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Tonight, as I said, we're gonna
finish up this brief section in Matthew 16, I'll read at verse
13. When Jesus came into the region
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, who do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, some say John
the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the
prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon
Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the
living God. "'Jesus answered and said to
him, "'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, "'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 will build my church, "'and the gates of Hades shall
not prevail against it. "'And I will give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, "'and whatever you bind on earth will
be bound in heaven, "'and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed
in heaven.' "'Then he commanded his disciples "'that they should
tell no one "'that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time, Jesus
began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be killed and be raised the third day. Then Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you,
Lord. This shall not happen to you.
But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are
an offense to me for you are not mindful of the things of
God, but the things of men. Amen. So notice the specific
context in verse 13, when they come into the region of Caesarea
Philippi, Jesus asks his disciples, who do men outside of the disciple
group, the immediate disciple group, the apostles, who do men
say that I, the son of man am? So verse 14, some say John the
Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
And then he brings that question to bear specifically upon the
disciple group or the apostles. He says, but who do you say that
I am? So of course, Simon Peter makes
this lofty confession of faith, thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. Notice that Jesus doesn't say,
good on you, Peter, you've arrived, you have found out by your own
wisdom these glorious things concerning me. That's not what
he says. He pronounces a beatitude upon him in verse 17, blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. So in order for
dead sinners to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of the living God, they must be awakened by the Father, they
must be given the grace of the Spirit, and they must be given
that revelation. I'm not suggesting this is Peter's
conversion moment, but it certainly illustrates or is illustrative
of those who make that good confession, they do so by the power of the
Holy Spirit. We saw that in 1 Corinthians
12 as well. You can turn there just to see
our need of and dependence upon the Holy Spirit in terms of salvation. So in 1 Corinthians 12, 3, Therefore
I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God
calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord
except by the Holy Spirit. So Simon Peter makes that lofty
confession, Jesus pronounces him blessed, and then he makes
a statement concerning the establishment of the church, and he does that
in verse 18. He says, and I also say that
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. and the
gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Remember, church
is defined as the people of God, not necessarily the called out
ones. Ekklesia doesn't have that primary
meaning, but rather Ekklesia in the Greek is corresponding
to the word kahal in the Old Testament. It means the assembly
of God's people. The specific word church that
we use is related to kuriake, which is that which belongs to
the Lord. It's used in 1 Corinthians 11
concerning the table, Revelation 1 concerning the day, the Lord's
day. So church, or kirk, is modeled
after that particular word. The Greek word ekklesia is what
we have here. It is the kahal, it is the people
of God, the assembly of God. So then he says, I say to you
that you are Peter. And this idea of Peter being
the rock or the foundation. Peter plays a foundational role
in the establishment of the church. You see that in Ephesians chapter
two. You see it in first Corinthians
as well. But it's not Peter that is the Pope or the authority
in the church. It is the person that Peter confessed,
the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus is the rock. upon
which the church is built. It's that good confession concerning
the Savior of sinners, that's the foundation for the church.
So I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church, and then Jesus promises the triumph and victory
of the church. The gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it. That doesn't mean that every
single church that's ever planted will only ever do well. No, there
are churches that close. There are churches that prove
to be synagogues of Satan. There are churches that are no
longer present in this present evil age. But the concept of
the idea of church, it will march on. Christ will build it and
the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. We learn
not only of the victory of the church, but we also learn of
that constant opposition on the part of the devil and his kingdom.
And so then Jesus moves into the authority of the church in
verse 19. This is what we're going to look
at tonight. So it's not just a club. It's not just a social
gathering. There's actual authority invested
in the church. Now, there are two obvious problems
when it comes to authority in the church. The first is authoritarianism. Authoritarianism, where leaders
in a church are lords over the consciences of the people under
their charge. That's not what Jesus is commending
here. Authoritarianism is basically
cultism, and it's wrong, and it is wicked, and it is a departure
from the truth of God's Holy Word. So the authority invested
by Christ in the church is not to be used in order to exalt
a certain class of men, it's not to be used to beat down the
very sheep of God Most High, but rather it is to be exercised
to maintain order and decency within the context of the church.
