Church Functions - Week 2: Reconciliation

Amen, Amen, and Amen, Come on, come on, come we

go the Lord some praise this morning as you give,

as ushers are coming around, as you're giving online, I

want you to worship in that giving. It is a

It is so vital that we put our hearts where

the Father's heart is, and his does not move. His

heart remains where it is. It's our hearts that we

have to align with his. So as you give this morning,

you're doing that. And I believe, man, I think we've

already had a bit of church. I don't know about you,

but there was a really really sweet spirit, a really

powerful thing going on down in the altars this morning already.

And I believe it's just gonna continue because I came

with a word this morning that.

That I can't get away from.

And it continues, Uh, from where we started last week,

we're continuing our church Functions series today. And we laid

that foundation last week by talking about the foundation, by

talking about who Jesus really is and how if we

don't build on that, there's really there's nothing to build on.

We're building in the sand. If we don't build on

the solid rock. It's our it's our recognition of His identity,

and that's what allows us to really be built by

Him into the church that he designed, that he planned

for us.

To be, into that unstoppable force.

Well, I don't know if you you weren't me, maybe

you weren't here last week, maybe you ain't caught back

up on the podcast yet I'm telling you you are

an unstoppable force.

As a whole, the Church is unstoppable.

It is who Jesus built us to be that even

the gates of Hell cannot defend against.

If you missed it, I really encourage you to go back.

I want you to get that foundational peace because there's

really there's hardly anything that's more empowering for us than

for us to remember who we are. When you start

to live outside of who you are, that's when life

feels insurmountable. But when you remember who you are, you

can be who you're supposed to be. You can do

the things that was last week's sermon. Let's press ahead.

Let's press ahead. See, the Lord does not call us

by that name a new name, the way he changed

Peter's name. It doesn't call us by a new name

just for kicks, just because that's a neat thing.

To do.

Identity is linked to duty. Hear me this morning. Identity

is linked to duty. Who you are is directly tied

to what you are supposed to do. Revelation must lead

to response. You don't get a revelation from the Lord.

You don't get a word from him unless he's asking

you to do something with it. It's a nice thing

to get information, it's a nice thing to hear from him,

but we have to use it. And this is where

we're gonna We're gonna put a flag in the ground today.

The Church is an unstoppable force that's designed to operate

in authority, and authority always comes with responsibility.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter sixteen.

Once again, I'm gonna pick right right back up, same

place we were last week.

Jesus is talking to his disciples.

Peter has responded, and Jesus says, upon this rock, I

will build my church. And then we pick up right

here Matthew chapter sixteen, verse nineteen, the words of Jesus.

He says, I will give you the keys of the

Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall

have been bound in Heaven. And whatever you loose on

earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Let's pray, Father,

I thank you for your word. I thank you for

these read letters. I thank you for speaking so boldly

and so clearly that we might, just as Peter did,

that we might hear the truth and respond to it

and become who you're calling us to be.

God.

I pray that you work on us, that today we

would walk out of this place walking in the authority

and the victory that you provided for us on purpose.

In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray all the

saints said Amen. In the very same breath that Jesus

is declaring his intention to build his church.

He also gives this, And we talked a lot.

About identity last week, we're starting to talk about function.

These next few weeks, we're gonna really get it. He

gives us one of the most complete descriptions of the

church's function right here, right behind saying I'm gonna build it.

Here's who you are. I'm gonna build you. Here's what

you do.

But like many of those people when we read through

the gospels, especially when we see Jesus often says things

and people hear them, and even his own disciples, a

lot of times we actually see the Gospel writers tell

us this. Many times they're like, what is he talking about?

They hear the words of Christ and then immediately go what.

And I think we do that. I think the gospel

writers put it in there. I think the Lord inspired

them to put it in there so we could see ourselves,

because so many times we hear the word of the

Lord and we go what.

We misunderstand?

And I think sometimes we submit to those understandings and

we give up right, well, I just don't get.

It, just beyond me.

Sometimes we resign to the fact that we don't get

it and we just disengage entirely. Other times we adopt

those misunderstandings.

And here's what we do.

We take our misunderstanding and we adopt it and we

place it in the spot within us where truth should be.

Maybe it's just for me, I don't know. I do this.

