My text is from Revelation 3, verse 7. Revelation 3, 7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he that is holy He that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. In that verse, I'd like to address the issue of church government. I thought of entitling the sermon Presbyterianism and the preservation of the church. This is actually it's been a while since we were in the last sermon in the series, but this is actually a drawing to the close of a series. through the churches that are addressed in the second and third chapter of Revelation. Dear ones, we may not think of Christ's preservation of his church as being intimately connected to church government, but such is in reality the case. Now, you may not have awareness of that connection between church government and Christ's preservation of his church. That may be due to the fact that we do not consider church government to be much of a blessing at all. It is true that government, in fact, can be tyrannical. Government can be destructive to the souls who are under it, whether it be a civil magistrate, Whether it be in the church or whether it be in the home, there can be government that is tyrannical and destructive. But dear ones, that is simply an abuse of something God intends for your blessing. Government, when used as God intends it, is actually edifying to his people. For we find, for example, in Romans 13, 4, when speaking of civil government, it says, for he is the minister of God to thee for good. A lawful civil magistrate is for the good of God's people, not for their destruction, not for their harm, but for their good. And Christ has given authority to all lawful officers in his church for edification and not for your destruction, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10.8. Thus, dear ones, if the church is to be faithful and true in doctrine and in worship, it will be due to Christ's grace. Listen closely. It will be due to Christ's grace manifested and exercised through his own appointed means, and that is through the means of a faithful, biblical church government. That is why at the Westminster Assembly, The most urgent and pressing need of the hour was to settle this very issue, the issue of church government. There was an unusual agreement, a substantial agreement amongst the divines at the Westminster Assembly in the area of doctrine and worship. However, if the churches of Scotland, England and Ireland were to stand together in unity to be able to ward off all of the false religions that were seeking to undermine the true Christian faith. If that was to happen, it would happen through a faithful exercise of a uniform church government between those nations. And if these churches in the three kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland were to fall, as in fact did occur. It was primarily due to an unfaithful exercise of an unsettled church government in those three kingdoms. There was such was the case in the king in the kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland at that time. Though Presbyterianism at that time was even constitutionally settled as the biblical and lawful government of the church in those nations, nevertheless, those churches crumbled by giving way to unbiblical forms of church government. And so it has ever been. A faithful church has a faithful church government, and a faithful church government preserves that church, defends that church, protects that church. It is, in fact, Christ's agency or means of preserving His church in the world. Now, that's not an insignificant detail. When we talk about church government, this is essential. This is necessary for the church to understand the importance of a faithful church government. Now, this sermon is not explicitly devoted to articulating all the details of Presbyterianism. If you want more details, you can refer to a recent study that we just had on that subject. However, the theme Christ's letter to the church of Philadelphia is giving is that Christ uses biblical and faithful church government to preserve his church. And since, as a church, we ourselves are committed to Presbyterianism as the biblical form of church government, before we actually get into that first verse, let me briefly summarize for you the foundational truths of biblical Presbyterianism. Why are we Presbyterians? Why do we believe that it is biblical to be a Presbyterian? Well, number one, and there are just three very brief points I want to mention with regard to these foundational truths of Presbyterianism. Number one, Presbyterianism is church government by divine right. In other words, Presbyterianism makes no claim to be the preferred form of church government amongst many other kinds of church government. It makes the exclusive claim to be the one and only form of church government that is authorized by Jesus Christ in his Word. In Acts 15, when there is a dispute as to the nature of circumcision, some are within the church saying that one, in order to be saved, must be circumcised. Others say no. This dispute arises and what we find happening is that the churches in Antioch and Syria in that particular area and the churches within Judea and Jerusalem gathered together in a Senate in an assembly to determine. That particular issue. To render a decision in a church court. which therefore will be binding upon all of those churches, not simply upon one church, not simply because one church likes the decision, but the other one doesn't prefer the decision. But it is binding as being a lawful. Decision. And we find also in First Timothy, chapter four, verse four, Paul speaks of Timothy having been ordained by the presbytery, by the assembly of the elders gathered together. Again, there are many, many passages that could be appealed to in the scriptures, but this is a very brief summary of the foundational