Beloved, a couple of weeks ago we began to consider the keys of the Kingdom from Scripture's teaching summarized by Lord's Day 31. And today we continue to consider the teaching, especially of the key of preaching the Holy Gospel. We also read together, as we're going to again this morning, Matthew 16, 13-20. And then Acts 2, verses 32 through 39. Matthew 16, 13 to 20. And Acts 2, 32 to 39. As we hear now the Word of God. Matthew 16, beginning at verse 13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is? They replied, Some say John the Baptist, Others say Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But what about you, he asked. Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Then turning over to Acts chapter 2, we know that we have there the Pentecost sermon of Peter. We begin in about the middle of that sermon, verse 32, as we see, we read about the key of preaching as it is used and the response to that key. Verse 32, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promises for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call. Then turning to page 42 in the back of the Blue Psalter hymnal, Lord's Day 31. Lord's Day 31. This morning, just considering together, question and answer 84 as we confess what we believe together using these words. Question 84, page 42. The question asks, 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 congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we return to our consideration once again of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, we must also consider the illustration of the key itself. Now most of us are quite familiar with those little pieces of metal that are shaped with points and grooves. Those are most of the kinds of keys that we are familiar with. There are different ones nowadays in hotels. You get a little credit card type of key. It does the same thing. And any one of us, even as we sit here, may have a number of different keys on our key ring for our home, for our automobile, for our office, any number of things. Now, a key all by itself is kind of an odd thing. As you look at it, it really seems good for nothing. Yet we know, don't we, that we don't see the usefulness of a key until that key is hidden in the lock for which it was made. Even young boys and girls know that a key must have a lock, And a lock must have a key. They go together. You see, apart from its intended purpose, a key is powerless. But when used properly, that tiny key will start the engine of the biggest piece of machinery. It will open the door of the tallest skyscraper. And it will lock the cage of the fiercest animal. Now Jesus Christ has endowed His church with His authority by giving her the keys which open and shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is, He has given the church the power and authority to define those who belong or who do not belong to the kingdom. Now remember, God alone determines those who belong. And the church, through the faithful exercise of the keys of the kingdom, define those whom God has determined. There are those, of course, who would vainly try to sneak their way into the kingdom. But the church, through the keys of preaching the Holy Gospel and exercising church discipline, is accountable before God to call them to account as well to challenge their faith in life and to tell them what God Himself says. The church herself is accountable to God for her stewardship in regard to the door. And therefore, she must use the keys in good faith and in good conscience before our God. Our Lord gives His keys power through His church only when they are used faithfully. And therefore, I preached to you this morning this Word of God. The church is called to use, to use Christ's kingdom keys. And this morning we want to consider the function of gospel preaching and next week the Lord willing will consider the function of church discipline. Now answer 83 of the catechism made it clear to us that the purpose of the keys of the kingdom is to open the door of the kingdom to believers and close the kingdom to unbelievers. But now, how do the keys do that? How do these keys function in that way? First of all, again, we consider the preaching of the Holy Gospel. A couple of weeks ago, we were reminded that the true faithful preaching, that true faithful preaching is the authoritative proclaiming of the Holy Gospel. The authoritative proclamation of the Word of God. It is the very Word of the King of the Kingdom and whether spoken or un-understood, all true Gospel preaching is introduced with the words, thus saith the Lord. And when we come together to hear the preaching of the Word of God, we come to listen to what He has to say to us. And that preached Word is to be directed to the very heart and soul and conscience of all who hear because it is the Word of God. And one of the goals of preaching must be that all upon whom that Word falls, all who hear that Word preached must examine themselves because preaching the Holy Gospel is not the universal proclamation that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life because there is nothing wonderful about being outside of the door of His kingdom. And that is one of the functions of the two-edged sword of the Word of God, to declare some outside of the kingdom. It's no surprise, I trust, that preaching the Word of God is a powerful key, especially as Paul explains its importance. He says, God has chosen through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. And he says in Romans 10, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And beloved, this means very simply that when a visible church neglects the preaching of the Word of God, she threatens her own future. She threatens her own life. She cuts off her life