We allow it to take the place of the truth,

and that is where the fuel for our actions is

supposed to be. And so we start acting with the

fuel of misunderstanding instead of the truth.

I want us to get it right this morning.

This phrasing, this particular verse, there's so many others like it.

It's been a hurdle for Bible readers, for church, memory members,

for Christians, disciples, for generations. Binding and loosing? What are

the keys of the kingdom? Just sounds cool? What does

that mean?

What is that?

What does that consist of? What did he mean? Binding

and loosing? It sounds powerful? I can see that it's

It sounds really powerful, It sounds really authoritative, It sounds

really cool.

What does it mean?

It must be important because it's right here, as we

talked about last week, where these things happen. Where these

things are placed in the scripture is important to the meaning.

It's placed right here, right behind in the same breath

as here is.

Who you are.

So this has got to be key to what we

do the keys of the Kingdom. Let's consider for a

moment the simple natural example that Christ chose to use.

You know, sometimes we overcomplicate the Bible, we overcomplicate the

Christian life.

Oh y'all don't do that.

Online, Maybe y'all have responded, Sometimes we overcomplicate it because

we're dealing with an infinite God who's alive, who's working

and moving and speaking even now in this present moment.

He's dynamic, he's doing things, and he's so beyond us,

so we think, well, it must be complicated every time.

But I think we could take a second and just

look at exactly what he says.

I will give you the keys. What do keys do?

They operate locks?

Yes, they unlock and they lock, But what's that really about?

Why would you put a lock on something? It's about access.

Keys provide access to something that would otherwise be restricted,

and for something to have restricted.

Access, it must have some level of value. Do you

see where we're going.

The implication is that this access it's not just for anyone.

It's for those who have the keys.

And the only way someone without keys is getting access

is if a key holder grants it.

I'm telling you, I could shout and run.

Because there's a whole lot of Pentecostal preaching right there.

But when Jesus promises to give the keys of the

kingdom to Peter and by extension, the Church, what he's

really bestowing upon us is authority access, control of the access.

Like many natural examples, you don't receive keys just to

When I get the keys, I just put them in

my pocket or put them somewhere and never use them.

If you don't use the keys. You don't need them.

In the inverse, you don't get the keys and get

to do whatever you want to with them. Let's use

another natural example. I have a key to the front

door of my parents' house. I hold that key I have.

I'm telling you, I could jump up and down.

I have access to their house because of our relationship.

That's actually a different sermon, really, but I'm glad you

get you're getting it.

We're here.

If a situation arises where I need to use that key,

I can use it.

I have it, I possess it.

But that also means it doesn't mean that I can

just go over there whenever I please and do whatever

I want. It's still my dad's house, but I have

a key. It's still their house, it's still God's kingdom.

But you have the keys.

He has given us access because we need it when

the situation arises, and it will and it is daily,

moment by moment, even the situation is arising where you

need to use your keys. So because of our relationship

with the Son of the Living God, that's last week,

that's who he talked about, that's who he is.

Because of that relationship, we become who we are.

He's giving us access to his kingdom, and we cannot

sit idly by with such authority. Remember, authority comes with responsibility,

and with responsibility you can't act flippantly, you can't act

however you want. You're responsible. So what do we do?

What is the function? Pastor Clay? You keep talking about

what it is and what it is and who we are,

But what is the function? Well, thankfully the Lord doesn't

stop with the keys part. There's a nice semicolon, and

he continues, and he says, and whatever you bind on

earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you

loose on earth shall.

Have been loosed in heaven. Function.

Perhaps you're like me in these terms binding and loosing.

You probably have heard them if you've been in church

any amount of time. Maybe you've heard other people use them.

You're influenced by what you've experienced. And to me, to

bind and to loose that sounds very spiritual, sounds very pentecostal,

sounds very charismatic. I'm gonna bind that and I'm gonna

loose that, and we do it, and we say that,

and we pray that way. Maybe you've prayed that way,

and I've heard many well meaning people that I know

here from the Lord use those terms in those prayers

to varying levels of success. Truthfully, sometimes I've seen it

happen in a moment, and sometimes I've heard that same

binding prayer over and over and over and over for years.

