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The book of Matthew often joins things together which apparently have no connection. We see this at the end of chapter fifteen and the beginning of chapter sixteen. Why does Matt. 16:1 say that the Lord Jesus was tempted? What is the connection between this and the end of chapter fifteen? The last thing covered in chapter fifteen is the corporate eating. Four thousand men, apart from women and children, were fed by seven loaves and a few small fishes. It seems that Matt. 16:1-12 has nothing to do with chapter fifteen. However, when we probe into the depth of the doctrine revealed in Matthew, we see that there is a connection.
When it comes to the matter of eating, we must be careful not to eat any leaven. In 16:1-12 what is crucial is not the temptation presented by the Pharisees and Sadducees, but the leaven. Hidden within this temptation of the Lord Jesus, there was leaven. Yeast is a leavening agent, used in making bread. What we see, however, is not the leaven, but the bread. When we eat bread, we may not realize that we are also eating leaven, for leaven is hidden in the bread and thus is invisible. Although no one could see the leaven hidden in the temptation presented by the Pharisees and Sadducees, it was nonetheless concealed within it.
As we have seen, chapter fifteen deals with the matter of eating. From 15:1 through 16:12, Matthew’s record is very much concerned with eating. Eating unclean things may defile us (Matt. 15:1-20). What we need is not the outward washing, but the inward eating. Eating is the way to partake of Christ (Matt. 15:21-28), and eating causes Gentile dogs to become children of God, even proper men. By eating we feed on the unlimited and inexhaustibly rich supply of Christ (Matt. 15:32-39). Matthew 15 concludes with the record of corporate eating. However, we must beware of eating leaven (Matt. 16:5-12), especially the religious leaven hidden within religious people, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the ancient fundamentalists, and the Sadducees were the ancient modernists. I am thankful that the Bible mentions them both. In today’s religion there are also fundamentalists and modernists. The first group, the fundamentalists, have sound, scriptural beliefs. The second group, the Sadducees, deny what the Bible says.
In Matthew 16 Christ was present as bread, but the religious ones had hidden, damaging leaven. To repeat, Christ was the bread, and with the religious people, both the ancient fundamentalists and modernists, there was leaven. In the subtlety of religion, leaven tries to creep into the bread. Remember the parable of the leaven (Matt. 13:33). Christ is the fine flour to feed God’s people for God’s satisfaction. But the woman, the apostate Roman Catholic Church, took leaven and hid it in the fine flour. Apparently leaven makes fine flour easier to take in; actually, it produces corruption. In chapter fifteen we see the bread available not only for Gentile dogs, but also for the men in the wilderness. In chapter sixteen the Lord warned His disciples and seemed to be saying to them, “Take care regarding your eating. It is right to eat Me, but you must beware of religious leaven.” At the Lord’s time there were the Pharisees and Sadducees, and today there still are Pharisees and Sadducees. These religious people, whether they are fundamentalists or modernists, have some secret, hidden leaven.
Now we can see the connection between chapters fifteen and sixteen. We can see the reason Matthew speaks of leaven immediately after the record of corporate eating. Be careful. As you are enjoying the corporate eating, it is easy for leaven to secretly creep in. Eventually, leaven did creep into the church. The church was not very careful about this, and not too long after the day of Pentecost leaven came in. The bread on which the church had been feeding became completely leavened. Thus, the Lord’s word in 16:6 and 11 was not only a warning, but also a prophecy.
By the end of chapter fifteen, the disciples were helped to realize that the Lord Jesus had come to be bread to the children of God. Firstly, the heathen were dirty dogs, but after eating Christ they had been regenerated and caused to become children of God, proper men to enjoy Christ in a corporate way. When all this was made clear to the disciples, they must have been happy. However, then the Lord seemed to say, “It is good to eat Me and to enjoy the corporate eating. But there are religious people who in the name of God, under the cloak of worshipping God, and presumably for the purpose of glorifying God, will bring in leaven. They will be utilized by the enemy to secretly bring in some damaging and corrupting thing. You must beware of this.”
The Lord Jesus came as bread to be taken in by sinners so that they may be regenerated to be the children of God and transformed into the proper men to feed on Christ corporately. Although this is wonderful, there is the danger of religious leaven that comes from religious people. In Christianity religious people are highly respected. But I speak of them in a negative way because I realize that the religious ones always have some leaven. Under the cloak of religion, they bring in certain matters that corrupt and damage the things of God. Therefore, we must learn to beware of leaven as we are enjoying Christ as our heavenly bread.
