WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.299 Please turn to Matthew 16. I'll be reading verses 15 through 19. 00:00:07.020 --> 00:00:06.219 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.960 He asked his disciples, saying, 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:34.500 Who do men say that I am? 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:39.000 The Son of Man, that I, the Son of Man, am. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:45.640 So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:49.640 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 00:00:51.019 --> 00:00:57.400 Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:00.299 Jesus answered and said to him, 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:08.840 Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:15.799 And also I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, 00:01:16.099 --> 00:01:19.980 and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:24.900 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, 00:01:24.900 --> 00:01:28.520 and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:33.020 and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 00:01:34.880 --> 00:01:36.960 This is the word of God for the people of God. 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:39.900 Thanks be to God. Please be seated. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:45.120 The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of the Lord stands forever, 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:47.800 and no word from God shall be void of power. 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:49.939 Let's pray. 00:01:55.060 --> 00:02:00.299 Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit will please give us the faith to behold Jesus. 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:05.420 We pray, Lord, that through the scripture that you've revealed and preserved, 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:10.259 applied to us, that your Spirit will help us to be there, 00:02:10.259 --> 00:02:15.719 and to see our Lord Jesus walking with his disciples in this part of the world, 00:02:16.179 --> 00:02:17.599 in that point in history. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:24.479 We pray that your Spirit will help us to marvel at the mystery of what he is declaring to them. 00:02:25.419 --> 00:02:28.099 We pray also, Lord, that you will give me clarity. 00:02:28.579 --> 00:02:31.439 I pray that your Spirit will minister your truth with power. 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:36.699 I pray that you will help us to discern and to weigh out what's preached today. 00:02:36.699 --> 00:02:41.959 And I praise you, Lord, for those who have gone before us over the centuries of the church. 00:02:42.579 --> 00:02:45.739 Thank you for your faithfulness and how you've always been with your church, 00:02:45.739 --> 00:02:51.619 and you've always preserved your church in truth and in peace, one way or the other. 00:02:51.959 --> 00:02:53.839 We trust you'll continue to do that, Lord. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:56.799 We know you will do it even despite us. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.739 We praise you, Lord, that by your grace you bring us under your word, 00:03:00.780 --> 00:03:04.120 and we pray that you will even do that through us and with us, 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:06.500 your church right here as you planted us. 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:08.360 For your glory we ask. Amen. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:16.400 Well, different ones of us have had to work with a construction project over the years. 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:22.080 And maybe it's been like a residential project to have a house built or remodeled 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:24.280 or a school that got built. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:29.480 What you learn with a construction project nowadays is it's become very complex, 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:32.459 and it almost always ends with lawsuits. 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:39.060 With a construction project, there's one official builder that receives a contract. 00:03:39.359 --> 00:03:43.919 The builder is signing this contract to build something, 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.500 and they're saying, I'm going to take on all the risk, all the responsibility, 00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:52.639 and the obligation to deliver what I've promised in this contract as the builder. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:04:00.959 The builder will then pull in all kinds of others underneath their ultimate authority to get the job done. 00:04:01.619 --> 00:04:04.539 Others will contribute, but there is one builder. 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:14.279 This builder has all of the authority needed to execute everything that must happen until the project is completed. 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:22.759 I want to focus today the theme of the sermon on the authority of Christ as the chief builder of his church. 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:23.939 The authority. 00:04:24.779 --> 00:04:29.199 The word authority, according to Noah Webster's Dictionary of 1828, 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:34.459 it's a legal power, a right to command, to act. 00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:37.279 It's a rule or a sway. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:44.099 The examples he gives are the authority of a prince or a civil magistrate over subjects of a kingdom 00:04:44.099 --> 00:04:47.719 or the authority of parents over children. 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:56.559 Our Lord Jesus Christ, in this flesh, on this earth, he worked a job like you and me. 00:04:57.379 --> 00:04:58.319 He was an apprentice. 00:04:58.899 --> 00:05:00.199 He had to learn a skill. 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:04.659 And the word for carpenter, which was the trade he learned from his dad, 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:07.519 a better description of that would be a builder. 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:12.319 If we were to picture our Lord Jesus in the flesh in our time today, 00:05:12.379 --> 00:05:15.099 it would be like when you go to a food truck like El Poblano 00:05:15.099 --> 00:05:19.000 and the guys walk up with their safety vests, you know, yellow vests on, 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:22.759 blue collar builders working all these different sites. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:27.519 And our Lord Jesus could have had a lot of other jobs on this earth. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.199 In God's providence, isn't that a beautiful thing? 00:05:30.299 --> 00:05:33.740 The skill he learned was that of being a builder. 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:42.620 So the title of today's sermon is Christ's authority and wisdom in building his church. 00:05:43.299 --> 00:05:47.259 Christ's authority and wisdom in building his church. 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:51.979 I want to walk through three observations from this passage. 