So if one of the problems is authoritarianism, the problem
on the other end is an abdication of authority and this idea that
anything goes. And probably that's something
more common in the evangelical world. And then the authoritarianism
is probably more common in the reform world, certainly in Roman
Catholicism. Not real sure about Eastern Orthodoxy,
but they're very much like Roman Catholic, so it wouldn't surprise
me if there was an authoritarian element there, though I don't
want to castigate them needlessly after having just done so. But
authoritarianism on the one hand, and then an abdication of authority
on the other hand, again, where sort of anything goes. Anybody
can come in, anybody can preach, anybody can lead a Sunday school,
anybody can come to the supper, anybody can do anything at all.
Well that's not the biblical norm either. So Jesus gives authority
to the church and Jesus expects the church to execute that authority. Not in an authoritarian manner
and not abdicating that authority that Christ has invested in her.
So as we look at verse 19, I want to look first at the identification
of the stewards, secondly, the delegation of authority, and
then thirdly, the explanation of the functions. What does he
mean in that last statement when he says, and whatever you bind
on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven? But first, in terms of the identification
of the stewards, notice in verse 19, he's still talking to Simon
Peter. So you can see how this passage
in the hands of a papist yields lots of good fruits to fit their
theology. So they teach in verse 18 that
Jesus establishes Peter as the first pope. And then Jesus gives
the first pope the keys of the kingdom such that they say Peter
has complete power within the church. Again, that is a stretch,
and that is bringing Roman Catholic ecclesiology to bear upon the
passage. If we read the passage, that's
not the meaning that we get from it. When we compare it with other
passages in the New Testament, that is certainly not what we
get. In fact, last week we showed, and I hope successfully, that
Peter wasn't instituted as a pope. So if Peter wasn't instituted
as a pope, then the keys of the kingdom aren't given only to
the pope. But with reference to this statement,
I will give you, it is a singular pronoun, and so Jesus is speaking
specifically to Peter. But Peter functioned in a wide
array of capacities. He functioned as an apostle.
He functioned as an elder in 1 Peter chapter 5. And he functions
as a believer with reference to his Christian profession in
the Lord Jesus Christ. So I would suggest and I would
argue that the giving of the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
they were given to the apostles, they're given to the elders,
and they're given to the people as the people of God. In fact,
turn over to chapter 18, specifically in verse 17. that last stage of church discipline
in 1817, and if he refuses to hear them, the two or three witnesses,
tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear
the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. So the church is involved when
it gets to that point of branding a particular unrepentant sinner
as a heathen or a tax collector. It's not simply the elders in
the church that carry out discipline. It is the elders along with the
brethren in the church that exercise that particular key of the kingdom
to exclude unrepentant members from the fellowship of the saints.
So in verse 19, I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
It simply means that the church has this authority. The elders,
the brethren, have the authority that is specified here in verse
19. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter
4, where we see sort of the same kind of emphasis in the writing
of the Apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, specifically
in verse 1, let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and
stewards of the mysteries of God. So for the apostle Paul,
this concept of stewardship that Peter was initially given in
Matthew 16, 19, transcends Peter. It is also the other apostles. And then he goes on to say in
verse two, moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found
faithful. So the stewards are those tasked
with authority in terms of church life, but they are to use that
authority in a very faithful way. and then turn over to the
book of 1st Timothy. 1st Timothy chapter 5, specifically
at verse 17. 1st Timothy chapter 5 at verse
17. Let the elders who rule well
be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in
the word and doctrine. For the scripture says, you shall
not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, and the laborer
is worthy of his wages. So notice in verse 17, let the
elders who rule well. They have authority in the context
of the church. They're engaged in government.
They're engaged in ruling. So we've got not just the apostles
as the stewards who receive these keys, but the elders in the church
subsequent to the apostles, and even alongside of the apostles
in the Jerusalem council. You've got the apostles, you've
got the elders, and again, you've got the brethren. So it is the
church collectively that has received these keys from the
Lord Jesus Christ. So when we go back to the passage,
we then ask the question, what do keys mean? He says, I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The keys do speak
to authority. Davies and Allison say, The giving
of the keys manifestly means the bestowing of authority. To
have keys means to have power, to be in control. And again,
I want to qualify that, not absolute control, not absolute authority,
but a delegated authority from the Lord Jesus Christ to the
church such that she's not just a social club. such that she's
not just like every other community of other people out there, but
rather she has stricture, she has censure, she has the ability
to deal with persons within the context of that church. And then
the keys, here specifically, I would suggest emphasize preaching. If you notice in verse 18, Jesus
says, I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church. If we ask the simple question,
how does Jesus build his church? He does so through preaching.