This leaven always comes from religion, from the Pharisees and Sadducees. Mark 8:15 speaks also of the leaven of Herod. Matthew does not mention this type of leaven because his purpose is to show that in feeding on Christ there is the danger of taking in something religious. Anything religious may have leaven in it. The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees was their teaching (16:12). None of the Pharisees taught in a way that would obviously damage people. If they did this, no one would listen to them. The same was true of the Sadducees. If they did not give people the impression that their teaching would help them, no one would listen to them. The principle is the same today. In today’s Christendom there is teaching upon teaching. Every teaching appears to help people. No one will ever tell you that the teaching he is about to give you may damage you or lead you astray. On the contrary, everyone with a certain teaching pretends that his teaching is good and helpful. This is the reason people like teachings. But we need to realize that leaven may often be concealed under the cloak of religious teachings.
Christ is the bread of heaven sent by God and from God. Leaven, however, is something sent by Satan and from Satan. Thus, God sent bread, and God’s enemy sent leaven. God is endeavoring to put Christ into His people, and the enemy is working to put in leaven as God’s children are taking in Christ. This principle is evident in today’s Catholicism. Take the example of Christmas. The birth of Christ and the incarnation of Christ are the fine flour as food to us. But Christmas is leaven. The birth of Christ is pure. How pure it is that God has been incarnated! But consider how defiled and corrupt is the practice of Christmas today. There are even such things as Christmas dancing parties. What leaven there is in this matter of Christmas! Christmas is so full of leaven that it is difficult to find any fine flour at all.
We may apply this principle to nearly everything in today’s Christendom. For example, there is nothing wrong with being a servant of God. But why should people use the title Reverend? To call yourself Reverend is to bring in leaven. It is also leaven to use denominational names, such as Lutheran and Baptist. All these titles are leaven.
Furthermore, it is pure to sing praise to the Lord, but to have a soloist is to add leaven. Although we enjoy the corporate eating of Jesus, we need to beware of hidden, religious leaven. Even some of the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery may wonder what is wrong with having a soloist in the meeting. Oh, how we must beware of every kind of leaven! It is not easy to discern that leaven is hidden in the bread.
Matthew 16:1 says, “And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and tempting Him asked Him to show them a sign out of heaven.” Those who bring in leaven desire to see signs, miracles. Nothing is more deceitful than miracles. Suppose Antichrist appeared and set up his image in front of you, and the false prophet was able to make this image speak to you. You could easily be deceived by this and say, “This is marvelous. If this were not a miracle, how could he make the image speak?” Leaven always creeps in through the subtlety of miracles. In 16:1-12 the two key words are sign and leaven. The religionists, the Pharisees and Sadducees, came to the Lord Jesus and asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. However, the Lord Jesus refused to show them such a sign. The pure bread, the pure Christ, does not perform signs. As we shall see, He Himself is the unique sign.
In verses 2 and 3 the Lord indicated to the Pharisees and Sadducees that although they knew how to discern the face of heaven, they could not discern the signs of the times. The signs of the times were on the one hand that the generation was evil and adulterous and on the other hand that Christ was to die and be resurrected for that evil generation. The Pharisees and Sadducees could not discern these things.
Verse 4 says, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. And He left them and went away.” Jonah was the prophet who turned from Israel to the Gentiles and was put into the belly of the great fish. After remaining there for three days, he emerged to become a sign to that generation for repentance (Jonah 1:2, 17; 2:2-10). This was a type of Christ, the prophet sent by God to His people (Deut. 18:15, 18), who would turn from Israel to the Gentiles, and who would be buried in the heart of the earth for three days and then be resurrected, becoming a sign to this generation for salvation. The Lord’s word here implies that to that evil and adulterous, Jewish and religious generation, the Lord would do nothing but die and be resurrected as a sign, the greatest sign to them, that they might be saved if they would believe. In speaking of the sign of Jonah, the Lord seemed to be saying, “You Pharisees and Sadducees do not need miracles. You need to discern that this generation is evil and to believe in Me and take Me into you as the crucified and resurrected One. You need to repent as the people of Nineveh did, and you need to believe that I will die for your sins and be resurrected to impart Myself into you as life. This is the sign for this generation. No other sign will be given. I am the sign to you, the sign of the crucified and resurrected Christ. You need to repent and to receive Me into you as your bread.”