00:05:52.659 --> 00:05:55.339 And I also want you to know on the third one, 00:05:55.339 --> 00:06:01.459 I'm going to do my best to pull in what I've been gleaning from a tradition of interpretation 00:06:01.459 --> 00:06:08.799 following reformed congregationalism in the vein of John Cotton from the 1600s. 00:06:09.479 --> 00:06:11.759 So the first observation is this. 00:06:12.859 --> 00:06:16.339 There is one who holds all divine authority. 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:21.759 There is one, one builder who holds all divine authority. 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:24.319 Let's marvel at this one first. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.759 Matthew 16, 15. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:32.699 Jesus tells his disciples to answer this question. 00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:35.000 Who do you say that I am? 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:39.959 Simon Peter answered and said, you are the anointed one. 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:42.000 You are the Messiah. 00:06:42.219 --> 00:06:46.339 You are the Christ, the son of the living God. 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:49.420 I mean, you think of what a statement that is. 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:52.339 Here's Peter, another blue collar fisherman. 00:06:52.339 --> 00:06:57.119 These are ordinary guys and they've been living with this ordinary man, a builder. 00:06:58.259 --> 00:07:00.000 Who now they begin to call rabbi. 00:07:00.599 --> 00:07:06.000 And he says, you are the anointed one, the Messiah, son of the living God. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:17.959 And Jesus said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:21.120 This statement that Peter made is true. 00:07:21.599 --> 00:07:28.060 But it's given as a gift of faith, as a revelation that the father in heaven has to give to people. 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:41.639 So before we speak of Christ's authority in his church, we need to we need to marvel and make sure we grasp the one, the person, Jesus Christ, who holds all authority. 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:50.639 The living God himself must reveal to you and me, to every believer that Jesus is God. 00:07:50.979 --> 00:07:52.459 He is God, the son. 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.240 And it's this confession that Peter makes that is the rock. 00:07:57.419 --> 00:08:01.519 It's this gospel, this revelation from God, the person of Jesus. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.779 That's the foundation of the church. 00:08:05.979 --> 00:08:14.079 Our hope as believers is built entirely on whether or not that's true of Jesus Christ. 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:21.519 The theme here in this passage is building his church, but he uses another metaphor. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:23.859 He talks about the keys of the kingdom. 00:08:24.479 --> 00:08:30.599 And when when Peter says you are the Christ, you are the Messiah, you're the promised anointed one. 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:39.220 And this is making those who know the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, think of all the promises bundled around the Messiah, the coming one. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:44.000 One of those promises in Isaiah 22, verse 22. 00:08:45.139 --> 00:08:52.460 The prophecy says that the key of the house of David, God will lay on the shoulder of the Messiah. 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:59.040 So he shall open and no one shall shut and he shall shut and no one shall open. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:06.419 And Peter is declaring you are this Messiah, the one who will have the key to the house of David. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:10.159 You will be a king and you will have supreme authority. 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:16.759 Jesus Christ is the true holder of this kingdom key. 00:09:17.719 --> 00:09:22.240 He opens the door of salvation and no mortal man or devil can shut it. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:25.080 And the time of his grace is right now. 00:09:25.180 --> 00:09:28.639 Jesus is offering grace to whosoever will come to him. 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:33.340 But there's a time at his second coming where this door of grace will be closed. 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:46.220 The offer of grace is now before he returns, because when he comes again, there's no power on hell or on earth that can undo his final decree. 00:09:46.220 --> 00:09:56.100 And as the ruler of the house of David, as the king of kings, as the Messiah, Jesus is the lawgiver. 00:09:56.680 --> 00:10:00.060 Isaiah 33, 22 says the Lord is our lawgiver. 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:02.160 The Lord is our king. 00:10:04.340 --> 00:10:12.160 Once the work of Jesus is completed and the Holy Spirit then breathes out all of the New Testament, bearing witness to who Jesus is. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:17.779 The same description is confirmed again in Revelation chapter three, verse seven. 00:10:18.339 --> 00:10:21.199 Jesus is described as the one who is holy. 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:22.659 He is true. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:25.159 He who has the key of David. 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:29.719 He who opens and no one shuts and who shuts and no one opens. 00:10:30.439 --> 00:10:33.620 See, Revelation interprets for us that Isaiah prophecy. 00:10:34.179 --> 00:10:37.819 Jesus Christ is the one who holds all divine authority. 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:39.339 He's the Messiah. 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:46.180 In Luke 4, 36, Jesus is described as one who came with authority and power. 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:53.680 And this was put on display as he walked this earth because the unclean spirits would come out of people and flee from his presence. 00:10:55.220 --> 00:11:00.000 Christ also then holds all legislative authority over his church. 00:11:00.680 --> 00:11:01.740 He is the lawgiver. 00:11:02.780 --> 00:11:06.000 He alone can make laws for his church. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.639 James 4, 1 interprets the law giving of Christ that same way. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:16.740 There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:20.799 You see the weight of all of scripture holding up Christ alone. 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:21.740 He is preeminent. 00:11:22.179 --> 00:11:23.960 He has all divine authority. 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:27.539 And so when Jesus says in Matthew 28, 18, 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:34.159 He says all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:39.120 He's bringing all of divine revelation to bear the weight of his authority. 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:43.599 This is the one who holds all divine authority. 00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:44.679 It's Jesus Christ. 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:49.379 Let's make sure that we know the person of Jesus Christ. 