Christ’s Visible Kingdom

Introduction

How much of your Christianity is cultural and how much of it is biblical? One way to answer this question is to think about various beliefs or practices you think of as Christian, and then think about which of those you’ve embraced from reading your Bible, from a sermon, or from someone pointing you to a biblical argument. If we’re honest with ourselves, most of what we believe as Christians and most of what we do as Christians is stuff we’ve caught, rather than stuff we’ve been taught from Scripture… “This is just the way we’ve always done it.”

Think about it with me for a bit. Must Christians be physically present at a church building on Sundays? What if we all decided that we preferred to gather on Saturday nights? Would FBC Diana still be a church if we sold our building and property? If so, what specific practices make what we do each Sunday “church,” and not just some Christian concert or experience or conference? And where would you turn in the Bible to find answers to such questions? Or do you think the Bible even speaks to these things?

Or how about Christian principles for marriage? Is marriage defined as one man and one woman committing to love and respect and stay with one another for a lifetime? What if a woman wants to marry another woman, or what if a man wants to marry three women? What is the biblical definition of marriage, and where do you turn to find it? And what about divorce? Is it ever not sinful to pursue divorce? If so, how do you know? And what is the purpose of marriage anyway, and how does that affect our answers to questions about marriage?

Or what about government? How should Christians relate to local, state, and federal officials? Is there a “Christian” form of national government? Is it ever ok for a Christian to disobey a police officer? Is it ever ok for a Christian to reject a command from a boss or a teacher? If so, how do you know when it’s ok? When are such decisions a matter of Christian conscience (my own convictions on this or that), and when are they a matter of religious liberty (the fundamental freedoms necessary for Christians and Jews and Muslims and Hindus and Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and atheists to all live together in a society)?

If you’re like most Christians in the West in the 21st century, then when push comes to shove, a lot of your Christian beliefs and practices are probably built upon the unstable and quickly-fading ground of “tradition,” more so than on any text of Scripture. In the 1971 musical Fiddler on the Roof, the main character (Tevye) sings a song called Tradition. He says, “Because of our traditions, we’ve kept our balance for many, many years… We have traditions for everything… how to eat, how to sleep, even, how to wear clothes… You may ask, how did this tradition start? I’ll tell you – I don’t know. But it’s a tradition….”[i]

The fact is that this sort of traditional or cultural standard for beliefs and practices cannot last. In fact, it is doomed from the start. Every nation or state or community on the planet has a tradition and a culture, and who is to say that any one tradition is better than another? Who is to say that any one culture is more moral, or more conducive to human flourishing, or more faithful to God?

At the end of the day, we all need a place we can go to learn about absolute right and wrong – the kind of moral standards and commands that don’t change over time or geography. Without such a place, without absolute truth and morality, all that matters is “synthesis, pragmatism, and utilitarianism.”[ii]

Francis Schaeffer (a great theologian and philosopher of the 20th century) wrote a book back in 1976 called How Should We Then Live?. Fifty years ago, Schaeffer noticed that the western world was growing increasingly distant from the Christian traditions of its past, and he predicted exactly what we are seeing play out in our society today. Schaeffer wrote, “As the memory of the Christian base grows ever dimmer, freedom will disintegrate… The system will not simply go on, divorced from its founding roots. And the drift will tend to be the same, no matter what political party is voted in. When the principles are gone, there remains only expediency [or convenience] at any price.”[iii]

Schaeffer’s conclusion was a call for Christians to live like Christians and to know why they are doing it. He wrote, “as Christians we are not only to know the right world view, the world view that tells us the truth of what is, but consciously to act upon that world view so as to influence society in all its parts and facets across the whole spectrum of life, as much as we can to the extent of our individual and collective ability.”[iv]

This year, I want to make a strong effort to help us all know what is and how to act based on the principles for practical living we find in the Bible. Over the course of 2023 (Lord willing), I’ll preach through a series of sermons once a month that will aim to define and describe the most fundamental societal beliefs and practices of Christianity. There are more fundamental doctrines, such as the nature of God, the person of Christ, and the work of atonement (which Jesus performed in full), but this series is focused on Christian living – How Should We Live?