We know that when we get to the book of Acts, because the accent
falls upon the apostolic preaching of the cross. How are disciples
made? Through the proclamation of the
gospel. How are churches founded? Through the proclamation of the
gospel. Same thing we see in the Great Commission, go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations. How are they supposed
to make the disciples? They're supposed to do so through
preaching. And so the emphasis here in terms of the keys is
with reference to preaching. preaching specifically the glorious
truth of verse 16, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the
living God. But turning back to Matthew chapter
18, after the passage that I read in verse 17, we see the same
language applied in verse 18 that we find in 1619. Notice,
assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
So you see there, the keys are connected to discipline. So the
keys are connected in chapter 16 to preaching, and then the
keys are connected to discipline in chapter 18. And then in terms
of some Old Testament background, are we being recorded or are
we online? So we can't do any sort of interaction. Oh, we can do interaction. Does
anybody remember the Old Testament passage that I suggested lay
behind this passage last week? Yes. in terms of 2 Samuel 7. So in
2 Samuel 7, David has a desire to build a house for God. God
says, no, you're not going to do it. You're a man of war. Your
son is going to build the house. And then he says, I'm going to
build a dynasty of kings from you. And there's going to be
a son of God who builds a temple of God, a house of God for me.
And so when we look at this particular passage, we see a son of God
building a house for God. Notice in verse 16, you are the
Christ, the son of the living God. And then Jesus says what
he says, and in verse 18, I say to you that you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church. So you have a son of
God building a house for God in light of the 2 Samuel 7 Davidic
covenant. There's another passage that
sort of lays behind chapter, verse 19. You can turn to the
prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 22. You have a reference to a
man by the name of Eliakim. Eliakim, you see this picked
up in the book of Revelation as well. In Isaiah 22, specifically
at verse 20. Then it shall be in that day
that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. I will clothe
him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit
your responsibility into his hand. This is judgment upon Shebna.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house
of Judah. The key of the house of David
I will lay on his shoulder. So he shall open, and no one
shall shut. And he shall shut, and no one
shall open. I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and
he will become a glorious throne to his father's house. And then
turn over to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 3, a passage
that certainly has this in its background. Revelation chapter
3, specifically with reference to the church at Philadelphia.
So Revelation 3, 7, and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia
writes, These things says he who is holy, he who is true,
he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts
and shuts and no one opens. And then drop down to verse 12.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of
my God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the
name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,
which comes down out of heaven from my God. And I will write
on him my new name. So basically, Eliakim was given
stewardship or a position of steward over the house of David
as opposed to Shabnat. It was a judgment on Shabnat. Eliakim admitted or denied entry
into the king's house. Christ, according to Revelation
3, assumes that particular role. Now in the delegation of that
authority, he gives it to the church on earth, and he says
that I give you the keys of the kingdom. You have that authority.
Through the proclamation of the truth, through the exercise of
church discipline, you have this authority invested in you. It's
not to be abused, you're not to be authoritarian, but it's
not to be abdicated. You're not to let it go such
that you're like the Elks Lodge, or you're like the Lions Club,
or you're like some other social gathering, which I dare say probably
has rules for membership within those particular communities.
So it's the case wherein this idea that, well, you know, this
idea of church discipline or telling somebody that they can't
do such and such, that happens everywhere. Why is it that the
church is abusive when the church does that? The church has the
authority of King Jesus Christ, and therefore she must exercise
that authority in a responsible way, but for the good of the
church here on earth. And then the final observation
here under the identification of the stewards is the entity
accessed. Notice in verse 19, I will give
you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Peter, the elders, the
other apostles, the stewards, the brethren, they're not given
the keys of the kingdom of earth. They're not given civil authority.
There's an obvious parallel, and there's an obvious overlap,
and there's obvious interplay between civil government and
ecclesiastical government, but they're not to be collapsed into
one big amalgamation. Christ is head over all things. Christ is ruler over the kings
of the earth. Christ is over the elders of
the church. The church is supposed to do
churchly functions. The church is tasked, in the
language of Belgic Confession, Article 29, with preaching the
Word of God, exercising discipline, and the administration of the
sacraments. That's what church as church is supposed to do.