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:54.600 To know him is the very rock upon which our salvation is built. 00:11:56.100 --> 00:12:02.039 Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven to you who believe, to you who will come to him. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:05.879 And Satan and sin, they cannot keep you out. 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:09.820 It's Christ alone who can welcome you into his kingdom. 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:16.740 And no pastor, no false teacher can get in the way and try to give you hurdles to jump through 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:19.160 and to block you to say to be truly saved. 00:12:19.540 --> 00:12:20.680 Here's what you need to do. 00:12:21.020 --> 00:12:26.300 He is the law giver and he opens up the doors of grace to all who will come to him. 00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:30.460 Jesus Christ holds all divine authority. 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:36.860 Second observation, the purpose for which King Jesus wields his divine authority. 00:12:36.860 --> 00:12:42.800 In this passage, not only is he called the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ, 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.919 you know, the promised fulfillment of all of God's prophecies, 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:53.759 but we're also told what he will do as this mediator and as this all-powerful one. 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:57.500 Look at our passage, Matthew 16, verse 18. 00:12:58.779 --> 00:12:59.659 Jesus responds, 00:12:59.659 --> 00:13:05.680 I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:10.799 and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 00:13:12.059 --> 00:13:14.979 Well, in verse 13, we read where they are, 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:18.759 which region are they walking through with his disciples at this time? 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.439 It's a region of Caesarea Philippi. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:29.000 And by the title, you can tell this is a place where the Roman Empire has established a very big palace. 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:35.880 And along with this is a temple and is dedicated to cult worship of the emperor of Rome. 00:13:36.620 --> 00:13:43.380 And it's also a region where another pagan temple was built for the idol called Pan. 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:47.379 And so here's a place of extreme spiritual darkness and oppression. 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:52.720 And this temple and this palace, they're right up against the face of a rock. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:59.779 And both in Greek mythology, like in the Iliad, as well as in this first century Christianity, 00:14:00.439 --> 00:14:05.019 there were nicknames given to caves that would lead you into a rock face like that. 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:11.159 And different locations like that were considered like portals into the underworld where the dead would live. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.559 And Jesus was pointing to this location in Caesarea Philippi that had that nickname, 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:19.879 the gates of Hades, the gate to the underworld. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.860 It's a place of spiritual darkness. 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:30.279 And this is the first time that Jesus uses the word ecclesia to refer to his people, the church. 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:39.240 He says, on this rock, this statement, this profession of faith, I will build my ecclesia. 00:14:39.819 --> 00:14:42.620 I will build my assembly, my church. 00:14:42.980 --> 00:14:47.799 And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against my church. 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:50.939 He's naming his people. 00:14:51.959 --> 00:14:53.879 Mark Dever had a wonderful comment. 00:14:54.439 --> 00:14:58.480 Jesus Christ founded his own assembly, his own church. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:05.960 Jesus first names his New Testament people as my church right here in this verse. 00:15:06.800 --> 00:15:11.200 As Adam named his bride, so Christ names the church. 00:15:11.920 --> 00:15:13.300 That's the end of Dever's quote. 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:20.460 Well, the church will prevail is what he says. 00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:23.980 The church will prevail over against the Roman Empire, 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:28.320 over against the forces of darkness and demonic temple worship. 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:33.539 The church of Christ will prevail over hell and Satan itself. 00:15:36.180 --> 00:15:37.860 Revelation 9, 1 says, 00:15:38.300 --> 00:15:41.159 I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:45.340 and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:48.960 See, it's that theme of a key again being used. 00:15:49.180 --> 00:15:52.160 And it's difficult maybe for us to understand the meaning, 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:56.420 but we need to put ourselves under God's word and do our best to wrestle with this. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.420 What is this key to the bottomless pit? 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:01.960 And who is this fallen star? 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:10.000 Stars in the scriptures are often referred to as angels that rebelled against God and became demons. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:15.720 So this fallen star refers to Satan or Apollyon, which means destroyer. 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:20.100 At Adam's fall, the devil who knows God is just, 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:25.639 he stands to accuse sinners and to prosecute us all the way to hell for eternity. 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:32.179 So Satan appeals to God's justice and has this key or this authority to do so, 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:34.759 to be our condemner, our accuser. 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:41.340 And he justly locks up sinners in hell and unleashes the torments of demons 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:46.460 as a form of divine judgment in the bottomless abyss in hell. 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:51.620 Jesus says, my church will prevail against hell. 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:57.179 Even though Satan has this key to the bottomless pit because of Adam's fall, 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:01.500 and he gets to use that authority or that power over everyone who is a sinner, 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:09.279 Jesus is bringing a wonderful gospel that says, my church, I'm pulling out of hell, so to speak. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:12.579 I'm lifting you up and I have all authority. 