What Peter saw of Christ was relatively simple and straightforward. In this initial revelation, Peter declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus joyfully responded to Peter’s declaration by saying, “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” Thus it can be seen that, from the beginning, this revelation of Christ and the church has God’s economy in view.
The Lord’s statement that He would build His church was not something of doctrine to Peter. Peter was faithful to the revelation he received. In Peter, that revelation became effective.
I believe that many times we receive the Lord’s speaking and revelation, and we see something. Even when you don’t understand all that is being spoken in a meeting, you still see something. In that environment you are very joyful. But how do we apply what we have seen? Often we go home and turn on the television, and the vision we have received disappears. You may have seen a vision, but you may not have been faithful to the vision that was given to you. The Lord gives us to see something, and then expects that we would be faithful to what He has shown us. We may not have seen that much, but we must learn to be faithful to what we have seen.
When we see the Lord, we will have to answer to Him for what we have received. To those whom much is given, much is expected. We should not think that on that day, we all will fare about the same. No! Some will shine greater, and some will shine less. The Lord will ask us, “How faithful have you been to the revelations you have received.” You may say, “I was in this conference and gave a good testimony, and in this meeting I was quite excited and happy, and upon hearing this word I made a vow,” and so on. But what the Lord will want to know is: Have we lived according to what He has revealed to us? Or have we given in to compromise? Though what Peter saw may have been less than what Paul or John eventually saw, he remained faithful to the vision he received throughout all his life. To do so, he often had to endure hardship and suffering. It is not a small thing to a human being to live uncompromisingly according to what God has shown him.
We should note that, while Peter’s revelation may not have been as profound as those received by Paul and John, but he did receive a special gift. The keys of the kingdom of the heavens were given unto him. Perhaps his glory will not match Paul or John’s in the coming kingdom (though it may), yet neither Paul nor John opened the door of the church life to the Jews and to the Gentiles. That was given to Peter, who used the first key for the Jews on the day of Pentecost, and the second key for the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius. Paul taught us that “star would differ from star” in the coming age (1 Cor. 15:41-42), but I believe that we will all continue to grow in glory as we enjoy the Lord throughout eternity. So eventually we may all grow to the same degree of glory. We will have an unlimited amount of time to know the unlimited Christ and His unlimited supply of riches.
We Should Not Compromise When It Comes To What We Have Seen of Christ
The human life is a life of compromise. When raising children, we are told to “pick your battles.” In other words, learn to compromise. When you are in a class, and the teacher is wrong about something, you learn not to “rock the boat.” We compromise. At work, in order to get along with others, you learn not to raise certain issues. Even in the church life, we may compromise on certain matters. But in the life of faith, there can be no compromise.
Excerpted from Peter’s Application of the Vision He Received from the 2001 conference on the Advancement of the Divine Revelations