truths upon which Presbyterianism is built. The second major point as to what Presbyterianism is. Presbyterianism is church government in which Jesus Christ alone is the head of the church. There is no other head of the church. Jesus alone is that head. Contrary to the view of the Church of Rome, the Pope is not the head of the church. Contrary to the view of irascianism. That's simply the teaching that the king is the governor of the church. The king rules the church, which is the case in the Church of England. Contrary to both of those false teachings, the Word of God teaches there is no other king of the church, but King Jesus. There is no other head. Jesus Christ alone is the head of the church. In fact, the Westminster Confession of Faith teaches in chapter 25, section 6. There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, dear ones, understanding that Christ alone is the head of the church, all authority to rule and to govern the visible church proceeds from him, the head and from his word. Therefore, any ecclesiastical constitution. Now, this is a point that many have had questions about, but listen closely, because Jesus Christ is the head of the church and because all authority flows from him and from his truth. that's found in his word, any ecclesiastical, any church constitution, whether it be ancient or modern, that is contrary to the truth proclaimed by Christ is an unfaithful constitution. And an unfaithful constitution, which is contrary to the truth, is not a legitimate constitution. by which to rule a church. Even though that constitution, even though that confession of faith, that creed may have many things that we could say that's agreeable to the word of God, a constitution that is not faithful in what it teaches about Christ and about his truth is not a valid, is not a legitimate constitution. And so what I'm saying is truth, not simply man's attempt at being truthful, but truth itself is what establishes a faithful constitution. It's not that there is seventy five percent truth in their constitution and twenty five percent air that establishes a true and legitimate constitution. But the constitution of a church must be faithful to the word of Christ. But on the other hand, when there is professed error in a constitution, that establishes, in effect, that establishes error as law within that church. It establishes as law something that is contrary to God's word. And such a constitution that is contrary to the truth cannot be recognized as lawful and cannot be given allegiance to by faithful believers. We cannot do so. Otherwise, we compromise our faith. Otherwise, We say Jesus is not in fact the head of the church. When we tolerate sin and error within a constitution, then man becomes the head of the church, then what man says can determine a constitution becomes our authority rather than what God says, what Christ says. And the last point. that I'd like to make concerning Presbyterianism is that Presbyterianism is church government exercised by qualified and approved elders. The word for elder is presbyter from the Greek language, and that is where the word Presbyterian comes from. Contrary, dear ones, to the Episcopacy of the churches of Rome and England, Episcopacy simply is being ruled within a church by bishops, by archbishops, by cardinals, by mere individuals. Contrary to that rule, the church is not to be ruled by that. but rather is to be ruled by a corporate group of elders. The scripture teaches not by one man, not by a bishop, not by an archbishop, but by elders, qualified and approved elders tested according to the word of God. And I might also say, contrary to congregationalism or independency, The church is not to be ruled by the democratic principle of majority rules. You see, the church of Jesus Christ, dear ones, is not a democracy. The church of Jesus Christ is a kingdom ruled by a king, by the Lord Jesus Christ, and ruled by that king through his vice regents, his elders. who have been sent forth to rule on his behalf. And therefore, because elders, in the plural, rule on behalf of Jesus Christ, their power and authority is not absolute. They can't simply institute whatever they want to institute. They are guarded by what Christ has said. They are limited in their authority. Their authority is ministerial. They simply minister what Christ has already said to his people. They do not make up their own new set of rules and regulations for the church. And so all of the government of the church must be agreeable to the scripture. And because, again, elders rule on behalf of Christ and rule collectively. And this, again, is an extremely important point in our day and age to understand that there are elders in each congregation, then there are elders in all of the congregations in a particular region who gather together and rule as a church court. So that court is above the local congregations court. And then above that is another larger court that encompasses a larger area called the Synod. And then finally, in the national church, there is the General Assembly where all of the elders within the nation. are represented in that particular court. Now, you see, there's an ascending. Power and authority that the lower courts must submit themselves to the decisions, to all of the lawful decisions that are rendered by the higher courts. You see, again, this is the way in which in Acts 15 we find the Church of Jesus Christ being ruled. The decision of the higher court became the decision of the lower courts. They were obligated to obey that particular decision. Only by means of biblical Presbyterianism can the Church of Jesus Christ know true unity. True unity being not letting every church do his own thing. or do its own thing, have its own creed, have its own worship practices, but only on the basis of a biblical church government