00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:21.119 The reason Jesus has all authority is because he satisfied divine justice with his righteousness 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:25.480 and he appeased divine wrath with his death. 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:26.099 Amen. 00:17:26.099 --> 00:17:32.559 Our Lord Jesus Christ descended to hell into the deepest, darkest depths, 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:37.240 not as a captive, but he went to hell as a conqueror. 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:43.359 So now Satan can no longer accuse anyone that Christ has purchased with his own blood. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:51.279 Romans 118 says, I am he who lives and was dead and behold, I am alive forever. 00:17:51.699 --> 00:17:53.159 Revelation 118. 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:58.540 And Jesus says, I have the keys of death and Hades. 00:17:59.540 --> 00:18:02.800 See, Jesus tore those keys out of Satan's hands. 00:18:03.019 --> 00:18:05.060 He took that authority from Satan away. 00:18:05.340 --> 00:18:07.620 You can't condemn my people anymore. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.400 Jesus has the authority even over who goes to hell. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:18.540 The devil cannot accuse the soul that Christ has purchased with his blood, 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:21.080 for he holds the keys now. 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:22.619 Christ alone. 00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:26.199 Christ alone rescues people from hell. 00:18:26.779 --> 00:18:28.579 And he doesn't leave them on this earth. 00:18:28.659 --> 00:18:32.759 He puts them into his church, the church over which he rules. 00:18:33.179 --> 00:18:37.480 And he wields his power, his authority to do just that, 00:18:37.679 --> 00:18:41.519 to build his church with one more soul after another. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:50.160 Jesus said in John 15, 5, apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:57.279 The purpose for which King Jesus wields his divine authority is to build his church. 00:18:57.660 --> 00:19:03.680 It will be his own power, his own authority through his people accomplishing his purpose. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:09.039 He loves to share his power and his authority with his followers. 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:11.440 That was the pattern of his ministry. 00:19:11.600 --> 00:19:16.340 In Luke 9, 1, he gave his disciples power and authority over demons. 00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:19.299 In Luke 10, 19, he says, 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:37.039 The purpose for which King Jesus wields his authority is to rescue sinners from hell 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.180 and to build them into his church. 00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:47.240 He has bought you and me to build you and me up as his church, his body. 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:52.779 Our Lord Jesus descended to the very prison house of the grave and he conquered. 00:19:53.560 --> 00:19:56.299 And he did this in order to establish his church. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.279 His every act of authority from commanding demons to leave 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:03.299 and putting the ministry of the church in order, 00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:10.379 it's for the sole purpose of gathering, strengthening, and prevailing with his ransomed bride. 00:20:11.879 --> 00:20:13.059 Isn't this wonderful? 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:18.980 The power of Christ in the gospel and how central the church is to his very purpose. 00:20:20.919 --> 00:20:23.000 Well, the third observation is this. 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:29.099 How wisely King Jesus has dispersed divine authority. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:31.319 He's a wise builder. 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:36.460 Everything he has set out to do, it's ultimately for his glory. 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:39.839 And it's different than what man would come up with. 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:42.939 It takes into account all of our frailty and our weakness. 00:20:44.179 --> 00:20:46.939 Notice verse 19, Matthew 16, 19. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:48.779 Jesus says, 00:20:49.299 --> 00:20:53.179 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. 00:20:53.740 --> 00:20:56.939 And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. 00:20:57.319 --> 00:20:59.899 Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:05.279 This reminds us of what we read in John 20, verse 22. 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:07.460 Jesus breathed on them and said, 00:21:07.579 --> 00:21:08.759 Receive the Holy Spirit. 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:12.099 And if you forgive the sins of any, they will be forgiven them. 00:21:12.379 --> 00:21:15.619 If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:21.059 And after the Lord finished his work and ascended and poured out his Holy Spirit, 00:21:21.879 --> 00:21:27.019 this sign act of blowing on them was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came like a mighty wind 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:31.399 and formed these disciples, these followers of Christ into a church. 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:33.540 So when he says, 00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:36.660 I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, 00:21:37.540 --> 00:21:39.320 whatever you bind will be bound. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:40.759 Whatever you loose will be loosed. 00:21:41.560 --> 00:21:45.840 He's speaking to Peter as a representative of the church. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:49.319 He's giving his authority to his church. 00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:51.700 And that's what we get to unpack. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:53.139 How has he done that? 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:54.700 Looking at the rest of scripture. 00:21:55.619 --> 00:21:57.299 And what did these keys mean? 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:01.799 One of our catechisms that we use to teach at our churches, 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:05.399 based on the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563, 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:12.220 and it's adapted by a Reformed Baptist or particular Baptist named Hercules Collins. 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:15.420 And we've read this question as part of our liturgy before. 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:16.400 Question 89. 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:18.600 What are the keys of the kingdom? 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:24.080 And the answer that the church has held to for centuries is given in the catechism. 00:22:24.840 --> 00:22:27.700 The keys of the kingdom are the preaching of the Holy Gospel 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:31.480 and Christian discipline toward repentance. 