The Keys of the Kingdom

Transcript

When I was 17 years old, I worked at a video store called Calvideo. This was in San Pedro, California. Long before the era of Netflix streaming and even before you could get Netflix DVDs delivered to you by mail. Do you remember that? We’ve got some old folks in the room. Well, before that, there were these videotapes, these VHS tapes. If you don’t know what those are, there’s these big blockish kind of cartridges filled with tape that you would insert into this crazy machine called a VCR. I don’t even know what that means, the VCR, video something. And that’s how I used to watch movies. So picture a store stocked with these blockish VHS tapes that you could rent. And I worked this job with a few other dudes who, like me, were trying to make a career in hip-hop. So you could only imagine the kind of work ethic.

Yeah, I’ll just leave it at that. Now these other guys, they really didn’t take their job seriously. And obviously it’s a video store. We would literally watch cable guy, Jim Carrey’s cable guy every single day. That was like what we did every day. But for me, I actually took my job quite seriously. I’ve always had an interesting relationship with work. I always take my job way too seriously. Part of my job was manning the checkout desk and keeping the store presentable and clean. I also had the very tedious and annoying task of rewinding all those videotapes that were returned, even though there was a sticker on every single tape that said, be kind, rewind. No one ever did it. So I literally spent hours of my day putting videos in these little rewind decks and just rewinding them all day long. Once the tapes were around, I had to restock them on the shelves in alphabetical order.

It was crucial to keep the videos organized so that the customers could easily find what they were looking for. Well, as it turns out, I did so well at my job that I eventually got promoted. This little rapper guy got promoted. That promotion came with new responsibilities. I was now entrusted with opening and closing the store. And in order to do my job effectively, the owner handed me the keys to the video store. These keys allowed me to unlock the doors at the beginning of the day to let people in, and to lock the doors at the closing time after I had to escort all the lingering customers out. With those keys, I could act authoritatively on behalf of the owner who hired me to do what he hired me to do. And family, this video store scenario, in many ways, is a lot like the church.

The Keys of the Kingdom

In order for us to fulfill the commission of doing the job that God has entrusted us, the same job we discussed a few weeks ago to glorify, grow, and guard the church, we need keys, but not any old keys, not even physical keys. We need spiritual keys. In fact, Jesus refers to these keys as the keys of the kingdom. And this morning, we will explore the significance of these specific keys and what they mean for us as a church going forward. And so if you’d be so kind with me just to turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 16, 13 through 18. And as you’re turning there, would you please stand for the reading of God’s word? Matthew 16, verses 13 through 19.

Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do the people say that the son of man is? And he said, some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Others say Jeremiah, one of the prophets. He said to them, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered 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 tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

— Matthew 16

(ESV)

Family, this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. As we begin to pray before we get started, I wonder if you could just take a few minutes to pray for me and pray for those around you. This morning I’m feeling a bit weak and for whatever reason I’m feeling kind of anxious. And maybe it’s because we have a very difficult passage before us. And so would you please just pray for me and pray for one another. Ask God to help us as a family so that we can hear from his word and be transformed by it and mastered by it so that we can receive what God might have for us this morning. Our father and our God, we thank you for your word. We pray today that your word would be our governor. That it would master us. That it would provoke us.

That it would stir us. That it would increase our affections for you. That we would submit under it, see it as your authoritative word. And we pray mostly, God, that your spirit would illuminate the text and conform us into the image of Jesus. And as we think about these keys of the kingdom of heaven, would you help us to take our job seriously? And would your word inform us on how we ought to function as a church? We need you, God. Be our help and be our wisdom, we pray in Christ’s name, amen. Amen. Well, let me begin by setting some context for the text that we just read. In this narrative, we find Jesus in the thick of his ministry. He’s been moving from place to place, flipping the religious world upside down. Because of his powerful and profound teaching. And so people from all walks of life were curious about this remarkable man named Jesus.

