Was Peter the First Pope?

Was Peter the first power? This is a real question about papal primacy of who is, quote-unquote, the chief man in charge of the church. That's the principle there. Now, I've done—I've got some research that I got from the latest ministerial journal, and there's an article there from Mr. Paul Kiefer. So, the material that I'm using is from Houston Search, and that I'm putting into this sermon today. But I thought of it from the angle of that there's been basically two causes, two major causes, of church division. There's two causes. One is doctrine, and the other one are people-related issues, like people are not treated well, and that kind of gets down to usually centered about, I am not treated well, or so-and-so must be the boss, related to something towards that. That gets down to the point of who's in charge, who's in charge. And the case gets even stronger when you merge the two issues, that who's in charge becomes a doctrinal issue. That even becomes even a stronger case.

And that kind of gets leads to the so-called statement of what is God's governmental structure. And so, it's interesting to see that if you take that principle and you look at it from the point of view of the Catholic Church, that has been one of the causes of the vision between the Catholic Church and other groups, like the Eastern Orthodox and other groups, and then Protestants and all that, it's been really around that one thing, that who's the boss, the pope is the boss. And so, a little study into this matter of what is in the Bible seen as far as Peter, he was he really the first pope, or in other words, was he the leader of the New Testament Church or not, it will be an interesting study for us to look into. From a point of the Catholic Church as a matter of interest, there's no meeting out for it. You know, there's no meeting out for it. If the pope is the boss and all the other groups say, no, it's not, there's no meeting out for it. There is half the boss and half not the boss, you know what I mean? There's no meeting, and that is basically a stumbling block in church unity, or as I call it, in the world, in the ecumenical movement, which is basically a word for church unity. So, are non-Catholics going to recognize that the pope is authority, or is the Catholic Church going to recognize, well, it doesn't just have to be the pope. So, the whole issue about papal primacy continues to be basically a stumbling block in that process of unity in the church. Obviously, that is going to be resolved through miracles, as we know, and of the beast power, and things like that, and the false prophet, and then people say, well, therefore, he is a leader, he is a boss, you know, so that would, through the powers of Satan, that would cause certain things to move in a direction that we know it's going to be quite drastic to the whole world. But, from an interesting area of study for us today, needs to determine, was Peter really ever in Rome? Because what the Catholic Church says is, well, Peter was the first pope, he was the bishop of Rome, he was in Rome. So, it will be interesting for us to look at that. Was Peter ever really in Rome? And then, the next link to that statement is that the Catholic Church says that he was the human leader of the New Testament church, and if he, therefore, was a human leader, and he was in Rome, and therefore, he was a bishop of Rome, and that's the church from Rome, it just kind of follows the lead that he is the boss, and the pope is the boss, not perfect. You know, that's their thinking. My approach is not to throw apples at the Catholic Church today by any means, that's not what I'm young. That's not the purpose of the sermon. The purpose is to say, or to look at it, was Peter ever in Rome? And, therefore, was he the human leader of the New Testament church? And, therefore, was the New Testament church, therefore, organized with one physical human being at the top?

Because that is a point that is a point of disunity in the churches, a man being at the top.

So, let us, therefore, look at it from the point of was Peter ever in Rome as the first area of study in the Bible. And we're not going to look at secular or what secular sources say, because those are not reliable. It depends who wrote and who said what. And so, let's look about what the Bible says. What does the Bible say about Peter? Now, what the Catholic Church says is that Peter was in Rome from 41 AD to 66 AD.

So, if you go to Calcs, 41 AD to 66 AD, it's about 25 years. He was there 25 years. And 41 AD was about 10 years after Christ died. So, we believe Christ died 31 AD.

Peter was there 41 AD, according to the Catholic Church, which is 10 years after that, for 25 till 66. So, let's look at that. So, let's look at that from the Bible point of view. In first place, let's start in Galatians. Galatians was a book written, a letter written by Paul, and it was written at approximately 52 AD. So, it was written about 32 AD. And Paul discusses a few times that he met with Peter. And one of them is in Galatians chapter 1 verse 18. So, let's look at Galatians chapter 1 verse 18.

