Revelation Power

All right, well, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Matthew 16 this morning. Matthew 16. And what we’re talking about today is, I believe, something that the Lord is inviting us into, and something that is so transformative and so powerful and so intimate, all at the same time.

We’ve been in a series called Kingdom Come, and we’ve been talking about how it is the Lord’s heart for revival, always — that He wants to establish His kingdom here on earth, and the primary way that He does that is through us. It’s through His church. And so we’ve been talking about the things that He has given us, that when we walk in those things, when we partner with those things, we see His kingdom established everywhere that we go. Amen.

And our primary key scripture has been out of Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, which says, “But seek first” — everybody say, “Seek first” — “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” And how many of you know this is something that needs to be a priority in our lives? If you are a believer in Jesus, His kingdom should take precedence. It should be our priority. It should be what we pursue. It should be what we’re after. It should be our goal and what we look forward to when we talk about our daily life.

And so we’ve been in the series called Kingdom Come, but we need to know what He has given us to see His kingdom established wherever we go. And today we’re going to be talking about revelation power. Revelation power.

Can we just pray and just welcome the Lord in this time? Father, we thank You for Your Word. Lord, we thank You that Your Word is power. Lord, Your Word is not just a bunch of wisdom or things that are mostly true. No, Your Word is eternal. Your Word is power, and Your Word comes straight from Your mouth. And Lord, we ask that You would give us today ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen.

Who do you say that I am?

I had you turn to Matthew chapter 16, and we’re going to start in verse 13 this morning. And many of you have heard this story before. But Matthew 16, starting at verse 13, it says:

“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’”

So notice, Jesus says, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And notice the disciples respond with everything that they’ve heard, right? Maybe they heard it when they were walking through town. Maybe they heard it in the temples or in the teachings. But the disciples respond with the things that they’ve heard. They say, “Well, some say that You’re Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets,” right?

But notice, Jesus comes back and He says, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter pipes up. How many of you are thankful for Peter, right? He likes to make it known what he’s thinking. And what he says is, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now, that’s a profound statement, right? Because up until this point, nobody had identified Him in quite this capacity, or in this way. And here he is. Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Flesh and blood has not revealed this

And notice Jesus’ response in verse 17. He says, “Blessed are you” — who? Peter. He’s saying, “Blessed are you, Peter.” In other words, there were eleven other disciples that were there with Jesus at that moment, and they all had heard the same teachings. They had all seen the different signs, the different wonders, the things that had been said. They were all a part of the same teachings. But notice: Peter had something different. Peter understood something that was a little bit different.

Jesus says, “Blessed are you, for flesh and blood has not revealed this.” Everybody say, “Revealed.” You see, something had been revealed to Peter. He says, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” And so Jesus is saying, “Listen, Peter, you are blessed, because what you just said you didn’t get from anybody else. You didn’t hear about it. You didn’t read it. You didn’t hear it in a sermon. No, what you just said is something so profound, and it wasn’t because you’re so smart, or because you’re so educated, or because you’ve been around the block. No — what you just said is something that has been revealed to you by My Father who is in heaven.”

You know, sometimes in our culture we assume that the information we know is more important than how we get it, right? It doesn’t matter where you get your information. It doesn’t matter from what, or how, or from whom. All that matters is that you are in the know. But I want us to notice something that Jesus is pointing out to us today. He’s saying information alone does not bring revelation. Information alone does not bring revelation. You see, revelation brings transformation.

And so Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” In other words, Jesus was saying to Peter, “Peter, you didn’t get this from a commentary. You’re not just regurgitating things that you’ve heard. You’re not just saying religious things or quoting religious statements that you grew up hearing in the temple or in the church. You’re blessed because you’ve received revelation from heaven.”

You see, how many of you know until we get revelation of the information, we don’t have transformation? It’s so much more than just understanding. It’s so much more than just having the knowledge or going through the motions. Until we have revelation of what God is speaking through His Spirit, we don’t have the transformation that we need to see His kingdom established wherever we go.

You see, when there is revelation on the inside about what God has said, about what He is illuminating on the inside — when we have that kind of revelation, how many of you know it changes things? It changes the way you talk. It changes the way you walk. And there is a different weight. There is a different level of glory. Why? Because you have received something on the inside from heaven.