It’s clear to everyone that he’s not your average carpenter. He doesn’t fit the typical prototype of a rabbi. Up to this point, he’s been somewhat discreet about revealing his true identity. So the crowds are really confused about who he is. His disciples are even a bit confused, though Jesus has been dropping hints like breadcrumbs for his disciples to kind of put the pieces together. They’re still uncertain. And so as they walk together, Jesus stops in the middle of whatever they’re doing. He turns to his disciples and he poses this question, who do the people say that I am? This question isn’t a question concerning like marketing or branding. This is a question concerning Jesus’s identity. And the disciples response is kind of a mixed bag. They explain that they’ve had various people give them some insight. They’ve heard different opinions from the crowd. Some think he’s John the Baptist.

Others believe that he might be one of the old prophets. It’s evident that people are somewhat perplexed and divided in their views concerning his identity. But then Jesus shift his focus from the people’s perception of who they think he is. And then he asks the question to his disciples, well, brothers, who do you say that I am? He addresses all of the disciples, the ones who’ve been in closest proximity to him, the ones who have been following him and learning from him. And in this remarkable moment, Peter, as the self-appointed representative of the crew, replies, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. In other words, Peter’s confession acknowledges that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the promised son of God foretold by the prophets of old who would come to rescue his people. And notice how Jesus responds to Peter’s confession. He tells Peter, you are blessed.

Why does Jesus say this? Was because Peter’s confession isn’t merely the result of human reasoning or religious intuition, it’s one of divine revelation. Peter can only make this confession because God has intervened, illuminating this supernatural truth to Peter. Peter is blessed because God has granted him the ability to confess what is true concerning who Jesus truly is, the son of God, the Messiah. And this isn’t an insignificant detail or some theological truth to be debated. I mean, the text literally says that Jesus says to Peter, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who was in heaven. Jesus makes it clear that this understanding isn’t achieved through human wisdom or logic. This profound theological truth requires profound spiritual intervention that without God opening the eyes and the ears and minds of fallen and spiritually dead humans, they cannot honestly or truly make this kind of confession.

You must be given a new heart to make this kind of confession honestly. This is what’s referred to as regeneration and regeneration family proceeds faith. Now, the how and the why God works that way, it remains a mystery to us. It’s not even for us to decide why God does that. But one thing is for certain, Peter’s confession is built on a supernatural awareness of who Jesus is. This awareness is something that scholars, historians and wise people throughout the ages, as smart as they claim to be, have not been able to confess on their own terms. It requires God’s blessing, the gift of awareness, that’s why Peter is blessed. And in response to Peter’s confession, Jesus tells him on this rock, I will build my church. Now, what does this mean? On this rock, I’ll build my church. Well, Jesus employs a bit of wordplay here to draw out.

This profound truth, you see, in the original language, Peter’s name Petras means rock, and so Jesus uses this wordplay to convey that the that his church is built on the rock based on the rock. Essentially, Jesus is saying that the foundation of the church will be built upon Peter, who is the rock. Not just Peter, the man, but on what Peter just confessed. In other words, the church is built on Peter’s confession and Peter as the confessor. So the church isn’t established solely on random individuals who kind of connect together over a few ideas or uncertain truths concerning Jesus, but instead it’s founded on the right individuals who confess the right truths about Jesus. In this statement, Jesus is indicating that the church’s foundation relies on a who and a what. The who encompasses not just Peter, but all the apostles and the what is the

gospel, that Jesus is the son of God, the Lord and savior of the world who came to rescue his people from sin, Satan and death. And when we examine the New Testament, what we see is that all the apostles shared the same confession as Peter. So you see, Peter, the rock is simply a representative of the apostles and the prophets. This is why in Ephesians 220, it says the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the corner stone.

Storming Hell’s Gates

So Jesus tells Peter, I will build my church on this foundation and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. What’s interesting about this statement here is that he doesn’t reference the gates of the kingdom. But the gates of hell. And what’s implicit in this statement is this idea that the kingdom is meant to advance. People build gates when they don’t intend to go anywhere that gates are cemented. Or they use concrete or mortar to make them permanent. But, you know, the reality is people build gates to protect people.