Other times I've heard the loosing prayer over and over

and over. Usually they go together right, usually in the

same breath, and nothing changes. Oh, this is real preaching.

This is like actually real life. So what does that mean?

Maybe you've done that and it hasn't come to pass

I have, so let me encourage you. If you've prayed

that way, I bind that and I loose that and

it didn't happen. God has not failed you, and you

are not weak and lesser. It's just that there's a

misunderstanding in the fuel place where the truth should be.

I don't know, I don't know. Maybe we're not ready,

but we gotta go. We gotta go here. We've over

adapted this scripture to mean something that it does not,

and we've made it hyper spiritual and charismatic because we

like that and that seems right and it seems good,

and sometimes.

God does work that way. But that's just not what

he's talking about. Not here.

Many translations of this verse may be. In your translation,

it says whatever you bind on earth will be bound

in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be

loose in heaven. Many scholars agree now that at this

point that's not quite accurate the way read it today.

What you bind on earth shall have been bound. Do

you hear the difference, what you lose shall have been loosed?

That means something different to me. I think it does

to you too. Here's the fact. It's not the things

that we choose to bind and loose on earth. It's

not that they will be bound in heaven after we

bind and loose them. Oh, come on, now, it's the

things that are already bound and loose in Heaven that

we bind and loose according to heaven. It's not bottom up,

it's top down. It's not our kingdom, but we have

the keys. But perhaps the confusion persists because these terms

are we don't use these terms except church people use

these terms, but we don't use bind and loose as

a regular part of our society. When Jesus is saying this,

when he says bind and loose, he said it to Peter,

who was a Jew, who would have understood what this is.

It's actually rabbinic language. The Rabbis use bind and loose

to talk about things that they permitted and forbid. In

terms of law, they would talk about binding it if

it was forbidden, they would lose it if it was permitted.

And I think when we talk about that, then we consider,

well what things then? All right, so I'm permitting, I'm forbidding,

But what things are they? What are those things I'm

interacting with. Many of us probably think of demons or spirits.

And look, listen to me. Keep doing your spiritual warfare.

You have to war in the spirit. You're built for it.

The church is, it's made up of warriors. The gates

of hell will not prevail. That sounds like an army

charging through to me. Keep warring in the spirit. I

just want you to do it with the right tools.

So what are these things? Maybe right now, maybe you're

not thinking of demons or spirits. Maybe you're thinking, well,

I'm permitting forbidden. I got some things to talk to

my husband or wife about. I got some things my kids.

I'm about to make a list, and we're about to

bind and loose and there'll be some more binding than loosing.

Maybe you're thinking of a list of things, or maybe that's.

Not you this morning.

Maybe you are overwhelmed because when you hear that, you

start to think about all the things you should be

doing that you're not doing. You start to think about

all the as you are doing that you shouldn't be doing,

and you go, oh my gosh, I'm permitting and forbidding.

I don't even know, I don't even know where I'm at.

What are these things? Really?

See? I think we would all love it to boil

down to a nice, neat list of moral choices.

I think many have done just that.

Many churches and denominations have made it about doctoral statements,

this is what's right, here's a position paper, and.

Here's why y'all are wrong.

I think that that many, many high churches have made

it about liturgy and about process and the way you

dress and the way it works out and the order.

I think many low churches.

And before you think that, I'm that's a derogatory term,

it's not. We are a low church. The cornerstone is

a low church. That means we don't have a whole

lot of scripted order. But Listen, We're not absolved from

the guilt here either. Low churches have made it about emotions.

Are you ready? This may be the last series. Chief,

every lets me preach. Low churches have made it about

passionate worship. Low churches have made it about alter calls,

and hear me, I'm not against any of those. We

just had a powerful moment that was passionate and emotional,

and the Spirit of God was moving and doing real

stuff in this alter call. That's just not what this

passage is about. When we talk about binding and loosing individuals.

High churches, low churches, individuals have made it about preferences

and comfort. This one's me ready and what makes the

most sense. That's what I would like. I want to Lord,

I want to do the things that make the most

sense to me. I pray that prayer and he laughs

in my face. See, we've made it about all these things,

and I'm not against any of those things.

There's nothing wrong with having preferences.