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:36.299 So both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:39.099 and close it to unbelievers. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:41.339 So preaching and discipline. 00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:44.339 Those are the keys of the kingdom according to the catechism. 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:49.839 To continue using this language of keys and putting ourselves under God's word, 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:51.940 these are the words Christ himself used. 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.620 Keys would be the authority of Christ delegated. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:00.759 It's delegated or shared or given or dispersed. 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:01.779 First, authority. 00:23:02.980 --> 00:23:07.920 And Jesus did not give all the power and authority to a bishop or a pope. 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:10.140 He gave it to the church. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.039 And he didn't do it in an individualistic or chaotic way. 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:17.640 He gave it to the church in an orderly way. 00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:20.660 Remember, he told his disciples, wait. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:22.839 And as they waited, they prayed. 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:26.759 And he poured out his spirit on them, on the church corporately. 00:23:26.899 --> 00:23:29.259 All of them as one body gathered in his name. 00:23:29.259 --> 00:23:36.480 The second time that our Lord Jesus uses the word church is also helpful to get at his meaning here. 00:23:36.859 --> 00:23:41.879 Would you turn just another page forward to Matthew 18 and look at verse 17. 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:48.520 He's giving disciples instructions. 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.819 When you are operating as a church by the help of the Holy Spirit. 00:23:53.900 --> 00:24:01.039 If two or three gather in my name and speak truth and love to another brother or sister, there is a real declarative authority. 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:03.859 Calling them back to Christ. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:04.879 Turn away from sin. 00:24:05.019 --> 00:24:05.900 Turn to Christ. 00:24:05.900 --> 00:24:08.060 There's a declarative authority there. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:14.019 And he says in verse 17, if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:18.820 So every Christian, every disciple of Christ will have a church. 00:24:18.900 --> 00:24:20.000 They will belong to a church. 00:24:20.100 --> 00:24:26.000 They will be part of a local body where there's an orderly way to obey Christ in this way. 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:28.860 You need to have a church to tell it to in this case. 00:24:29.259 --> 00:24:35.000 But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen. 00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:38.980 So in Matthew 18, he's using the same term ecclesia. 00:24:39.180 --> 00:24:42.560 These are the only two times Jesus uses that term church. 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:45.400 And he's saying there's a clear line. 00:24:45.540 --> 00:24:48.400 You're either in my church or you're a heathen. 00:24:48.600 --> 00:24:49.600 You're of the world. 00:24:50.060 --> 00:24:53.040 The line is not blurry between the church and the world. 00:24:55.019 --> 00:25:00.480 And so when Jesus says to Peter, I'm giving you the keys of the kingdom. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:02.820 This is where we need a little bit of help. 00:25:02.820 --> 00:25:05.000 We need a tradition of interpretation. 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:11.259 If we take one tradition of interpretation, we'll end up with the conclusion that Peter now is the pope. 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:14.819 And that's the line that receives all the authority over the church. 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:21.519 If we take a different line of interpretation, we'll end up with very different conclusions as well. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:29.779 So what I want to present to you is received by the congregationalists that were in England in the 1600s. 00:25:30.019 --> 00:25:38.579 It was one of those Puritans who had migrated through the Netherlands, came to the American colonies in the middle of the 1600s named John Cotton. 00:25:38.579 --> 00:25:42.899 And his work was so clear, even though it's somewhat concise. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:52.579 When it got back to England, the prince of the Puritans, as he's called, John Owen, read it and was convinced away from Presbyterian toward reformed congregationalism. 00:25:52.579 --> 00:25:59.460 And so John Cotton offers, I think, to me, a very helpful tradition of interpretation. 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:04.099 Who was Peter representing in this statement? 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:13.379 Cotton says Peter had a unique role representing an apostle, an elder and a believer representing all of those. 00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:15.520 He's representative of all three. 00:26:15.520 --> 00:26:27.500 And the exercise of all the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven is committed not to any single person, but it is distributed among the rest of the church, which is composed. 00:26:27.860 --> 00:26:33.080 Philippians 1, 1, the whole church from among them, elders and deacons. 00:26:33.180 --> 00:26:35.620 So you could say officers and the brethren. 00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:37.400 That's the language of Scripture. 00:26:38.320 --> 00:26:41.720 According to their respective gifts and places. 00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:43.320 That's the end of Cotton's quote. 00:26:44.040 --> 00:26:57.980 So following this tradition of interpretation, I'd like to pull in other passages from the Scripture and show you six ways in which the keys of the kingdom or the authority of Christ over his church has been dispersed. 00:26:58.260 --> 00:27:06.560 And the reason this is important is because every believer has an active role and a responsibility as a member of the church of Christ. 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:13.260 So the first way in which Christ has dispersed his power, he's given it to the individual believer. 00:27:13.380 --> 00:27:17.280 To you and me as individual stand-alone Christians. 00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:23.080 Cotton called this the key of faith or to use Christ's own words, the key of knowledge. 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:27.660 In Luke chapter 11, verse 54, Jesus himself says, 00:27:27.660 --> 00:27:32.040 Woe to you lawyers, you have taken away the key of knowledge. 00:27:32.580 --> 00:27:36.360 You did not enter yourselves and those who were entering you hindered. 00:27:37.019 --> 00:27:45.860 So Jesus says, you who are now holding the law against my people, you have taken away from my people the key of knowledge. 