Please turn with me this morning to 1st Corinthians chapter 1, 1st Corinthians chapter 1, as we read together verses 10 through chapter 2 verse 5. The text this morning being chapter 1 verse 21, along with our consideration of Lord's Day 31, particularly question and answer 84. We'll turn there in just a moment. 1 Corinthians 1, as we begin at verse 10, we give our attention to the Word of God. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another, so that there may be no divisions among you, and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household, have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this. One of you says, I follow Paul. Another, I follow Apollos. Another, I follow Cephas. And still another, I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. So no one can say that you were baptized into my name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. The intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential, not many were of noble birth, but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God. That is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power. Again, verse 21, For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. And if you would turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 42, Lord's Day 31. Lord's Day 31, you may recall we just finished in the catechism the Lord's Days dealing with the sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the keys of the kingdom were mentioned in the last part of Answer 82 with regard to who is to be admitted to the Lord's table. Question 83 asks what the keys are, and it clearly says, preaching and discipline. Preaching of the Holy Gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers. And then let's recite together answer 84 to this question. How does preaching the gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven? According to the command of Christ, the kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to each and every believer that as often as he accepts the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of what Christ has done, truly forgives all his sins. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that as long as they do not repent, the anger of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. God's judgment, both in this life and in the life to come, is based on this Gospel testimony. Beloved in Christ the Lord, if my memory serves me correctly, and someone may very well correct me, but I believe it was Evangelism Explosion that asked that powerful and thought-provoking question if you were to die tonight, why should or why would God let you into His heaven? If you were to die tonight, why should God let you into His heaven? And really, there is only one of two answers anybody can give. Either it's because of what I have or haven't done. I've been going to church all my life. I've been striving to live righteously. I've been trying to do all of these good things in my life. or I haven't been involved in all kinds of terrible things like drugs and pornography, I've never murdered anybody, that kind of thing. Or the other answer is because of what Jesus Christ has done for me. And of course, we know that that is the only correct answer. Yet that very question, if you were to die tonight, why should or would God let you into His heaven, that very question points to the truth that God guards the door of heaven. He opens it to some. He closes it to others. In Reformed theology, as you know, we use the everyday example of keys. Now, boys and girls, you know what keys are. Even very young children, we're never quite surprised when a young child just learning to walk picks up a key and knows what it is and walks to a door and tries to stick that key in the handle. Boys and girls, keys lock things and keys unlock things. God guards the door of heaven with His key of truth as that truth is proclaimed through preaching and as it is practiced through discipline. Again, as answer 83 says. And this morning, we consider together that first key. Heaven's door guarded by gospel preaching. Now, 1 Corinthians 1, especially verse 21, gives us insight about how this preaching key works. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Heaven's door guarded by gospel preaching. First of all, because of its unique character. Each and every key you know has a unique shape, has a particular shape that fits the lock for which it was intended. the key of preaching has a unique character that is shaped by the message you see we're not talking here Paul is not talking here about just any old kind of preaching he's not talking about saying just anything you feel like saying anything that comes to mind indeed there is much false preaching out there but the preaching key proclaims the truth as God revealed it this preaching key is shaped by its content now before we consider that content together we know that there is an antithesis between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God Paul was surrounded by that he was surrounded by Greek philosophy he was surrounded by philosophers who meditated and spoke with such wisdom about life and about the soul and about the origin of all things and these philosophers with their great rhetoric were able to wow the people and since the people, most of them, couldn't understand, well, they must be right because it's way over our heads. But there's an antithesis between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. The world thinks it knows how things are. But God actually, truly knows how things are. The world thinks it knows truth and what truth is. but God actually knows what truth is because God is truth. The world thinks it knows what is necessary for you and me, for this life, for the soul, for the next life, but God actually knows what is necessary for you and me for this life and the life to come. It's God's wisdom that forms the content of true preaching and that content is the gospel. It's the gospel, the good news. As answer 84 says, of what Christ has done. And that's it in a nutshell, isn't