So what this means is that the church, as it extends into the territories ruled by hell or wickedness, though they attempt to fortify their borders with gates, they will ultimately fail to withstand the church’s advances. And this truth serves as a powerful reminder of our role, what we talked about two weeks ago in expanding God’s glory, not only in the garden, but throughout the entire world. This is functionally how we grow the garden, how we advance the kingdom, how we expand the church. So in a spiritual sense, the church will storm the gates of hell and emerge victoriously because of our king, who is triumphant and all powerful and has all authority. I mean, just turn with me a few pages in your Bibles to Matthew 28, verse 19. Everybody knows this. You should know this by heart. Jesus says, go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name

of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. So here we have this command to grow the garden or grow the church by going out. Going out into the world, making disciples for you can make disciples, you have to evangelize them. Once they believe, then you baptize them. As the initiatory right of the church, the first step in a lifelong process of obedience, and then you teach them to obey everything that God has commanded from his word. So here we have the command to grow the garden or the church by going out into the world. And we have this confidence. That the church will not fail in advancing or storming the gates of hell.

And how do we have this confidence? Well, it’s because of what precedes this command in verse 18 and what closes the verse in the last part of 20 before this command in verse 18, Jesus said to them, all authority. In heaven and on earth has been given to me, and then in verse 20, he says, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. So you see, there’s a clear sequence here. Jesus claims all authority and then issues the command to go under his delegated authority to grow the kingdom. And finally, he assures of assures us of his ongoing presence while we advance the kingdom under his authority. This is delegated authority from Jesus in every single step where he entrusts us with the keys or the authority to do the job. Now, turn back with me to Matthew 16, 19.

Where Jesus is speaking to Peter and the disciples. He says, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. So what exactly do these keys of the kingdom of heaven do and what does it have to do with authority? Authority. Well, Jesus tells us that they bind and loose. But what does binding and loosing mean? Well, in ancient Jewish culture, binding and loosing were common terms used among rabbis to make authoritative legal decisions or interpretations. This authority was especially relevant when interpreting the Torah and applying it to everyday life. Rabbis would carefully consider the law and then make decisions on whether to restrict the law or release the law. So essentially, binding and loosing requires or involves permitting and prohibiting opening and closing.

I mean, that’s what keys do, right? They lock, they unlock, they open, they close. So in this context, Jesus is referring to the authority he has given the church to determine who is in and who is out, who is permitted to be a member of the church and who is prohibited from being a member of the church.

What opens and closes the door to membership is a clear confession of Jesus as Lord and Savior. It’s a clear and credible confession of the gospel. It’s what Peter confesses. So when Jesus tells Peter, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, he’s effectively granting Peter and by extension the church the authority to make decisions, moral judgments concerning people’s confessions of faith, the ability to govern the church regarding who’s a part of it and who isn’t a part of it based on their confession or lack thereof.

So the keys that Jesus gives the church represents the authority to make decisions on behalf of the church. Jonathan Lehman says this in the book that we gave every single member that have you all finished that yet? OK, just check it. You still got some time, but just check it. Jonathan Lehman says this. The keys are the authority to pronounce heaven’s judgment on the what and the who of the gospel, confessions and confessors.

Notice that Jesus says, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. This means that whatever decision the church makes together, what we agree upon, Jesus in heaven will agree and confirm the church’s decisions. This is massive.

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Authority in the Local Church

So just to see this sequence, Jesus gives the keys to Peter as a representative of the apostles, and then the keys are delegated or passed on to the local assembly, to the members of the church. And you see this clearly in Matthew 18. Turn with me a few pages. Go to Matthew 18, beginning at verse 15. Now, Greg, Lord willing, if he’s feeling well by next week, he’ll be diving into this specific text in more detail next week. And just like Greg always does, he’s going to be very careful with it. He’s going to offer a lot of clarity. He’s going to be very sensitive because this is a very difficult text. But for now, I just want to show you briefly how the authority represented by the keys transitions from the apostles to the local church and how this authority practically applies when it comes to guarding the church and growing the church by way of

determining who’s in and who’s out. So Matthew 18, 15 through 20. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens, you have gained your brother or sister. But if he or she does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he or she refuses to listen to them. Tell it to the church. And if he or she refuses to listen even to the church, let he or she be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, look at this language, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree.

On earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my father in heaven, for where two or three are gathered, local assembly. In my name, that’s the church, there I am among them. So in this passage, Jesus provides both instructions and authority for guarding and protecting the church. This authority extends not only to welcoming members into our congregation, to our garden, but also to church discipline. Jesus outlines a process for addressing a brother or sister in the church who has fallen into habitual and unrepentant sin. And it begins by one member of the church approaching another member that person privately. Appealing to them in love. To turn away from the sin that is so easily entangling them.

And if that person listens and repents, praise be to God. Not only is their relationship with God restored. But the purity, the unity and the holiness of the church is also preserved. This is what it means to guard the garden family. It’s a practical way to protect and maintain the holiness and witness of the church. Now, if, however, that person does not respond to the private appeal, the next step involves taking a few other members along as witnesses to confront them in their sin. And notice this process. I mean, look at the text. Notice. It remains as private as it can possibly be. Avoiding at this stage any involvement from the pastors. Or from the deacons. Or from the small group leaders. Or from your social group. We might be tempted to say, well, I’m just going to go talk to my friends about this and, you know, just get their perspective on how I should move forward.

Family don’t do that. You’re no longer keeping that private. Unless those people intend to go with you as witnesses. You don’t do that. You don’t do that. You keep the situation as discreet and as sensitive as possible. And if after these steps, the person persists in unrepentant sin, Jesus says, tell it to the church. Tell it to the members of the church. This would likely happen in a members meeting. Because we also want to be discreet, even though the church has to be told. Now, why does Jesus tell us to tell it to the church? Because Jesus has entrusted the members of the church with the authority to guard the church and make decisions regarding who is in and who is out. And the reason this is so important is because if a person professes to be a Christian but continues to live in habitual and unrepentant sin, despite

multiple members of the church lovingly calling them to repentance, it’s likely an indication that person is not truly a believer. That’s heavy. If that person won’t confess their sin or turn from their sin, the church can no longer affirm that person is a Christian. And there must be agreement between the members of the church to remove that person from membership. If the church together decides they can no longer affirm a person’s confession and they make the decision to remove that person from membership, listen, Jesus will agree with that decision.

He will agree. He will bind on earth, he will bind in heaven what is bound on earth. Now, I want to be clear. The presence of sin is not an indicator of whether a person is a Christian or not. Christian sin. Listen, hey. We’re all sinners. You can ask my wife about me. You could ask my wife about me. You could ask my kids about me. They’ll tell you. First, John one, eight, ten, if we say we have no sin, what happens, what are we doing? We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So it’s not that Christians are sinless. It’s that Christians are constantly confessing and repenting of our sin and

we’re forgiving others when we’ve been sinned against. One of the ways that you can know that you are truly a Christian is that you’re living a life of consistent confession and repentance family. Why do you think we do confession in part in every single Sunday? Because we’re trying to make a liturgy in your own life. One that models confession and repentance, and then the beautiful receiving of a pardon. That God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. First, John three nine says no one born of God makes a practice of sinning for God’s seed abides in him. This making a practice of sin means habitual, unrepentant sin. These are sinful lifestyle choices that have become a part of your everyday life where you don’t even care anymore.