00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:47.580 That's the word Christ himself uses. 00:27:47.579 --> 00:27:53.519 This means that every true believer can know a saving faith in Jesus Christ. 00:27:54.539 --> 00:28:00.059 And it gives you confidence to know the Holy Spirit will convict me what is true. 00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:07.099 And if again, if I hear another person telling me that you need to do this and this and this in order to save yourself, 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:11.500 You have the key of knowledge, the key of faith to know that is not the true gospel. 00:28:12.379 --> 00:28:18.240 And some families have been drawn to this church by God's grace because they were at another church telling them, 00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:23.980 Unless you keep the covenant for yourself and satisfy the law, you can't know that you're saved. 00:28:24.539 --> 00:28:27.839 It was a gospel of works, not a gospel of grace. 00:28:28.379 --> 00:28:31.699 So that's the first one, the key of faith or knowledge. 00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:37.080 The second authority that God disperses is to the entire congregation. 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:41.779 John Cotton calls this the key of order for a body together. 00:28:42.539 --> 00:28:47.759 It's given to a visible local church for participation in church life. 00:28:48.700 --> 00:28:57.880 Second Thessalonians 3, 6 tells a church as an orderly body to withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly. 00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:05.780 So the nature, the structure, the visible makeup of a local church ought to be directed by the word of King Jesus, 00:29:05.780 --> 00:29:10.980 not from a civil government, as was happening in England in the 1600s. 00:29:12.040 --> 00:29:17.920 It's not also up to a group that's going to go off and make decisions on behalf of the whole body. 00:29:18.280 --> 00:29:20.520 This is to be under the word of God. 00:29:20.580 --> 00:29:25.000 It should be the scripture itself that regulates the practices of a church. 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:34.259 This has been called over time the regulative principle, a church that's doing its best to be more and more and more regulated by the word of God. 00:29:34.259 --> 00:29:43.539 So how a church goes about doing that ought to be putting ourselves more and more again, time and time again, under the word of God. 00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:47.339 And it was John Owen, late 1600s in England. 00:29:47.539 --> 00:29:56.400 And he was even appointed as chancellor over Oxford University when Oliver Cromwell took over, you know, running the empire, the monarchy. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:01.140 And John Owen observed observed this about church order at the time. 00:30:02.100 --> 00:30:08.580 He said the Moldovian Greek Orthodox churches, they didn't have local ministers, but rather only regional bishops. 00:30:08.980 --> 00:30:12.980 And he saw this as being an imitation of Alexander the Great's governors. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:21.180 He noticed how the Roman Catholics patterned after the Roman Empire, even Anglicanism and Episcopalianism. 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:24.360 And Owen thought were patterned off the British Empire. 00:30:25.320 --> 00:30:37.340 He even went as far and said that Presbyterianism was patterned off of Scottish clans rejecting magisterial rule of a king appointed priest and said it would be the lords of the clans coming together. 00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:42.779 Where their decisions now as clan lords would then bind those they went back. 00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:51.200 And that's the Presbyterian model of elders going off and as a Presbyterian making decisions that then come back and bind all the congregations. 00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:53.700 Now think about today. 00:30:53.799 --> 00:30:55.220 That's the end of Owen's observations. 00:30:55.500 --> 00:31:03.000 But today, most Baptistic Christians or churches are patterned off of majority rules. 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:08.779 It's very similar to an American democracy or as Thomas Jefferson cautioned, a mobocracy. 00:31:08.779 --> 00:31:25.579 Most megachurches are patterned off of corporate empires where a CEO hires an HR department and they become financially dependent on the market and they have a staffing plan to service consumers. 00:31:26.579 --> 00:31:30.639 You see how we need to be just as careful today as in the 1600s. 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:37.720 We need to be regulated as best we can under God's word and God's word alone for the order of a church. 00:31:39.520 --> 00:31:45.640 To be very clear, the 1689 confession of faith is first reformed. 00:31:46.740 --> 00:31:56.460 It's not out of the Armenian or general Baptist tradition, which was it was a little bit more free for all, a little bit more in that Anabaptist vein. 00:31:56.460 --> 00:32:03.759 This was more patterned off of the Puritan trying to reform from within the more Presbyterian model. 00:32:04.500 --> 00:32:07.740 And so that's the confession of faith of a reformed Baptist church today. 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:09.440 Yes, Baptistic. 00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:15.000 Yes, Congregationalist in the sense that there's not a higher national church or something like that. 00:32:15.420 --> 00:32:22.079 But first and foremost, under doing our best to be under God's word in the reformed Puritan tradition. 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:28.559 So that's the key of order, the power given to churches as a whole to order themselves. 00:32:29.439 --> 00:32:33.179 The third one is specifically for members of local churches. 00:32:34.399 --> 00:32:38.559 And Cotton called this the key of liberty or the key of privilege. 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:52.019 If you're a member of a local church, as every Christian ought to be, you have the key or the authority to weigh a matter, to peacefully discuss a question, to uphold truth, to check the scriptures. 00:32:52.700 --> 00:32:56.599 And that's an important responsibility that every Christian has. 00:32:57.039 --> 00:32:59.299 Galatians 5.13 says, 00:32:59.299 --> 00:33:04.980 For you, brethren, addressing all the Christians, the members of this local church, you have been called to liberty. 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:11.839 Only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:17.859 So each one has been liberated from our own bent towards self, our own fleshly desires. 00:33:18.019 --> 00:33:24.899 We're liberated to serve a local body, to use the wisdom, the insights, the discernment that God has given us. 00:33:24.900 --> 00:33:34.720 As a member of a local church, you also need to use this authority to help confirm to the best of our ability together what is the mind of Christ. 00:33:35.620 --> 00:33:38.580 Acts 6.3-6 tells the congregation, 00:33:39.800 --> 00:33:47.560 Choose from among you men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom the elders may appoint over this business. 00:33:48.140 --> 00:33:52.019 And it well pleased the whole multitude, and they chose these men. 