it? Of what Christ has done. Again, the Catechism just completed dealing with the sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and taught us that both of those sacraments visibly point to the truth of the Gospel. And that's explained in answer 64 this way, That our entire salvation rests on Christ's one sacrifice for us on the cross. Now in the text, verse 21, Paul speaks of what was preached. And that what is explained before already in verse 18 when he says the message of the cross. That's the what that was preached. The message of the cross. And that message, beloved, we know is unfolded from Genesis to Revelation all the way through the Word of God. Oh, we know we don't find the word cross or the word Christ in every verse, maybe not even every chapter. The book of Esther never even mentions God. But it's unfolded, that message we know, it's a unity. And that message is unfolded from Genesis to Revelation. It all points to the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That message reveals the single great need of man because of man's fall into sin and his destiny toward hell. And it also reveals the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the redemption of God's people unto eternal life. That message is a message of man's sin and weakness and helplessness and death and his total inability to help himself. And at the same time, it's a message of God's perfect work through Jesus Christ in doing for us everything that we could not do for ourselves. That message is a message proclaiming an event of historical and theological significance. In other words, boys and girls, Jesus Christ is a historical fact. All that he did really happened. All that we believe he did really happened in history. He's just as much as a historical figure as Abraham Lincoln, as George Washington, those we know in our recent history. He's just as much of a historical figure. And all that he did has significance for your spiritual life and mine. That message points to Christ who died the death of a criminal, but whose death has everything to do with the eternal destiny of man. But that Gospel message is interpreted by the world as foolishness. It's thought by the world to be silly, to put it mildly, absurd, ridiculous, even stupid. The world is blinded by sin. Satan told Eve, if you eat of the fruit of the tree, you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Well, one thing is sure, man knew evil like he had never known it before. And another thing is sure, man is nothing like God who is completely other than evil. But blinded by sin, man in its wisdom dethrones God, shoves him off the throne. As Romans 1, verse 25 says, They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator. Man, in his own wisdom, shoves God off the throne and blinded by sin, man exalts himself, makes himself greater than God and reverses the roles so that God needs us. God can't do without us, man foolishly believes. Man has a high estimation of himself. Man is able to accomplish mighty and great things. The world in its wisdom is blinded by sin and also blinded then to the truth. Again, in Romans 1, Paul makes it clear that man rejects the truth of God revealed in creation. He suppresses the truth by their wickedness. In the world's wisdom, if man is sinful, you see, most people will admit that things are not right. There are problems. There are difficulties. People do wrong things in this life. If man is sinful, the world says, well, certainly man is not totally lost. Certainly we are not incapable of pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. On the contrary, we are very much capable, the world says, of pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. And if we need a Savior, and that too is a big if, But if we need a Savior, we certainly deserve something better than the cross. Come on. The cross. That's embarrassing. The cross is a put down. To tell me I need the cross is an attack against my self-esteem. In the world's wisdom, the cross is not how battles are won. It's a sign of defeat, not victory. It's a sign of weakness, not strength. It's a sign of the curse, not a blessing. The great reformer John Calvin speaks of those who consider this message as foolishness, as being intoxicated with false confidence. In other words, drunk, we might say, on their own ego. And fearing not, not being afraid to subject God's sacred truth to their senseless criticism. In other words, they're not afraid to speak out rashly against the sacred truth of the Word of God. And he goes on, as I paraphrase, that nothing is more absurd to human reason than that God has become man. Than that life depends on death, the death of this man Christ. Then that righteousness is veiled under the appearance of sin. In other words, that Christ became like us. And that the source of blessing, namely Jesus Christ, has been made subject to the curse. There's nothing more absurd to human reason than that. And he goes on, that by this means, all this absurdity, men might be redeemed from death, become partakers of a blessed immortality, that they might obtain life, that sin being destroyed, righteousness might reign, and that death and the curse may be swallowed up. All of these wonderful things that we receive, to the world it's utter foolishness. It's beyond reason that the problem of evil and the salvation of man is accomplished, needs to be accomplished, by the death of a man. The world is blinded by sin, blinded to the truth, but also blinded by practice, their practice and the believer's practice. You see, beloved, anything that has to do with preaching the message of the cross is foolishness to the world. And if you think about it, the world openly proclaims this as they consider it a waste of time to devote this day to the Lord and to his worship. Instead, there is a better use of this day. After all, it's only one of maybe two days people get off in the week. It's the weekend, after all, they say. And they use this day for their own selfish purposes to indulge in activities that of themselves