In the Torah, if one story follows another, you can be sure that there is a good reason. God is not random. The two stories are connected somehow. Matthew followed this same practice. There appear to be four separate teachings within Matthew 16:13-28, but they are all intimately connected.
Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven.
The source of all revelation is God. Through his Son and Spirit, he reveals himself to us. Yeshua reminded Peter that it is not through his own power or that of any other man that he was able to recognize the Son of God, but through the direct action of God.
Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven.
All authority and power is delegated to man from God. We have power to command spirits to come and go, yet that power is not inherent in us. It has been given to us. It is the power of God’s Spirit moving through us. When we command a spirit here on Earth, it is God’s power from Heaven that binds it to do as it is told or releases it to do as it will.
You are an offense to me, for you are not thinking of the things of God, but the things of men.
The power that we have been given is subject to the will of God. We cannot command demons to attack God’s prophets, and we cannot command God’s prophecies to fail. Peter had power, but he was commanding what he wanted, in opposition to what he already knew God had ordained.
If anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself, and follow me.
In order to be a productive member of God’s kingdom, it is vital for a man to place God’s will above his own. Has God called you to abandon a lucrative career in favor of street ministry? Do you know that hard times will come before you can prepare for them? What of it? If you know God’s will, he has not given you authority to deny it. The authority and power of God is only given to us to further his kingdom, not to make our lives any easier.
God will hear you. Demons will obey you. Know God’s will first, and be sure of your motives.
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