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:54.000 And these were the proto-deacons. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:55.940 But you see how they had a responsibility. 00:33:56.880 --> 00:34:05.400 They had this authority or this power to choose from among them, and then to affirm and confirm who it is that we believe God is raising up. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:07.079 Notice the language. 00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:11.460 It would be the elders then who would appoint these men over this matter. 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:14.920 So Christ will raise up servants from within the church. 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.119 He'll raise up officers. 00:34:16.119 --> 00:34:27.039 The congregation has a responsibility to seek out from among you, to be a member that takes that responsibility very seriously and eagerly. 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:30.739 Then the elders entrust to faithful men and equip them. 00:34:31.279 --> 00:34:34.980 The congregation has the role of testing and eventually confirming. 00:34:35.359 --> 00:34:39.199 We believe this is a man that God has raised up. 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:50.599 It's Jesus Christ who ultimately delegates his authority, but he does it through a congregation, through the members having their part, the officers having their part. 00:34:51.099 --> 00:34:54.259 And so the authority is not given by those who are asked to vote. 00:34:54.419 --> 00:34:56.679 The authority is given by Christ himself. 00:34:56.679 --> 00:34:58.219 And it's recognized that way. 00:35:00.399 --> 00:35:08.759 Then there are two powers or two authorities given to the office of elder in John Cotton's tradition of interpretation. 00:35:09.259 --> 00:35:11.379 The first he called the key of rule. 00:35:12.399 --> 00:35:15.019 And Peter is a representative of an elder. 00:35:15.139 --> 00:35:17.359 He served as an elder of a local church. 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:34.099 Elders have the authority to call the whole assembly together, to leave the assembly in worship, to propose a decision for for consideration, for a decision making process and to ordain those who the church has confirmed. 00:35:35.240 --> 00:35:40.079 They also have the authority to dismiss God's people and to bless them on their way out. 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:49.980 You see, this authority to rule, you know, the Bible says there's a double, you know, those who rule well are worthy of that honor. 00:35:50.940 --> 00:35:54.099 But this doesn't mean that elders know know what's best. 00:35:54.599 --> 00:35:56.759 The Bible assumes a plurality of elders. 00:35:56.759 --> 00:36:00.360 There will be times where the elders don't know what's wise. 00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:08.719 The elders do have a responsibility to bring before the congregation opportunities or decisions for the congregation to help weigh out. 00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:20.399 And, you know, to do that and to peacefully question this together and wrestle through decisions is actually the I believe the sanctifying process God has given the church to arrive at a decision. 00:36:20.739 --> 00:36:30.159 In other words, let's say at some point elders and deacons do their best to go through a process, perhaps about, you know, acquiring an old building. 00:36:30.859 --> 00:36:34.119 If God were to make that available, do your due process, present all the information. 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:36.559 But the whole congregation needs to weigh that out. 00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:38.519 There might be differences of opinion. 00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:43.539 And even if it's brought to a vote, members of the congregation might not all vote the same way. 00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:46.139 There might not be consensus on every matter. 00:36:46.599 --> 00:36:49.880 But we take the final decision as direction from God. 00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:54.759 And it's not divisive to, you know, each member does need to do their part and vote their conscience. 00:36:55.279 --> 00:36:59.420 And so know that that's the expectation within a body like this. 00:36:59.420 --> 00:37:06.960 It's that everyone will be actively involved and have a part with the elders ultimately giving account to God for ruling. 00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:10.700 Well, the second authority given to elders, this is the fifth one. 00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:19.139 It's the key of declarative ministerial authority to declare the word of God, the truth and to minister Christ. 00:37:19.139 --> 00:37:22.079 And when you do so, you do it with Christ's own authority. 00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:28.219 First Timothy 517 says elders are to labor in the word and doctrine. 00:37:28.719 --> 00:37:33.480 Hebrews 13 says they are to speak the word of God to the people of God. 00:37:34.219 --> 00:37:38.480 In the faith of the elders, you are to follow considering the outcome of their conduct. 00:37:39.079 --> 00:37:43.219 They are ones who keep watch over your souls as ones who will give account to Christ. 00:37:43.219 --> 00:37:54.039 Titus 215 says elders are to speak these things, to exhort, to rebuke even with all authority, a declarative authority. 00:37:54.599 --> 00:37:56.239 Let no one despise you. 00:37:56.919 --> 00:38:01.439 There's an authority that elders are expected of, of Christ, to declare. 00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:06.199 And let no one despise you in declaring Christ to the best of your ability. 00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:14.739 Now, excuse me, there's so much authority here placed in the hands of these officers. 00:38:14.739 --> 00:38:18.339 And we've all seen or experienced that authority be misused. 00:38:18.839 --> 00:38:21.259 And this was nothing new in any century. 00:38:21.659 --> 00:38:27.239 In the mid 1600s, John Cotton and his in his writing address this objection. 00:38:27.939 --> 00:38:29.179 He raised the objection. 00:38:29.179 --> 00:38:42.419 If elders have all this power to exercise all these acts of rule and declarative authority over both private members of the church and over the church as a whole, how are they then also called servants of the church? 00:38:43.259 --> 00:38:46.399 And the citation is 2 Corinthians 4 5. 00:38:46.819 --> 00:38:54.379 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus' sake. 00:38:54.380 --> 00:39:00.380 See, it's biblical for elders to describe themselves as slaves of the church for Christ's sake. 00:39:00.860 --> 00:39:03.119 And here's how Cotton answered that objection. 00:39:04.019 --> 00:39:11.200 The role of elder as both servant and ruler within the church are entirely consistent. 00:39:12.160 --> 00:39:17.019 Their authority is not self-serving or lordly as if they ruled by their own will. 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:20.980 Rather, their rule is stewardly and ministerial. 00:39:20.980 --> 00:39:27.400 They govern the church on behalf of Christ based on his command and call. 00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:33.599 And they rule for the church's benefit, ensuring its spiritual and eternal good. 00:39:34.280 --> 00:39:38.820 Then he gives this wonderful illustration that just puts you in 1600s England. 