will we find one faith, one faith in all of the churches, one creed, one confession of the truth. That's true unity. It's built upon the truth. It's not simply saying, as in most churches today, let's get together simply to have a large organization. You can believe what you want to believe, and we'll believe what we want to believe, but we'll just agree to disagree. How does that confirm the truth? How is that true biblical unity? It isn't. Only through biblical Presbyterianism will we have one worship, one way, a biblical way of worshiping God, which is in fact what we find in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 16. At the conclusion of the discussion pertaining to women wearing head coverings in worship, Paul says, that there is no such custom of women praying without their heads being veiled amongst the apostles or amongst all the churches. You see, matters related to worship were uniform within the church of Jesus Christ at that time. They were not diverse. There was uniformity, true unity. And then only through biblical Presbyterianism will we have one discipline, as we have seen in Acts 15, where decisions rendered by the church are followed and carried out by all the churches under them so that there is, again, uniformity in all of these things. Having given a very brief overview of biblical church government, let's consider the passage before us. Revelation, chapter three, verse seven. First of all, to whom was this letter sent, says in verse seven, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. As we've noted in the past, the word angel in this context does not refer to heavenly beings, but refers to human messengers. That's what the word angel means in both the Hebrew language and the Greek language. It means messenger. And the context basically determines whether it is an angelic or heavenly messenger, or whether it is a human messenger. In this particular context, this angel is given the responsibility to carry the message that Christ gives to his church, to that particular congregation. That is his responsibility. And so the angel in this particular context refers primarily to the teaching elders of the church. To those who are in ministry, to those who who are to proclaim the message to the congregation. In Malachi, chapter three, verse one, very helpful passage. concerning this word messenger and how it is used. We find these words. God says, behold, I will send my messenger. And he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Here we find the word messenger used twice in the first case. The fulfillment of that one of that use of messenger is in Matthew 1110. It refers to John the Baptist. I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. And then it speaks of another messenger called the messenger of the covenant. This messenger will suddenly come to his temple. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ is the messenger of the covenant. And so, in both of these cases, we find that the word refers to, certainly in the case of John, a human messenger. In the case of the Lord Jesus Christ, one who is truly God and truly man, but not an ordinary angel. passage I found very interesting that uses the word messenger is in James chapter two, verse twenty five. In this context, James is demonstrating that that faith without works is dead faith in order to see one's faith, one must be obedient. For someone to simply say, I have faith, but there's nothing to substantiate that, no obedience in his life would indicate that that is simply a mere expression or a mere profession with no reality to it. Now, he demonstrates, for example, in the case of Rahab, that she was one who had faith and demonstrated it even through her actions. don't want to get into too much of what occurred there. We talked a little bit about that last week, and that's not why I'm mentioning it this time. But there is the word messengers that's used there. Listen to the verse. Likewise, also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way. James is not contradicting Paul. Paul says were justified by faith and James says were justified by work. James is speaking in regard to the evidence with regard to substantiating being able to see a faith that justifies. But again, she had received the messengers, the same word that's used In Revelation, there it's translated angel, is this word messengers. It's in the plural in James. But what I found interesting, it doesn't say when she had received the spies, when she had received the messengers. It's almost as if God is saying, I sent these two spies as messengers to proclaim the truth to Rahab that she might give demonstration to her faith that she belonged to God's people. And so the spies became messengers of the gospel, messengers of the truth to Rahab. Messengers of Jesus Christ, dear ones, are Christ's official spokesmen. They are commissioned to speak on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ rather than on their own behalf. The primary virtue needed in a messenger is faithfulness. If he is to be a messenger in any true sense, he must be faithful to the one who sent him. He must be faithful in proclaiming the message just as it was given to him. He must not alter it, change it to please himself or to please others. That is a faithful messenger. And he will be judged on that final day as to how faithful he was to the message that was committed to him. Faithfulness, dear ones, in faith, in doctrine, and in life. Because his life must not take away from the message. His life must not distract one from what is being preached, from what is being taught. It must not in any way cause others to stumble as they look at his life so that they do not hear the message, the truth that God would communicate. You know, dear ones, That virtue is also desperately needed in the life of all