We're not supposed to capture criminals and execute criminals.
Now, as citizens in the civil sphere, we can certainly work
as policemen. We could be executioners, if
so called upon. We can engage in any lawful authority
that the Bible commands. But in terms of the church, we
can't blame the church for everything that has ever happened. Now,
I think the church is blameworthy for a lot of things, but not
everything. The church has very delimited
function in this present world. And he says, I will give you
the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Now, in Matthew's gospel, kingdom
of heaven often has a twofold reference. The Puritan spoke
of the kingdom of grace, which is the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the proclamation of the truth, Sunday in, Sunday out,
the exercise of discipline, the structure, the order of the church
of the Lord Jesus. and then the kingdom of glory,
the eschatological consummation of all things. Now, I would suggest
that the kingdom of God is more extensive than the church. In
fact, Psalm 103, 19 says, the Lord has established his throne
in heaven and his kingdom rules over all. But the visible manifestation
of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven on earth in
this new covenant era is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So to say that the church is the kingdom of heaven I don't
believe is a stretch and I don't believe it is to do injustice
to the scripture. So basically he is saying I'm
investing you with these keys of the kingdom of heaven to carry
out what God has called you to do in terms of the Great Commission
or what Christ has called you to do in the Great Commission.
Now secondly, after looking at the identification of the stewards,
we look at the delegation of authority. So then notice, I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven. The Davidic covenant is in the
background. Eliakim is in the background.
We've got this sort of entrance in and exclusion from the house
of David, the house of God. And I think that's what's in
view here with reference to whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will
be loosed in heaven. To bind meant to forbid and to
loose means to permit. So in other words, it is to prevent
access or it is to allow or invite or permit access. And when we
consider specifically Simon Peter in the book of Acts, we see that
he engages in those types of functions. Acts chapter 2, what
does Peter do? Anybody remember? He preaches, and when he preaches,
what happens? People get saved, right? They received his word. They
continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine. Fellowship,
the breaking of bread and prayers, 240 to 47 indicates the blessed
effect of Peter's preaching. So he was permitting entrance
into the kingdom of heaven. Now it wasn't like Eliakim, are
you the proper inhabitant of the house of David? It is through
the preaching of the gospel. when sinners are converted, they
have access into, they have entrance into the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But as well, we see not only
an emphasis on preaching in Peter in terms of permitting access
into the kingdom, but we also see discipline in the life and
ministry of Peter in excluding persons from participation in
the church of Christ. This happens in Acts chapter
five. Does anybody remember what happens there? You can look, that's okay. This
isn't a closed book test here. Acts chapter five. Ananias and Sapphira. What? That's right. That's right. So they got it. That was a direct
excommunication by the hand of God himself. And then notice
in chapter eight, and again just sketching, just looking at what
Simon Peter does in terms of having this delegated authority,
carrying out this task of binding and loosing relative to the kingdom
of heaven. Notice the investigation of the
work in Samaria in chapter eight at verse 14. Now when the apostles
who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word
of God, they sent Peter and John to them. who when they had come
down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
For as yet he had fallen upon none of them. They had only been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on
them and they received the Holy Spirit." So they're investigating
the particular work going on there in Samaria. Again, the
binding, the loosing, the making sure that persons who had professed
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ understood these things and then
participate in the kingdom of heaven. Acts chapter 10, look
at chapter 10, what happens there? Preaching to the household of
Cornelius, Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God
Most High, not the first Gentile that was included, but formally
the first in terms of what we find significant in the book
of Acts. In Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts
19. In Acts 2, you have the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Acts 8, you have
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Samaria. Acts 10, you have
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles. Acts 19, you
have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a bit of a different
way, but the idea being is that at crucial junctures in the missionary
enterprise, we see that Christ from the right hand of the Father
is sending the Spirit to Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria, and then to
the uttermost parts of the earth. That is the emphasis that you
need to understand in 2, 8, and 10, very specifically in terms
of the spirit falling and then them speaking in tongues. The
accent isn't on, hey, let's speak in tongues. The accent is upon
Jesus at the right hand, empowering the church for mission, Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, uttermost parts of the earth. So in Acts chapter
10, there is the proclamation of truth to the household of
Cornelius. Notice in 1044, while Peter was
still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those
who heard the word. And those of the circumcision
who believed were astonished as many came with Peter because
the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles
also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these should
not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then
they asked him to stay a few days. You see what's happening?