Galatians chapter 1 verse 18. He says, Then after three years I went to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained within 15 days. So, he's talking about Paul going to see Peter after three years after he received the revelation from Jesus Christ. Okay. And then he says, And I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.

And when we read this in the context, we can see that this was about 14 years before the Jerusalem Conference. In other words, Paul went to see Peter about the year about 35 AD. So, this was, okay, about four years after Christ died, which means maybe a year later, Paul was called. And then after Christ died, Paul was called. He was extracted for about three years. And then after that, he went to Jerusalem to see Peter. So, now we can see Paul going to Jerusalem to see Peter. So, at this time, around about 35 AD, Peter was in Rome. Okay. So, let's go a little bit further in Galatians 2 verse 11. In Galatians 2 verse 11, it says, Now when Peter had come to Antioch, where was this? This was after the Jerusalem Conference. So, what we want to look is, we want to look a little bit about the Jerusalem Conference. And then we're going to look at this section. So, think about the Jerusalem Conference. When was the Jerusalem Conference? The Jerusalem Conference was in 49 AD, Acts 15, the Jerusalem Conference. What was the Jerusalem Conference about? Jerusalem Conference was about, as you may well remember, was that Paul had been given the job to start going to different areas. And you can read in Acts. Paul went out, had the first missionary trip, and he went to the areas of southern Turkey. And then he had the first missionary trip, and then he came back to Antioch. And then, what happened? People were very excited about what was happening with the Gentiles. But some people came to Antioch, giving Paul a hard time, saying, hey, these Gentiles have to be circumcised. They have to be circumcised. And so, they became a big argument with that, and they could not make a decision. So, they decided to go to Jerusalem to make a decision about that circumcision issue. So, keep a finger there in the relationship. Now, let's go to Acts 15 very briefly. Acts 15 very briefly.

Acts 15.

We'll start in verse 2. Acts 15 verse 2. It says, well, in fact, let's start from verse 1. And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you're circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. In other words, you have to be circumcised. And Paul and Barnabas, therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, so there was a big argument. I mean, there was not a small argument. It was a big argument.

And they said, no, the Gentiles don't have to be circumcised. So, circumcision was for the Jews, for the Israelites, not for the Gentiles. So, they determined, and some of them should go to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders. Now, this was about 49 AD. And they said, they need to go to Jerusalem to the leaders. They then got to Jerusalem to talk to Peter. Because if Peter was the boss, the chief of them, they would have gone to Peter. Now, he says to the apostles and the elders about this question. And so, they went. And so, you know, there was an eating.

Think about it like a general conference of elders, because it wasn't just the apostles, it was the apostles and elders. So, it was a conference of elders. And they all met and talked about it. And in this conference, one person speaks, then another person speaks, then another person speaks, and then the chairman speaks and makes a decision. Think about it. It's kind of, okay, it's open to the floor, different people speak, and then the chairman makes a decision.

And you can see, yeah, in Acts 15, we read in verse 6, and the apostles and the elders came together to this conference to consider this matter. And when they had been matched, this period, Peter rose up. So, there was a lot of talk, and then one person spoke, was Peter. Now, yeah, you have a conference of elders, and different elders speak. Peter, one of the apostles spoke, and he said, he's the same. And then, we read a little bit further that Peter spoke and so did others.

So did Paul and Barnabas gave their story. And then later on, we see James do that. He probably was the chairman of the conference, and he said, listen, this is what I suggest we do. And then they all agreed. You see, the main idea that the final solution was suggested by James, and they all agreed. It was not Peter as the leader, as the Catholic Church says, the leader of New Testament Church, but it was the conference of elders there that made a decision, and they amongst themselves supported that decision, which was, let's put it this way, proposed by James.

So as the chairman, he said, okay, let me then propose the following. It's like when we have meetings today, the different angle, and then finally, the chairman says, all right, this gets proposed, anybody supported. And then, bang, it goes along with it. So that's what it was. So we had YAH. Peter was in Jerusalem in 49 AD. So the Catholics say, Peter was in Rome between 41 and 66, but YAH, from the Bible, we can see in 49 AD, Peter was in Jerusalem, and he did not take the position as the head of the church there.

