Holy Ghost Revelation

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:16-18)

Jesus praised Peter for this revelation, but He was also very clear that Peter did not figure it out on his own. The revelation didn’t come from deep study, observation of facts, or even the best of his natural reasoning. Jesus said, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.” Then how did Peter get it? The Father gave him the revelation. What Peter spoke wasn’t something he figured out. It was a revelation that God dropped into his spirit. And on that foundation, the foundation of God-given revelation that we receive and speak, Jesus said He would build His church.

The rock Jesus refers to is not Peter himself. In the original Greek, it’s clear that the word for Peter is petros, meaning a small stone. But the word Jesus uses for the rock He will build on is petra, or bedrock, a massive, immovable foundation. The church is not built on the pebbles of a man who worked hard to get something done for God. It is built on the revelation of who Jesus is and the declaration of our faith in Him. That is the foundation that hell cannot move and the rock that cannot be broken.

Now connect this to what the Spirit does when He speaks through your mouth in prayer and in your declaration of the Word. The Father revealed to Peter what the enemy did not know and could not counter. The same pattern is at work when you pray in the Spirit. God is not withholding information from His people. He is sharing it, through the Spirit, directly, bypassing every natural limitation. 

Practical Application

The mysteries spoken in tongues are not secrets kept from you. They are secrets kept from the devil. He cannot access that communication. This is why the gates of hell cannot prevail against a church that is built on revelation.

Ephesians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 2:10