The Kingdom and the Church — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, Matthew chapter 16, verses 18 and 19. Chapter 16, verses 18 and 19. And I also, that is our Lord, I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, a rock, a stone, a little stone, and on this rock, this massive rock, I will build my church, and Hades' gates shall not prevail against it.

And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatsoever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be bound in the heavens, and whatsoever thou mayest loose on the earth shall be loose in the heavens.

Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, as we continue in thy presence, we look to thee to speak to us through thy word and by thy spirit. How we praise and thank thee that thou art one who is still speaking.

O Lord, open our inner ears, open our hearts, that we may understand what thou art saying to us, and we may respond to thee. Lord, as we come to the closing of this age, do prepare us for thyself. We commit this time into thy loving hand and look to thee for thy word, thy living word.

The Church and the Kingdom as Spiritual Realities

We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Recently, we have been meditating together on some of the words of our Lord Jesus, especially on this matter of the kingdom of the heavens. Now this morning, we would like to continue on our meditation.

And again, I expect you brothers and sisters to join with me in our meditation. In other words, it is not that I am speaking and you are listening. I want you all to be very active in your spirit. And join with me in meditating together the word of our Lord Jesus.

And this morning, we would like to meditate on the relationship between the church and the kingdom. You know, in these two verses that we have just read, our Lord Jesus seemed to put these two subjects together.

He said to Peter, you are Peter, a stone. On this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And then immediately, our Lord continues by saying, I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.

Whosoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whosoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosened in heaven. So brothers and sisters, we have before us two things. My church, the kingdom of the heavens.

Now of course, when our Lord Jesus talks about the church, he doesn't mean what people ordinarily would think about the church. Sometimes people think of the church as a place, as a building, built with material things.

And other times, people think of the church as an organization, an institution, a religious club, if we may say it. But when our Lord Jesus mentions this word church, he means exactly what it is. It is the called out ones, gathered together.

Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, our Lord says, there am I in their midst. That is what the church really is. The church is his body, the body of Christ, and he is the head of that body.

Likewise, when our Lord Jesus talks about the kingdom of the heavens, within the context we may understand, he does not refer to the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens to the world. That we find in Matthew chapter 13, in the parables.

But what he means is exactly what the kingdom of the heavens really is, and that is the kingship of Christ. How our Lord Jesus, who is not only our savior, but he is also our king, and he shares his own character in a people who obey him, who belong to him, and who become his kingdom.

So brothers and sisters, because these subjects are so wide, so we have to limit them this morning to the church in spiritual reality, and the kingdom of the heavens in spiritual reality. Now when you look at that, in that aspect, you will find that the church and the kingdom of the heavens are one.

They are the two sides of one coin. When you talk about the church, the emphasis is on life, because Christ is living, and his church is a living church. When you talk about the kingdom, the emphasis is on character, because the character of the king characterizes his kingdom.

All those who are the sons of the kingdom bear the same character as the king. When you talk about the church, the important thing is built. Our Lord said, I will build my church. In other words, the church needs to be built.

It is not only to be born, but it is to be built. And when you talk about the kingdom of the heavens, the emphasis is on testimony. That the kingdom of the heavens is a witness to this world in this age.

And one day, it will bring in the kingdom upon this earth. So brothers and sisters, after we have defined the scope that we would like to meditate on, then we can go on and meditate the relationship between the church and the kingdom.

The Keys of the Kingdom and the Preaching of the Gospel

Here you find our Lord Jesus said, I will build my church. But how is he going to build his church? It is followed immediately by what our Lord says, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.

So brothers and sisters, immediately you begin to join these two words together. The building of the church is by using the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. We want to interpret the keys as the ways of building the kingdom and the ways of building the church.

Usually when we talk about the keys of the kingdom of the heavens that our Lord gave to Peter, we usually say it refers to the fact that it is through Peter. He is the first one who used the keys. And when he used the keys, he is proclaiming the gospel.

Once on the day of Pentecost to the Jews. And the second time he used the key to open the door to the Gentiles. So that the Gentiles may be brought in. So brothers and sisters, we say the keys of the kingdom of the heavens is the preaching of the gospel.

