Sermon Tone Analysis
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Grace Alone
Welcome & Announcements (Mike Klaassen)
Scripture Reading (Matt.
16:13-19; 18:15-20)
Prayer of Praise (God is self-existent), Bethany Harris
All Praise to Him
Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery
Prayer of Confession (lying), Bobby Watkins
Yes I Will
PBC Catechism #33
What is the local church?
The local church is an autonomous congregation that covenants together for worship, discipleship, service, fellowship, missions, discipline, and the celebration of the ordinances
Pastoral Prayer (Bubba Jones)
SERMON
Keys on key chain...
Some represent ownership
Some represent stewardship
Some represent something long forgotten
If you’re a Christian and a church member, you’ve been given a shared set of keys to steward.
And yet, for many Christians the purpose of these keys is long forgotten.
Turn to Matthew 16:13
We’re going to look at two texts in Matthew’s gospel that teach us about what Jesus calls the Keys of the Kingdom
This concept can sometimes be confusing and feel abstract, however...
The Keys of the Kingdom are crucial for our success in making disciples.
Three Questions:
What are the Keys of the Kingdom?
Why Do the Keys Matter?
How Do We Use the Keys?
WHAT are the Keys of the Kingdom?
Most of our time on this question (understanding) and then we’ll apply
Matthew 16:13-15—Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Most important question
16-18—Simon Peter replied, “You are the 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.”
Jesus doesn’t stop after Peter’s answer.
He doesn’t say, “Great job!
Now you’ll be just fine!” Jesus wants more people to know the truth that Peter has confessed, and He wants those people gathered in something called a church.
[1]
And in order to do that, Jesus talks about something called “the Keys of the Kingdom”
19a—“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven...”
What are these keys?
Think about what keys do.
They open and close.
But what are these keys opening and closing?
Jesus shows us...
Imagine after Jesus asks, “who do you say that I am?” Peter responds, “I think you’re Elijah.”
How would Jesus respond?
He would say, “I’m sorry Peter, but you don’t understand yet.
You’re not yet in the Kingdom.”
He would reject Peter’s confession.
But when Peter confesses rightly, Jesus affirms His confession.
He says, “That’s right, Peter.
That’s a true confession.
You are a citizen of the Kingdom.”
That’s what it looks like to exercise the keys of the kingdom.
It’s the power to say, “that is a true confession and this is a true confessor.”
That idea is clarified in...
v. 19b—“...whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
To bind something is to close it, to loose something is to open it.
The power of the keys is the power to say, “the doors of heaven are open to this person” or “the doors of heaven are closed to that person”
Does it surprise you that Jesus would share those keys with sinful humans?
Who has the keys of the kingdom?
Who among us has the authority to say who is and isn’t a true believer in Jesus?
v. 18— “...you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church...”
Roman Catholic church used this text to argue that a single man (the pope) has the authority of Jesus on earth.
In their view Peter was the first pope.
After the Reformation most Protestants objected to this idea.
The “rock” is not Peter, but Peter’s confession.
Today most evangelical scholars believe that this was an over-correction.
Edmund Clowney says, “The confession cannot be separated from Peter, neither can Peter be separated from his confession.”
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Jonathan Leeman—“Jesus builds the church on both Peter and his confession.”
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But the church isn’t built exclusively on Peter.
It’s built upon people who confess rightly.
That’s clear in our next passage...
Turn to Matthew 18:15
This and the passage we just read are the only places in all the gospels where the word “church” is used
Classic passage on church discipline, but it’s bigger than that.
It’s a passage about the keys of the kingdom...
18:15-17—“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.
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.
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.
Jesus gives clear instructions on how to deal with sin among those who call themselves His followers
But there’s more going on here...
18-20—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.
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 in my name, there am I among them.”
Jesus doesn’t explicitly mention the “keys” in Matthew 18, but the same authority is there.
He repeats what He said to Peter about binding and loosing
Except this time it’s plural...
“Whatever ya’ll bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever ya’ll loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
So the keys of the kingdom were not given to Peter as an individual, but as the representative of the disciples.
The keys belong to a group.
Put the two passages together:
In Matthew 16, Jesus talks about the gates of hell not prevailing against His church.
It’s going to storm the gates of hell and grow as new believers are gathered in.
And Jesus says, true confessors have the authority to affirm professions of faith and welcome new people into the church.
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