Christians. Faithfulness. Because in a more broad and general sense, you're all messengers. In a very unique and special sense, the minister is a messenger. But this truth in a more broad application applies to all of you. Whether you're children or whether adults, you are messengers. The Lord of God has committed to you His truth as well. To be faithful to that truth. To not simply say, that's just the responsibility of the elders. That's just the responsibility of the officers, the minister. I don't have to worry about being faithful to the truth. I don't have to be worried about my life causing someone to stumble so that they do not acknowledge and hear the truth. Absolutely you do. Truly you do. God help us to have a motto in our life like that of the Marines, the U.S. Marines, Semper Fidelis. Always faithful. Always faithful. Would to God that the Marines were always faithful. But that should be our motto as Christians and certainly the ministry within the Church of Jesus Christ, especially always faithful. This letter. To Philadelphia. Is. Very significant in that, like the letter to the Church of Smyrna, It has no rebuke from the Lord. So that is to whom the letter was sent. From whom was this letter sent? From whom was it sent? Well, it was sent from the only head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is absolutely essential to understand this truth and Because I wanted to spend so much time emphasizing this truth, I'm not covering the entire letter to the Church of Philadelphia today, but simply focusing on this first verse. There was not to clearly comprehend Christ's absolute lordship and headship over His church leads to tyranny. within the church. It leads to. Ruling by unlawful authority within the church, it leads to abuse and crushing the the people of God rather than edifying and building up the people of God. It leads to establishing unlawful constitutions within a church. where we do not recognize that Jesus Christ alone is the Lord of His church. He alone is the head of the church. Notice, first of all, within this passage, the divine character of that head. The divine character, first of all. These things say he that is holy. He that is true, this is the character of the head of the church. He is holy and he is true. There was Jesus Christ is absolutely holy. He is without any sin or error in the least. He is blameless. In fact, He is absolutely incapable of sin or error, for He is the living God. He cannot sin. He cannot speak forth any error. That is crucial and critical to realize. in the life of the home and the church. When the trials and afflictions of life seem to beat down and bear down upon us like a fierce storm, to realize and remember that Jesus Christ is holy. Psalm 145.17 says, The Lord is righteous in all His ways. and holy in all His works. Not in some of His works. Whatever the Lord has brought into your life in your home, whatever as a family you have encountered and passed through, whatever this church is going through, whatever afflictions will come in the future, the Lord Jesus is head of His church and He is holy in all His ways. He knows what he's doing with you and with me. And he knows what he is doing with his church. If Christ, dear ones, is holy in all his works, he therefore must intend all the storms that he brings our way for our good. And because, dear ones, Jesus Christ, the head of the church, is absolutely holy, he therefore cannot help but be absolutely true, absolutely faithful to keep his word. Think about this. If Jesus Christ was absolutely true in keeping every jot and tittle of God's commandments, every seemingly insignificant detail of God's word and God's law when he lived upon this earth, if he was faithful and true in so doing, in order to purchase our salvation now that we belong to Him? Will He go back on any of His promises? Will He now become unfaithful? Will He now be one we cannot count on to keep His Word? It's unthinkable that the Lord Jesus Christ would do so or be so, for now Now that Jesus Christ has purchased our salvation, beloved, he has shown us and given us the greatest assurance that he will fulfill all of his promises in his covenant, which is sealed with his blood. A covenant sealed with blood, the Lord Jesus Christ will be absolutely true to all of His promises, beloved. When our faith, therefore, is severely tried, when we are filled with fear at ominous and threatening circumstances, when we feel like we have even been abandoned by God, then, at that particular time, we must more so We must work even more so. We must stir up within us those gracious affections to embrace Jesus Christ and to cling to him as one who is holy and true. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him, Amen, the Apostle Paul said. Not some of them, but all of them. But observe, dear ones, not only Christ's righteous character as the head. Notice, secondly, the kingly authority of Christ, the head of the church. Not only he that is holy and true, but now he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. Christ alone, dear ones, is the head of the church. He alone is the one who owns by right the key of David. Very significant term, and we might very casually just pass over that phrase, the key of David. If it were not for the Spirit of God giving us understanding, causing us to to stop at the red light that flashed. That is a significant term. He alone has the key of David. Let us first consider that a key. What is a key? What is it used for? What is it symbolize? A key and scripture, dear ones, is a symbol of authority. In fact, all the ordinances which Christ has given to his officers to administer in the church of Jesus Christ are called the keys of the kingdom. The keys of the kingdom in Matthew 16 verses 18 and 19. The keys of the kingdom have been given to the officers of the