At this juncture the Lord brought in the matter of leaven, saying, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (v. 6). As we have pointed out, this leaven is the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (v. 12). The teaching of the Pharisees was hypocritical (23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29), and the teaching of the Sadducees was like today’s modernism, denying the resurrection, angels, and spirits (Acts 23:8). Hence, the teachings of both the Pharisees and Sadducees were impure and evil, and were likened to leaven, which was forbidden to be seen with God’s people (Exo. 13:7).
Again I say that the words sign and leaven are the two crucial words in this section. We should not believe in any miracle that does not have in it the essence of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. I have seen the so-called healing services in the Pentecostal movement. However, to speak truly there was a great deal of leaven there. The essence of the crucifixion of Christ and of the resurrected life of Christ was lacking. Every miracle, every sign, must be based upon the principle of the crucifixion and the resurrection. The sign of Jonah, the sign of the crucified and resurrected Christ, must accompany every genuine miracle. Otherwise, the miracles will simply be a type of leaven. A great many Christians have been leavened by miracles. Today the so-called speaking in tongues has become a type of leaven, and so many of those who speak in tongues have been leavened by this practice. When some come to a meeting, they care only for speaking in tongues, no matter whether or not the tongues are real and genuine. As long as there is the manifestation of “tongues,” they are happy. This shows how leavened they are. They have no heart for the pure bread, for the pure sign with the essence of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. On the contrary, they are leavened. Again I say, beware of every kind of leaven.
In 16:13-20 we come to a section of the Gospel of Matthew concerned with the revelation of Christ and the church. Before we consider the details of this section, we need to consider the connection between it and the foregoing section, verses 1-12.
Verse 13 says that the Lord Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi with His disciples and there asked them, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” It seems that this is not related to the matter of leaven. Caesarea Philippi is in the northern part of the Holy Land, close to the border, at the foot of Mount Hermon, on which the Lord was transfigured (17:1-2). It was far from the holy city with the holy temple, where the atmosphere of the old Jewish religion filled every man’s thought, leaving no room for Christ, the new King. The Lord brought His disciples purposely to such a place with a clear atmosphere that their thought might be released from the effects of the religious surroundings in the holy city and holy temple, and that He might reveal to them something new concerning Himself and the church, which is the pulse of His heavenly kingdom. It was here that the vision concerning Him as the Christ and the Son of the living God came to Peter (vv. 16-17). It was also here that the church was revealed and mentioned for the first time as the means of bringing in the kingdom of the heavens (vv. 18-19).
Several months ago, some other brothers and I visited both Jerusalem and Caesarea Philippi. The religious atmosphere of Jerusalem was foul and terrible. Physically, mentally, and spiritually, the atmosphere was stuffy. We were disgusted with what we saw there. One day we drove to the north, to Caesarea Philippi. How fresh the air was there! We saw a fountain which was one of the three sources of the Jordan River. We lingered there for a while, enjoying our lunch and having a pleasant time. The reason the Lord Jesus brought His disciples to Caesarea Philippi was to clear them of the foggy religious atmosphere of Jerusalem and the Jewish religion. Only after the Lord had brought the disciples to Caesarea Philippi did He begin to ask them questions regarding who He was. Caesarea Philippi was the right place for the Lord Jesus to be revealed to His disciples. It was also the right place for the revelation to be given regarding the church.
However, we still have not seen the connection between these two portions of the Word. The connection is that if we are still under the influence of religious leaven, we shall never be clear about Christ or the church. In order to be clear about Christ and the church, you need to eliminate all leaven. You not only need to get away from the religious center, from the holy city with the holy temple, with the stuffy, foul, atmosphere filled with religious concepts, but you also need to be purged of the religious leaven. If there is still leaven within you, you will be under a veil, and your eyes will not be able to see Christ and the church. To see Christ and the church you need to get away from the religious center and all the so-called holy things, places, and persons, and you need to eliminate every kind of leaven.
