Theological term
Papal Succession
2 sermons · All terms
The Establishment of the Church
Matthew 16:18 is, as one commentator notes, the most discussed verse in the most discussed paragraph of Matthew's Gospel — and its controversies are anything but settled. This sermon works through four aspects of Christ's declaration concerning His church: its definition as the catholic or universal assembly of the elect, its foundation in the confession that Jesus is the Christ, its triumph over the gates of Hades, and its builder, who is Christ alone and not any man or institution. The Roman Catholic claim that Peter's person is the rock undergirding a papal succession is examined and rejected on exegetical, historical, and biblical-theological grounds, while the legitimate priority of the apostles in the church's foundation is carefully maintained. Believers are called to hold together the church's certain triumph with the reality of persecution, guarding the deposit committed to them and confessing Christ as Lord.
Of Peter, Popes, and Promises
Matthew 16:18 — 'I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it' — is one of the most contested verses in church history, carrying enormous weight in the Roman Catholic claim to Petrine primacy and the papal succession. This sermon works through three elements of the verse: the proper identification of 'the rock' (Peter as confessor, not as papal foundation), the nature and certainty of Christ's twofold promise to build and to prevail, and the historical evidence of that promise's fulfillment from Pentecost through the Reformation to the present. The church is called to a long-sighted, history-conscious confidence grounded not in circumstances but in the unbreakable promise of the risen Christ who saves, sends, applies, and continually builds.