Now when you think of the gospel, probably in your mind, it means that the gospel of grace. We are sinners. No hope. Condemned eternally. But Christ Jesus comes. He shed his blood. He gives us his body.

He becomes the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. And by believing in him, our sins are forgiven. We are given a new life. We are guaranteed to heaven. Now that's the gospel that we usually think about.

But brothers and sisters, when you look into what Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, as well as what he preached in the house of Cornelius, you find it is a little bit different. In other words, it is more.

It is fuller. It is a full gospel. Because the gospel he preached, not only on the side of grace, but also on the side of kingdom. Why? You remember in Acts chapter 2, when he concludes his message, he said, God has made Jesus, whom you have crucified, he has made him Lord and Christ.

Now that is a kingdom message. He has become the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is far above all. And because this is what he is, therefore, we need to believe, not only to believe, but to obey.

You know the gospel is to be obeyed, not just to be believed. In Romans chapter 1, verse 5, the obedience to the gospel. Why? Because he is King. Therefore, we need not only to believe in him, but to obey him.

Now that is the message on the Day of Pentecost. And when you read Acts chapter 10, he began to give his message to the Gentiles. He did not finish it. The Holy Spirit came in and interrupted. But from what he has said, he said, this Jesus, God has made him judge over all people.

Now that is more than the gospel of grace. That is the gospel of the kingdom. He is the judge of all nations. So you find that when Peter used the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, when he preached the gospel to the people, there you find he brings in the church.

But not only that, the keys of the kingdom of the heavens not only open the door to the church, because we believe in the Lord, we obey him, and we receive new life, and we are born into the family of God.

The Great Commission and Discipleship

But the same keys of the kingdom of heaven are used for the building of the church. Now let me explain it. You go back to Matthew chapter 28. In Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 to 20, And Jesus coming up spoke to them, saying, All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things. Whatsoever I have enjoined you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age.

Now this is what we call the Great Commission. You know the Great Commission is based upon what the Lord said in verse 18. All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth. Whenever you think of power or authority, you tie it with the kingdom.

Our Lord Jesus, when he ascended up on high, God has made him king over all things. All power, all authority, both in heaven and upon earth, has been given to him. That is the basis of the Great Commission.

Otherwise we have no authority, we have no power to fulfill that commission. So first of all, we need to remember that the Great Commission is based upon the kingship of our Lord Jesus. It has to do with the kingdom.

Then he said, go through the church history. God's people began to hear, this will go. Go, go to all the world. Go to every nation and preach the gospel and bring people to salvation. Evangelize the nations.

Unfortunately, this is only a part of the commission, not the full commission. Because if you read carefully, you'll find the Lord said, go. Go to do what? To evangelize the world? No. Go make disciples of all nations.

So in other words, you'll find the Great Commission is a full commission. It is a full gospel that we have to go and preach. It's the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. Because whenever you think of discipleship, it has something to do with the kingdom of the heavens.

Go, make disciples of all nations. It is not enough just to get people saved. As if heaven needs to be filled. Why are we saved? For what purpose? Just for our own good? No. We are saved that God's purpose may be fulfilled in our lives.

And in order to do that, we have to be disciples to Christ Jesus. Not just believe in him, but put ourselves under his authority. And allow him to transform us, change us, conform us to his own image.

That's discipleship. Discipleship always has to do with the kingdom. And it is through discipleship the church is built. So you'll find what the Lord said, go, make disciples of all nations. Not only bring people to me, but bring people to me in such a manner that they really become my disciples.

I'm able to disciple them. I'm able to train them. I'm able to complete them, to perfect them. When you talk about this metal of discipleship, the first thing mentioned in this commission, he said, baptizing them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism as the Entrance to Discipleship

Now isn't that strange? The Lord said, make disciples of all nations. How are you going to make disciples? Teach them. That's the way to make disciples. But no, the Lord said, baptizing them to the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Now why is it so? Why is baptism so important? You often hear people say, isn't it in the word of God, believe and you are saved. So why should we be baptized, brothers and sisters? There's a reason for that.