He's binding, he's loosing. He's in that particular activity.
He's got the keys of the kingdom and he's going out there and
he's using that authority to permit entrance and to exclude
those from hermits that ought not to be participants. And then
notice in Acts chapter 11, guess what happens? The church in Jerusalem
hears about Peter out there gallivanting around with the Gentiles. So
what does Peter do? He reports to them. And then
notice specifically at the very end, verse 17, chapter 11, he
rehearses essentially what just happened in chapter 10. But in
verse 17, if therefore God gave them the same gift as he gave
us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is I that I
could withstand God? When they heard these things,
they became silent. They glorified God, saying, Then
God also has granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. So he receives
the case, and he goes out, and he exercises it. He opens the
door, he closes the door. He admits persons into the presence
of the church, and he excludes persons from the presence of
the church. And of course, Acts chapter 15, Acts chapter 15,
the specific emphasis in verse 1, certain men came down from
Judea and taught the brethren, unless you are circumcised according
to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. the Judaizing error,
or heresy, or tendency. Paul deals with this at length
in the book of Galatians. But with reference to this, these
men came down, they said, it's good to believe on the Lord Jesus,
but you also have to subscribe to the circumcision of Moses.
You have to take on Jewish identity as well. And so the Church convenes
the apostles, the elders, the brethren, so that they could
discuss these particular things. Notice they appeal to Peter.
Or rather, Peter testifies in verses 7 to 11. Same sort of
a thing, verse 7. When there had been much dispute,
Peter rose up and said to them, men and brethren, you know that
a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows
the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit,
just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and
them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why
do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we
believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved in the same manner as they. So you see this binding
and loosing. He's reporting what God had done
through him with reference to the Gentiles and their inclusion
in the covenant promises of God. So basically what we see in Simon
Peter, and then we see it in spades in the Apostle Paul from
Acts 13 all the way to chapter 28. And then in the epistles
of Paul, the epistles of Peter, the epistles of John, all that
converges upon us to show that they carried out, they took seriously
the great commission, which as I would suggest is basically
the execution of the keys of the kingdom, the proclamation
of God's word, the exercise of church discipline, teaching them
to obey all that I have commanded you and I'm with you always,
even to the end of the age. So the early church receives
the keys, they go out and they utilize those keys for the admission
and for the exclusion of those who are fit and appropriate and
those who are not. And then in terms of this explanation,
again, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. France suggests that
it was a terminology or phraseology utilized by the Jewish rabbis.
He says the metaphor of tying up and untying also speaks of
administrative authority. The terms are used in rabbinic
literature for declaring what is and what is not permitted. And essentially the church permits
access to those conquered by sovereign grace. She doesn't
just say to anybody and everybody, come on up, take the supper,
come on up, preach the word, come on up, engage in, you know,
teaching Sunday school. No, there's got to be some criteria. Turn to Acts chapter 8. It's
not a particular apostle, but it's an evangelist who, exercising
the keys of the kingdom, meets with an Ethiopian eunuch. And
notice what happens when they're at this critical juncture. Verse 34, the eunuch answered
Philip and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this?
Of himself or of some other man? Then the text is Isaiah 53. Could you find a guy reading
a better passage by which to preach Jesus? I mean, come on,
that's just wonderful. And I love it, verse 35. Then Philip opened his mouth,
and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as
they went down the road, and they came to some water, and
the eunuch said, see, here is water, what hinders me from being
baptized? Verse 37 is suspect in the modern
translations. It's either in the margin or
it's not even there. But interestingly, it has very
early testimony. In fact, verse 37A, Cyprian cites
it. Cyprian lived about AD 200 to
258. And then 37B, Irenaeus cites it. He lived in 130 to 202. It's got very ancient, very early
pedigree. Now, if you have no clue what
I'm talking about, I'm simply talking about what's called textual
variance. There are manuscripts, over 5,000
of them that exist, not complete, partial, some more than others. But there's over 5,000 manuscripts
of the Greek New Testament. And when they look at these manuscripts,
they see certain characteristics, they categorize them in what
we might call families. So there's a couple of different
ways to try to get at the New Testament. All I am saying is
that the newer translations that either get rid of verse 37 or
put it into the margin are neglecting a very ancient testimony in terms
of these two fathers, Cyprian and Irenaeus. The point here,
though, is when the man asks, what hinders me from being baptized,
Philip doesn't say, just jump on in. It's all about the water.