church. Peter there In that circumstance, representing all church officers given the authority to rule on behalf of Christ. However, one thing needs to be noted about keys, keys, that is the exercise of authority, as we've already said earlier, can and do at times come into the possession of those who do not have a legitimate right to use them. For example, as the head of my home, I have keys to my house, which I use to give access to family and friends. I can also pass on my keys to family to be used as I would authorize. even as Christ has passed on keys to be used as he has authorized. But it is possible that my keys can fall into the hands of someone whom I did not give them to. I can lose them or someone can steal my keys. Now, Christ doesn't lose his keys, but I can. And the point simply being that if they do fall into the hands of someone I did not intend to give them to, that they can thereby gain access into my house. They can use those keys, even though I have not given them the authority to do so. The point is simply this from that illustration. Just because someone is exercising authority, whether in the realm of the church or whether in the realm of the civil government, just because they have the keys does not necessarily mean that they have them lawfully. Just because a church is administering What they believe to be the ordinances of Jesus Christ does not mean that they have the keys of the kingdom lawfully. How does one discern when the keys are held lawfully? How does one know when a church is using the keys of the kingdom legitimately and lawfully using Christ's authority? lawfully. Well, very simply, we must seek to know if the minister possesses them from Christ or from man. How will we determine that? If he holds the keys from Christ, then the church in which he ministers and of which he's a member will be a Faithful to the truth of Christ as revealed in His Word. Faithful to the truth of Jesus Christ as practiced by other faithful and pure churches throughout history. There will be characterized by that church faithfulness to the truth of Jesus Christ. Because only the truth establishes legitimate authority. But that's not the case. That minister may have keys, he may be exercising and administering ordinances, but he has his keys from man and not from the Lord Jesus Christ. Interestingly, we find in Luke chapter 11, the use of the word keys as it pertains to the truth. Luke 11, 52. Jesus is speaking to the to the lawyers, usually that would refer to the scribes and the Pharisees, and he says unto them in Luke 11.52, Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. What does Jesus mean? Ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Jesus is very clearly condemning the scribes, the Pharisees, the lawyers for having taken away the authority of the truth within his kingdom. They were responsible to preserve and to protect the truth. But they have taken away the key of knowledge, the authority of truth within the church. And they have substituted for the authority of the truth man-made traditions, man-made commandments. And dear ones, this is anathema to any church. when the truth of Jesus Christ no longer has that authority. It is the truth that gives authority. Yes, ministers may exercise ordinances of Christ, and yet they may do so unlawfully. Yes, may even bless the ordinances that are faithfully administered to the salvation and edification of souls by unlawful ministers. And he also blesses biblical decisions of unlawful church courts in excommunicating, say, an adulterer. God blesses that decision. That can promote edification, and God uses it to promote edification within that church. When an adulterer is excommunicated, even by a church that does not have legitimate authority, because the decision itself is agreeable to the Word of God, regardless of whether the authority is legitimately exercised, the decision is right. It's accurate, it's consistent with God's word. And we can as well, even though we may recognize a minister or a church not to have a lawful constitution, we're not saying by that that they're not Christians. We're not saying that they have so departed and fallen from the faith that they're no church in any sense. We simply say that they do not have a lawful constitution. They do not have, therefore, legitimate authority because authority comes from the truth. See, we can rejoice even in the righteous decision of an unlawful government. in their courts. If Canada, being in the position it is now, or the United States, where there is unlawful authority, according to God's word, doesn't mean again that we should not submit to all the righteous and all the good laws that are established, but we need again to recognize legitimate authority is based upon the truth. A nation that promotes the destruction of millions of unborn children, subsidizes such a practice, is not a lawful nation. And for many, many other reasons we could go and talk about that. But my point simply is, I wouldn't stand up and cheer and rejoice if a court in Canada said that a murderer should be put to death. And I can rejoice, therefore, in all of the lawful decisions, even of churches that I may not recognize to have a lawful constitution. And of all the faithful preaching that there might be done in churches that may not have a lawful constitution. We can rejoice in that. As we continue to look at the authority of this head of the church, not only does he have a key, Christ has the key of David. The key of David. The key that Christ owns opens and closes the door to the house of David. The house of David is simply symbolic of Christ's kingdom. It is symbolic of the church of Jesus Christ. It is not referring to the literal, physical house of David. This is the house to which Christ has a key to open and to close. In Isaiah, chapter nine, follow with me very quickly. Isaiah, chapter nine. I just want to follow a trend of thought here with regard to the house of David and Christ's rule within the house of David. Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7, a prophecy is given concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and it says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it. and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Christ takes the government upon his shoulder. The authority to rule falls upon Christ's shoulder. To rule upon the throne of David, over David's kingdom, over David's house, That is prophesied by Isaiah. Now, Isaiah chapter 22, verse 22. Isaiah 22, 22 speaks of a historical account in which Shebna, who was the keeper of the key of the house of the king, is removed from office. That was a very high place of authority to be that official who carried the key to the king's house. Shebna at one time did so was but was found to be unfaithful in his place. God says in verse 20, it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim. the son of Hilkiah, and I will close him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Notice verse twenty two now, and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open. Here we have a historical account and yet a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ to come, who would carry the kingdom of God upon his shoulder and rule with his authority, symbolized by that key. As we come to the New Testament in Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one, we find again the prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning his birth. The angel speaking to Mary. Luke one thirty one, and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David. God will give to Jesus the throne of his father, David. What throne is that? The fulfillment. Come to the end of my chain here. We follow this theme in Acts chapter 2. Acts 2, 29. After the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Apostle Peter says this, in verse 29 and following, Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this, David seeing this, before, spake of the resurrection of Christ. that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses." Now here we see the coronation of Jesus Christ to the throne of David. Therefore, Peter says, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this which you now see in here for David is not ascended into the heavens. But he said himself, David says, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit down on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. The conclusion, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. He is seated now. Peter says, in fulfillment of the prophecies, he has taken his place of authority upon the throne of David to rule over the house of David, even the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, Notice the acts of government which the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, performs. They are twofold. He openeth and no man shutteth. The first act of government which he performs. Dear ones, it is the sovereign Christ who opens the door to enter into his kingdom. And when even the vilest sinner among men or even when the weakest in faith among men comes to the Lord Jesus Christ and trusts the Lord Jesus Christ as his eternal salvation. No power in heaven. No power in hell. No power on the earth. can keep that one out of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, because Christ has opened the door and no man can shut it. Now, some who believe the will of man to be greater than the sovereign will of God have argued, no man can shut it except the man himself. There is no such qualification to that verse. No man can shut the door when Christ has opened the door to anyone. When that door is opened, it is opened and will not be shut upon that man. The faithful and true word of Jesus Christ has declared this. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. The second act of Christ's government is stated as the one who shutteth and no man openeth. As he owns the house of David, as the Lord Jesus Christ possesses the keys to that house, He not only has authority to grant admission to everyone who trusts in him, but he also has authority to keep out of his house all who despise him, all who make a mere pretense of trusting in him, but do not sincerely love him and trust him. He can keep them out because not only does he have the keys to the house of David, according to Revelation 1.18, he has other keys in his hands. Jesus says in Revelation 1.18, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. The Lord Jesus Christ can open, as it were, the doors of hell to bring one who deserves to die everlasting torment, can bring them out of that place and open the doors to his kingdom. Or he can close the doors to that one who is in hell and seal them there forever. because they will not trust him. They will not follow him. They will not love him and obey his commandments. You see, the house of David is his house, not ours. He is the one who owns it. We are the one who live in it. And he graciously opens the door to all who enter through him. But to those who will try to enter by another way into his house, the door will be shut to them, and no power in heaven, no power in hell, and no power upon the earth will be able to open it. People will knock in various parables. People will knock, but they will not be allowed to enter unless they come through the Lord Jesus Christ. And I would say again, dear ones, though the weakest of men cannot be kept from entering into the kingdom of God, the strongest of men can in fact be kept from entering into the kingdom of God. The issue is not how much faith one may boast of having, but rather the issue is in whom is your faith. Who is your hope of eternal salvation? Who are you trusting