And this is what Jesus is pointing out. He’s saying this is so important — that we would be people who don’t just hear a bunch of information, who don’t just hear important sermons, that we don’t just go through the motions on Sunday and act like everybody else, but that we would be people who hear the Word of God preached, and when it comes on the inside, we allow His Spirit to speak to us in a way where it becomes alive, where it becomes real, where it causes us to see things differently. And Jesus is saying, “Listen, when you receive that kind of revelation, you will be blessed.” You see, until you get revelation, you don’t have transformation. Amen.

And so here’s Peter, and he says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus says, “You are blessed, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.” In other words, “Peter, if you were just saying what you had heard before, if you were just repeating this truth, it wouldn’t have the same weight. No, this is something that came from the inside, that was given to you from My Father.” How many of you know we can hear this and we can be like, “Well, what’s the difference? He said the same thing. He just said the truth.” But how many of you know there is a difference? There’s a difference when it comes from the inside.

On this rock

So notice what Jesus continues to say in verse 18. He says, “And I also say to you that you are Peter.” Now wait a minute — didn’t Jesus just call him Simon Bar-Jonah? Do you think Jesus forgot his name, and He’s like, “I have — what? Ah, just Peter. I’m just going to call you Peter”? Right? No, no, no, no. How many of you know Jesus was intentional here? That word Peter comes from the Greek Petros, which means solid rock, right? Solid rock. And Jesus is saying, “You are Petros. You are a solid rock.” Why? “Because of the revelation that you have just received. Something has changed on the inside for you because of the revelation that you have received from heaven.”

Let me tell you, when you receive revelation from heaven, how many of you know it makes you solid? It makes you immovable. You can’t go back to the way things were before. Why? “Because something has been revealed to me, and I can’t act or live as though it is not true anymore. It is so true, it is so certain, that I am changed forever.” How many of you know that’s what happens when we receive revelation from heaven? Amen. There’s something that shifts on the inside.

And so Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. And I also say to you, you are Petros, and on this rock” — that word is the same word, petra — in other words, Jesus is saying, “Listen, on this solid, massive, immovable rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

How many of you know when you receive revelation from heaven, it’s on that solid rock of revelation in your life that Jesus will build His church? You want to know what makes believers really different? It’s believers that have heard the truth, that receive it, and it comes alive on the inside. And now when they go out, they can’t go out the same way, because they have received something from heaven that causes them to stand and to approach things differently. When does this happen? When does Jesus build His church? When we are people who receive revelation of His truth. And when do we receive revelation? When we hear the good news and we receive it and we care for it.

Peter on the water

You know, we often view Peter as someone who sticks his foot in his mouth, right? We’ve all heard it. Because, to that point — I mean, Jesus does call Peter Satan at one point: “Get behind Me, Satan,” right? So there are kind of both extremes. But we kind of just assume Peter is this person that just speaks out of turn and sticks his foot in his mouth. But how many of you know Peter was often listed as the first disciple? He was kind of the disciple of all other disciples. And he even did things that were more extraordinary, more supernatural, more supernaturally powerful than anybody else.

How many of you remember when Peter walked on water, right? Peter walked on water. And sometimes we make fun of Peter, because he was starting to sink: “Oh man, see, he didn’t have the faith, and he didn’t believe, and he’s sinking in the water. Look at that — good old Peter.” But how many have ever had it said about you, “You began to sink when you were walking on water”? You know what I’m saying? Peter walked on water.

And when he saw Jesus, all the other disciples were rationalizing with their own understanding: “It must be a ghost,” right? “It has to be a ghost, or some weird thing that’s taking place.” But Peter was the one that said, “Lord, if that’s You, tell me to come out to You.” Let me ask you: Was Peter an idiot, or was he blessed with a revelation that, “No, that’s Jesus, and if He tells me that I can walk on water, then I can walk on water”?

You see, there was a revelation on the inside that Peter had received. And when you receive revelation, it compromises you to the mediocre. And so Peter had this revelation that if Jesus’ life was to be supernatural and extraordinary, his life was to be supernatural and extraordinary too. And so Jesus says, “Come,” and Peter begins to walk on the water, and he does things that nobody else has done before.