Because it is the door to discipleship. He cannot disciple us until we are baptized to the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now what does it mean? Well, what is baptism? In baptism, we go into the water, we are immersed under the water, and we come up out of the water.

What do all these symbolize? They symbolize death, burial, and resurrection. In baptism, we proclaim that this old man, this I, this self, this natural man, there is no good in him. He needs to go to death.

But you don't need to do it yourself, because Christ has already died. Not only for you, but when he died, the Bible tells us, we died in him. He is the last Adam, the second man. He is the last Adam, in him all the Adamic race comes to an end.

Because when the last Adam died, the Adamic race is terminated. Brothers and sisters, the death of our Lord Jesus is all inclusive. It is more than just our Lord as one person died on the cross. When he died on the cross, he not only bare all the sins of the world, but he also bring all the sinners with him to that cross.

So in the sight of God, when Christ died, we all died. We died in him. That is an eternal truth. That is something that God has done in his beloved son. Already finished. Already done. And in baptism, you confess that this old man of mine is already dead.

There is no good in him. Anything, everything in this old man is not fit to be built into the body of Christ. It is a foreign article. It cannot be assimilated. It will be rejected. No matter what you do, it should be completely set aside.

Now brothers and sisters, do you realize that? Unless you take the position by faith that your old man, you, as you know, as everybody knows, you, this two thousand years ago, God has already got rid of him in the cross of our Lord Jesus.

You confess it, you believe it, you take that position, you act it out by going under the water, buried out of sight. You don't want to see him anymore. He is gone forever. Forever. But thank God, there is a coming out of the water.

Because Christ, buried for three days and three nights, and then he is risen from the dead. And when he is risen, you by faith are risen with him. In newness of life, not in oldness. Brothers and sisters, in other words, by taking baptism, that is saying goodbye to yourself.

Farewell. Eternal separation. And you come out of the water a new man in Christ Jesus. And it is this new life, new man in Christ Jesus, that can be trained and transformed, conformed to the image of Christ.

To be built into the body of Christ. That is what baptism means. That is the reason why the Lord said baptizing them to the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now you are no longer under your own name.

You are under the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You have changed your name. You know, just like a woman, when she is married to a man, her name is changed. So in baptism we change our name.

Discipleship as Learning the Master’s Character

From being of Adam, now we are of Christ. And only standing on that ground, we are able to be disciples. Now brothers and sisters, let me use an illustration. You know in the old days, before there was school, as we know today, how are you going to learn a profession, a trade?

You learn by being an apprentice. Now to be an apprentice is not an easy thing. Why? First of all, you have to leave your own home. You cannot stay at home and go to school. You have to be completely severed from your home.

And you are not allowed to come back home without the permission of your master. You are not free anymore. And you have to join yourself to your master's house. You become a member of your master's household.

You stay with him. And when you stay with him, maybe say a trade that has to be learned for three years before you finish. But maybe during the first year you stay in your master's home, he will never even teach you anything about a trade.

He will not even allow you to touch the tools. Now what do you do then? You do all these mundane things. Maybe sweep the floor. Maybe serve the master at the table. Maybe help to carry the children. You do all these things that have nothing to do with your trade.

But that's very important. Because to learn a trade in the old days is more than learning a skill. It's to learn how to be a man. You watch your master, the way he talks, the way he does business, the relationship, the actions and reactions.

Attitude. All these things. And gradually he allows you to touch the tool a little bit. He will teach you a little bit. And you practice it. You learn it. And after you finish your apprenticeship, when you come out, you are a replica of your master.

Not only you have learned his skill, you have learned him. You talk like him. You act like him. You walk like him. Your voice also has his tone. Brothers and sisters, that's discipleship. In the Bible when you talk about discipleship, that is the idea.

So unless you are completely separated from the past, you are not able to enter into the new. That's the reason why baptism is the opening to discipleship. Brothers and sisters, we need to review our baptism.