He just took the position as one of the apostles and elders responsibility. And so, continue back where we were. After this conference, Paul went back to Antioch, and would have the responsibility of now going and traveling, tell all the different church areas, going to the second missionary trip, and tell them about this letter and this decision, because the letter was sent, and then he'll go out and tell them, and back it up, explain to them in more detail.

At that time, that's where we go back to Galatians 2, verse 11. At that time, before Peter had gone, but he was still in Antioch, then Paul was Antioch, and then Peter came to visit Paul in Antioch. So there we are, roundabout, roundabout, year 50, a little bit after the conference, so either late 49 or the beginning of year 30, before Paul's second missionary trip, and there is Peter in Antioch.

He's not in Rome. He is in Antioch. And there we have a situation where Peter did something, and Paul corrected him. Paul corrected him, says, now you're not acting yourself correctly in this issue. You can read there in that section, you know, you're not, you're not, you're acting as an hypocrite. He even uses the word hypocrite.

So he corrected Peter. So we can see that Peter was not in Jerusalem there in AD 50. Now, we know because part of Peter's mission was to go to the Israelites, and Paul's mission was to go to the Gentiles. That's what we read right here in this section. If you just gloss your eyes to verse 7 of that same chapter, it says, now, when they saw that the gospel to the uncircumcised had been committed to me, that's to Paul, and the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter. For he worked effectively in Peter for the fossil ship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me towards the Gentiles. So we can see that Paul had a responsibility to go to the Gentiles, and Peter had a responsibility to go to the Jews. Now, Rome was a Gentile congregation, basically a Gentile congregation, so it does not make sense from that point of view that Peter would have gone to Rome. So from all those points so far, we don't see Peter in Rome. We don't see it making sense for Peter to go to Rome, because it was not, quote-unquote, his area of responsibility. It's like saying, you know, so-and-so goes and look after Germany, and so-and-so goes and look after, for instance, the Philippines. And it don't make sense to them to go to a different area, you know, they've got enough in their plate to do their own job. But now, let's look a little bit further about when Paul wrote to the Romans. So we're going to go and look at the letter of Romans, when Paul wrote to the Romans. Now, Paul wrote to the Romans at about at the end of his third missionary trip, and that was around about 57 AD. So Paul wrote to the Romans in 57 AD, about that. And that was already quite a few years between this period, between 41 and 66. It was 57, the year 57, so it was already like some man walked about. 15, 16, 17 years that Peter should have been in Rome already, quite a period of time. And so let's look at Romans chapter 1 verse 7. Romans chapter 1 verse 7, and it says, yeah, to all that are in Rome, beloved to God, all signs, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul is clearly writing to the Romans. And at the end of this letter to the Romans, because if I see the sign, he wishes he could go and see them, but he hasn't had an opportunity yet to go and see them. But at the end of this letter of Romans, because it was to the Romans, look at in chapter 16. In chapter 16, at the end of this letter to the Romans, between about verses 3 to 16, at the end of this letter to the Romans, which was in the year 57 AD, Paul writes to the Romans, and at the end of the letter says, give greetings to Priscilla and a killer. And likewise, verse 5, that was verse 3, verse 5, likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epictetus, who is the first roots of a crier to Christ. Greet Mary, greet Andriacinus and Junia, and goes on. Greet verse 8, Ampheus, and verse 9, greet so and so, and greet so and so. He basically greets about 27 people.

But it is not mentioned here.

It is not Greek Peter. Now, if he is the apostle, I mean the bishop of Rome, he is the leader. That's a little bit of a slacking face, to put it mildly. So, and not only that, wouldn't the other people feel the readers that he is writing to, would they feel that's an insight that he's actually neglecting their leader? So, from this evidence, we can see that Paul clearly indicates that Peter was nothing wrong.

Now, when did Paul actually go to Rome? Now, after his third journey, his third missionary trip, he wanted to go to Jerusalem, as you are now. When he went to Jerusalem, he was made a prisoner, to remember. Then, he, they wanted to really basically kill him, and then he appealed to Caesar. And then, he was put in jail, and he was sent all the way to Rome.

Let's call it his fourth missionary trip. It's not really a very nice missionary trip when he was a prisoner. But anyway, that's when he first went to Rome. And that was about in the year 60, 18, the year 60. So, between 41 and 66, that's when the Catholics say Peter should have been in Rome, and he went there in the year 60. So, just quite a few years, like, about, Peter would have been there for nearly about 20 years or so. So, he went to Rome.