You see, it’s the revelation that caused Peter to catch something that the other disciples did not catch. The revelation that Peter had received allowed Peter to do things that the other disciples — who had heard the same teachings, were in the same places, in the same environments — did not do. Why? Because Peter stood on that revelation. The revelation Peter received in his heart took him to a level where he was walking in the supernatural, unlike any of the other disciples.

You see, when you receive revelation, you refuse to just go on with the status quo. Why? Because when you see what Jesus has done for you, you know what Jesus has given to you. You know what belongs to you because of Jesus. And because you know that you know that you know, you can’t go back to the status quo.

Paul: by the revelation of Jesus Christ

And so Peter does all these extraordinary things. In fact, the first twelve chapters of the book of Acts are primarily about Peter, right? But how many of you remember who the second half, approximately, was mostly about? Paul, right? Paul — another person. And I want to see what he says about revelation. In Galatians chapter 1, verse 11, Paul writes this. He says, “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Notice, Paul says, “I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” How many of you know Paul is using almost the same identical language that Jesus used when He was talking to Peter? It’s the same identical language. Paul is saying there is something that we can receive that will take you to a different level of living. Is everybody with me this morning? There is something that you can receive that will take you to a different level of living.

And when you receive revelation, it’s never incognito. It’s never hidden. No, the lights go on on the inside, and you see something different that alters the way that you go about things. How many of you know if you were working on a business deal — and maybe it took weeks and months, and you put so much effort into this deal — how many of you know if you realize in a moment that this is a scam, it changes things, right? You’re seeing things differently, and all of a sudden, because you have seen it differently, it is done, right? It is changing the way that I’m going about things. How many of you know revelation changes things? It causes you to change course, to change the way you go about it. It changes the way that you talk, and it changes the way that you think.

And so the two primary characters in Acts — the two primary people in Acts — were ministering out of revelation, not information. They were ministering out of revelation of Jesus, not just stories about Him. And I think so many of us go out with stories about Jesus. We go out with maybe some good scriptures, with good intentions.

But I think my question for you today is: Have you seen Jesus for yourself? Have you allowed Jesus to reveal Himself to you in a new way recently, where you come to Him through His precious Word and you allow it to be much more than just words? It’s as though you’re looking face to face with Him, and you say, “Jesus, whatever You want to say, would You say it to me? I’m not just going to read my Bible for my check mark, to say that I did my job as a Christian.” We don’t say that, but sometimes that’s just the mode we get in. You know what I mean?

We have good intentions. We want good spiritual disciplines — those are important. But how many of you know there’s so much more that Jesus is making available to us? He’s saying, “I want this Book, I want these words, to be so much more than just a learning opportunity. I want this to be so much more than just information. I want these words to come into your ears, to come into your eyes, and to come into your heart, and I want them to make a home. I want it to become so real that you will never be the same again. And when you receive the revelation of My truth in that way, you will never be the same.” That truth, that information — it’s no longer just head knowledge. No, no. Now it is power. Now it’s something immovable, something that you can stand on.

And so here are these two people in Acts ministering out of revelation, not information: “I know Him. I know Him.” Oh, that we would be people that know Jesus, that know His heart — that it’s not just words, but that when we come, we would see Him face to face and allow Him to do His work.

Revealed to us through His Spirit

How many of you remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 2? Starting in verse 9, he says, “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” Oh, if we could only know the extent of what God has for you. It would blow your mind. In fact, you would probably say, “That couldn’t possibly be,” because it is so wide, it is so deep, it is so far greater than anything we could come up with on our own.

But sometimes we read this scripture and we stop there, and we say, “Ah, that’s just so nice. So well written.” But I want you to notice the next verse. Verse 10 says, “But” — everybody say, “But.” How many of you know there’s more to this? It says, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” Through who? His Spirit. Let me ask you: How does He reveal His truth to us? His Spirit.

You want to know God’s purposes for your life? You want to know His plan? You want to know how He’s going to establish His kingdom in your home, in your family, in your community, wherever you go? It is by the revelation of His truth through His Spirit. Let me tell you, you may not see what God has prepared for you with your physical eyes. You may not hear what God has prepared for you through your physical ears. But God will reveal His plans and purpose and truth for you by His Spirit. Amen. You see, once it’s revealed to your spirit on the inside, it belongs to you.