I hope to look at the Bible with you to consider the subjects of marriage, family, parenting, work, money, discipling, and politics. This is not designed as a “self-help” series – like “5 Steps to a Better Marriage.” Rather, this is a series intended to provide a biblical argument for the principles and purposes of engaging in society at a basic level as Christians – How should we live as Christians in the world? And what does the Bible really say about all of this?

Today, we will begin by considering the fundamental distinction, mission, and authority of the only Christian society in the world – the church. I’m arguing this morning that Christians must first understand themselves as Christians, locally gathered as a distinct societal institution with a unique authority and mission.

Scripture Reading

Matthew 16:13–19 (ESV)

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 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.

18 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. 19 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 18:15–20 (ESV)

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he 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. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 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. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV)

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Main Idea:

Christians are locally gathered as a distinct societal institution with a unique authority and mission in the world.

Sermon

1. Gathered and Scattered

1. The Bible uses the word “church” in two senses: universal and local

a. Universal – the invisible and universal Body of Christ, believers from all time and space.

i. Acts 9:31 says that “the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.”

b. Local – a specific congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, [and] governed by His laws.

i. Acts 8:1 says that “a great persecution [arose] against the church in Jerusalem.”

2. We also should think of the local church in two senses: gathered and scattered

a. Scattered

i. Church members do not cease to be church members when they depart on Sunday afternoons.

ii. How is FBC Diana doing on a given Tuesday afternoon or Friday evening? Well, that (in large part) depends on how well each member is doing at those times.

iii. Is FBC Diana involved at the local school? Does FBC Diana care about the needs of the communities around us? Is FBC Diana active in evangelism? Well, are you?

1. The best answers to these questions is not to look for an organized church-wide program, but to remember that we all continue to be church members when we scatter throughout each week… and invest ourselves in all sorts of activities.

2. May God help us to be faithful and active in our service to Christ when we are scattered.

b. Gathered

i. The gathered church is the major focus of my sermon today.

ii. In order for Christians to live well as Christians in any society, Christians must first understand who they are and what specific place or role they have in society.

1. The gathered church is a distinct institution

2. The gathered church has a distinct mission

3. The gathered church has a distinct authority

2. Distinct Institutions

1. Pragmatism and Sentiment have become king

a. It’s common in our culture (and has been for about 70 years) for people to view societal structures from the perspective of pragmatism. “Does it work?” or “Does it result in personal gain (wealth, status, security)?”

b. It has become more common today for people to think with their hearts. “Does it feel good?” or “Does it fit my narrative?”

i. But the Bible never encourages us to judge or measure things by their apparent worldly progress or by the way they feel.

1. Jesus said, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (Jn. 7:24).

2. And the standard of “right judgment” is the word of God (i.e., the Scriptures).

3. Therefore, we ought not embrace pragmatism or sentimentalism; rather, we ought to ask, “What has God authorized?”

2. God has authorized for each institution of society a certain jurisdiction, which defines its authority and its responsibility.

a. God is the author of creation, and Jesus is King over everything; therefore, God gets to define the purpose, the authority, and the responsibilitiesHe has assigned to the three fundamental societal institutions – the state, the family, and the church.

b. In the Bible, God grants each of these their own jurisdictions (their own sets of authority and responsibility).