When we read about that, we read about that in Acts 28, verses 16 through 20. Acts 28, Acts 28, verse 16 through 20.

And that's a little bit technical, all these things, but I'm just trying to show you a little bit of a historical flow to show that all of these times Peter was not in Rome. And so, this now is a time when Paul actually arrives in Rome, and starting from verse 16, it says, Now when he came, we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. So, he was basically in house arrest. And it came to pass after three days. So, he wasn't there very long, just three days. Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So, as soon as he arrived to Rome, he called the leadership of the Jewish community, the local Jewish community leadership. He called them. And when they had come together, Paul said to them, men in brethren, though I have done nothing against our people, the Jewish people, or the customs of our fathers, and this was our traditions, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, wanting to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death. But when the Jews spoke against them, you know, was they wanted to kill him. I was compelled to appeal to Caesar. Not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. No, he's got nothing to accuse the Jewish people. For this reason, therefore, I have called you. For this reason, I called you. You, the local Jewish community, the leaders, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel, I'm bound with this chain. The hope of Israel, that's Christ. That's our hope. Because Christ, I believe that Christ art for us, and that's our hope, and that's why I mean this chain. Then they said to him, verse 21, they said to him, we neither receive letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. We know nothing about you, Paul. Who are you? I don't, we don't know anything. But we desire to hear from you what you think. But we want to hear your story for concerning the sect, quote unquote, you know, as the Christians, the sect, the Christians. For we know that it is spoken against everywhere. We know it in other areas, it's spoken badly of. So I want to know more about what's this Christian said, because we know nothing about it. Now, if Peter had been there for 20 years, why didn't I talk to Peter?

Why didn't I talk to Peter? Peter had been there for 20 years. So you can see that from this evidence, clearly Peter was not there. Otherwise, they wouldn't talk to Peter. He was the leader. The leader of the church, quote unquote. So as they understand. So from this, we can clearly see from Paul's example, and some of Paul's writings and the writings he adds, that Peter was nothing wrong.

Now, what was Peter's statement about this? Yeah, what did Peter say? Let's look at the first letter of Peter. The first letter of Peter, that's the first in person of Peter, which was written about 66 AD. Now, 66 AD is interesting because it's the time when the Catholic Church says that was the last year that Peter was in Rome. He was there from 41 to 66. So this was written right at the end of that time that he should have been in Rome, according to the Catholic Church.

The year 66 AD is also another interesting year for you to keep in mind, which was the year that Paul died. That was the year, in other words, of Paul's martyrdom. It was martyred and he died in the year 66. So let's read in that book, firstly read, in chapter 5, verse 13. Yeah, at the end of this book, he's sending greetings to the brethren that he's writing in first Peter because he's writing to the brethren, to the church. And in verse 13, he's writing about, he is there with the church and the brethren there. And she says, she, who is in Babylon, he led together with you, greets you. And it was the brethren, yeah, that all yeah, in Babylon, greet you. And it was Peter was in Babylon, writing to the brethren this letter of Peter. Now why was Peter in Babylon? Now, do you remember when in the history of the nation of the north and the nation of south going to captivity, the nation of the north was Israel, they went to captivity to Assyria. And the nation of the south, about 130 years later, went to captivity to where? To Babylon. To Babylon. The Jews, we said, captive to Babylon. Then, some 70 years later or so, they came back to the area where is Palestine. Did they all come back? Well, if you read Israel and Amiah and those sections, very few actually came back. Which means a great majority of the Jews stayed in Babylon. Peter was apostle to the Israelites, to the Jews. So he went to where there was a large Jewish community in Babylon. And therefore he writes, she, the church, the woman was the church, that he's in Babylon, greet you. So Peter was in Babylon and writing to the brethren from Babylon in the year 66. He was not in Rome. Now, some people say, oh no, that's Babylon the great which is Rome. No, that's that you really stretching it. It's not he was in Babylon. So so from we from looking at a number of points in the Bible, we've seen that the Bible clearly discards the idea that Peter was ever in Rome. So that leads to another question which so-called Peter was in Rome. And you can you know the Simon Simon Peter and there was another Simon, Simon Mayers, that went to Rome and well that's a different story which is not today's sermon. But anyway, Peter was not in Rome. The Catholic statement, he said Peter was in Rome and because he was in Rome and because he was the leader of the church. And it was just the bishop of Rome and he was the leader of the New Testament church. So now let's look at the other part of this question because we have already seen from the Bible that Peter was not in Rome. Let's look at the other part of the question to see whether Peter was really the leader of the church.

