beginning of our Lord’s ministry in John 3:1–16.

 

B. Peter’s Rebuke Of Christ.

 

Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. (Matthew 16:22)

 

In essence Peter said, “You are the Messiah; You are the Son of God. You must not, You cannot go to the cross!” The cross was not in the thinking of the apostles at all, as you can see.

 

C. Satan’s Plan Of Deception.

 

But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Matthew 16:23)

 

1. Satan redefines salvation.

 

It is satanic for anyone to deny the facts of the gospel which are that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead. It is satanic when a man in the pulpit will deny these truths. The substitutionary death of Christ is the only thing that can save us. Later on Peter wrote this: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24). My, what a transformation had taken place in the mind of Peter!

 

2. Satan is a deceiver.

 

Our Lord said to Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Imagine this: Here is Peter by whom the Holy Spirit of God could say that Jesus was the Son of God, and yet he could in the next moment let Satan deceive him!

 

III. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS (Matthew 16:24-27)

 

Day by day, to fight the battle,
Day by day, Thy will to do,
Day by day, the cross to carry,
Seeking only to be true.
-- Fisher

 

A. Put Christ First.

 

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24

 

Many people interpret this verse, “Let him deny himself ice cream” or “Let him deny himself some luxury down here.” What this verse says is “Let him deny himself!” You already know that the hardest person in the world to deny is yourself. To deny myself dessert is hard enough, but to deny myself is difficult indeed. To deny myself is to put self out of the picture and to put Christ in the place of self.

 

“And take up his cross, and follow me.” We are not to take up Christ’s cross but our own cross. There is a cross for you and a cross for me -- that is, if we are going to follow Him.

 

B. Receive Your Reward.

 

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Matthew 16:25-17)

 

The person who will not assume the risks involved in becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ will, in the long run, lose his life eternally. The opposite is also true. At Christ’s second coming all accounts will be settled and everyone will receive his proper reward.

 

Dying To Live

 

The cross in Roman times was designed for death. It had no other use. So what did Jesus mean when He said that anyone who wants to follow Him must "take up his cross daily"? (Luke 9:23). He wasn't saying that we must all be crucified. The "cross" to which He was referring is the act of putting to death our own heart's desires and quietly submitting to God's will.

 

Such dying is denying our need for larger homes, more compliant children, more accommodating mates. It's putting up with misunderstanding, embarrassment, and loss of esteem. It's accepting our unchangeable circumstances. Missionary and poet Amy Carmichael, who knew much about pain and suffering, wrote, "In acceptance lieth peace."

 

Jesus said we must take up our cross daily. We are to rise each morning and cheerfully, bravely shoulder our load, because there is something else that is "daily." It is the continuous, sufficient grace of the One whose strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and who will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He promises that through our dying He will make us more alive than ever before (1 Corinthians 15:53-57).

 

Are you dying to live? – David H. Roper, Our Daily Bread, May 8, 2003

 

CONCLUSION: Jesus Christ rebuked the Apostle Peter and then taught the disciples the importance of the Cross in the life of the believer. “Bearing the cross” means dying to self, bearing Christ’s reproach, and crucifying the world and the flesh as we follow Him in obedience. Simon Peter was to learn that suffering and glory always go together (I Peter 4:12-19, 5:1, 10).

 

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: “In acceptance we find peace.”

 

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REFERENCES: References used in this Bible study are the Scofield Reference Bible, the Believer’s Bible Commentary, David C. Cook Publishers Bible-in-Life, Dr. Cliff Robinson Bible Outlines, Dr. Lee Roberson’s Sermons, KJV Bible Commentary, Our Daily Bread, The Bible Reader’s Companion Ed. 3, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, (Warren) Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines of the New Testament Ed. 4, (Warren) Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines of the Old Testament, With the Word Bible Commentary, Warren Wiersbe’s “Be” Series: Old & New Testaments,  and selected illustrations.

 

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