support. Worship that does not have preaching at its centers like cancer that eats away at the faith of the hearers. And very simply, the promise of the Gospel must be proclaimed. It must be heard. It must be believed. It must be obeyed. It cannot be replaced by liturgical tinkering. Beloved, this is serious stuff that takes place in here. every Sunday morning and evening. Young people, this is more important than going to the concert of your favorite group or going to the party of the most popular person in the class. It's more important than staying home or to watch the seventh game of the World Series or even attending it. This is serious stuff. And that's because of the Gospel message. Notice what question 84 says again. How does preaching the Gospel open and close the Kingdom of Heaven? With church discipline, we'll notice that it says that it closes, then opens. But with the Gospel, it opens, then closes. Preaching's function of opening the Kingdom comes first. That's the most beautiful task of preaching. Because the Gospel is good news. We all like to hear a little good news. We also like to be the ones to give others good news. First of all, the Holy Gospel is a message of comfort for those who believe by grace through faith. And that message of comfort for each and every believer is, as the catechism says, that as often as he accepts the Gospel promise in true faith, God, because of what Christ has done, truly forgives all his sins. You see, Jesus Christ and forgiveness through His blood is the one and only passport that provides entrance into and proves citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. Boys and girls, if you want to go to Disneyland or the Wild Animal Park or SeaWorld, you've got to buy a ticket and that ticket gets you in the gate of those parks. Jesus Christ and His blood alone is the ticket to the door of heaven. Now, we don't buy it though. He has secured our entrance Himself. And the gospel promise, beloved, the promise of the gospel is forgiven sins. All of them for the sake of Jesus. And when I receive that promise by true faith, my assurance is that this forgiveness is for me too. And that's a life-changing moment, huh? That is to change my life for good. And that change is to take place daily as God's people are constantly reforming day by day to the image of Christ. The believer's life has new meaning. School has new meaning. Work has new meaning. Friendships, marriages, families have new meanings. All of life is lived in the joy of the Lord and governed by His Word. The message of Jesus and His blood is the center of the Gospel's good news. This message is the center as well of the doctrine that we as parents promise to teach our children when we present them for baptism. This is why we bring our children to church to sit under the preaching of the gospel. Because this is a message they too must hear. We all know that even our two-year-olds pick up things that we never expected they'd pick up because they were listening. We didn't think they were. And our children must be taught that they too are children of wrath and apart from Jesus Christ, they are outside of the kingdom of heaven. They must be taught what a blessing and privilege God has given to them to be born and raised into Christian families where they are taught about these things. Boys and girls and young people, as you think about the things that you are being taught in church, at home, in school, As you think about these things, do you see these things that you are being taught? Do you see them as privileges? Or do these things cramp your style? They keep you from doing the things that you really want to do. Congregation, our covenant youth, must be taught that their baptism signifies and seals unto them the washing away of all of their sins by the blood of Jesus, which is theirs if and when they believe in Him by grace through faith. You see, only those who are righteous may belong to the kingdom of heaven. Only those who are righteous. Now think about that. Apart from the Savior, that excludes each and every human being, including you and me. It excludes every one of us. And that's why we, along with our children, need Jesus Christ. We need His righteousness. All of our sin must be atoned for. Not part of it. None of it can be left behind. And that's what the blood of Jesus does. It cleanses us from all our sin. And for those who embrace the Savior and His saving sacrifice, not one spot or wrinkle remains in the sight of God because His people enter through the door of His kingdom clothed in the white garments of Christ's righteousness freely given to us. You know, even as we sit here today in what we call our Sunday best. Look at yourself. There's wrinkles. There may even be a spot or a stain or a tear in your clothing. But with the garments of Christ's righteousness, there is absolutely no flaw. And that's how our Father sees us. You see, all of our sins closed the door to us. But the blood of Jesus looses us from our sins and opens the kingdom door to us. Christ has given that key to His church to proclaim forgiveness and salvation to those who repent and believe, to define them as forgiven, even as God has declared them to be forgiven. You remember the tax collector. He couldn't even compete with the Pharisee when it came to outward good works. Yet with one side, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The door flew open. And through the powerful Pentecost preaching of Peter, the Holy Spirit brought repentance to the hearts of many so that they were cut to the heart, Scripture says, and said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And beloved, in the same way, when the Philippian jailer asked, What must I do to be saved? Paul said, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. The Catechism says that this assurance belongs to believers as often as He accepts the Gospel promise in true faith. Now that means that the very first moment one comes to faith in Christ by the grace of God, that door is open and that one is in the kingdom. Immediately. There's no lag time. There's no escrow that has to close. It's immediate. And through the continual feeding on and receiving that Gospel, God keeps one in and secures one in that kingdom. We may fluctuate and fall. We sin daily. And at times our assurance may even be weak, but God never lets go of His people. He gives us the assurance that we need each and every time we receive His gospel by true faith. Now, that doesn't mean that we are saved over and over and over and over again. Not at all. Once saved, always saved, as the saying goes. But in His grace, He preserves His people in the faith He has given to them. And that's why we come week after week, morning and night. That God would strengthen our faith and increase our assurance. Because believers can't seem to get enough of the Holy Gospel. Can you? Can you get enough of the Holy Gospel? Do you get to the point where I don't want to hear it anymore? I hope not. The Christian church is called to proclaim and publicly declare this gospel promise that for those who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, forgiveness for all of their sins is not just a pious wish. It's not simply a possibility, but it is a glorious reality. The church is to preach this at the very command of Christ. He says, as He has said to many that He healed, your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more. Sometimes people wonder, well, what does this have to do with my life today? How does the catechism apply to my life today? Well, you've got it right here. If you have the assurance that your sins are forgiven, then the application is this, go and sin no more. This word which the church is to proclaim is the very word of the King of the Kingdom. The word of salvation. It is that transforming word that changes the hearts and lives of God's people so that His Word guards and guides and directs every step in this life. And of course, again, it's not something that is earned or bought by us, but forgiveness of all of our sins and the free gift of salvation are ours only for the sake of Jesus Christ and His merits. In 1 Peter 1, verses 18 and 19, Peter says, Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, But with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, His sacrifice and death on Calvary's tree paid for our sins and removed God's anger from us, and His perfect righteousness alone makes us worthy to live in His kingdom. You know what that means? That means that God has no doubts about us. He has no doubts about His children. You know, if someone has sinned against you, maybe they've apologized, they've repented, and there's been reconciliation, but every time they see you, you know, I don't know. Can I trust him? Can I trust her? I don't know. We have doubts about those who have hurt us in the past. We have hurt God. Yet in Jesus Christ, for those who are in Him, God has no doubts about us. He doesn't look at us with one eyebrow raised wondering, hmm, I wonder. Because Christ's work is perfect. Christ's work is complete. And it is eternal. Remember, beloved, the kingdom of heaven is that realm where Jesus Christ rules in the hearts and over the lives of His people where God the King is worshipped and obeyed by His faithful subjects and of course ultimately in heaven and where Satan, sin and evil can never enter. And that's why the key of preaching of the Holy Gospel has a second task, one that's not quite so nice. The Catechism says, 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. That two-edged sword of the Word of God not only trims away the fat of doubt from the heart of the believer, giving him the assurance of forgiveness, but it also pierces the hard heart of the unbeliever with the warning of eternal death and hell for those who do not believe. To those who do not repent and believe, again, the church proclaims that which God Himself says. He says it. That their sins are not forgiven, not even the least of their sins. Instead, while they remain unrepentant, they are still bound in their sin. Notice, this message is to be preached to unbelievers, which means that the message must go forth to all the world as Jesus commanded. But it adds hypocrites. The same Gospel message of the blood of Jesus that is embraced by believers by grace is rejected by unbelievers because of hard hearts. And unfortunately, this is also true within the context of the visible church. Remember, as question and answer 81 talked about, it talked about hypocrites, those who pretend to be Christians, and it talked about those who are unrepentant, in other words, those who do not truly repent, and these as well as those who are described in the next answer, answer 85, those who are called Christians, but they profess unchristian teachings and they live unchristian lives, They must be told. They must be told that so long as they are not converted, the wrath of God and eternal condemnation abide on them. They must be told. Otherwise, how will they believe, as Paul says in Romans 10? How can they call on Him of whom they have not heard? Jesus said in John 3, verse 36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. They must be told. May each of us remember that the next time we're too scared to witness to someone on Christ's behalf. Those who are just going through the motions without a true change of heart, they only enter an imaginary door of an imaginary kingdom of their own making while the real door of the true