And based on that, they say therefore Peter was the first pope. Was Peter the leader of the church? Did Jesus appoint Peter as the leader of the church? Now which scripture do the Catholics use to prove that point? Think to yourself, which one would you think?

Okay, it's Matthew 16-18. So let's look at it. It's Matthew 16-18. The Catholics use this scripture to prove that Peter is the leader of the church.

Matthew 16-18 says, and I say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I'll build my church. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Therefore you are Peter and on this rock, which is Peter, quote unquote, that's what they say, I'll build the church. Is that what Jesus says? Is that what Matthew 16-18 says? Yes. Did Jesus institute a New Testament church in which he has a physical one man at the top? That really is a question in the New Testament. So the first way to actually study the Bible from Scripture research, one of the very important ways is to read the Scripture in its context. You've heard that before? Read the context! You know, it's like I said many things today, and if you just take one of my sentences today without hearing the beginning or hearing the end, you can conclude that I said something else completely different. For instance, I said, the Catholics say, Peter was the leader of the New Testament church. That's what the Catholics say. If you just cut off the portions of my sentence that says the Catholics say, if you just cite the sentence that says, Peter was the leader of the New Testament church, and George said it, then yeah, I used those words, but that was not in the context. The context said, the Catholics say that. Do you follow what I mean? You better read the context to see exactly what I'm talking about. Now, the context of Matthew 16 in verse section of 18 starts in verse 13. In fact, your Bible may have a little dividing section there that shows that that there is like a section beginning. And it says in verse 13, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked, He's the disciple saying, who do men say that I, the son of man, have? Who do people think that I have? Hey, I want to know what is the great vine, you know? What is the rumor out there in the street? What are people saying that I am? Who do they say I am? So they said, well, some say that you are John the Baptist, some say that you're Elijah, and others say that you're Jeremiah, or others even say that you're one of the prophets. Okay, that's what. Now, I want to ask you further. Jesus said, but what do you say? You, you're the disciples. What do you think that I am? Who do you think I am? And Simon Peter, and we know Simon Peter had a personality, a more dominant, more outgoing, more outspoken personality amongst the others. So Simon Peter said, you are Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to me, blessed are you, Simon Bar-John, 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'll build my church. Now, look at what Jesus is doing. Peter just gave his icing, confession of faith. He just declared his fight, his absolute trust, that Jesus is the cross, the son of God. That was his confession of faith. And now Jesus replies to his confession of faith and says, let me tell you a little bit more who I am. You people have said who you are, who do you think I am? Let me tell you a little bit more about me. Let me back up your confession of faith. And he says, he says, and I say to you that you are Peter. The Greek word for Peter is pepilos, which means small stumps, little rocks, little cobbled stumps, little stumps that you can pick up. And on this rock, the Greek word for it is petra, which is a boulder, a big rock, a boulder.

I'll build my church. You know what he's saying? Think about it, how Jesus may have just articulated. You know, he's, you probably see that me being Gentile, I use a lot of my hands, you know. But, but imagine what Jesus may have done. You say, you Peter, are a little rock, but I am. You Peter, you are Peter, but upon this boulder, I'll build my church. Can you see the top of hand movements that Christ may have made? So, so that, that, that helps us understand a little bit more that the church is built on the rock which is Christ.

Now, did Peter understand that? Did he grasp that? Or did Peter think, oh, I, Peter, am the rock? Or did Peter understand, no, Christ is a rock and I'm just one of the building staff.

What was Peter's understanding of this? Well, let's look at the time immediately after Christ's death. Peter is talking to the Sanhedrin, which is the Jewish community on the year 31 AD, that is, soon after Christ's death on the year that Christ died. Peter is talking to the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. That's just soon after the day of Pentecost. Did you know Pentecost and Acts 3?