If a professing Christian will not repent of sin when brothers and sisters have lovingly and accurately called them to repentance, the Bible says they’re not born of God. And you have to remember membership in this new covenant community is based on being born of God. It’s for regenerate Christians. So it’s also the case that if someone can no longer make a credible confession of faith, if a person deconstructs, the person lives in a pattern of inconsistency with the gospel doesn’t believe the truths of scripture. If a person lives in such a way where he’s turning away from the authority of God and his word, if that happens with a member, then the church cannot continue to affirm them as a true believer, regardless of what they claim. Even if they still identify as a Christian, it doesn’t make it true. Therefore, if the church can no longer affirm that person is a genuine Christian,

that person must be removed from the membership of the church. That’s heavy. Jonathan Lehman, again, very helpful, says formal church discipline is the appropriate action whenever a church members failure to represent Jesus becomes so characteristic and habitual that the church can no longer believe that he or she is a Christian. The church must then remove its affirmation of a person’s profession of faith.

Now, you might be thinking, dang, that sounds harsh. But family, this is what the church needs to be doing. This is what Jesus asks us to do to protect the church, the very thing that he died for. This is what Jesus asks us to do to preserve the unity and the witness of the church to a watching world. I mean, what is it that preserves the supernatural unity of this church? The indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. And if a person is not a Christian, they don’t have the Holy Spirit. So how can they possibly contribute to the supernatural unity of the church? You keep letting a bunch of unregenerate people stay in the church as members. It quickly begins to fracture the unity of the church.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the doors of the church are closed to nonbelievers. No, all people are welcome to come into the doors of this church to observe what’s going on, to hear the gospel that we intentionally declare in hopes that they might embrace the gospel and come to saving faith. But there is a distinction. You are welcome here. We love that you’re here, but you’re not a member of this church. Just because you attend regularly. Just because you might call it your home church doesn’t mean that you remember. My encouragement to you is if you are a regular attender of this church and you consider it your home church, brother or sister, begin the process of belonging.

Going After the Wandering

It does you no good to sit out of the authority of the church. There is no protection for you. There is no accountability for you. You need to become a member, if not this church, come talk to us. We’ll we have tons of churches around here. We will help you be faithful to Jesus by being a member of a local church. And when we are confronted with professing Christians who will not repent of habitual sin.

We’re left with two choices. We’re left with two choices. We can either follow Jesus’s divine instruction and wisdom and do this process of church discipline, or we can take our cues from the culture. Sadly, most people in most churches think that following Jesus’s instruction in Matthew 18 is not the best course of action. And instead, they entrust themselves to do what they think is best. They’d rather go the inclusive route or the tolerant route or do what is best for those who are seekers of the church. They don’t like the idea of church discipline or speaking authoritatively the truth about someone’s soul. They view it as too intrusive or as a potential impediment to keeping people in the church. I think if I tell this person this truth, they’re going to leave.

So we’re not going to say anything. So instead, they say nothing. They might even say what the culture so often says, who am I to judge? I mean, didn’t Jesus say, judge not that you may be judged? Well, yeah, Jesus did say that, but that verse has more to do with Christians examining their sin in their own life before they go and they judge other people in the church about their sins. In fact, Jesus says exactly this in Matthew 7, 1 through 5, judge not that you be not judged for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use it, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take that speck out of your own eye when there is a log in your own eye?

You hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. So this doesn’t mean that you don’t pronounce judgment. It means that you’re careful to watch yourself when you pronounce judgment on other members of this church. We are called to judge those inside the church who profess to be Christians. First Corinthians 512, for what do I have to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom we are to judge? So Jesus says, if there are those who are not living in step with the gospel and are not turning from their sin and repentance, we are to remove them from the church. Jesus says, treat them like a Gentile or a tax collector. That means, friends, treat them like unbelievers, approach them like you would any other non-believer in your life, engage them with the gospel, encourage them to turn from their sin and embrace Jesus as their Savior.

You treat them and you speak to them as outsiders of the kingdom because they’ve been put out of the kingdom. And I know how you’re feeling right now. I know when I say this, you’re like, man. That seems so harsh. But that’s what we do now, do we still love them and care for them? Absolutely, absolutely. We desire that they will eventually turn. But until they turn or unless they turn, they cannot remain a member of this church because the church is for regenerate Christians. So your love for them doesn’t change, but the nature of your relationship changes. You have to define the relationship. Amen, single ladies.