Get on in here. If you believe with all your
heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. In other words, he's
exercising the keys of the kingdom. He's not just willy-nilly admitting
persons without any sort of a confession of who Jesus is and what Jesus
has accomplished. So we have this binding and loosing. The church permits access because
persons confess Jesus Christ. The church denies access because
persons reject Jesus Christ. If somebody came and said, I
want to be a member of the church, and I met with them, and I said,
what do you think of Jesus? And they said, I hate him. I
despise him. I'm a Muslim. Well, I don't despise
him, but he's a prophet, and he's less than Muhammad. I don't
welcome him in as a brother and say, come on in, let's go to
communion together. The church denies access because
persons reject Jesus Christ. They don't make that good confession
of verse 16. As well, the church rejects heresy. There's instances in the New
Testament where this abdication of authority is certainly not
envisaged by the New Testament church. Look at Romans chapter
16. I would already call attention to Acts 15. We've already looked
at that, Jerusalem Council. And, you know, when they come,
they're not coming with, you know, a different view of eschatology.
They're coming with something that compromises the gospel,
the freeness of grace. Chapter 15, the council is convened
because it's a great matter that needs investigation. Is it the
case that a Gentile not only needs to believe, but a Gentile
must also be circumcised? They got to deal with that. Because
if you're teaching that salvation is by faith in Jesus plus circumcision,
you are botching up the gospel. It's no longer a free grace.
So Acts 15 was a huge thing that the church had to respond to.
But as well, notice in Romans 16 at verse 17, I urge you, brethren,
note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
doctrine which you learn, and avoid that. For those who are
such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly,
and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of
the simple. For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore
I am glad on your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what
is good and simple concerning evil, and the God of peace will
crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you, amen. See the apostle says, police
the ranks from within. In other words, it's not okay
for persons to cause division, it's not okay for persons to
cause offense, and it's certainly not okay for those things to
be done contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and then he
says specifically to avoid them. Notice over in 1 Corinthians
chapter 5, I think we're all somewhat familiar with that particular
passage at verse 1. It is actually reported that
there is sexual immorality among you and such sexual immorality
as is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his
father's wife. But then notice specifically
verse 2, and you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that
he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.
In other words, they knew about it and they didn't do anything.
The apostle is reproving and rebuking them. And if we ask
the question, well, why or how could they have known about it
and not taken any action? That's a good question. Perhaps
they thought, you know, in Christ all things are lawful. Perhaps
they thought that, you know, in this new covenant era with
the liberty that we have, the liberty can include even such
things as these. But then notice down in verse
9, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually
immoral people. Note the delineation he makes
here. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral
people of this world or with the covetous or extortioners
or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
In other words, you don't sell your townhouse because your next
door neighbor is a pagan. You don't quit your job because
there's heathen that work in that same department. You'd have
to leave the world is what Paul says. You'd have to actually
get on an Elon Musk rocket and fly up to Mars. And even there,
there would be somebody that would pollute your altogether
holiness. But then notice the specifics in verse 11. But now
I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named
a brother, that's the issue, who is sexually immoral or covetous
or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner,
not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging
those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are
inside? But those who are outside, God judges. Therefore, put away
from yourselves the evil person. Look at Galatians 1. Again, just
showing the keys of the kingdom operative in the life of the
early New Testament church. Galatians 1.6, I marvel that
you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the
grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another,
but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel
of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you,
let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now
I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than
what you have received, let him be accursed. And then turn to
chapter 2, specifically at verse 11. It's kind of hard to jive
the Jerusalem Council and Galatians 2. If I'm asked the question,
I would say that this event that is recorded here in Galatians
2, 11 to 13, happens just prior to the Jerusalem Council. I don't
think it happened after the Jerusalem Council, because Peter was at
the Jerusalem Council and would have known that the church had
said, look, Now, we are not down with this. Now, guys disagree,
others put it after the Jerusalem Council, they give pretty reasoned
explanations as to why. Again, gun to my head, I would
say it's just prior to Jerusalem Council, but I hope I never get
a gun to my head for that. I'll take a gun to my head for
the Trinity and for justification by faith, but not where to locate
Galatians 2.11 relative to Acts 15. That, I would say, don't
shoot, okay? I'm not ready to die for that
one. But notice Galatians 2.11. Now when Peter had come to Antioch,
I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed.