How many of you know, when you give your life to Jesus, we often use the term “you’re born again,” right? What does that mean? It doesn’t mean that I’m physically reborn. Once you make Jesus the Lord of your life, you don’t revert to being a baby or a child, or you found the Fountain of Youth. No. What it means to be born again is that your spirit — how many of you know there are different parts of you? There’s your body; there’s your emotions, which is your soul; and then there’s the spirit part of you. And our spirit, before we meet Jesus, is dead. But when we make Him the Lord of our lives, our spirit is reborn, and we become born again.

And let me tell you, when you are born again, that spirit that is on the inside, that is now alive in Jesus Christ — it is now one with His Spirit. And they become so close and so tethered that His Spirit begins speaking to your spirit. And how many of you know that is where the power comes? That is where the transformation happens. It’s from the inside out. It doesn’t just come by going through the motions. It doesn’t just come by trying to be a better person, or by trying to do the right things. No — it comes when born-again believers, who have heard the good news, who have received the truth, who have a born-again spirit, allow His Spirit to speak to their spirit. That’s where it comes from.

It says, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” Notice: “For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” How many of you would say, “I know everything there is to know about God”? Good — nobody raised their hands. That was a trick question, right? Nobody should be raising their hands. Why? Because He is limitless. He is endless. We will spend eternity discovering more about Him. But I want you to notice that there are deep things that God has hidden, and the only way to receive them is when we allow our spirit to receive them from His Spirit.

It says the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. “But the natural man” — everybody say, “The natural man” — “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

How many of you know when it says “the natural man,” it’s not just talking about unbelievers? How many of you know there are natural parts to all of us, right? And the big one is our mind. And oftentimes we hear scriptures and we hear things, and maybe we’ve never experienced them. As soon as we hear the information — the good news, or the truth — what does our mind do? It tries to contextualize things based on our experience.

And so you can come to church and we can be talking about healing, and we can read the Word where it says, “For I am the Lord who heals you,” and you might hear that and your mind immediately starts trying to interpret that in a way where it’s like, “Well, He might heal me.” But how many of you know God didn’t say that? He says, “I am the Lord who heals you.” You see, there is a natural part of us that cannot receive the things of God. It says, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them.”

But how many of you are thankful there is another part to us that has been reborn, that is born of God, that has the same nature of God — that your spirit is one with the Lord? And that there is a part of you that doesn’t have to receive the truth of God’s Word based on logic or reasoning? There is a part of you that has been reborn, that can receive the things of God because it has been reborn, because His Spirit is speaking to your spirit. And you now have the capacity to receive the things of God, and that’s when the revelation comes.

You see, there are a lot of people that come to church and they try to receive spiritual things with their natural minds, and they try to grasp the truths of God with their mind. But how many of you know these things are far too great, far too deep, for our natural mind to understand? But there is a part of you that can catch it, and when you catch it in your spirit, it changes everything. How many of you are thankful that not only do we have an eternity, but we have a spirit that is alive, that has been made alive through Jesus Christ? And He works on the inside out. He speaks to us on the inside, and He makes His truth known. He makes His truth real. He makes His truth alive, and it changes everything.

The eyes of your understanding enlightened

I want us to close with this. Look what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 16. Paul says, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you” — everybody say, “To you.” What did Paul receive? Revelation. And notice what Paul’s prayer is: “I’m praying that He would give it to you too.” He says, “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.”

“I do not cease.” This is so important, because it’s not enough to just have information. You’ll just go about life like everybody else. You need to receive from His Spirit the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Why? Because until you get that kind of revelation, nothing has changed. Nothing is really altered, right? You may be born again, but you’re kind of just going through life like everybody else, falling for the same lies and things that everybody else says. But once you get revelation, you get transformed. You move up to where supernatural things and the promises of God are effective in your life.

And then notice what he says in verse 18. He says, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.” How many of you know this is literally the definition of revelation, where the light suddenly turns on on the inside?

