Okay, today we're continuing in our series, The Keys of the Kingdom. And as I've mentioned before, we are covering the book by the Puritan John Cotton, written in the 17th century, the early 17th century, entitled The Keys of the Kingdom. And today, I want to look at chapter 1. We looked two weeks ago at the introduction, which was actually written by Thomas Goodwin. But today, we hear from Cotton. In chapter 1, a classic Puritan title, is entitled, "...of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the power thereof, according to the word of God." So I invite you to open with me in your Bibles to Matthew 16. In Matthew 16, we are going to cover v. 13-19. And this chapter is just a brief exposition of this passage. Matthew 16, beginning in verse 13. And there we read, 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? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, 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. 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. The subject of this book, and essentially this chapter, asks the question, When Jesus tells Peter, I give you the keys of the kingdom, what are the keys? And what power of the keys does this refer to? Cotton notes as he quotes this passage and then comments on it, that obviously Jesus is speaking allegorically. He is using an analogy, he's using an illustration. Jesus isn't referring to literal physical keys, right? He's appealing to the metaphor of keys. Keys, what do they do? They lock and they unlock. Or as Jesus says here, they loose and they bind. Think of them kind of as the keys to handcuffs. Not that anyone has ever been put in handcuffs, so we'd never suspect that. But like handcuffs, like, You free people with them or you lock people up. You bind them or you loose them. And so, in this sense, Cotton gives five questions that need to be answered here. And this is what we're gonna work through today. Five questions. What is meant by the keys of the kingdom? And of course, I'll repeat these as we go on if you can't get them all down at once. But what is meant by the keys, excuse me, what is meant by the kingdom of heaven? That's question number one. What are the keys, and what does it mean to give them? What are the acts of the keys, binding and loosing? What is the object of these acts? He says here, whatever. you bind on earth. What does the whatever refer to? And fifthly, to whom is his power given? Who is the recipient of these keys? So let's think of the first question here. What is meant when Jesus refers to the kingdom of heaven? How is Jesus using this phrase? Well, the Kingdom of Heaven refers to two things. It means the Kingdom of Grace, which is the church here on earth. And it means the Kingdom of Glory, which is the church in heaven. So really, that's one thing looked at from two different angles. It's the church. The Kingdom of Heaven is the church. Both the church here and the church in glory. those who are living on earth, and those who have entered their ultimate reward. What this means is that when Jesus gives Peter the keys, he not only gives him the keys to bind and loose within the church here on earth, which we'll talk about. But he also, in this sense, his actions on earth of minding and loosing reflect God's actions towards the church and his acts in heaven. Do we understand that? Right? The kingdom of heaven. There is a reciprocal relationship. There is, in this sense, a reflection. The church is reflecting the reality of who's part of the church on earth is reflected in God's acts in heaven and how God regards people here on earth. Cotton also notes in this respect that Christ's kingdom is not of this world. that when we think about what is the kingdom of heaven, this is a spiritual authority, cotton notes, not a political authority. This is the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of this world. This is not the kingdom of nation states. This is the kingdom of Christ's glory and power. And so, this is the answer to the first question. The kingdom of heaven refers to the church. Both the church on earth and the church in heaven. Second question. What are the keys and what does it mean to give them? What are the keys and what does it mean to give them? Of course, part of the answer to this question is what he will spend the rest of the book detailing. But the keys, essentially, are the ordinances that Christ gave the church. What are the ordinances that Christ gave the church? Think here of the Great Commission. Think of the instruction in the New Testament epistles regarding the church. The ordinances that Christ gave the church, the preaching of the Word. The administration of the seals of the kingdom, which Cotton refers to as baptism in the Lord's Supper. And the exercise of church discipline, centers. Cotton says that by the opening and applying of these things, the gates of the church and the gates of heaven are opened and shut to the sons of men. Of course, we think about this. By the preaching of the word, sinners are called to place their faith in Jesus and thus enter the kingdom of heaven. And how do they enter the kingdom of heaven? How does someone enter the kingdom of heaven? And how do they remain safely within the kingdom of heaven? Well, they are admitted into the kingdom by way of baptism, and they are sustained and nourished in that kingdom by way of the Lord's Supper. These are the signs and seals of entering the church and entering into heaven, entering into the faith itself. Also, by forbidding baptism, or forbidding the Lord's Supper, withholding it, unbelievers are kept out of the kingdom. We do not baptize, and we do not welcome to the table those who have not professed faith in Christ. Perhaps you can see here where