There's nothing wrong with things making sense, nothing wrong with

altra calls, nothing wrong with liturgy, nothing wrong with order,

nothing wrong with hierarchy. I believe in those things, you

know why, because they're in here. High church. Some high

churches have taken it too far. Admittedly, some low church

has taken it too far the other direction. Admittedly, some

of us individuals forget that the church is a collective,

a body many members, one body. Forget that and we

start doing individual things. We're all all have fallen short.

So I'm not against these things. I just believe that

when Jesus is speaking about this, it's not a clear,

obvious list like we wish it was. It doesn't make

sense the way I want it to. I believe that

the bottom line is that this passage isn't about.

Things at all.

We have to consider the context once again. Remember what

we talked about last week. The conversation between Jesus and

his disciples and Peter is the one that responds. Jesus

begins with that question, who do they say the son

of Man is? The masses, people at large? Who do

they say the son of man is? Then he presses

his disciples, people close by. Who do you say that?

I am?

Peter responds, and then Peter, the individual is changed. What

is jesus primary concern throughout the entire conversation?

Does it sound like things? It sounds like people?

So perhaps when we get to binding and loosing, maybe

it's not about a list of things.

Maybe it's about souls, people.

Coming to understand who he is so that they can

be part of the Church, saved, set free, forgiven, redeemed,

an army, a body, a people, And how can they

come to that understanding. They come to that understanding the

same way Peter did, the same way you and I do. Hearing,

believing the truth, developing the relationship with God. As a result,

those who receive it hear this. Those who receive that

truth are loosed, permitted to enter the kingdom. Remember we

have the keys. Those who reject the truth are bound forbidden,

do not enter the kingdom. Remember you have the keys

right now you're going. That's a whole lot, Paster Clay,

That's a whole lot of responsibility. Yes, yes it is.

That's why what we're doing here, gathering together weekly, is

not a country club. It's not a feel good thing.

It's not a checklist. It is authority and responsibility. It

is very heavy, very very very very heavy, such great

vocabulary in it. It's extremely heavy. But I didn't give

you the keys, your Lord did. Our Lord gave them

to us that's part of it. We are not the

ones who decide who gets to come in. God already decided.

He sent Jesus so that all might be saved. Now

it does say it might be, which means, okay, if

God decided, and then people aren't doing it, they're not

getting saved.

What's happening.

They're choosing. But he came that all might be saved.

God already decided by sending the Lord the victory over sin.

It's complete, that's done. There's nothing you can do about it.

There's nothing I can do about it.

It's done. Finished.

But then he leaves us with the keys to hold

the keys to tell the story. See, the primary function

of the church is this to create opportunities for people

to develop that relationship with the Lord.

They cannot do it unless they hear it.

Christ did that ultimate, once and for all impossible work

on the Cross, and then he commissioned his church to

do that ongoing only possible with the help of the

Holy Spirit, which is why he sent him. But it's

the work of the ministry of reconciliation. This is the

primary function. Turned to Second Corinthians, Chapter five, Paul describes this,

I love it because he gives us. Paul out, he

has this really uncannyability to take these concepts that are

grand and heavy and amazing and put them into these

really cool phrases like ministry of reconciliation. I don't know,

it just makes me feel like that's all packed in there.

Tewo Corinthians, Chapter five, verse eighteen. He says, now all

these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself

through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Namely,

that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.

God already decided, we don't decide. God decided not counting

their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us

the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ,

as though God were making an appeal through us. Beg you,

on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Verse twenty one.

He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin

in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness

of God in him. See, only Jesus could accomplish that.

Only Jesus could do that, that full measure of worldwide

global for all of history. Back to front reconciliation. It's done,

but only his church can carry that word of reconciliation forward.

We're quite literally built for it. Guess who's building Remember

he is, He's building us to do this. The truth

of who Jesus is and what he has done it

will always be fact. But we are the evidence. He's

not here hanging on the cross. He's alive, risen, ascended,

sent the Holy Spirit to live. Where where does the

Holy Spirit live? In the church? God in us making

an appeal, begging be reconciled through us, not through kings,

not through politicians, not through governments or presidents, not through nature,

not through beautiful waterfalls and mountains, And although those things

are evidence of the Creator, but that's not where he's

making his appeal about reconciliation. He's not making it in

hurricanes and volcanoes and tidal waves and grand cosmic displays,

although he could without a doubt, But instead it's not

through any of those things. He's making the appeal through you.

