Assembly Versus Kingdom--Part 5

Read again the passage we have been studying over the past few weeks—Matthew 16:13-17:13. The controversy today is this—many believe the kingdom and the church (assembly) are one. I do not believe this. Before we begin our review and study, I want to read something from Jonathan Edwards entitled “Get Thee Behind Me, Satan” (In New England, page 357). “And though we read that Christ once turned and said unto Peter, on a certain occasion, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’; and this may seem like an instance of harshness and severity in reproving Peter; yet I humbly conceive that this is by many taken wrong, and that this is indeed no instance of Christ’s severity in his treatment of Peter, but on the contrary, of his wonderful gentleness and grace, distinguishing between Peter and the devil in him, not laying the blame of what Peter had then said, or imputing it to him, but to the devil that influenced him. Christ saw the devil then present, secretly influencing Peter to do the part of a tempter to his master; and therefore Christ turned him about to Peter, in whom the devil then was, and spake to the devil and rebuked him. Thus the grace of Christ does not behold iniquity in his people, imputes not what is amiss in them to them, but to sin that dwells in them, and to Satan that influences them.” The most important words in this article are “distinguishing between Peter and the devil in him.” Read Roman 7:14-17. Do you always do what you would like to do? When you let the devil in, you do things you shouldn’t do. He is the greatest deceiver of all.

The assembly is not the kingdom, but we do have the relation of the assembly to the kingdom. Paul speaks of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. He said, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints [holy ones], and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22).

If Peter had been the first head of the assembly, each member would have had to say, “I am of Cephas.” This means that Paul’s admonition would have had to be different than what he stated in I Corinthian 1:12 and 13—“Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

A diligent and unbiased study of Matthew 16:18 is an absolute must for the sincere Christian. First, Christ introduced His work—“I also say to you that you are Peter.” The first word is not kai, the word for “and”; but the first word is kago, meaning “I also,” “I likewise,” or “in like manner.” Since Christ is on the level with God the Father, He is saying, “I in turn will reveal to you what the assembly is that I am going to build, just as the Father revealed to you who I am.” “My Father is working until now, and I Myself [kago] am working” (John 5:17). “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also [kago] loved you, abide in My love” (John 15:9).

Peter’s confession was commended by Jesus Christ, because it came from a spiritually illuminated mind. Spiritual affections spring from the beauty of Divine things. Their beauty is discerned through the illumination of the renewed mind. Furthermore, Christ could congratulate Peter because He knew Peter had discerned through the illumination of his mind, and that view alone produces the conviction of their reality. Spiritual things have the influence of reality only on renewed persons.

The error of identifying the kingdom with the assembly is serious. No keys are committed to the assembly for use in this age. The keys are for use in the kingdom, and it is fallacy to say they are used in the assembly. The assembly is built by Christ; it is not built with keys by men. Since the assembly is in the process of being built, it is not the time for Christ’s “appearing and His kingdom” (II Tim. 4:1).

Those who spiritualize the kingdom, by denying its literal and visible aspects, are guilty of Docetism in regard to the kingdom. Docetism was an early religious doctrine that believed Jesus Christ appeared to men in a spiritual body, but since the time of His death, He only seemed to suffer and die.

If believers by entering the assembly already enter into the promised kingdom, where is the distinction between the two? Augustine said, “The Church (assembly) could not now be called His Kingdom, or the kingdom of heaven, unless his saints were even now reigning with Him”—quoted from The Theocratic Kingdom. The idea that saints now possess the kingdom has led to all kinds of heresies and extravagant claims of authority and fanaticism. Both Roman Catholics and Mormons are good examples.

The assembly must be perfected in order to reign with Christ over the nations. The completed and perfected assembly will have a place of special honor in the coming kingdom. Does not the perfect future indicative, which denotes a state of completion, harmonize with the completed and perfected assembly that shall reign with Christ? Listen to Paul for a few minutes before you make a decision as to where you stand. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Rom. 8:16-25).

The binding and loosing will be in harmony with the perfected state by Christ’s “appearing and His kingdom” (II Tim. 4:1). It is a fact that in the purest period of the local aspect of the assembly’s history, it had a mixture of people who did not have the Spirit of God. There was a Judas among the apostles, a Simon among the first converts, and a Demas and Diotrephes among the first servants. Therefore, the only way the local assembly could be sure of heaven’s approval of her judgments on conduct was when there was agreement in the Spirit of prayer. No prayer and condition of agreement will be needed in the kingdom, but they both are needed in our imperfect state. It takes both the standard of heaven and the Spirit of prayer to keep us from acting arbitrarily in our imperfect condition. However, it will be impossible for the completed and perfected assembly to act arbitrarily in the kingdom.

The foundation of the assembly is stated negatively—“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church [assembly]…” (Matt. 16:18). Negatively, it was not Peter, because he was only a man—“…I too am just a man” (Acts 10:26); he was a sinful and mortal man (Matt. 26:74); he interprets and expounds the prophecy given by Isaiah (Is. 28:16; I Pet. 2:6-8); and Peter could not be an unwavering foundation against Satan’s assaults.

Positively, Jesus Christ is the only unshakable foundation for the assembly. Therefore, the Father revealed to Peter, “And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER STONE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER STONE, and A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed” (I Pet. 2:4-8).

As the Father selected no other, because there was no other to fill this position with His qualification, Jesus Christ was more than man; He was and will forever be the God-Man. Paul said, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 3:11). Even Augustine said, “It is not petra that is derived from petros, but petros is derived from petra in the sense of a rock.” Jesus Christ asserts no other than petros as a proper name, and petra is used in the sense of a rock. What was the foundation Paul laid? It was not the person of Peter who confessed Christ, but the Person of Christ whom Peter confessed that is the “rock” on which the assembly is built. It is the Christ whom Paul preached that is the only foundation on which believers can build. Paul called some of the believers “fleshly” (I Cor. 3:1-3) in a comparative sense. Christians in time never reach the spiritual plateau to which they do not need teaching, rebuking, and reproving.

Have we forgotten what Paul said about himself? Paul said, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good” (Rom. 7:14-21).

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.