Acts 2 and 3. So then, chapter 4.

And we're going to read a section, yeah, when he was addressing the Sanhedrin. And we're going to read, start in verse 8.

Acts 4 verse 8. Then Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders of Israel. Here, words, you, Sanhedrin, you are the rulers, the main ruling body. If we this day are judged for a good deed, done to a helpless man, by what means he was made well. He was being judged because we healed this person. And verse 10. Let it be known to you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, you crucified, in the words, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you, whole, he was his yield. This is the stone, you know, this man, Jesus Christ. This is the stone which was rejected by the boulders. You know, you were the boulders, you rejected it, which was become the chief corner stone. Peter recognized that Jesus Christ is the stone that was rejected by the boulders, is the boulder, the cornerstone, whereupon all the other founding stones are built upon. Christ is so, it continues, nor is there any salvation, nor is there salvation in any other, for there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, but only by Christ in the world. So Peter recognized that Jesus Christ was the rock, was the cornerstone, Peter never thought that he was that cornerstone. He'd always recognized that Christ was the first. In fact, later, about 35 years later, in Peter's first epistle that we read a moment ago, year 66 AD, which now is 35 years later from this event, look at what Peter said in first Peter chapter 2. First Peter chapter 2. First Peter chapter 2. And we're going to read in verse 4 through 8. Coming to mean as a living stone rejected indeed by man, but chosen by God and precious, you are as living stones of being bulked up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the structure. Behold, our lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone elect, precious, and he who believes on him, on that chief cornerstone, which is Christ, who by now means we put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe he's precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the Lord has rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. You see that many years later Peter still adhered to the belief. And of course, we all adhere to that belief that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. He is the rock upon which the church is built. All right. So, by looking at the context of Matthew 16 verse 18, we can see that the rock here in Matthew 16, 18 is Christ. In the context, look at what Peter understood, the rock is Christ. But another rule of Bible study is to consider other verses on the same subject. And so, let's look at a few other verses on the same subject to back this up. And the first one that's looked at is in Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. Luke 22 verse 24 through 27.

Luke 22 verse 24 through 27. Now, there wasn't a spilt among them as to which of them should be the greatest. Now, this was at the Passover. At the Passover. And who's the greatest? Now, couldn't Jesus have said, hey, I've just made Peter the chief apostle.

I mean, Peter is the greatest. Amongst you, I'm made in the chief. No, he didn't say that, but he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercised worship over them, and those who exercised authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you, on the contrary, he was greatest among you, making me as the weaker as a young available and you governs as you serves. For who is greater, he will sit at the table or you serve. Is it not he who sits at the table yet? I am among you as the one who serves. You can see that they were arguing about who is the greatest. Now, the word greatest is in the context of who is in authority, as higher authority. Think about how Christ, for instance, used that same word when he said, the father is greater than I. Remember, the father is greater than I. There was father is greater authority than what I am. So he's talking about this area of authority. So Christ clearly, when he was talking about who is the greatest, he put them all on the same level, all the apostles in the same level. Let's look at another scripture about Jesus Christ being the foundation. And that is in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

So we're just looking at different scriptures that support that Christ is the chief cornerstone. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 9 through 11.

For we are God's fellow workers, and you are God's field, you are God's bulk. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid a foundation and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For nowhere the foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the foundation, is the chief cornerstone. The apostles are the other founding stones, the apostles and the prophets. And then we all are other stones, both into this building to form out this building, which is the church of God or the body of the church.

Then look a little bit further, still in 1 Corinthians, but look in chapter 10, verse 1 through 4. Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of the same spiritual rock that followed them. That and that rock was Christ. The rock is Christ. He is the cornerstone. He even accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness.

Another scripture that backs it up is in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19 through 21. Ephesians 2, 19 through 21. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens, when he's talking to the Gentiles here, with the saints and members of the house of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. So Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. The apostles and the prophets are the rest of the foundation, and then we're built on top of them, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. You know you are also being built together for the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. So we've been built together, and Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone.

Now, we've clearly seen them from the scriptures. First, that Peter was not in the realm. Secondly, we've also seen that Peter is not the rock based on that scripture. He's not the rock. He's not the rock. Christ is the rock. Now, how do they work together? How do the apostles work together?