You know, I’ve used this example before, and you would think I would learn from this. I don’t know why, but somehow at night I always think I can find my way through my house without the lights turned on, right? We have this thing called Alexa in our home. We have a smart home, and so we say, “Alexa, turn on the lights.” We say, “Alexa, turn off the lights,” and she does it, right? Well, it’s also on a timer, and so at a certain point in the evening, the lights turn off, when everybody’s in bed. And sometimes I just don’t even want to say “Turn on the lights,” right? I assume I can go through my house and make it, and do what I need to do, and get back into my bed. And wouldn’t you know, that’s usually true. But every now and then I’ll be walking through my home, and the lights are out, and all of a sudden my pinky toe finds the corner of a wall, right? And all of a sudden I’m hopping around, and there’s excruciating pain. Why? Because the lights weren’t on. And if I would just turn on the lights, I could navigate. I could get where I need to go, no problem.

And so many believers go through life with the lights turned off. We don’t receive that revelation, that enlightening, where all of a sudden things turn on and we’re like, “There it is. I see it. I don’t have to go about my life the way that I’ve been going about it. I don’t have to keep running into the same things that I’ve been running into.” How many of you know many, many people can spend years, decades of their life, running into the same obstacle? And what we really need is a face-to-face encounter with the Word of God. What we need is a face-to-face encounter with Jesus that will turn on the lights on the inside, that says, “I don’t need to go that direction anymore. He has shown me the path of life, and now I know how to walk. Now I know how to live. Now I know how to think, how to feel, how to respond when people say certain things.” Everybody know what I’m talking about?

There is a revelation of truth that Jesus has for us, and He’s saying, “This is how I build My church: on the solid, immovable rock of revelation of My Word.” How many of you know we need His revelation? We need His truth. Understanding comes when the Holy Spirit brings revelation of His truth to our hearts. Amen. Amen.

Open my eyes

I’m going to invite the worship team to come up, and as they do, I’m going to read this scripture again. This is Paul. He says, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you” — everybody say, “To me” — “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” How many would say, “I want to know Him more. I want to see Him more clearly”?

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know” — and I can add, that you know that you know that you know — “what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.”

How many of you know this is why it’s so important that we read our Bibles every day? And I’m not just saying read our Bible and go through the motions. No, no, no — that we would read our Bibles and allow ourselves to come face to face with Jesus. We need Him. And for us to assume that we can go through our life without Him — what we’re really ultimately saying, and maybe you don’t say it with your words, but you’re saying, “I don’t need Him. I don’t need Him in my life.” But I believe the Lord is inviting us today to be people who would not just put in a bunch of information, or pump in a bunch of sermons, and think we’re becoming more like Him. No — what we really need is face-to-face moments with Him through the revelation of His Word.

You know, something that I pray when I open the Word in the morning is out of Psalm 119, verse 18, where the psalmist says, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” Can we just have that heart, and just commit, and just say, “God, I want to know You”? And “I want to have that heart of not just going through the motions of reading or doing my Christian duties, but that I would have a heart that would be open to receiving the revelation of truth that You have for me.” Because how many of you know you can read His truth, think you understand, and not see what God is saying to you? But He has so much more. You see, when the Lord opens your eyes and says, “This is what I’m saying to you,” it changes everything.

Can we stand together this morning? Let’s stand. We’re going to sing a song here in just a moment, and I’m going to ask that this would be a continued conversation, where we’re saying, “Lord, show me Your face. Show me who You are.” Stir up those promises. Maybe some of you here have received promises, and maybe you’ve forgotten. Lord, we pray that the Lord would stir those things back up, and that the light would turn on on the inside, that we would never be the same — not because of what we can do, or just because — no, no — but because we are people who have received His truth. His Word is power.

And so I’m going to pray this over you — verses 17 through 19 out of Ephesians chapter 1. And I’m just going to ask, if you are here and you’re saying, “I want more of Jesus,” that with our eyes closed and our heads lifted, we would just lift our hands to the Lord this morning, and let’s just receive this from Him.

And I pray over you — every single person under the sound of my voice — that the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power. Oh Lord, the revelation of who You are — that we would see Your power unleashed in our lives, and that others would come to know You, that You would be glorified, Lord, as we walk in this new revelation of who You’ve called us to be. We receive it by faith today, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.