Of course, there is some overlap between the three, but generally,

1. the state has the authority of the sword

2. the family has the authority of the rod

3. and the church (gathered) has the authority of the keys

i. The state

1. Historically, many Christians have argued that the state has the jurisdiction or authority of the sword.[v]

2. As one writer says it, state governments “are the Lord's appointed means of maintaining order in society… As a general rule, earthly governments punish wrongdoing and do not threaten those who do good…”[vi]

3. The initial biblical authorization for this is found in Genesis 1 and 9, and the principles we find there are reiterated in the New Testament as well (especially Romans 13).

ii. The family

1. The family has the jurisdiction or authority of the rod.

2. This phrase comes especially from the book of Proverbs, and it focuses on the parental responsibility to teach and raise children through instruction and discipline (which is a pervasive theme throughout the Old and New Testaments).

a. Proverbs 13:24 says, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”

b. Proverbs 22:15 says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”

c. Proverbs 23:13 says, “do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.”

c. There is a lot more we could say about all of this, and I will get to the jurisdiction of the church in just a moment, but at the very least I’d like to nail a few truths on the wall right here.[vii]

i. First, all authority comes from God, not merely from the consent of the governed or the popular vote of those under authority.

1. One day all kings, judges, police officers, presidents, and legislators will stand before God and give an account of how their wielded their authority, and “The majority of people wanted it!” will be no excuse (Ps. 2).

2. One day all mothers and fathers will stand before God and give an account for how they parented their children, regardless of whether their children submitted or rebelled against them (Deut. 6:7; cf. Eph. 6:4).

3. And one day, all pastors will stand before God and give an account for how they kept watch over the souls under their care, and all church members will give an account for how they bore the responsibilities of membership (Heb. 13:17).

ii. Second, God has not authorized governments or families or churches to do whatever they want, even if they mean it for good.

1. Neither the state nor your parents can authoritatively affirm or deny your Christianity… local churches do that.

2. Neither the state nor the church can create a new definition for marriage… God has already defined it.

3. The state cannot compel true worship, prohibit heresy, or mandate church membership.

4. So too, families cannot kill disobedient children, or baptize sinners, or observe the Lord’s Supper together.

5. Churches are not authorized to jail sinning members, to tax community residents, or to adopt orphans. Christians may sit as judges or work as tax assessors or open homes to needy children, but God has not authorized churches to do these.

iii. Third, God has specifically authorized distinct jurisdictions for each of society’s institutions… the sword, the rod, and the keys

1. If we neglect God’s design or if we rebel against it, then we do so to our own peril.

2. We must not encourage or vote for authoritarian politicians, just because they promise to impose what we think are good policies or laws for our interest group.

3. And we must not treat our families like little churches or empires since God has not authorized them to act as such.

d. In summary, God has authorized…

i. the state to preserve human life and dignity

ii. the family to produce and raise children

iii. and the church to make disciples and to authoritatively declare who is and who is not a disciple of Christ

3. The Church’s Mission

1. The Great Commission

a. Matthew’s Gospel begins by recording “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1).

b. Matthew then tells of the birth of the “king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2).

c. After recording Jesus’s baptism and His victory in the desert temptations, Matthew says that Jesus began His earthly ministry by preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17).

d. Some have pointed out that Matthew is the Gospel of the “kingdom.”

i. He uses the term more than 45 times to refer to the already present and yet coming reality of God’s people living in harmony with Him and with one another… under the reign of God’s Messiah.

1. “kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 3:2)

2. “kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33)

3. “kingdom… of the Son of Man” (Matt. 13:41)

e. So, it is no surprise that Matthew ends his Gospel with a pronouncement of authority and a royal commission!

i. Q: Who is the king of God’s kingdom?

1. A: The resurrected Jesus.

a. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (v18).

ii. Q: Who are the citizens of God’s kingdom?

1. A: Disciples; those who bear the name of God.

a. As the King, Jesus spoke to His existing disciples and told them to “make” other “disciples” from “all nations” or “peoples” of the world (v19).

b. And the way “disciples” are made is described in the commission itself… “baptizing them” in the “name” of the triune God (v19) and “teaching them to observe” all that the King has commanded (v20).

c. So, citizens of God’s kingdom are those who have been set apart or marked off through baptism, and those who continue to live in growing obedience to the King’s rules and instructions.

iii. Q: What are the citizens of God’s kingdom authorized or commissioned to do?