Did Peter have the preeminence over the other apostles?

Let's look at Galatians 2.6-9. We looked at that a little earlier, and let's now look at it from another point of view. Galatians 2.6-9. Galatians 2.6-9 is talking about, he says, but from those who seem to be something, whatever they are, it makes no difference to me. God shows a personal favoritism to no man. For those who seem to be something added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that the gospel of the circumcision had been committed to me, as the gospel to the circumcision was committed to Peter. For he who works effectively in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision also worked effectively in me towards the Gentiles. In other words, Paul's office, as far as the responsibility had to do as far as preaching the gospel, was on par to Peter. That's what he was saying. My office was on par. So there's another question of who's on top. His office was on par to Peter. Paul did not necessarily recognize Peter as the chief apostle of the hour, but as another pillar. So let's see how the apostles worked together. And you know, even in the church today, you've got somebody that is responsible for one area, another person that is responsible for another area, another person that is responsible for the youth camps, another person who's responsible for beyond today programs, another person. You know, there's different positions that they've given certain areas of responsibility. But let's see how they work together. And we're going to look at that in Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6.

Acts chapter 6.

And we're going to start reading in verse 1 through verse 5. Now, in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there was a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, those that were of the elite background, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the 12th. Why the 12th? Why not Peter? Peter was the leader. He was the one who should have summoned. But the 12th, I think about the group of the 12th, summoned about the truth of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve God. Therefore seek out from among you seven men of good reputation for the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint out of this presence. For we will give ourselves continuing to prayer and to the ministry of the world. And the same pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and not the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Proctorus, and a number of them. And they set them, and that whom they set before the apostles. Why not before Peter? If Peter was a leader amongst them. We set them before the apostles. So we can see that they the 12th, not just Peter, summoned a multitude to select victims. And there it is. You can see that it was not one man making decisions. It was a team, a teamwork. Look at also in chapter 8, Acts chapter 8, Acts chapter 8 verse 14.

Now when the apostles, from where Jerusalem, heard that Samalia had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. This is the time when Samalia heard the word of God, and they sent Peter. Well, if Peter was the boss, you would have sent himself. No, but the 12th sent Peter. So the 12th was above Peter. The group, the team, the group of 12th.

Peter was sent by his colleagues. So we can see that it was in subjection to his colleagues. Now, go a bit further to Acts 15. We went through that a little bit earlier. That's the Jerusalem Conference. And in Acts 15, yeah, in the Jerusalem Conference, we see in Acts 15 verse 2, there was this argument we read that, and it says they should go to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders, not to Peter if he was the boss, quote unquote, they would have gone to Peter. Nobody went to the apostles and elders. So they did not ask Peter for a decision. And you can see that Peter spoke as we saw there in verse 7. And we can see in verse 8, yeah, so Peter spoke. And then we can see that others spoke and Paul and others. And then in verse 12, when all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul. So Barnabas and Paul also spoke. And then in verse 13, James gave the proposal of what to do. So they did not ask Peter for a decision. If he was a leader, why didn't they ask Peter for the decision? They went to the apostles, and when they discussed it, James, which maybe was a chairman, made that that put that proposal, and they all agreed to it. But it wasn't, the question may still be, but it wasn't Peter, the leader amongst it. Now Peter did have a dominant personality. There's not questions about personality of leadership. And if you read in chapter Matthew 10 verse 2, in Matthew 10 verse 2, when the apostles were first sent out in the first training mission, that's called a pathway, by Jesus, he was named first. Matthew 10 verse 2. Matthew 10 verse 2.

There's the naming of the 12 apostles. Now the names of the 12 apostles are these, first Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James, etc. etc. So he is called the first as being a dominant personality, who's named first. But that does not mean that he received instructions from, that he gave instructions to the other apostles. No, he didn't. They discussed, and he supported his apostles. Look at Luke 22 verse 31 and 32.

This is after when they had that argument, which we read a little earlier on, on the day of Passover, when they had their argument about who's going to be the boss, and Christ finished telling them, you serve, serve one another. And then Christ turned to Peter in verse 31 and said, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may serve you as wheat. Satan wanted to use him because he was a dominant personality.