For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the
Gentiles. But when they came, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of
the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas
was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were
not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to
Peter before them all, So I think the idea being is that Peter
didn't want to give offense to Jews by eating with Gentiles. But Paul says the glory of new
covenant religion is Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises
of God. You're betraying that, Peter, by this act of not wanting
to give offense to certain Jews. Better to offend them than to
make a wrong statement about the gospel of free and sovereign
grace, even to Gentiles. Notice in 2 Thessalonians 3.
Again, the exercise of the keys of the kingdom, not in an authoritarian
way, but certainly not in an abdicational way. Not getting
rid of the teeth that are involved in maintaining the kingdom of
heaven on earth. Notice in 2 Thessalonians 3,
verse 6. This one's a bit intriguing because
these are brethren that need to be taught lessons. These aren't
heathen and tax collector that you're excluding for the purpose
of handing them over to Satan. It's a bit of an interesting
one, but nonetheless shows the exercise of the keys to keep
the kingdom as we are able clean in this present world. 2 Thessalonians
3, 6, But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly
and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For
you yourselves know how you ought to follow us. For we were not
disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of
charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that
we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not
have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should
follow us. For even when we were with you,
we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall
he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in
a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now
those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus
Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. But
as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And
if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person
and do not keep company with him that he may be ashamed. Yet
do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Again, lots of contours, lots of things going on in there that
we don't have time to develop. The bottom line is, is that when
there is a church and there are disorderly brethren, it is the
church's task to exercise the keys of the kingdom and to engage
in those things that Christ has called us to. Back to our text,
when we go to that clause, whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
If you have the New King James, you'll notice the marginal reading,
or will have been, will have been. So it's either sort of
a future or a perfect. Now, when we look at this, whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. If we interpret it
this way, it runs the risk of what we call sacerdotalism. Anybody know what sacerdotalism
is? You know what sacramentalism is? What would you suppose sacramentalism
is? Sacraments that are promoted
over and above their use. In other words, we engage in
the sacraments of the church, but if we load them with too
much significance, we get involved in sacramentalism. Sacerdotalism
refers to the priesthood. And sacerdotalism is a risk here. Whatever you bind on earth will
be bound in heaven, which seems to indicate that if we permit
or forbid, then whatever we do on earth, heaven is obligated
to endorse that. As well, this idea that whatever
you loose on earth, or rather, will have been bound or loosed,
taking the other rating, it's the risk of an infallible communication
with heaven. So I guess what I'm saying is
we need to be careful with this particular clause, that on the
one hand, we don't think that what we do on earth then obliges
Jesus in heaven to endorse that. or that what we are going to
do is what infallibly we know that the Lord would have us to
do. I think a better understanding of this is not, you know, absolute,
positively, we know the mind of Jesus. The idea is probably
not divine endorsement, but guidance and ratification. In other words,
when the church does what she's supposed to do based on the written
revelation of God, we have confidence that heaven is behind us. In
other words, when we do what we're supposed to in terms of
obedience, preaching, admitting and forbidding persons, as well
exercising discipline, forbidding or permitting persons. When we
do that, we have the blessing of heaven on our side. And again,
turn over to chapter 18 in the context of discipline. Verse
18, Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
In other words, heaven backs you when you're doing the hard
thing of disciplining a sinning member in the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Heaven is on your side. Everybody
else may not be. Everybody else is going to say,
well, that's not nice. That's not loving. Judge not,
lest you be judged. Everybody else is going to rise
up against you and say it's bad for you and it's wrong for you
to engage in church discipline. If you're following the word
of God, then the Lord God himself is behind you in terms of that
particular situation. There's another sort of passage
that indicates this as well. Again, I think it's in the proclamation
of the truth in John's Gospel. John 20, 21, Jesus said to them
again, peace to you, as the Father has sent me, I also send you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to
them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any,
they are retained. Again, I don't think that sets
up the Roman Catholic practice of confession. Any ex-Roman Catholics
here? Anyone? Yeah, you remember confession.