1. A: Make and affirm disciples (other citizens).

a. “make disciples” (v19)… and “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (v20).

2. We (Christians) make disciples by…

a. preaching the gospel with the aim to persuade others to repent and believe.

i. Non-Christians need to know who Jesus is and what He’s done.

ii. Non-Christians who know the gospel need to understand the necessity of repentance and obedience.

b. inviting believing sinners into citizenship in Christ’s kingdom.

i. Discipleship (me following Jesus) is necessarily a communal activity (me helping others follow Jesus, and others helping me).

ii. The biblical starting point of a life of discipleship is baptism into membership with a local church.

c. teaching and practicing obedience to Christ’s commands.

i. Christians are not perfect, and we all fall short in our efforts to obey Christ, but Christians (i.e., disciples, citizens of Christ’s kingdom) are those who aim to (those who mean to) “observe” to “keep” to “obey” all that Christ commands (Matt. 28:20).

d. Brothers and sisters, I wonder how you prioritize this central commission or charge that Christ has given His people in the world?

i. How does your weekly calendar reflect your efforts to be a discipling Christian?

1. In what ways might you invite a fellow church member into your life in order to do him or her some spiritual good?

ii. How does your family budget reflect your desire to support the word-ministry of this church and others like it?

1. Are there any specific ways you might invest your time or money differently in order to prioritize “making disciples” as one of the main missions of your life?

3. But this commission begs several questions…

a. What is the unifying message or belief or confession of the kingdom?

b. Who has the authority to declare “This one is a citizen of the kingdom.”?

c. What if a citizen of the kingdom lives in open rebellion against the King?

4. The Church’s Authority

1. A quick note…

a. If you’re staying with me thus far, then you’re doing good, and the end is near… so hang in there.

b. If you’ve been drifting a bit, then come on back, and let’s look at our other two passages of Scripture to see what they can teach us about the church, its authority, and how the church is supposed to use it.

2. Similarities and connections between Matthew 16, 18, and 28

a. In 18 and 28, Jesus authorizes His disciples to gather and to act “in my name” (18:20) or “in the name” of the triune God (28:19).

b. In 18 and 28, Jesus promises that He Himself will be “with” (28:20) or “among” (18:20) His people, and chapter 18 seems to tie Christ’s presence to the formal “gathering” in His “name” (18:20).

c. For the first time in all the Bible, the word “church” shows up in Matt. 16 and 18, and the word doesn’t appear again until Acts 5.

d. In 16 and 18, the same strange phrase is repeated at length, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (16:19, 18:18).

i. Whatever else we might learn from these verses, we can at least learn that…

1. These verses form Jesus’s foundational teaching on the institution of the church during His earthly ministry.

2. Christ Himself authorized His gathered disciples to uniquely act in His name or on His authority.

3. The authoritative action of the gathered disciples is described as “binding” and “loosing,” and baptism plays a featured role.

3. Differences between Matthew 16, 18, and 28

a. Matthew 28 is an all-encompassing announcement of Christ’s authority and a commissioning of His disciples to begin the work they’ve been authorized to do.

b. Matthew 18 is Jesus’s authorization for His disciples to address unrepentant sinning members of “the church,” by calling them to repentance and then setting them outside the church if they do not.

c. Matthew 16 is Jesus’s authorization for His disciples to affirm entrance into His kingdom or “church,” by pronouncing a “blessing” upon those who make the good confession… just as Peter did.

d. In short, 28 is a commission to make disciples (through baptism and teaching), 18 is the authorization to remove(or put out) unrepentant disciples, and 16 is the authorization to include(or put in) believing ones.