Why is it that it seems so hard for the Lord to change us? Why is it our old habit? Why is it that our old ways cling to us so strenuously? Hard to shake off because we haven't taken the ground of discipleship.

If you have taken this ground of discipleship, that is to say, you completely deny yourself and open yourself to your master, your king, your Christ. Allow him to do anything and everything he wants to because he has every right to do it.

And how quickly you will be changed and transformed. Then, teach all the things that I have enjoined you. Teach them all the counsel of God, the whole counsel of God. Just like Paul said, I have not withheld anything from you.

I have taught you the whole counsel of God. But what is the sense of teaching if it's not for the sake to observe? So here's yet teaching them to observe, not only teaching them to have a big mind, knowledge, mental knowledge, knowledge pops up, but teaching them to observe, to do God's teaching, is to do, not just to think about.

And when you observe all the things that Christ has taught, you will see a change began in your life. And the Lord said, I'm with you to the end of the age. You will experience the abiding presence of the Lord with you.

Holding Fast to Christ as Head of the Body

Now that's the Great Commission. Now, you know, when you meditate you meditate one word from the Word of God and the Spirit of God will lead you to another word. Now that's the way to meditate. So, naturally, we will be led to Colossians 2, verse 19.

Colossians 2, verse 19. But you know, in Colossians 2, verse 19, it is negative because it begins with not. It should not be. So we will read it in a positive way. Holding fast the head from whom all the body minister to and united together by the joints and bends increases with the increase.

Of God. Holding fast the head from whom all the body minister to and united together by the joints and bends increases with the increase of God. That is the building of the Church. The building of the body.

What is to be increased? It is not a new and I be increased. It is increased with the increase of God. In other words, in the body of Christ, you begin to see God is increased. Christ is increased in this people.

Not some people getting increased, but God is increased. Christ is increased. Now how can it be done? The secret is holding fast the head. Now we know the head here is singular in number. The head is Christ.

Now how can Christ be head, the only head, if all of us still have our own heads? That's impossible. So first of all, we have to be headed. Not literally, but spiritually. We have to lay down our headship.

That is to say, lay down our own mastership. We are masters of our own. We have our ways. We have our thoughts. We have our will. We have our opinion. We have our habits. All of this has to be we refuse to be head.

We refuse to take the initiative. We submit ourselves under the headship that Him be head. So you see, this is the same as discipleship. It is the key of the kingdom of the heavens. That is the way to open the door to the building of the body of Christ.

And when we all honour the authority of the head, then what happens? All the body minister to and united together by the joints and bends. Some brothers and sisters are like joints. Joints or joints of supply.

In other words, we are able to minister what the Lord has given us to the church, to the body of Christ. And some people are like bands. Bands to unite. You know, there are people who may not be able in a sense to minister much, but they are able to bring people together in love.

They are bands. And then you find all the joints and the bends will minister to and join together and the result is the body will increase with the increase. That's the secret of the building of the church.

The Church’s Responsibility to Bring in the Kingdom

Using the keys of the kingdoms. So brothers and sisters, you see the relationship between the kingdom and the church? The kingdom builds the church. Without accepting the kingdom, the kingship of Christ, the church cannot be built.

But then we have to go to the other side. What is the church to do with the kingdom? The kingdom builds the church. But the church brings in the kingdom. You remember what our Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 verse 10 in the Lord's Prayer?

He teaches us the church to pray. Pray for what? Thy kingdom. It is the responsibility of the church to pray in the kingdom of the heavens upon this earth. You know, brothers and sisters, that's how important prayer is.

I believe we have been praying, but have we ever prayed, Thy kingdom come? Oh, how we pray, Lord, let my will be done and my kingdom come. But the Lord said, pray, let Thy kingdom come. The church is to pray in the kingdom of the heavens.

But it is more than just praying. In Matthew chapter 24 verse 14 I think. Matthew chapter 24. Yes. And these glad tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth for a witness to all the nations and then shall come the end.

It is the responsibility of the church not only to pray that the kingdom come. Brothers and sisters, when you look at the kingdoms of this world, so confused, so violent, so terrifying, so lawless, do you feel the urge to pray, Lord, Thy kingdom come?