You'd go into the box, you'd get on your knees, the light
would come on outside so somebody would know not to go in there.
You'd say, bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been
a month since my last confession. And then you start doling out
your sins. And by way of punishment, they'd make you go pray. That's
a great lesson, isn't it? Nah, for your penance you gotta
go pray. Wow, that's a great sort of association
to make with prayer. But they had, at least according
to Roman Catholic theology, the authority to forgive or absolve
your sins. That's not what Jesus is talking
about. When you preach the forgiveness of sins, when you preach the
free grace of God most high, you have the kingdom of heaven
behind you. And I think that's the endorsement
that this passage is speaking of in Matthew 16 in verse 19,
Matthew 18 in verse 18, and then again in John 20 at verse 23. Raymond says, the authority to
open or close the doors of the kingdom of heaven to men, which
Jesus grants to Peter here and the rest of the disciples, must
be seen to include both the authority to proclaim the liberating gospel
and the authority to take disciplinary steps to ensure that the Church
remains pure. Spurgeon says for practical purposes,
the people of God would need discipline and the power to receive,
refuse, retain, or exclude members. Again, this is the way you're
going to conduct the business of Christ in this age. You've
got to have the authority of heaven behind you. So that's
the authority of the church. Verse 20 is interesting. Then
he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that
he was Jesus the Christ. I don't want to leave any sort
of, you know, dangling participles here. So what does he mean there?
I think the idea being was that it wasn't time at this point
for them to have that revelation. It wasn't time concerning that
revelation of Jesus as the Christ, because the common perception
was that the Messiah was going to come in great power and glory.
You see that in John 6, Jesus feeds them bread. What do they
do? They try to take him by force. and make him a king in John 6.
So Jesus is trying to sort of tamp down that fervor and that
earnestness. As well, notice that even Peter
really wasn't ready for all the revelation that he had received.
On the heels of having been pronounced blessed in verse 17, he is then
rebuked in verse 23. So when Jesus announces what
is true concerning his messianic agenda, it's not this glorious
reign and power right now, but rather is suffering and death
and then resurrection. Peter struggles with that. So
if Peter's going to struggle with that, certainly all the
other Jews that are living around Jesus at that time are going
to struggle with this as well. So that's why he commanded his
disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the
Christ. Peter just made that confession.
Jesus received it with approbation. But then he says to them, don't
go out and declare this publicly right now. It's gonna come out,
it's gonna be revealed, it's going to come in time. But at
that particular moment, he was supposed, or they were supposed
to keep quiet about it. So finally, we need to understand
that behind verses 18 and 19, it's Jesus. Jesus builds the
church, Jesus has absolute authority in the church. Jesus delegates
with reference to building, go preach the gospel, go make disciples,
go teach those disciples, as well discipline in terms of those
disciples should they get out of line. And then as well, verse
19, there is authority invested in the church that comes from
Christ himself. We're not to be authoritarian,
but we're not to be abdicators of that authority that Jesus
has given. And we need to emphasize with
reference to the keys that we embrace them as the church today. The keys of the kingdom are not
entertainment. The keys of the kingdom are not
self-help. The keys of the kingdom are not
do-goodery. The keys of the kingdom are proclamation
of God's holy word and the discipline consistent with the management
or the government of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. I would
throw the sacraments in there as well. They function alongside
the word for the edification and the building up of God's
people. In sum, Jesus builds the church, and then Jesus continues
to rule the church, and he does so very specifically in the means
by which He has ordained. I'll close in prayer, and then
if there's any questions, we can deal with those. Our Father,
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the Church and
our privilege to gather in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank You that He is building it and that the gates of Hades
shall not prevail against it. We are encouraged at what You're
doing. In every tribe and tongue and people and nation, we pray
for more men set apart and trained and qualified, recognized by
the church and sent forth to preach the gospel, to make disciples,
to teach them, whether it be church planting here in Canada
or in the US or in the uttermost parts of the earth. We pray that
you would indeed do glorious things for your namesake and
we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. Any questions or
comments or anything relative to that? You're welcome. Really? All right. S-A-C-E-R-D-O-T-A-L-I-S-N. There's two C's. No, there isn't.
No. You want a bat? No, I want a
bat. Let's bat.