Cotton aligns with us Baptists more than Presbyterianism. Presbyterians open the door of the kingdom by way of infant baptism. Those who have not yet professed faith in Christ. Now, most of them, thankfully, are inconsistent because they don't follow through and give them the Lord's Supper, which would make sense if they're part of the church and part of the covenant. But they recognize, at least thankfully, their blessed inconsistency that they don't give infants the Lord's Supper. But this is an important point for us Baptists. The signs and seals of the kingdom follow the preaching of the gospel and the receiving of that by faith. That's how you enter the kingdom of heaven. You don't enter the kingdom of heaven by baptism. You don't enter the kingdom of heaven because of who your parents are. And you don't enter the church based upon those things either. Not as a real member, which they recognize by not giving them the supper. This is consistent here, this exegesis, with a Baptist understanding of the church and of the sacraments. The signs and seals of the kingdom follow the preaching of the gospel and the receiving of that gospel by faith. Well, in the same respect, some also, of course we know, are admitted into the church, but then later prove to be unrepentant. They then, following the commands of our Lord in Matthew 18, are to be put outside of the church. So in preaching and baptism in the supper, and in certain cases discipline, there is a binding and a loosening. Sinners are welcomed, unrepentant are kept out. So Cotton points out that the giving of these keys means that Christ entrusts authority to administer these ordinances accordingly, according to His will. Christ gives the keys. Christ is the Lord of the keys. We'll look at that actually in just a moment. But he goes on in this chapter to say, this means that those who exercise the keys must be properly called, the proper ordination of a pastor elder, and all such elders are to exercise the power of these keys in accordance with Christ's will. We could also say that the proper exercise of these keys also depends upon the church, and a regenerate church. For the keys to be properly administered, to be properly exercised in accordance with Christ's will, it's necessary that those who exercise them are made up, are true believers themselves. As we will see, the power of the keys, and we're gonna go on to talk about this, but it's entrusted to both pastors and the congregation. And so an unregenerate or a false convert, a church member, is just as dangerous as an unregenerate pastor. No unregenerate false convert, whether a pastor or a church member, can faithfully exercise the keys. Proper exercising of the keys depends upon, of course, those who do so. being properly called and fitted for that themselves. Again, though, at this point, Cotton also mentions again that it's important to note that these keys are not civil power. It's not the power of the sword, life and death. It's not the power of the scepter, sovereign legislation in the kingdoms on earth. And he's kind of arguing against the Pope here in this respect because, you know, the Pope goes beyond, his claim to authority goes beyond just the church. Cotton says, this is stewardship authority within Christ's house. He's the head of the house. Pastors and elders are stewards of his laws and will and ways. And so the keys in this respect are the ordinances of the church. So kingdom of heaven refers to the church. The keys refer to the ordinance of the church. Thirdly, what are the acts of the keys which are called binding and loosing? I mean, we've already briefly considered this, so I'm sure you can answer this yourself. But binding and loosing is metaphorical language. It's not literal keys. It's not literal doors. This simply refers to opening and shutting. In Revelation 3, 7, the risen Christ is said to have the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens. So loosening is opening, the opening of the door to the church. The welcoming and fellowship and privileges of the church. The open access to these things, to these blessings under the gospel. And it's fitting, I think, that the language is loosing here. It's a beautiful metaphor for how we have been released from the guilt and power and punishment of our sins. As a member of Christ's church, the pastors and the church as a whole welcomes you in your baptism. And welcomes you in the supper. In that sense, it looses you. It unbinds you from sin and the bondage of sin and all of its damaging effects on your soul. You've been loosed by the ordinances of the Gospel. And each time you partake of the Lord's Supper, this ought to be in your heart and mind. I am being freed from the guilt and power and dominion of sin in a new and fresh way. Of course, the opposite of loosing is binding or shutting. And here, a parallel passage really brings this out. I'll put it up, but you can turn there if you want. It's John 20, 20-23. We're going to come back to this passage later, but just the bold part here at the bottom here in verse 23. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld, Jesus says. The key's loose by forgiving, and they bind by retaining. They are bind in that sense, sins are held against someone in the sense that we recognize that God has not forgiven them. Withholding baptism or not extending the supper or excommunication, we are saying you still bear the guilt and responsibility of your sins before God. You are excluded from the Gospel promises and from church fellowship until you come to faith in Christ and demonstrate repentance. So this is someone who's not confessed that Jesus is Lord. It's someone who's fallen into unrepentant sin and refuses to listen to the church and is thus excommunicated. In this sense, the exercise of the keys in binding is a recognition that based upon all the evidence we have from the Word of God, that a person's sins are not yet forgiven. Noteworthy here before we move on is that ultimately, Again, Christ himself holds the ultimate authority over these keys. Jesus forgives or Jesus withholds. But the question we need to ask is how does he do this? He does this through the church. Just like in conversion. He doesn't appear to you out of the middle of nowhere and say, come and receive forgiveness. No, He speaks through the preacher. He speaks through the Word. He speaks through the ministry of the church, and through the ministry of that church, extends a hand and says, come and be forgiven. Christ exercises His authority through means. And He does this through the church. We see this clearly in Romans 10. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Well, how are they going to hear unless someone preaches? How are they going to preach unless someone is sent? Christ sends out preachers. Preachers preach the message of Christ. Through that, people hear and believe and are saved. And so, in the same way, when the Scripture speaks of the ordinances of the church or of church discipline, this is Jesus Christ, the means through which he exercises his authority. Binding and loosing, referring to the forgiveness of sins over the holding of sins. Fourthly, What is the object of these acts? That is, what is meant by whatever you bind on earth? What does the whatever refer to here? In this part, Cotton first notes that the Roman Catholics take this way too far. They use the word whatever to really mean whatever, whatever they want it to mean. It's pretty convenient, right? He notes that they take the whatever to mean their authority and oaths and contracts and marriages and even things like property lease or the laws of the land. Cotton points out that this claim to the keys, the kingdom of heaven, the exercise of the keys by the church A key to the kingdom of heaven, but is really a key to the bottomless pit, as he puts it. Their abuse leads to hell, would be another way of putting it. What does the whatever refer to? Well, the term whatever refers to the sins that people commit. In fact, we would say the sins and the sinners. And here is where, again, we go back to John 20-23. Cotton notes this. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. So the sins here is the whatever. It is the forgiven or the retained. But not just the sins in the abstract, but the sinners who commit them. How does this happen? Cotton notes two ways. In the conscience of the sinner, and in their standing in the church. In the conscience of the sinner, when the church welcomes a believer, baptizes, gives the Lord's Supper, offers an assurance of pardon, this helps and aids the conscience of the believer to be assured of their right standing before God. This is why the welcoming of members is such a serious thing. That's why the baptism of confessing believers is a serious thing as well. To give assurance to someone that their sins are forgiven, or to act, or to assume that their sins are forgiven when they are actually outside the kingdom is a very dangerous and destructive thing. So it's an inward act, but also it's not just an inward act, it's also the sinner standing in the church. This is important, I think, when we think about church discipline. Church discipline in our day can feel kind of like a lost cause, because if you discipline someone, more often than not, all they got to do is go to the church right down the street. And they typically have no problem joining and finding another church. And we may look and say, well, what good did that do? It's so easy to escape church discipline. It can feel like, well, what's the point of it? It doesn't actually do anything. But we should note, it is an external act, but it's also an internal aspect in the sense that discipline may not stop someone from running away and escaping to another church, but it will always reside in their conscience. They cannot get away from that. So Cotton's point, is that the whatever refers to sins and sinners. The whatever refers to sins in an internal sense in their conscience, but also in an external sense in their recognition and standing in the church. Fifthly, and finally, The last question is, to whom is this power given? Who is the recipient of the power of these keys? Of course, we can't escape the very obvious answer from the text is that Jesus gave these keys to Peter upon his profession that Jesus is the Christ. And with this phrase, upon this rock I will build my church, It's clear that Peter's confession will be instrumental in laying the foundation of the church. But the question here is, how do we understand Peter's role? Does he receive the power of the keys as an apostle, or as an elder, or simply as a believer? Well, in one sense, Cotton notes that at the end of the day, no matter which one of these three that you take, it really doesn't like alter his argument that he's gonna offer in the rest of the book. But he does argue that we ought to see these as all three together. Peter was an apostle, Peter was an elder, but Peter was also just a believer. And Cotton's gonna argue that the keys extend to all three of these categories in different ways. In other words, Peter represents three kinds of recipient authority. There's an aspect in which Peter as an apostle receives the keys to exercise authority. We see this as he is the means by which the gospel is taken to the Gentiles. He opens the door of the kingdom to the Gentiles in the book of Acts. He's the one through whom Christ built his church in the book of Acts. But there's also a sense in which