might not be sinful, but that Satan uses to try to draw our attention, your attention and mine, away from the preaching of the cross. They consider it a waste to pay as they see it. to hear the message. You know, through your gifts and your offerings. And by paying the cost of tuition to educate our children in a Christian school surrounded by godly teachers who care for their souls. Instead, there are so many other luxuries that we could enjoy in this life. Or if you want to support some worthy causes, support AIDS research so people can live like they want and not worry about having to get AIDS or they can be cured from it if they get it. Or to support tolerance education, teaching people to be tolerant of other people's views, of other people's lifestyles, of other people's choices. Or save the whales, whatever you would like to do. In the world's wisdom, it's utter foolishness to support schools that train preachers, seminaries. It's a waste. After all, how does that help the economy? That doesn't help to develop products that help people function in life. It doesn't serve to find cures for cancer and AIDS and Alzheimer's and a host of other diseases. It does nothing to help feed the world. It's a bad investment. It's a lousy return on your money. Every wise investor knows that you are to invest for the future for capital gains. Ironic, isn't it? Because the truth of the cross of Jesus is directed toward the investment of the eternal future of God's people with the greatest gain possible. And we must confess too, beloved, that preaching has fallen on hard times. It's fallen into disrepute, even in many churches. So many consider preaching to no longer be applicable in this visible age. It's lost its usefulness. There are other more effective ways of communicating. Even Paul says that I didn't come to you. My preaching were not with wise and persuasive words of which the people want, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, you see. There are other ways much more effective. And we, true beloved, we must confess that sometimes we put our families and our activities before worship and preaching. And in doing so, we forget what God says about it. that its content is powerful and that God uses it powerfully. Maybe you remember last year at Christmastime. December 25 fell on a Sunday. I remember that there were many churches who normally have evening services all of a sudden found themselves in a quandary. What do we do? It's Christmas Day. It's family time. And in the end, many of them gave in and Christmas Day became more important than the Lord's Day. And maybe some of you think that that's no big deal either. But you see, beloved, there's nothing more important for us and our children than the message of Jesus Christ preached. Even our young children. Believe me, they can understand more than you think. There's nothing more important for us. Christmas means nothing apart from the message of Jesus Christ preached and we all know too that that there are many churches in our day that at one time faithfully had morning and evening services they started the day with the lord they ended the day with the lord and they no longer have those evening services and it's not because true preaching and its message has lost its power but it's because they can't compete with the wisdom and the activities of the world that even some believers find more interesting and more attractive. Maybe some of you here who are faithful every Sunday morning, but you don't ever come at night, maybe it's because you truly don't understand the gift of preaching. I believe that's probably the case. You don't understand the power that God has given through the preaching of His gospel. It's been given by God. God has been pleased through this. And when Paul says God has been pleased, he's not saying it just makes God happy. But God delights in it. God has determined through the foolishness of the message preached. The message of the cross is to be preached not through song, not through dance, not through drama, but through the spoken Word. God gave us His Word. And we are to tell of and to proclaim His saving truth to the ears of mankind. As Paul says in Romans 10, verse 14, and how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And the expected answer is they can't. They can't. And the purpose, beloved, is to accomplish something unique and wonderful. Gospel preaching guards heaven's door because of its powerful effect. You see, only the correct key will do. You cannot start your car with a house key. And this key of preaching was designed by God to save those who believe. It's not the preaching itself. We know that. It's the content of the preaching. The saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ for preaching is the means that God is pleased to use to bring that by the power of the Holy Spirit to the ears and the heart of mankind. And oh, how necessary. As Paul says, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know Him. Man, with all of his worldly wisdom, with all of his ingenuity and all of his great abilities, is blind to the truth. Man can search the far reaches of the solar system and he can do microscopic surgery. Also gifts from God, we know. But man cannot come to know God. He cannot come to discover God. He cannot come to attain perfection and righteousness in His own power. He cannot accomplish the mighty thing that man needs most, and that is the salvation of the soul. Man failed completely in regard to the one supreme thing that he needed most, and that is to know God in a saving relationship. The preaching of the Word of God, the content of that Word of God is powerfully effective as the preaching accomplishes something, the open door. The kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to each and every believer that as often as he accepts the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of what Christ has done, truly forgives all his sins. Opens the door. The gospel message of the cross as it is truthfully and faithfully preached is not simply putting a band-aid on one's spiritual problems. It's not simply a nice little pat on the back, a little encouragement, come on, keep going, you can do it. It's not simply to say, well, you're not doing so bad, you've done a good job up to this point. But the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to look man directly in the eyes of the heart. To reveal the truth. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, to reverse one completely, to convert, to turn one completely around to save those who believe. Those whose blind spiritual eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit. Those who believe are those who come by the grace of God to understand their sin and their miserable, hopeless condition. And they place their trust completely in Jesus Christ and in His historical crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. They are those who, by the grace of God, are actually saved. We are saved in Christ Jesus. We are being saved as God leads us throughout this life, and we will be completely saved. Some come to realize this all instantly, like Paul on the road to Damascus. Others, like many of our covenant youth who are born and baptized and raised in a Christian home and church and school, come to realize this over time. And by the grace of God, they come as Tanya did to that point where they want to take their place, claim the promises of God and take their place in the congregation of God's people. But all those who believe, every single one who believes, trusts that the content of the message of the cross preached, namely Christ's saving work, everyone trusts that that belongs to them. What a powerful accomplishment. But there's another side to this powerful accomplishment, and that is the closed door. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that as long as they do not repent, the anger of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. Brothers and sisters, to reject the message of the cross preached is to reject the only Savior and the only way of salvation. It's to reject the only needed and sufficient payment for sin. It is to reject the only way of escape. And to all who reject Jesus Christ, the door of heaven is closed and one day will be locked for eternity and then the anger of God and eternal condemnation will rest on them forever and ever and ever. But still today, It is the day of salvation. Still today, to all who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and maybe that's you, maybe you're here and you've not done that yet, you might think you have, or maybe you really haven't, and this is for you, you are being called by the Holy Spirit of God to repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to stop trusting in yourself and to trust only in Him, and to all who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in Him alone and the power of His cross to them, the door is wide open to eternal glory. And the Holy Spirit of God brings you in. Beloved, there are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who are saved. Those who are lost. And the truth of the cross of Jesus is the deciding factor. It's the line of separation. As those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of God, may we rejoice in such a great salvation. We are saved. And God preserves us in that salvation until we enjoy the full completion of it in glory. And until then, He continues to nourish us with His grace. He continues to nourish us through the true and faithful preaching of His Word. It is necessary. We don't just profess our faith and then forget everything else. It's not as if we've arrived and we no longer need to be nourished. We depend on this nourishment. And God readily gives it to us. But as long as God uses sinful men to be His preachers, like me, and as long as He continues to have that word preached through sinful preachers to the ears of His believers, who still also struggled with sin. His preached Word may not always be as exciting and edifying as we would like it to be. The sermons might sometimes be too long, maybe often. Maybe too short, probably not so often. The preaching of the Word might not always be clear to us as we would like it to be. It might not always be on our favorite passages of the Bible. In fact, truth be told, we might be able to find a hundred things wrong with it in our estimation. But if it is the faithful and true message of the cross pointing to Jesus Christ, it is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe. And therefore, beloved, may we cherish it. May we desire it. May we never neglect it. But instead, may we constantly expose ourselves and our children to that blessed key of the kingdom as God continues to be pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Let's pray together. Our great God and Heavenly Father, Once again, O Lord, you have taught us and reminded us of your blessed gifts to your people, to this world, and the gift of the gospel message preached. Father, we thank you that you have worked in our hearts and lives through that word as it has been preached. Oh, maybe we can't point to the day or the hour or the exact moment many of us. Yet, Father, we know that it was through that continual nourishment that You have brought many of us to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the very first time. And we thank You, Lord, that You continue to provide for us all that we stand in need of. We are so quick to thank You for the physical blessings of this life, but we thank You, too, for that spiritual nourishment You give to us regularly and constantly. Father, bless the preachers of Your Word. Give them wisdom day by day, week by week as they struggle and labor to study Your Word and to bring what You have taught to them, to Your people. And continue to be pleased to teach us here in this place. And Father, may we ever live to give You thanksgiving and praise. We praise Your name for knowing what we need most. Help us to see that need too. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake, and in His name alone we pray. Amen.