And verse 32, Christ says, but I have prayed for you, that your fight should not fall. And when you've returned to me, in other words, in some Bibles it says, when you're converted, when you convert, when you really receive God's Holy Spirit and you become converted, when you return to me, strengthen your bread. In other words, you as a dominant personality, use your dominant personality to encourage the others to be a positive influence to strengthen the bread. It does not mean that he's going to be the leader. It means just to use your, your personality to encourage one another to strengthen the bread. It does not appoint Peter to be the chief apostle, but rather, esteem to support his fellow brethren and to encourage them to strengthen them.

So, looking at Matthew 16, 18, which is the scripture we started with, which is the one that the Catholic Church uses. So, let's go back to that. Matthew 16, 18.

It says on this rock, our Bode Mark Church is clearly talking about Christ. And then, look at verse 21.

From that time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and the scribes and be killed and be praised the third day. Then Peter took Christ aside and began to criticize Christ, review Christ, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. And look out, Christ turned to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. I mean, if he had just promoted Peter to say you the, you the rock, he's now saying, Hey, get behind me. Get back to your cage, you know, get back where you belong. He really criticized him very strongly. You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of man. So you can see in this full context here, there is a lot more to it. Peter clearly wasn't either amongst the original apostles. There's no questions about. He had that sort of personality and was a leading type personality. There's no questions about. And he had a responsibility of giving the gospel to the Jews, but he was not the chief apostle. He was not upon whom the church was voted. He had no government authority or no judgment authority over the other apostles. He did not. He was, yes, highly respected, but he was not the chief apostle. Jesus did use him in many ways to use him because of his personality, because of his capabilities, did use him mightily. Did use him to give the main sermon during the Pentecost on Acts 2. Did use him to heal that crippled man on Acts 3. That's why later on in Acts 4, he was talking to the Sanhedra. God did use him to, in fact, to open the door of faith to the Gentiles, but then he handed it over to Paul in Acts 10. So he was a man of extraordinary qualities, but we do not find Peter giving orders to the other apostles. We don't find that. Nor do we find Peter sending the other apostles on missions. It is the 12 that send people, or send people missions. And we do not find Peter lowering over any of the other apostles. We don't find Peter. So in summary, what do we see? We see Peter was never in Rome, and we see that Peter was not the human leader of the New Testament Church. The apostles worked together as a team.

You can see we read in Acts 15 when they went through the apostles and to the elders. And even Peter himself talked about Paul as a fellow worker, and emphasizes the need for us to be humble to one another. Let's look at that where Peter said that in 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. When he talks to the elders as fellow workers. 1 Peter chapter 5.

1 Peter chapter 5.

He spoke unto the elders. He they spoke unto the elders. O are among you, chapter 5 verse 1. I absorb it. I am a fellow elder, a fellow worker like you, and a witness of the suckings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed, shepherded the flock, which is among you. So Peter just looks at himself as just a fellow elder. And then a little bit further in verse 5, he says, likewise you younger people, talking to the younger elders, submit yourselves to your older ones, to your elders, else yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. In other words, we all need to submit to one another, and he emphasizes that all the elders need to be humble and to submit themselves to one another. So the concept that one man must be at the top is not necessarily seen here in the New Testament church. It's not seen that in the New Testament church. God and Christ told us to evaluate things and activities and situations by the fruits. And you and I have seen that when man seek preeminence, when man seek to be at the top, there has not been good fruits. Always never been good fruits. Striving to have preeminence amongst Christians, it only leads to controversy and division. The apostles of the New Testament church were encouraged by Christ to serve and submit to one another. Their relationship was one of teamwork, of working together as a team, as a group of apostles working together. But Jesus is the rock upon whom the church is taught. Jesus is the head of the church, not any man. Not any man. The way for unity and edification in the church is only through cooperation and teamwork. That's what we need to humble ourselves. It's like the human body. Think about the human body. Every member, every joint is fitly framed together. Every muscle, every joint works together. For the education of the body and the destruction of the head, which is Christ. The whole body and the Christ, as we see in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 16, is joined and knit together by what every fruit and every joint supplies according to the effect of working by which every part does its share and causes growth of the body for the fine of itself in life. So, Peter was not the chief apostle. Peter was not in Rome. Peter was not the first pope.