Or single dudes. You have to define the relationship so as to move forward with clarity. They move from being a brother or sister in the Lord to someone who needs to trust in Jesus to become a brother or sister in the Lord. Now, listen, this course of action of putting someone out of the church is not meant to be punitive. I know it sounds like that, but it’s not. It’s restorative. Remember, Jesus says, if a brother sins against you, go and tell him his faults so that if he listens to you, you may gain your brother.

Or sister, the goal in this process is gain. You see, we often think that this kind of judgment on a person is the most unloving thing we can possibly do. Because the whole aim. And judgment is to help them see their sin, it’s actually the most loving thing you can possibly do.

It’s the most loving thing you can do. James 5, 19 through 20 says, my brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death. We’ll save his soul from death, eternal death, that’s what he’s talking about, and we’ll cover a multitude of sins. Galatians 6, 1, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you to be tempted.

What I find so interesting is what comes right before Matthew 18, 15 and 20. Right before this passage on church discipline towards professing Christians wandering away from the fold of God is a parable of the lost sheep. It’s actually right before it, a parable concerning those wandering away from the fold of God, Matthew 18, 11 through 14. If a man has 100 sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than more than over the 99 that never went astray. So it is not the will of my father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. This parable wasn’t placed before the church discipline passage by accident. Nor is it placed here as a means by the gospel writers to kind of soften up this very difficult text of church discipline.

This parable of the lost sheep is Jesus setting the context for this conversation concerning church discipline. It’s Jesus showing us the heart of God towards wandering Christians. Those walking away from the fold, moving in very dangerous territory, and what does the shepherd do regarding the wandering sheep? He goes after them. He goes after him. He goes after her. You know, this parable is not only about the heart of Jesus leaving the 99 to go after the one. It’s about the church leaving the 99 to go after the one. And the way we, as the church, go after the one wandering sheep is by going to them privately and showing them the danger of the path that they’re walking on. The way we go after them is Matthew 18, 15 through 19.

Just as a good shepherd goes after the sheep who are wandering to keep them safe from death, so the church must go after wandering members of the church to save them from spiritual death. And family, this is exactly what the good shepherd has done for us. Amen. He saw us in our desperate need in a dangerous path and he came after us and he rescued us. He told us to turn from our sins and trust in him. And because we trusted in him, he saved us from death, spiritual death. He saved us from death by giving his life in our place so that we might live through him. Isaiah 53, 6 says this, just in case any of you think, well, I wasn’t wandering. All we like sheep have gone astray. We all have turned away everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him that is Jesus, the sin of us all, the iniquity of us all.

Family, going after wandering sheep, those caught in habitual patterns of sin, is loving them. Don’t let the culture confuse you or persuade you. It’s loving them. You have to see it that way, despite how you feel. Imagine if you were stuck in deep sin and no one came after you.

What a horrible reality that would be for you. Family, I stand here this morning because brothers and sisters in my church sought after me when I was living recklessly. They participated in the sanctifying and saving work of preserving me in the church. If they would have never said anything because it was too uncomfortable or they felt like, oh, man, that’s just kind of bogus, I don’t want to do that, I want to do this, I want to do that. I would not be standing here today. This is how important this reality is for you as members of the church.

Calling brothers and sisters to repentance is the deepest love you can express to them because their eternal soul is on the line. And sadly, this happens all the time. It happens all the time. It’s happened in this church. Here’s the thing, if we call them to repentance, but they do not repent, if they do not turn, we do them no good by affirming or pretending that they are free from the wrath of God. We do them no good. No, you got to define the relationship. You remove them from the church to protect the church and to protect them from living with this false assurance of salvation. They will live the rest of their life inoculated from the truth of the gospel because they’ll think, no, I’m good, I’m good. But it’s loving to tell them the truth. So despite what the culture thinks, this action is not punitive, it’s restorative.