Although certain Christians have a heart for God, they still cannot see the church. Neither can they see Christ in a pure and genuine way because they are saturated with religious leaven. Now we can see the reason Matthew placed the first part of chapter sixteen immediately after his account of the corporate eating. In our eating we need to beware of leaven. Moreover, if we would see Christ and the church, we should not have any religious leaven. We need a clear sky and a clear atmosphere; we also need a clear mind and a clear understanding, an understanding not under the influence of religious leaven. If we still hold the concept that there is nothing wrong with Christmas or with the denominations, it is an indication that our understanding is saturated with hidden religious leaven. This leaven creates not an outward fog, but an inward mist. If there is such a mist within us, our vision will be blurred. The inward condition of some saints is like this. They are filled with mist. But every once in a while a little hole appears, and a portion of clear sky can be seen. However, immediately afterward the mist covers the clear spot. Some of these saints may say, “What’s wrong with the title Southern Baptist? A denomination is not a gambling casino, is it?” If you think like this, your vision will be blurred. Questions like these indicate that you still hold on to leavened, religious concepts.
Many of us have been leavened from the time we were born. Throughout our childhood we were constantly under the influence of leaven. Although you knew nothing of Christ, you were familiar with Santa Claus, Christmas stockings, and trees decorated with colored lights. Your thought and feeling were completely leavened. To you, the church was a bungalow with a high tower and bell. This shows that unconsciously and subconsciously you were leavened. Moreover, the more you were educated and trained in school, the more the leaven saturated your being. Therefore, we need to leave the religious center and go far to the north, to the region of Caesarea Philippi, where the sky is clear. Also, we need to say to the Lord inwardly, “Lord Jesus, purify me of every kind of leaven. I don’t want there to be fog without or mist within. I want to be a clear person under a clear sky.”
Again I say that the bread in Christendom is impure; it is leavened. The very Christ preached and taught by today’s religion has been leavened. Consider how much leaven there is in the preaching of Christ and in the teaching regarding the church. The “bread” of the church, that is, the truth concerning the church, has been especially leavened. Recently I was grieved to hear that some Christian preachers have issued a call for Christians to come back to the so-called historic church. Do they not know that the councils of the historic church made many evil decisions, one of which made at the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431) was to sanction the worship of Mary? As you know, the charismatic movement has penetrated the Catholic Church and has even been mixed with the worship of Mary. How can those who have had the charismatic experience tolerate such idolatry? But today some are saying, even over the radio, that there is no idolatry in Catholicism. A certain group in Berkeley is striving to investigate us. I wonder why they do not investigate the Catholic Church. Why do they not go to the Vatican and see the paganism, idolatry, and heresy there? The fact that they investigate us but not the Catholic Church exposes their evil intention, which is to suppress us and to terminate us. In every corner of today’s Christendom there is hidden leaven. Nothing there is pure. The whole of Christendom has been leavened. This is not my word; it is the prophetic word of the Lord Jesus in 13:33, where the Lord said that “the whole was leavened.” We, however, stand against the leaven and we are testifying the pure Jesus. Although this is offensive to many, there is nothing we can do about it. We must testify the pure Christ and stand against all leaven.
In verse 13 the Lord asked His disciples a question: “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” As a man, Christ was a mystery, not only to that generation, but also to people today.
Verse 14 says, “And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” At most, people can only recognize that Christ is the greatest among the prophets. Without heavenly revelation, no one can know that He is the Christ and the Son of the living God (v. 16).
After the Lord asked His disciples to say who they thought He was, Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). The Christ, as the anointed One of God, refers to the Lord’s commission; whereas the Son of the living God, as the second of the Triune God, refers to His person. His commission is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second advent, whereas His person embodies the Father and issues in the Spirit for a full expression of the Triune God.
The living God is in contrast to dead religion. The Lord is the embodiment of the living God, having nothing to do with dead religion.
Verse 17 says, “And Jesus answered and said to him, You are blessed, Simon Bar-jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father Who is in the heavens.” Flesh and blood refer to man, who is composed of flesh and blood. Only the Father knows the Son (11:27); hence, only He can reveal the Son to us.
In verse 18 the Lord said, “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.” The Father’s revelation concerning Christ is just the first half of the great mystery, which is Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32). Hence, the Lord needed also to reveal to Peter the second half, which is concerning the church.