4. So, what does it mean to “bind” and to “lose”?

a. Clearly, Matthew 16 and 18 are both speaking of “binding” and “loosing” in the same way, and with Christ at the center of it.

i. “binding” and “loosing” are metaphorical terms, but they are being used to refer to the same concrete reality in both passages.

b. Both Matthew 16 and 18 are focused on “the church” as the “kingdom” of Christ… where new citizens are welcomed and affirmed, and rebellious citizens are expelled or excluded.

c. Historically, Christians have not always agreed as to which is the positive and which the negative (binding or loosing), but Christians nearly universally agree that these each refer to the act of affirming or denying membership in Christ’s visible kingdom.

i. It seems best to me to understand that “binding” is affirming one’s citizenship in the kingdom, and “loosing” is expelling one from the safety and provision of the kingdom.

5. What are “the keys”?

a. This is the only place in the Bible where the metaphor of a “key” or “keys” is used with respect to the “kingdom of heaven” (16:19).

b. A few other places in the Bible speak of a “key” as a sign of authority… The one who has the “key” is in charge (Is. 22:22; Rev. 1:18, 3:7).

c. In the context of Matthew 16 and 18, the “keys” must refer to the authority to “bind” and “loose.”

6. To whom did Jesus give “the keys”?

a. Clearly, in Matthew 16, Jesus gave “the keys” to Peter (v19).

b. But the keys are the authority to “bind” and “loose” (16:19), which Jesus gives to “the church” (18:17) or all those “gathered in my name” (18:20).

c. Furthermore, if baptism is the way existing disciples affirm new disciples (which I think the commission of Matthew 28 demonstrates), then this again shows that Jesus has given “the keys” to the church – the local assembly of gathered believers.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, if we are to live well as Christians in the world…

1. We must understand the local church as a distinct societal institution.

a. The church isn’t a business, it’s not an entertainment venue, and it’s not a market of consumer services.

b. The church is bigger than any one of us, and yet it is a marvelous society of which we all play an important part.

2. We must understand that the gathered church has a unique authority, one that we cannot wield on our own.

a. If what I’ve argued this morning is true, then the membership decisions we make every couple of months carry the full authority of heaven!

i. No church can make someone a Christian, nor can a church take someone’s Christianity away… but when we take in and put out members, we are speaking in the name of Christ what we believe are heavenly truths “So far as we can tell, this one is one of us.” “So far as we can tell, this one does not appear to be one of us.”

3. And we must understand that the local church has a profound and narrow mission, one that we cannot fulfill on our own.

a. “Making disciples” is not something that individual Christians do… it’s something we all do together.

b. It’s precisely in the messy and diverse relationships among church members that we and others will grow as disciples.

Christians must first understand themselves as Christians, locally gathered as a distinct societal institution with a unique authority and mission.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aland, Kurt, Barbara Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, eds. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. Logos Research Edition. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

Schaeffer, Francis A. How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture. Logos Research Edition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005.

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition). Logos Research Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Logos Research Edition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Logos Research Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.

The NET Bible First Edition. Logos Research Edition. Biblical Studies Press, 2005.

Endnotes

[i] See the lyrics to the 2015 version of Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof here: https://www.themusicallyrics.com/f/371-fiddler-on-the-roof-the-musical-lyrics/4062-tradition-lyrics-fiddler-on-the-roof.html [ii]Schaeffer, 251. [iii]Schaeffer, 250. [iv]Schaeffer, 256. [v] This view seems universal among Christians until the advent of Christendom under Constantine and Theodosius in the fourth century. Since then, the relationship between church and state has varied, and the two have often become indistinguishable. The Reformers did not all share the same political theology, but it is clear that the Protestant Reformation produced various forms of religious liberty over time, wherein the church (or any religious institution) does not wield the sword of the state. [vi] See the full article The Government and the Sword from Ligonier here: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/government-and-sword [vii] These points are drawn from an essay by Jonathan Leeman at TGC called The Relationship of Church and State. See the full essay (which I highly recommend) here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-relationship-of-church-and-state/