I think, just the way we've misunderstood the gates of

Hell as though they are coming upon us, and we

got to hope we make it through the gates as

they attack us. We misunderstood that. Instead, we're busting through

the gates. That's what we're called to do. It can't

withstand the church just the same way we have misunderstood that.

We have misunderstood the keys of the kingdom and the

responsibility that comes along with them. We are not stationed

here to keep the earthly things out of heaven.

You are not built to bind.

And then when you get to heaven, there's gonna be

a big cage of the things you bound. That's the

that's the visual I get. I buyd that in the

namagies is and where does it go? It's gonna be

bound in heaven? Well, so it's up there. I bound that.

So it just gets teleported up there and goes into

a cage. Think about it. I can loose it here

and it's gonna be running loose in heaven. My gosh,

can you imagine some of the things people have loosed.

It's not the heaven I read about. It's pretty orderly

and great. I don't know if I want those things

running loose up there. I don't think that's what he's saying.

We are given the authority to allow heavenly things that

already are come forth and change the people around us.

Now based on what we think is right.

And but on what leads us to be the righteousness

of God in Christ. That's a lot of qualifiers that

again we cannot just do whatever we want.

That's a lot of qualifiers to.

Be the righteousness of God, the one true living God

in Christ, his one true living Son. That really narrows

down the conduct. And when we do this correctly, we

are unlocking the way to the Kingdom for those who

have not yet entered. In addition, we're ensuring that our conduct,

together our actions, remain worthy of that truth. The bank

can go ahead and get ready as we close. I

want to go here a little bit more in the

next two weeks about the details, the way we take

care of each other, the way we interact with community

around us, really local church stuff. I want to get

there in church function because I really believe in the

local church.

I believe God put us.

This way in these communities because people want to receive

the truth from people that they know. That's next week,

so we're going there. But I want to close today

a little bit different than we did last week. Last

week we closed with an encouragement and let me encourage

you again. You are not a survivor. You are an overcomer.

You are not making it, you're making it happen. Why

because Jesus did, and that's who he's building you to be.

Encouragement. Now, let's challenge.

There's no doubt that the Lord's really been blessing us

with the spiritual momentum this year. Week after a week,

we have those moments where the band has to figure out, Okay,

what should we see in this moment because there's space here,

God's moving, God's working, there's still people in the altar.

We've seen God move and move and move. And it's

not just in those moments. I've been hearing it from you,

the people I've spent the most time with in group

and friendships, and I'm hearing how the Lord is changing

you and now he's doing amazing things and we're seeing

it week after week. There's no doubt in that momentum.

And it's not just cornerstone.

It's happening across the body. If you've been to another church,

perhaps you've seen it. But I'm hearing from friends and

other pastors and when I go places and God is

doing something special in his church this year, there's a

current that's running through the body, and it's urging us

to return to the things that matter the most. And

I believe this that it's preparation for the years to come.

What got us here won't get us there. What got

us here got us here. I believe God is preparing

us for stuff to come, the things ahead. The key

to our church functioning correctly is this authority that we've

talked about today. Christ has purchased our freedom and then

granted us authority.

For the church to be what we're designed to be.

Listen for you, for us to be who we're supposed

to be in the years to come, we have to

reassert our authority. That's uncomfortable, maybe for us, because we've

been told year after year after year after year, all this, Oh,

you know you do, you operate within the confines, you

do what you're told you do.

Church.

For us to get where we're going, you've got to

reassert your authority. I'm not giving it to you. Pastor

didn't give it to you. Jesus gave it to you

and then he said do something with it. We've got

to reassert that authority. And there are layers to it. Again,

you don't just do whatever you want. It's not to

be wheeled without living according to His word. It's why

you cannot operate in His authority without the Holy Spirit.

To operate in that authority is to be under his

So we have to do it the right way. There

are layers, there's nuance. I'm gonna talk more about that

in the next two weeks. But here's what I want

us to get right today. Telling you that you need

to reassert your authority. And I can see it on

your faces. Okay, the heart truth is this, The heart

truth is this. This is what I want to If

you walk away with nothing else today, walk away with this.

