Christ Will Build His Church (4)

Christ’s promise, "I will build my church" (Matt. 16:18), means that the true church will always be present in the earth. Even in Elijah’s day there were still 7,000 in the N. Kingdom who had not bowed the knee to Baal (I Kings 19:18). They are always a remnant, and sometimes "a very small remnant" (Isa. 1:9), but the Lord always has His people in the world. There is no reason for despondence. Do not set your hope upon the world or the false church! Do not despair as they degenerate further. Do not lose heart if true churches become smaller and harder to find. Christ’s Word is sure: He will build His church. Perhaps the elect have already been gathered in your area, but there is always a true church somewhere.

This explains why isolated Christians and those in departing churches are often discouraged. They find it hard to see the church (like Elijah), so they doubt Christ’s promise. Moreover, they lack the means of grace (preaching and sacraments) properly administered and so they do not enjoy, as they ought, the communion of saints with Christ and each other. In these sad circumstances, believers should move to a faithful church that the Son of God is building, for their own good and that of their family, children and other saints, because Christ builds His church through believers and their seed in true, instituted congregations.

Here is also ground for hope in our mission work and evangelism. Most do not want to acknowledge their wickedness and so do not see the need for repentance and faith in Christ crucified. This can be discouraging. But though most of those who are called by the preaching of the gospel reject the truth, Jesus encourages us that always a "few are chosen" (Matt. 22:14). These are the elect whom He makes living members of His church.

Some 2,000 years of Christ’s building His NT church have passed. He will continue this great work until the last of His people are brought to repentance (cf. II Peter 3:9) and then He shall return in glory on the clouds of heaven. Our calling is to believe, preach and hold fast to Christ’s promise (Matt. 16:18), especially in times of doubt, despair and setbacks. He is faithful who has promised!

Matthew 16:19 states the official means Christ uses in building His church: "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (cf. Heidelberg Catechism, Lords Day 31). These two keys are the preaching of the gospel (John 20:21-23) and church discipline (Matt. 18:15-18). Christ wields these keys through Peter (16:19) and all the apostles (John 20:21-23; Matt. 18:15-18) in the first instance, and today He uses pastors who preach the Word and elders who administer church discipline.

So what is the basic idea of the keys of the kingdom? Picture the church as a well-fortified city ruled by a king. Through the faithful preaching of the gospel, Christ assures the true citizens of the kingdom that they belong within her walls. They see and hear, as it were, the gates of the kingdom being locked, with them safely on the inside. Meanwhile, unbelievers who are not members of the church also hear the preaching; their consciences testify to them that they are wicked; they see the city’s gates locked against them. Church discipline functions as a key when a confessing church member falls into sin, does not repent after receiving frequent brotherly admonition, and is finally excommunicated (cf. I Cor. 5). Then he passes through the gates of the kingdom, which are then closed and locked behind him so that he is now outside its walls. Thankfully, in some cases, that same key of church discipline is also used to readmit the excommunicated person, when he shows signs of genuine repentance.

The other imagery used in Matthew 16:19 is that of binding and loosing. Positively, Christ uses preaching and the readmitting of excommunicated persons to seal upon the hearts of His penitent, believing people that all their sins are forgiven or "loosed" from them. Negatively, He uses preaching and excommunication to testify to all unbelieving and impenitent people that, as long as they remain this way, all their sins are firmly "bound" upon them.

The exercise of the keys of the kingdom and this binding and loosing are, of course, only ratified and sealed "in heaven" (19), if the preaching and church discipline are in accordance with God’s holy Word.

In our day, the keys of the kingdom are frequently little understood or despised. This is in part through their abuse by false and departing churches and in part through the failure of churches to teach God’s Word properly. From the context in Matthew 16, we must emphasise that these two keys (19)—preaching and church discipline—are the official means that Christ uses to build His church and defend her from the gates of hell (18)! A church where these keys are not used properly or are even used wrongly is wide open to Satan or even part of the forces of the gates of hell! It is that serious! See to it, believer, that you are in a church (and denomination) where the keys are rightly esteemed and used!

Jesus goes on to explain the difficult, but blessed, calling of His followers: self-denial, cross-bearing and losing your life for Christ’s sake (24-25). This is how the true citizens of the kingdom and the living members of the church walk in this world. And this is the calling which Jesus and His true church issue to all those who confess Him as "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16).