00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:49.099 Consider a queen's mariners entrusted with authority to pilot the king's ship to a desired harbor. 00:39:49.099 --> 00:39:50.519 Can you get that scene? 00:39:50.980 --> 00:39:53.460 Now, he's saying the ship belongs to the king. 00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:56.420 And the king is Jesus. 00:39:56.619 --> 00:39:58.420 And who is the bride of Jesus? 00:39:58.760 --> 00:39:59.699 It's the church. 00:39:59.880 --> 00:40:02.139 So he's calling the church the queen. 00:40:03.019 --> 00:40:04.679 And the mariners are the pilots. 00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:11.199 The ones who have been hired by the king to get this ship to its desired harbor. 00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:22.559 Though they are servants, once called to that office, even she, the queen, must submit to their guidance in steering the course until they safely reach the port. 00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:27.559 This illustrates the relationship between the church and its elders. 00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:31.679 And that's the fifth of the keys that Cotton pointed out. 00:40:32.039 --> 00:40:35.380 And there's a sixth one that we won't have time for today. 00:40:35.719 --> 00:40:40.000 I'll tell you what it is, but it will be a separate sermon in the months ahead, Lord willing. 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:45.099 And it's the key of partnering with other churches. 00:40:45.099 --> 00:40:55.719 So the principle in Acts 15 is that individual churches, while they are fully operating as churches on their own, they're independent in that sense. 00:40:56.119 --> 00:40:59.960 They also ought to have a level of interdependency with other churches. 00:41:00.579 --> 00:41:02.319 And that's the pattern we see in Acts 15. 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:12.600 So one individual church has the liberty to consult other churches, and that would include both the officers and the brethren, the members of those churches. 00:41:13.120 --> 00:41:26.080 And as churches and as a church, both officers and members, our church also has the responsibility and the authority to declare truth to other churches if they ever consult with us or ask. 00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:31.679 Well, those are the ways in which Jesus has wisely dispersed the keys. 00:41:32.380 --> 00:41:37.739 See, there's remaining sin in every saved sinner, everyone who he has built into his church. 00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:43.559 And there's so many ways in which we need the checks and balances, even if we're all underneath his word. 00:41:44.019 --> 00:41:49.319 But in his wisdom, King Jesus will build his church and he'll do it in all of these marvelous ways. 00:41:50.299 --> 00:41:54.139 He's not led his church to figure out its way on its own. 00:41:54.139 --> 00:42:00.460 He's also not just turned us over to the flimsy patterns of this world or earthly empires. 00:42:00.759 --> 00:42:04.900 He's ordained a divine order rooted in his word. 00:42:05.579 --> 00:42:11.819 So let us trust Christ's wisdom and how he's dispersed his authority to his church in these ways. 00:42:12.019 --> 00:42:14.799 I believe each of these is vital as a safeguard. 00:42:15.500 --> 00:42:20.879 Let us joyfully seek the mind of Christ together on whatever matters come before our church, 00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:27.119 trusting that with each decision, he is sovereign and he is the one ultimately through this process, 00:42:27.500 --> 00:42:35.300 steering our souls safely through the tempestuous seas until he brings us to our final destination, our eternal rest. 00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:42.760 There's one last scene I want to leave you with as Christ walked this earth and the dust on his sandals. 00:42:42.760 --> 00:42:51.920 In the context of first century Judea and Galilee, there were failed building projects everywhere you turned. 00:42:52.200 --> 00:42:53.260 They were a common sight. 00:42:54.220 --> 00:43:00.280 The region was undergoing massive construction under the ambitions of Herod the Great and his sons. 00:43:00.640 --> 00:43:02.720 But this caused a lot of price inflation. 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:10.000 And projects were often abandoned for lack of funds and resources, leaving many people without work, including builders. 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:13.639 So the economy was depressed in many places. 00:43:14.059 --> 00:43:21.840 And in Luke 14 verses 28 and 29, Jesus most likely pointing to one of these abandoned buildings. 00:43:22.219 --> 00:43:28.900 He says, for which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, 00:43:29.179 --> 00:43:35.780 whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, 00:43:35.780 --> 00:43:38.719 all who will see it will begin to mock him. 00:43:38.719 --> 00:43:47.879 And in the Mediterranean honor shame culture of the time, public figures would have been ridiculed for such a failure. 00:43:48.379 --> 00:43:52.519 An unfinished tower, it would be a constant public spectacle. 00:43:53.259 --> 00:43:55.779 It would be like a byword and a folly. 00:43:56.099 --> 00:44:00.199 It would bring immense shame on the builder and his entire family. 00:44:00.199 --> 00:44:05.319 Remember, our Lord Jesus Christ is the builder of his church. 00:44:06.539 --> 00:44:08.839 And he will not be put to shame. 00:44:09.619 --> 00:44:11.960 Our Lord Jesus Christ will not fail. 00:44:12.819 --> 00:44:15.399 He was mocked and he was shamed on the cross. 00:44:15.399 --> 00:44:20.519 But he did that in order to become the cornerstone, the one that the world rejected. 00:44:20.519 --> 00:44:25.739 And upon his own life, he will build his church. 00:44:26.780 --> 00:44:27.719 He's the builder. 00:44:28.039 --> 00:44:32.719 He assumed all the risk of building a church, even like this one. 00:44:33.400 --> 00:44:35.199 He has all authority to do it. 00:44:35.780 --> 00:44:37.059 He is most wise. 00:44:37.699 --> 00:44:39.380 He will not be put to shame. 00:44:39.920 --> 00:44:45.039 He will receive all the glory that's due his name by building his church. 00:44:45.039 --> 00:44:45.579 You and me. 00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:50.800 It is he who began the good work in us, Reformed Heritage Church. 00:44:50.840 --> 00:44:54.539 And he will see it through to completion for his glory. 00:44:55.159 --> 00:44:55.840 Let's pray. 00:44:57.320 --> 00:44:59.019 Lord, we thank you for your power. 00:44:59.559 --> 00:45:01.400 We thank you for your faithfulness. 00:45:02.460 --> 00:45:05.460 We thank you for how you counted the full cost. 00:45:07.300 --> 00:45:09.840 And you didn't start something you would not finish. 00:45:11.900 --> 00:45:13.420 Lord, help us to trust you. 00:45:13.420 --> 00:45:15.720 Thank you for your wisdom. 00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:17.780 Thank you for your power. 00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:24.200 We are earthen vessels, Lord, but you entrust the glorious gospel to your church. 00:45:24.280 --> 00:45:30.760 Help us to be faithful stewards of this, to minister Christ faithfully to one another, only by your help. 00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:31.680 Amen.