Because Thy kingdom is different. When Thy kingdom shall come, all the source will be turned into flour. Even the animals will not eat each other. There will be peace, righteousness, glory over this earth.

Oh, how we need to pray, Thy kingdom come. God will not do anything and His church began to pray. But not only praying, preaching, the message of the kingdom of heaven must be preached to all the nations as a witness.

Overcoming the World as a Testimony of the Kingdom

Then the end will come. Brothers and sisters, you know, in church history you find some people feel what is the responsibility of the church so far as the world is concerned? Well, the church is to change the world.

The church is to change the world and make it better, make it Christian. And that is what post-millenniumism really means. But is this the way to bring in the kingdom? We will preach the message of the kingdom of the heavens as a witness.

In other words, we are not to change the world. God is not going to do that. God is going to judge the world. But we are to overcome the world. To overcome not by political or military or whatever. To overcome the world of all its evils.

Brothers and sisters, the church in the eyes of God is an overcoming church. The church is supposed to overcome. Overcome temptations. Overcome evil. Overcome all these unrighteous, unlawful things and be a witness of the kingdom of the heavens in this corrupt world.

That is our testimony. Our testimony is to show the world in spite of what the world is today, there is a better world. The kingdom of the heavens. And we are living in it. We are under the rule of heaven overcoming evil as a testimony to the world.

The Overcomers and the Coming Kingdom

And brothers and sisters, that's why you find in the word of God when the bride of the Lamb has made herself ready that is to say when the church is built when it begins to take up the full measure of the statue of Christ as you find in Ephesians 5 then the bridegroom will come.

The building of the church is to bring in the kingdom. But unfortunately when you look at the church today it's more like Laodicean. So what is God going to do? Will the church never be matured? Never be grown up?

And therefore the kingdom will never come upon this earth. God's way is higher than man's way. You find in the word of God the principle of overcomers. He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

He who overcomes. Brothers and sisters among God's people He is calling for overcomers. Now who are those overcomers? The overcomers are none other than the normal Christians. We are so abnormal subnormal today that God is calling us back to a normalcy.

What is a normal Christian? A normal Christian is a disciple of Christ. A normal Christian is one who puts himself under the headship of Christ. A normal Christian is one who allows the Lord to work his character in his or her life in spite of what's around him.

Other people may do. You cannot. And these overcomers are the matured sons of God. What is the world waiting for? If you read Romans chapter 8 from verse 18 onward you find the whole earth the whole creation is groaning.

Can you hear the groaning of the trees? The groaning of the earth? The groaning of the mountains? Volcanoes? The groaning of the waters? The whole creation is groaning. Why? Because they are under. Who put them there?

Man. It is because of the fall of man. God has committed the whole earth to man. And man falls. And with the fall of man the whole creation falls into corruption. They are not waiting. They are groaning.

What are they waiting for? They are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. In other words not just children lots of babies but grown up sons bearing the character of Christ can bear responsibility in the house of God.

The world is waiting for such people. When this people is fulfilled manifested then the whole creation will be delivered from corruption. And you find the same thing in Revelation chapter 12 the man-child.

The man-child is a collective symbol of the overcomers at the lost age. When they are matured when they are born they will be raptured to the throne of God. And there will be war in the air. Michael and his angels will fight against Satan and his angels.

And there will be no more place in the air for Satan. He will be thrown upon this earth. The air is clear for our Lord to descend from the throne to the air. Brothers and sisters who brings in the kingdom?

Of course it is the Lord. But it is the Lord with his church. And then you will find judgment will come upon this earth. And God will Lord will come down and he will establish his kingdom on this earth.

All the kingdoms of this world will eventually become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Dear Lord we do sense that we are standing on the verge of a great change. Pray that thou will prepare us for that day.

Oh that we may be those whom thou can use to bring in thy kingdom. By thy grace enable us to overcome even here on this earth. And may our testimony be strong enough to bring down the kingdom of this world and bring in thy kingdom.

We are looking forward to it. In thy precious name we pray.