In verse 18 the Lord said, “I will build My church.” The Lord’s building of His church began at the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 41-42). Yet the Lord’s prophecy here has still not been fulfilled, even by the twentieth century. Christendom, composed of the apostate Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations, is not the Lord’s building of His church. This prophecy is fulfilled through the Lord’s recovery, in which the building of the genuine church is accomplished.
The words “My church” indicate that the church is of the Lord, not of any person or thing; it is not like the denominations, which are denominated after some person’s name or according to some thing.
The Lord told Peter that He would build His church upon “this rock.” The words “this rock” refer not only to Christ, but also to this revelation of Christ, which Peter received from the Father. The church is built on this revelation concerning Christ.
Roman Catholicism claims that the rock in verse 18 refers to Peter, whereas most fundamental Christians say that it refers to Christ. Although it is correct to say that the rock denotes Christ, not even this understanding is adequate. The rock here refers not only to Christ, but even the more to the revelation concerning Christ. In this chapter the Father reveals something from the heavens to Peter. This heavenly revelation from the Father is the rock. It is not an insignificant matter that the church is built both upon Christ and upon the revelation concerning Christ. The denominations are not built upon this rock. For example, the Southern Baptist denomination is built upon the revelation of baptism by immersion, not upon the revelation of Christ. In the same principle, the Presbyterian denomination is built upon the doctrine of presbytery. Likewise, the charismatic churches or groups are not built upon this revelation concerning Christ; they are built upon their knowledge of the charismatic things and on their experience of them. Thus, the Foursquare denomination is built upon the revelation of the foursquare gospel, not on the revelation of Christ.
The church that is built upon the revelation concerning Christ is the genuine church, and it is not sectarian. The problem today is that Christians like to form groups or so-called churches according to their concept and viewpoint. But their concept is not the revelation concerning Christ. The church must be built upon “this rock,” that is, upon the revelation of Christ. If we see this, we shall be saved from division. Only one thing is built upon the revelation of Christ, and that is the church. Any group that is built upon doctrines, views, practices, or concepts is not the church built upon the revelation concerning Christ. The revelation concerning Christ is the rock upon which the Lord Jesus is building His church.
The Greek word rendered “Peter” in verse 18 may also be rendered “a stone,” which is the material for God’s building. Like Peter, all the believers need to be transformed into stones for the building of the church (1 Pet. 2:5).
In verse 18 the Lord also said that the gates of Hades would not prevail against His church. The “gates of Hades” refers to Satan’s authority or power of darkness (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18), which cannot prevail against the genuine church built by Christ upon this revelation concerning Him as the rock, with stones such as Peter, a transformed human being. This work of the Lord also indicates that Satan’s power of darkness will attack the church; hence, there is spiritual warfare between Satan’s power, which is his kingdom, and the church, which is God’s kingdom.
When we were in Rome several months ago, we visited Saint Peter’s Cathedral. On the dome there were written some words from Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church upon this rock.” However, the last part of this verse — “And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” — was not written there. Perhaps this indicates that the gates of Hades have totally defeated the Catholic Church. The church in the Lord’s recovery, however, is truly built upon the revelation concerning Christ, and against this church the gates of Hades cannot prevail.
Verse 19 speaks of the kingdom of the heavens. The words “the kingdom of the heavens” here are interchangeably used for the word “church” in the previous verse. This is a strong proof that the genuine church is the kingdom of the heavens in this age. This is confirmed by Romans 14:17, which refers to the proper church life.
In verse 19 the Lord said to Peter, “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” According to history, the keys have been two: Peter used one to open the gate for the Jewish believers to enter the kingdom of the heavens on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38-42); and he used the other to open the gate for the Gentile believers to enter the kingdom of the heavens in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:34-48).
In verse 19 the Lord also said to Peter, “Whatever you bind on the earth shall be what has been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall be what has been loosed in the heavens.” The Gospel of Matthew is concerned with the kingdom of the heavens, which is a matter of authority. The church revealed in this book represents the kingdom to reign. Hence, the authority to bind and to loose is given not only to Peter, the apostle for the church here, but also to the church itself (18:17-18). Whatever the church people bind or loose on earth must be what has been bound or loosed in the heavens already. We can only bind or loose what has already been bound or loosed in the heavens.
Verse 20 says, “Then He charged the disciples that they should tell no one that He is the Christ.” The revelation concerning Christ with His church is always hidden from religious people.