in to secure and purchase your salvation? On what basis do you believe you are acceptable before God? And dear ones, church government is preeminently concerned with faithfully using the keys of the kingdom to administer Christ's ordinances to his people. Our form of church government enumerates the blessed ordinances of Christ as the following public prayer. And Thanksgiving, the singing of songs, the word read, the word expounded and applied, catechizing the sacraments of baptism in the Lord's Supper administered collection made for the poor. and dismissing the people with a blessing. Ordinances which compose, comprise the keys of the kingdom which the minister, which the elders are to administer on behalf of Jesus Christ. You see, this is the way the keys of Christ's kingdom are used to bless the people of God within the congregation. The keys of the kingdom are also used in instruction and counsel and advice, given whether individually or whether as families. And finally, the keys of the kingdom are used to discipline, to restore a sinning brother. We ought not to think of discipline in a purely negative fashion. Discipline is intended to accomplish a restoration, to bring one back into fellowship with Jesus Christ. And that is why David can say in Psalm 23.4 about the Good Shepherd, Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And because, dear ones, keys belong to Jesus Christ. Only those churches who faithfully represent Christ and his truth can rightfully grant their ministers the authority to use the ordinances on his behalf. If Jesus Christ, through his word, would not authorize a church to use his keys because they have fallen from the truth, then we cannot recognize their lawful authority either. And if we cannot recognize their lawful authority, then we cannot in good conscience receive their ordinances. And if we cannot receive their ordinances, then we have no business sitting under them and receiving them from those ministers. Think about this question. Do we honestly believe that Christ or the apostles would have ordained and sent out messengers? Understanding what a messenger is, Would they have sent out messengers to exercise the keys of the kingdom of Christ on Christ's behalf, knowing that they spoke contrary to Christ's message? Does that make any sense at all? Of course not. And if Christ would not have done so then, he does not sanction that now. In conclusion, beloved, A faithful church government is very often the missing piece in a church that has, in some cases, a sound confession and purity in worship. Sometimes what is missing is faithful church government. However, it is in fact a faithful church government that holds all the pieces. together, both doctrine and worship and discipline, a faithful church government. Not until Christ restores to his church throughout the world a reviving of biblical Presbyterianism will we see the church prosper in one faith and one worship and one discipline to the glory of God. For biblical Presbyterianism is simply government under the authority of Jesus Christ. Biblical Presbyterianism, dear ones, is the closest thing to having Jesus Christ himself reigning in body upon the earth. Biblical Presbyterianism. For in biblical Presbyterianism, Jesus Christ alone is the head of the church and his messengers must communicate that message which Christ has given and not add to it, not subtract from it. This ought to bring great comfort to the hearts of God's people. Biblical Presbyterianism, because when elders rule on behalf of Christ, They care for the flock. They love the lambs of Jesus Christ. They feed that flock like Christ would feed his flock. Let us stand, dear ones, as we ask God's blessing upon the words that he has spoken. Our Father in heaven, We are encouraged this day when we hear of the government which Jesus Christ has been given to exercise the keys and has given those keys to his ministers, to his messengers. We plead with thee, our God, that thou would give to us an understanding of the benefit of a biblical church government, that we would understand that, Lord, it is church government which holds all of the other elements of a faithful church together. It is simply Jesus Christ ruling and caring and feeding his flock through elders. And, Father, it is a way in which the unity of by church is expressed throughout the world. Churches being related one to another. Churches practicing the same worship, believing the same thing, administering the same government and discipline. This is biblical church unity. And Father, we do pray for, we do long for that time when the Lord Jesus Christ will reign from heaven upon the world and will bring in His consummated and millennial kingdom. And in that kingdom we shall see, as we have not seen up to this point, true biblical unity expressed in one government throughout the world, one church government. We ask our Father that Thou would cause us to rejoice in these truths as the flock, and as leaders of thy church, that thou would give to us a holy fear that we would not lead contrary to the Lord Jesus Christ and His truth in any matter, that we would take our vocation and our calling so seriously. We pray, Father, that thou would bless and cause thy church again to revive and to understand these blessed truths. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. You are welcome to make copies and give them to those in need. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available. free and for sale in audio, video, and printed formats. It is likely that the sermon or book that you just listened to is also available on cassette or video, or as a printed book or booklet. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes, and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email. by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.