Our ultimate aim is to bring back our brothers and sisters who have wandered astray. And family, we’ve seen this happen in our church. Praise be to God. We’ve seen this happen. We have put members of this church under church discipline for their soul, for the protection of this church, and God has been exceedingly kind. He’s brought them back. We’ve welcomed them back with loving arms. We’ve said, welcome back, brothers and sisters.

We’ve redefined the nature of our relationship that does not happen. Regularly. We have seen the benefit of this play out. Our goal is their repentance and restoration discipline within the church is ultimately about love. And restoration. It’s about preserving the church’s holiness, unity and witness. And this work and this authority. It doesn’t just belong to me or to Sam or Josh or to Greg or to Jan.

This belongs to you, the members of the church. We can’t possibly carry all of that work. And God has not designed it that way. It’s your job. This is why God gives the keys of the authority to you, member of the church. Nowhere in the text does it say that if someone is deeply entangled in sin, go and tell the pastors. And, you know, the pastors will deal with it. And if necessary, they’ll remove them from the church. No, Jesus said, tell it to the church because the keys are given to the church. And you see, family, when the church pronounces this judgment, heaven will agree and affirm the church’s decisions. This is what it means when Jesus says, whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven. What we decide as a church in terms of bringing in members. Or removing members, God will support the decision because he has given the church the authority to make those sometimes wonderful.

And sometimes exceedingly difficult decisions. The church is responsible. For membership and for discipline. These are commonly referred to as the front door and the back door of the church and the church is given the keys to both. Which means the members of the church are in every way involved in confirming that every member entering into this covenant community is indeed a regenerate Christian whose confession is the same confession as Peter and the apostles and the rest of the other regenerate Christians in this church. It means that the members of this church are in every way involved in removing those from church membership who can no longer make the same confession as Peter and the apostles and the rest of the regenerate Christians in this church. Whose life is marked by a pattern of unrepentant and habitual sin, thereby nullifying what they might confess with their words.

Your Job as a Member

Family, this is what God has called you to do. I’ve said this before, and I’m super thankful we are not playing church here. This isn’t pretend church. This is real church. This church is not a social club where we share a common interest and we just show up on Sunday and we’re like, oh, yeah, yeah, I like the music. Or I hate the music, you know, whatever, I love it, just I love it.

We are the blood bought church of Jesus Christ. And according to the scriptures. From Genesis to Revelation, every member of the church has a job to do. This is why we were in Genesis two weeks ago showing you the job. You have been given this job by our Lord Jesus Christ is the same job God gave Adam in the garden. That’s the same job we have here today in our garden, the church to guard, to grow and to glorify God in the garden that he has so graciously given us. And I’m thankful for this garden. I’m thankful. Now, listen, if you’re feeling overwhelmed about having this job as a member, like I feel it. I’m overwhelmed at the job of a pastor. I know it’s this is a deep spiritual reality.

We have different roles to play. But we have the same weight sitting over us. We are all accountable before the same God for the work that we’ve done as Christians. I’m a member like you’re a member. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or feeling insecure about your job, I just got a few things that I want you to take in. I want I want you to understand this. First, you’re not on your own with this work.

You’re not on your own with this work. God gives this responsibility to the whole church. The church is one body with many members. We all work together to do what God has called us to do to preserve the unity of this body. So, in a sense, many hands make the work light.

If we’re all grinding, we’re good. Secondly, it is the job of the elders to help you understand how to do your job. So if you’re confused about it, you just meet with the elders and we’ll walk you through it. This is why we’re preaching through this sermon series right now. The elders will come alongside you and help to equip you for the work of ministry. This is what it says in Ephesians four, eleven and twelve. He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds. That means pastors and teachers to equip the saints. That’s you equip the saints for the work of ministry. So the pastor equips the minister to equip the saints for the work of ministry. The minister equips the members of the church to do the work of ministry. You got a job. And what is that work? Building up the body of Christ.