We often forfeit our authority because we do not want

to bear the weight of the responsibility. That's hard to

clap at. I'm glad you're clapping because maybe it's worth

But I'm telling you, if you are living life and

things are not playing out the way you think they

ought to, I wonder if your authority has been ruined

by your lack of responsibility. So I want us to

get it right. To bear Christ's name, to be His righteousness,

it requires us to take that responsibility up fully, recognizing

that He gave us the keys, and we are holding them.

If we neglect our duty, we are choosing to leave

people bound.

This is the word of God.

If we don't do it, we are forbidding them to

enter the kingdom.

I don't want that on my ledger.

So if we neglect that duty, we're letting them down.

We're letting God down.

If we neglect this primary function, the rest of the

things we do worthless. Our efforts become meaningless, our prayers

become powerless. If you feel like you're not getting through

to Heaven, are you being responsible?

I know that's not feel good, but I don't know.

When I read about the functions of the church, feeling

good doesn't make the list. Victory, purpose fulfillment, reward, But

feeling good.

It's not there. This doesn't feel good. This is wait.

But we sit here and we wonder why things don't

go the way we want them to go, and all

the while we are refusing to function the way God

wants us to. So maybe you, if he's staying with

me all over the room, We're gonna worship and I

want to pray for you, But.

Maybe you feel particularly broken about this today. Maybe this

is something that's really grabbed. Ye.

Maybe it's it is painful and you feel sorrowful about it,

you're upset about it, and maybe you're mad at me.

I don't know that's okay.

Maybe you feel broken. You want to start living up

to that responsibility. You want to walk and operate in

that authority again. Or maybe you're here today online. Maybe

you didn't recognize that God has placed this giant value

on you. Parents don't give responsibility to kids that you

don't vow you. God has given you responsibility and authority

because he values you.

You are the plan.

Jesus already did his part, and he will do his

next part when he returns.

But in the meantime, we are the plan that's value.

Maybe you didn't know that God valued you that much,

or maybe even yet you don't know the Lord at all.

And maybe you.

Have realized that living this way without purpose, without direction, without.

Meaning to all the struggle, and maybe you want to

accept the Lord this morning.

You want to give your life to him and you

want to allow him to be the lord of your

life and and take the keys from his hands and

be part of this plan where you find yourself today.

I want our alter team to get ready. They're gonna come,

and they're gonna they're gonna wait down here. If you

need specific prayer, I want you to find an alter

team member. I will pray with you. I'll be glad

to if you need specific prayer. Yeah, we're gonna do that.

H But I want us to pray honestly and humbly

together that we would live up to this responsibility, that

we would operate in this authority, that we would function.

As His church, h.

That He would reveal to us where we are lacking,

that he would give us the strength and courage to

step up.

Let's pray.

Fall. We come to you, not me alone, but this body.

This faith community.

We come to you today, and Father, we.

Bow our hearts.

In our lives to you, and we ask God that

you would search us, that you would help us get

this correct. That you'd help us to recognize the great

authority and responsibility that comes with holding the keys of

the kingdom. That you'd help us to permit people to

enter by living in such a way that we're telling

your truth, your identity, who you are, Lord Jesus, with

our lives, with our.

Actions, with our words.

God, I pray that you do a new thing in us.

It's not new truth, it's the old truth. It's the

truth that's always been. But God, I pray you do

a new work in our hearts individually. But even more

than that, God, I pray that you do it in

this body.

That from this day forward we would.

Operate in this primary function, the ministry of reconciliation, not

to build a big church, not to fill up a room,

not to have great music, not to have great facilities,

but that we might actually be that unstoppable force you've

called us to be, that we might actually storm the

gates of hell and overcome them and pull people out

of the fire and grant them access to the kingdom.

For no other name.

Can anyone be saved except the name of Jesus. So

stir us, Lord, light us up and help us as

we go. Where you've been faithful time after time after time,

and so you deserve our faithfulness back.

As you build us into your church in the Mighty

and match this name of Jesus.

The church said, Amen, if you need specific prayer, please

come find a partner. We're gonna worship together, and then

we're gonna go. We're gonna be who we're supposed to be.

Amen. Come on, let's sing h.