kingdom is closed to them. For them, God's anger, God's wrath, although tempered in this life, and it will be exposed fully in the life to come, yet for them, God's anger in this life already abides on them, and they are destined for eternal condemnation. That's hell. God's wrath. And this eternal death sentence can only be removed by the one that they continue to reject, even Jesus Christ. Congregation, the simple contrast here is between an open door for believers and a closed door for unbelievers. There are only two ways. There's no middle ground. There is no sitting on the fence. Sometimes we are tempted to make the contrast between those who speak the truth and do good and those who don't. Between the naughty and the nice. Many make a contrast between sin and virtue. But the book of Revelation makes a different contrast when it speaks of those whose name is written in the Lamb's book of life, which means that some names are not written there. Who are they? Those of God's elect and grace who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith? You see, the real contrast is between sinful unbelief and grace. The truth is, and I hope this doesn't come as a surprise to you, The truth is that only sinners will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only sinners. Yet sinners saved by grace. You see, it's not simply sin that excludes one from the kingdom for which each and every one of us should be ever so grateful to God. But unrepentant sin through unbelief excludes one from the kingdom. God has given His infallible, inspired Word. The Scripture is filled with ten thousands times ten thousands of lifetimes of sermons to be preached. But each and every sermon must be wrapped around the central element of forgiveness for those who believe and punishment for those who don't. This is according to the command of Christ. The glorious promise of the Gospel must go forth from this pulpit as well as the serious warning. And this too is what parents promise to teach and instruct their children as soon as they are able to understand. And beloved, we must all listen to the preaching of God's Holy Word, not simply to judge it, or condemn it, or agree with it, or disagree with it. But to repent. We are called to daily repentance. You see, however a sermon may strike you, it will mean nothing without repenting and bowing before the authority of that Word. And as the Catechism says, at the very end of the answer, God's judgment both in this life and in the life to come is based on this Gospel testimony. What an awesome responsibility the church has as the steward of Christ to preach the two-edged truth. But see, each and every one who hears will also be judged according to what he did with what he heard. God will say, what did you do? with the true word you heard from the faithful preachers I put before you. What did you do with it? And therefore, we also need to be careful. Why do we even bother to come here? Do we come here simply for a social time? Do we come together for worship? And therefore, feel good because we've done our duty for another seven days? Or do we come here together as God's people because we need and we know we need to hear the Word of God preached? The beauty and mercy of God is seen here in that right now, at this very moment, the door is not eternally shut to that kingdom. It's not locked yet. It can be open. Until Jesus Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead, it is still the day of God's grace. And if you do not believe on Him, if you have never given your life to Him, He calls you to repent of your sins and believe on Him. Because it is only through His cleansing blood that you can be washed clean from all of your sins. And His guarantee, His promise that will never fail is that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Oh beloved, the power in the faithful use of Christ's key of preaching. You see, God's Word will have an effect on you. It will have an effect on you. Either you will return home with an increased assurance of the glorious realization that all of your sins have been forgiven you. And again, that's part of application, isn't it? That every day, the joy of the Lord, you are lifted higher to greater heights in the joy of that forgiveness. Or you will return home with the awful knowledge, whether you believe it or not, the awful knowledge that the wrath of God rests upon you. The keys do only one of two things, open or shut. There's no third way. Either you are inside or you are on the outside. Those who repent and believe and embrace the Gospel promise enjoy forgiveness of all of their sins, not because they are such great people, but because Jesus Christ is such a great Savior. He has removed from those who believe and taken upon Himself the anger of God and eternal condemnation and replaced that with security for eternity. This too is what we promise to teach our children, isn't it? Uncompromisingly. This is our comfort. Beloved, on which side of the door are you? Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You and praise You again for loving Your people enough to not only give us Your inscripturated Word, but Your preached Word. Along with its encouragement, along with its admonition, along with its warnings, along with whatever we as Your people need. And Father, may we love and grow to love more and more the preaching of Your Holy Word. That we might not come together to hear a man speak, but we would come together to hear the Word of God speak through His mouthpiece, through the weakness of the flesh. Father, we thank You for Your Word, even Jesus Christ. And please, O Lord, strengthen our faith and increase our assurance of the forgiveness of all of our sins for Jesus' sake. In His name we pray. Amen.