Peter as an elder exercises this authority, and there's a sense in which Peter simply as a believer is called to exercise this authority. And why does Cotton say this? Well, he argues this from other passages of Scripture. First, again, going back to John 20, 21 through 23, he notes that Christ gave this authority not just to Peter, but to all the apostles. If you look here in verse 19, it was on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, that the risen Christ appears to all the apostles gathered in the upper room. And he doesn't single out Peter here. He says to all of them. He gives them the power of the keys without saying the keys, but he repeats this phrase. He gives this authority to all of the apostles. So he's not just speaking to Peter in Matthew 16. He's speaking to Peter as a representative of all the apostles. All the apostles receive this authority. But we also know from 1 Peter 5.1 that Peter was also an elder. And so Cotton argues that elders also receive the power of the keys for rule. And here he cites two passages. First is Hebrew 13, 17. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be no advantage to you. Obey and submit, they're keeping watch and will give an account. That's the language of exercising authority of binding and loosing in the church. Another passage, let the elders, 1 Timothy 5, 17, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. Here again, the language of rule. Because pastor elders are giving a measure of rule, Cotton argues this is an exercise, part of the exercise of the keys. So Peter, as a representative of the apostles, and Peter as, in this sense, one of the first elders of one of the churches in the new covenant, post-Pentecost. But finally, Cotton also argues that the keys are given in part to every individual Christian. Some charismatic stuff going on downstairs. Speaking in tongues. Leave that alone. Thankful for our children. Here Cotton references Matthew 18, 15 through 20. And again, what do we have here? But Jesus speaking, the context of the church, right in the middle in Matthew 18, I say to you, Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. 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. This is the same exact phrase that Jesus uses in reference and description of the keys. And Jesus is not talking to the apostles here. He's not talking to them as apostles or as elders here. He's talking about them as the church. That's why the two or three agree. The two or three believers. The power of the keys is ratified. It is exercised in the two or three who agree. That's why we believe that a church cannot excommunicate without the congregation's approval and consent. The elders and the church are to work together and agree on this. And again, this differs from Presbyterianism. In Presbyterianism, there's more of a top-down government. They interpret the word church here as referring to the elders, not the congregation. It's the elders or it's the board of elders of the local churches that have the authority of the keys here. Only the pastors and elders can excommunicate in a Presbyterian context. But we rightly, I believe in balancing this with 1 Corinthians 5, see that the church is not referring to the elders. It's referring to the congregation. In 1 Corinthians 5, I just mentioned, you don't have to go there. Cotton doesn't go there, but it's worth noting there was a man who had his father's wife. He was sleeping with his stepmom. And Paul does not call out the elders. And he doesn't say, I'm exercising my apostolic authority. He says, you should have put him out. You have a job to do this. And he references assembling together, this language right here of two or three. Assemble together, judge the matter, and put him outside of the church. Paul charges the entire church with their duty to excommunicate. And he says, let them be to you a Gentile and a tax collector. Jesus says that here. So in this sense, when Peter is given the keys of the kingdom, he's given to them in one sense as an apostle, in one sense as an elder, in one sense simply as a believer. And we know that's true as well just in the reception of the gospel. You have the power of the keys to believe and be saved. You don't need to go through a church, and you don't need to go through a pastor, or an elder, or a presbytery, or a pope, to believe and be saved. There is a sense in which every individual believer is receiving a key and access to the kingdom and part of this keys, and so Jesus singles out Peter as a representative of each of one of these roles. And thus, to conclude here this morning, the phrase, the Kingdom of Heaven, refers to the church on earth and in glory. And it refers to the fact that what the church recognizes here on earth is true of the standing of the Kingdom in glory, in some respect. Not imperfectly so, but generally speaking. The keys of the kingdom are preaching of the Gospel, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and membership, discipline. The acts of binding and loosing refer to the forgiveness of sins or the withholding of that forgiveness, both internally and externally. The whatever refers to the sins committed and the sinners who commit them. And finally, the recipient of this power, the apostles, the elders, the individual church members as each have a distinct role and duty in part in the exercise of these keys. So these are the five questions of chapter one. This is the introductory chapter. Of course, the rest of the book is gonna go on and not only defend these things from scripture, but expand the argument and try to put more detail on it as well. And we will pick up next week with chapter two. And we will take a few moments now if you have any questions or comments.