So you’re not on your own. And not only that, most importantly, you remember what we just read in Matthew 28? Jesus has all authority. He’s given us this authority and he is with us. You’re not on your own. He hears our prayers. And so, family, you need to be praying that God would help you and that he would be helping the rest of the church to do their job. You actually just did it. You just did it before we started the sermon. I asked you as the members of the church to pray for me and to pray for one another because we need help. God has helped us. Amen. Amen. God has given you everything you need to do this work. And so my encouragement is do the work. He’s giving you everything you need, including the indwelling Holy Spirit, so you don’t need to worry about the work.

We have God’s instruction from his word on how to do it and how to share the load. The question you might need to be asking yourself this morning is, do you want to do the work? Because that’s a whole other conversation. Do you love the church enough to say, I will do the work?

It’s one thing to say, oh, I love my church. I just love my church. It’s a whole other thing to say, I love my church, therefore I will grind with them. I will work for them. If you don’t want to do the work or you just feel like it’s not important to do the job, you need to be asking yourself why God’s word tells you that you have a job. You need to be asking the harder question. Why do I not want to do this? What’s going on in your heart where all you want to do is be a passive participant in this supernatural reality where all you want to do is be a spectator. Family, our goal in the end is to hear from our God and King what Arden heard this week. Well done, good and faithful servant. You did your job. That’s our goal.

And God has given us the keys of the church with this authority, the tools to establish the what and the who. With this authority, the tools to establish the what and the who of the gospel, to exercise our ability to bring in and to take out, to protect and preserve the what and the who of the gospel. This family is fundamentally and practically how we grow the church and guard the church. I want to close this morning with a quote from a dear pastor, brother. It’s been a great encouragement to me concerning church discipline. This is what Mark Deborah says. Church membership is our opportunity to grasp hold of each other in responsibility and love by identifying ourselves with a particular church. That’s membership. We let the pastors and other members of that local church know that we intend to be committed in attendance, giving prayer and service.

That’s the work. We allow fellow believers to have great expectations of us in these areas, and we make it known that we are the responsibility of this local church. We assure the church of our commitment to Christ in serving with them, and we call for their commitment to serve and encourage as well. Joining a church increases our sense of ownership for the work of the church, of its community, of its budget, of its goals. We move from being pampered consumers to becoming joyous proprietors, which means we stop arriving late and complaining that we don’t get exactly what we want. Instead, we arrive early and we try to help others with what they need. We must begin to view membership less as a loose affiliation useful only on occasion, and more as a regular responsibility involving us in one another’s lives for the purpose of the gospel.

Amen. Family, how do we do all of that? Through meaningful membership where every member takes seriously their role within the church, using the keys that God has given us to grow and guard the church and family. And when this is done rightly and lovingly under the influence of the Holy Spirit, it glorifies God in this church. So, family, let’s strive as a church to do this very thing. And over the coming weeks and in our members meetings, we will begin to flesh this out more and more practically so that we can do what God has entrusted us to do. Amen. I know this was hard this morning. I felt it all morning.

But it’s what God says. We have to listen. We have to take it in. And we have to trust that what he has for us is better than what we think about it. Amen. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we do pray. That you would help us to take your truth and plant it deep in our hearts, that you would mobilize every member of this community to do the difficult work that you’ve called us to do.

God, would you create a burden in our hearts to chase after wandering saints? Would you give us the ability by your spirit to say hard things when necessary? Would you give us a heart that is eager and willing to receive back into the community when wandering saints do turn? Would you help to preserve the unity and holiness of this church? And holiness of this church, would you help us to see when brothers and sisters confront us with our own sin and with our own blind spots to see it as love? Because that’s what it is. Help us to see it and help us to live our life in complete obedience to every single word that you’ve given us in scripture so that you receive the glory and honor and praise that you deserve. And so that your church might maintain its lighthouse in this dark city of Portland and the greater Portland area.

God, move in our midst and make us one. Preserve our oneness by your spirit. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen.