For our scripture reading this morning, turn with me to Isaiah 22, Isaiah 22 and also to Matthew 16, as we read a portion of both of those chapters, Isaiah 22 and Matthew 16. This morning we consider, as I've already mentioned, the keys of the kingdom of heaven as we, as it is summarized for us, the teaching of scripture is summarized in the Heidelberg Catechism, question and answer 83 of Lord's Day 31. I had mentioned in the earlier service that ministers of the Word of God are called upon to preach the whole counsel of God. Now practically speaking, there's no way we can do that in one lifetime, but we're called upon to preach the whole counsel of God. Sometimes the temptation, for example, when preaching through a book or something, you get to a difficult passage, one that doesn't seem to make sense or one that's going to cause a lot of controversy, you're tempted to skip over it. And sometimes people, even some of you I know, question the place of the catechism in the church, but the catechism, I believe, helps to keep us as ministers honest as well in preaching the whole counsel of God. The keys of the kingdom, which are preaching and discipline, especially the discipline part might not always be so easy to preach on, but it's got to be done, because Scripture teaches it. This morning we're only going to consider question and answer 83, and in a couple of weeks, the Lord willing, the other two questions and answers. But first of all, let's read together from Isaiah 22, beginning at verse 15 through 25, as we give our attention to the Word of God. This is what the Lord Almighty says. Go say to this steward, to Shebna, who is in charge of the palace, what are you doing here? And who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here? Hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock? Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away, O you mighty man. He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die, and there your splendid chariots will remain, you disgrace to your master's house. I will depose you from your office, and you will be ousted from your position. In that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut, and what he shuts, no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place. He will be a seat of honor for the house of his father. All the glory of his family will hang on him, its offspring and offshoots, all its lesser vessels from the bowls to all the jars. In that day, declares the Lord Almighty, the peg driven into the firm place will give way. It will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down. The Lord has spoken. In Matthew 16, verses 13 to 20, 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. And looking to Lord's Day 31, page 42 in the back of the Blue Psalter hymnal, question and answer 83. Questions and answers 84, as you can see, and 5 deal with, specifically 84, the preaching of the gospel as a key, and then question 85, as with Christian discipline as a key. This morning we consider in more, in a general sense, what we find in 83 as we confess this together. The question asks, what are the keys of the kingdom? The 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. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, how important do you believe the true church of Jesus Christ is? What place should the church have in your life? And what allegiance ought you to give to the church and her God-appointed rulers? You see, these questions are not for nothing. These questions have become ever so important because of the steady decline in the view of the role of the church and in the role of the offices in the church. It seems that the church has devolved in many places and to many people into nothing more than a social club or even a voluntary membership organization. If I like what I hear, if I can get it my way, then it's okay. But if not, if I disagree, then I don't have to listen. In other words, what the true church seeks to give is optional. I can take it or I can leave it. Beloved, what a wrong and what a dangerous view of the church. As you can tell in our consideration of the catechism, we're coming to the end of the second section of the catechism which teaches us about redemption and salvation by and through Jesus Christ. And the truth of Scripture is that Christ is both the rock of offense and the rock of salvation. to the judgment of the unbeliever, but to the salvation of the believer. And answer 82, which we considered last week, which also talks about who should be or not be admitted to the Lord's table, that answer began to introduce us to the role of Christ's church. The role of Christ's church, the church that He has begun, the church that He continues to build in His kingdom. That answer includes these words, Therefore, according to the instruction of Christ and His apostles, the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such people, those who remain in their sin, to exclude such people by the official use of the keys of the kingdom until they reform their lives. And as Matthew 16, verse 19 teaches us, our Lord has placed in the hand of His church the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And therefore, God has given His church the responsibility to define those who will enjoy an eternity of glory or who will suffer an eternity of doom. Now notice, I did not say the church determines who are in the kingdom of God. God alone does that. But the church defines those who belong to God's kingdom. We must consider the important place of the church of Jesus Christ and our allegiance to it, not because of us, not because of the human element of the church, but because of the divine element. She is the bride, the body of Christ. And therefore, this morning, we consider this word of truth. The church holds Christ's kingdom keys. We want to notice, first of all, what the kingdom is. Second, what the keys do. And then finally, what the keys are. First of all, what is this kingdom that needs to have keys? And when we talk about the kingdom of heaven, we are talking about that which is governed by the rule of God. The kingdom is where Christ rules in the hearts and over the lives of His people. Boys and girls, you know that a kingdom has a king, and God is the king of the kingdom of heaven. A kingdom also has citizens or subjects of that kingdom, and believers are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Now heaven itself is included in this kingdom, and so is earth. But the kingdom, you see, is broader than either one of these. On earth, the kingdom is found wherever Christ's kingship is acknowledged. The kingdom on earth is that realm over which Christ holds His scepter and those who belong are those who acknowledge Him as their Savior and their King. He said, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And He also said in Luke 17, verse 21, For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. Beloved, this kingdom is found on earth, but not just in one place. It is found wherever believers are found. And the king rules there by his word and spirit. The kingdom of heaven is where believers enjoy true fellowship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of heaven points us to the family of God. And also then within this kingdom is the church. The church is not equal to the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven extends beyond the boundaries of the church. And that includes beyond the boundaries of these physical walls. It includes beyond the boundaries of our federation. It includes beyond the boundaries of our country. It even includes beyond the boundaries of this century, of this age we live in. Yet the church is a visible manifestation of the kingdom of God. The church is the kingdom of God in action. And the church has been given a most awesome and important responsibility of holding and using the keys of Christ's kingdom. Jesus Christ has entrusted His church with His own authority to represent Him and His kingdom in the world. And we need to understand that the proper exercise of these keys by the church of Jesus Christ, the proper exercise, is valid before God. And that is a fearful thing because of what the keys do in the second place. Now the illustration of keys is an easy one to understand. Even the boys and girls here this morning, and even at an early age, they understand what keys are for. We all know this. We've seen it with our own children that almost as soon as a child is able to walk, if he or she gets a key in their hand, they walk over to the door and try to put that key into the lock. And we know that where there are keys, there are doors and locks. Keys are used to lock and unlock, to keep out or to let in, to secure or protect access to something. And the same is true with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom is limited. It is not a territory into which anyone may arbitrarily enter any old time they wish, any old way they wish. Yes, the kingdom of heaven is for all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, yet it is limited to only those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith. And therefore, beloved, a passport, if you will, is needed in order to identify that one is a citizen of this kingdom. And that passport is the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. The baptism form reminds us that we all begin by standing outside of this kingdom. It says we are by nature children of wrath and cannot enter the kingdom of God except we are born again. Yet our comfort is that it is the king's glory to bring some into his kingdom. And he places on the lips of his subjects the petition, Thy kingdom come, that is, preserve and increase thy church. And the keys and the locks are so that the gates of hell shall not overpower it. And this means that we need to understand that the exercise of the keys of the kingdom is referring to the activity of God's kingdom as manifested on earth. The true church in visible form. Because the kingdom as it is in heaven is already secure forever. The book of Revelation pictures for us a new Jerusalem with no gates. that need to be locked up tight. But Satan is still the prince of this dark world, prowling around, seeking whom he may devour. And Christ protects His kingdom on earth by lock and key. Those who enter the kingdom in heaven enter by the grace of God already in this life through the church. And therefore, Jesus Christ has given His church as the visible manifestation of this kingdom. He gives her His keys to open and shut the door of the kingdom. You see, in this life, not all belong to the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is to be protected from violent attacks of evil, but also from unholy people and powers that try to sneak into the church under the appearance of piety in order to attack the truth with false doctrines and practices, as well by unholy living. And it's for that reason that Christ has appointed watchmen to guard the walls and the gates and the doors holding the keys of the kingdom to exclude all that is unholy and all that is untrue while at the same time admitting all who humbly fear the Lord. Congregation, we must understand that the keys of the kingdom belong to Christ, first of all. He owns them. They are His. And He leads His church in using the keys by the Holy Spirit. And because the keys belong to Him, they are powerful. Now Scripture testifies to this truth that the keys belong to Him. In Revelation 1, verse 18, Jesus says, I have the keys of Hades and of death. And in Revelation 3, verse 7, Jesus describes Himself as He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. Now Isaiah 22, the portion we read, It helps us to understand this key of David a little better. We didn't consider the whole context of that passage. That's not our purpose this morning. But Shebna, you see, was the steward of the royal household, of the house of the king. And as the steward, he determined who would get in to see the king and who would not get in. But he had become an unfaithful steward, and therefore the key of David would be taken from him and given to Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who would then determine who will have access to the King and who will not. Jesus Christ holds the true key of David. In that He alone determines who shall have access to God the Father, to His presence and to His kingdom. But Jesus has determined to give the power of the keys to His church as His faithful steward. And our Lord exercises the keys through His church and especially through those He has placed as official rulers in His church. And it's for that reason that the church acts with the power and the authority of Christ Himself. The church in faithfully and truthfully and rightfully exercising the use of the keys of the kingdom does so as answers 84 and 85 both begin according to the command of Christ. And therefore, the church speaks with the authority of Christ. Unfortunately, this is largely forgotten today. Many in the church today deny the authority of the office bearers. They deny the seriousness of the task of the office bearers, especially when they don't agree with it. Beloved, we must remember that we must not forget that Jesus Himself has raised up office bearers and He has given them the authority to exercise the power of the keys of the kingdom. Hebrews 13, verse 17 says, Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for, not for them, for you. But what then is that power and that authority that the church exercises is when she exercises the keys properly. The answer says in the second half, both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers. Did you hear that? The official ministry of the church is to open to believers and shut against unbelievers the kingdom of heaven. One enters the kingdom through the church. And what does that mean? In Matthew 16, verse 19, as we read it, Jesus says, Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And then Jesus repeats those same words in Matthew 18, verse 18. He says, I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And then our Lord says in John 20, verse 23, If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. You see, beloved, the power and authority of the keys of the kingdom deals with forgiving or retaining, that is not forgiving, sins. So therefore, does that mean the church has the power in herself to forgive sins? Absolutely not. Not at all. The church doesn't decide for God who is and who is not forgiven, but the church proclaims the decision of God. The decision of God. Which is this. That whosoever repents and believes, they are assured that their sins are forgiven, and to them the door of the kingdom is opened. But whosoever does not repent and believe and instead rejects Jesus Christ, their sins are not forgiven, and the door is not opened to them. The church declares God's decision. The church declares who has or who has not that passport. Entrance into the kingdom of God, into the kingdom of heaven, depends upon the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus. Christ has given His church the power to declare death unto death for unbelievers, but also life unto life for believers. And this is why to undermine the authority of the office bearers, For example, to call them, as I've heard said in other places, to call them judgmental and narrow-minded is then to undermine the authority of Christ and the very Word of God and to call them judgmental and narrow-minded. But the office bearers must also remember that they are given this power and this authority not to use selfishly and to their own end, but for the promotion of God's kingdom and only the promotion of God's kingdom. In the same way, the church is not to neglect using the keys because that would be flagrant disobedience to the command of Christ. In the use of the keys, the church issues a declaration but also goes into action, including or excluding. And finally, we've talked about what the keys do and again, we hope to do so in more detail with questions and answers 84 and 85 at a later time. But what are the keys of the kingdom? What are the keys of the kingdom that the church holds? The catechism rightly says the preaching of the Holy Gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Or as the older version says with regard to discipline, church discipline or excommunication out of the Christian church. Now first of all, what is the preaching of the Holy Gospel? What is not my or any other ministers sharing something that is on my heart telling you what the text means to me. That's not what it is. It is the official proclamation of the text. It is the official Word of the King of the Kingdom. It's not the same as your or my personal or home devotions. Instead, preaching is the authoritative proclamation of the Word by one called of God who speaks in God's name, thus saith the Lord. The Lord, through His servant, through His faithful servant, breaks open to the text in all of its beauty so that God's people may be nourished by the bread of life through the power of the Spirit. And the Lord, through His servant, makes application of that text because preaching without application is not true preaching. For whether it hurts or not, or whether you agree with it or not, The Word of God must be applied to you and me in our setting today. And as a congregation, you must understand that as a person, the Lord exposes my sins. He disciplines me through His Word, through the text in my study throughout the week, every day. And therefore then, as a minister of the Word of God, I am called of God to speak in His name what you also need to hear from Him. Now that's a fearful thing for a minister. Why? You might say, well, because a congregation can be hard. Some people can be brutal. But no, that's not the reason. Because God has chosen through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. To declare in Jesus' name, your sins are forgiven when you believe, but also your sins are retained when you do not believe. You see, as a minister of the Word of God, that is my right, and that is my responsibility to say to God's people. But there is also the key of Christian discipline or excommunication out of the Christian church. Now, we often think, especially boys and girls, we think of discipline as being negative. Discipline hurts, and that indeed is included here with regard to excommunication. Discipline for one who is not in obedience following the way of God. But don't forget, discipline also can be a good thing, is always to be a good thing. But we are called upon to live disciplined lives and that includes disciplined spiritual lives. But it also has what we would consider to be the negative aspect. Discipline, church discipline is used when the first key of preaching the gospel appears to have no effect and people will not bow before the Word. Church discipline is not corporal punishment. It is not imprisonment. Church officers do not put handcuffs on God's people and throw them into the slammer, boys and girls. God has given the power of the sword to the government to restrain evil. But discipline, even leading to excommunication out of the Christian church, is a spiritual power of the Word of God. When there has been admonition after admonition and still there is continual impenitence, then exclusion from the church is also a declaration that you have no part in Christ. All one's daily life might stay the same, but that one has no part in Christ. When impenitence and unbelief persists, then these are not just words of threat, but words of truth. Christ has given the church the authority and power or to say what God Himself says, and this is it. You have no part in Christ. You see, it's wrong for someone to say, well, they can put me out of the church, but they can never banish me from the kingdom of God. It's wrong to say that because it is God who banishes. And whether we like it or not, Jesus Christ has given the church the keys to declare in certainty and in truth what God does. Yet the goal, even as the catechism says, the goal must always be restoration and repentance. Our goal with any stage of discipline must always be restoration of the erring brother or sister and repentance on their part. We must never, ever desire that one be cast away forever. Yet, beloved, it's a sad truth that the church often fails in faithfully exercising discipline. As well, people in the pew who deny the authority of the office bearers also deny the authority of the keys. Many don't see the preaching as authoritative. Maybe because of their opinion of the minister, maybe that opinion gets in the way. Just like the people who grumbled against Moses. Well, who in the world do you think you are? To them, you see, preaching is simply the opinion of the preacher. And what he says is relative. If I can relate to it, fine. But if not, it's just a matter of interpretation. The truth is, beloved, we don't like to be confronted. We don't like to be corrected. As well, many professing members simply will not submit to the discipline of the church when necessary. Yet that too, that is breaking a vow made to God in profession of faith. Go back and look at the form for profession of faith. and the vow that one makes to God. Faithful church discipline, you see, is not man's discipline. It's God's discipline. And to fight against God, it is to fight against God. In many cases, the church is guilty, and I'm speaking in a broad sense here. The church is guilty of having shied away from discipline to the point of excommunication because we are afraid of being accused of being judgmental or we are afraid of lawsuits. We are afraid of violating the rights of people. But I believe the carelessness of the church in exercising proper discipline has led to the apathetical, I don't care attitude of many toward the church and toward church membership. Membership is not important, they say. That's not what I need to do. But you see, this does not fit with true profession, which says, I want to be a member of Christ and His church. That kind of attitude instead is disobedience. Beloved, to fail to exercise discipline is to fail to build up God's people in the faith. As well, it is to fail to encourage some toward repentance and restoration. And why has our Lord given such a high calling to His church? Because His church, the church is His body and bride. And as Belgic Confession, Article 28 rightly says, Outside of the true church, there is no salvation. That is, apart from the body of Christ, there is no salvation. And beloved, this includes the true, visible church, which is a manifestation of the invisible church. Jesus Christ has placed the key of His kingdom in the hand of His church, and those keys are inseparably tied to His blood. The keys open His kingdom only to those who are washed in His blood. And we need to understand that the church holds these keys for you and me. For our benefit. For our good. We need to be disciplined daily by the Word of God and the preaching of His Word. The Apostle Paul himself knew that. He needed that because even as a believer, he confessed his struggle that the good that I will to do, I do not do, but the evil I will not to do that I practice. He needed the daily discipline of the Word of God. But church discipline to the point of excommunication is to be an urgent warning against those who, as question 82 says, who show by what they say and do that they are unbelieving and ungodly. You see, apart from repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the door to the kingdom of heaven cannot and will not be opened to you. But that must also be comforting for believers. That must be comforting for you and me because truly the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Lord, against His Christ, and against His kingdom. The power of Christ's keys is this. To open the gates of the kingdom of heaven for those who are still outside but belong inside. To remove those who appear to be inside but belong outside. To keep those inside who are to be inside. And to keep outside those for whom there is no place inside. And this is done not by my power, not by your power, not by the elders' power, but by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. And our comfort, beloved, must be that God guards His kingdom. God opens the door and brings His own in and He will not let them fall away. He loves us enough to guard us with His church who holds His kingdom keys. And evil and unbelief can never penetrate the door. Beloved, may we rejoice because our Lord has given His keys to His church so that in His grace, by the power of His Spirit, we can enter forever His kingdom. Amen. Shall we bow in prayer together? father indeed we thank you for your kingdom your kingdom which is only for your believers father we thank you that you have given to us faith to believe for we know that we cannot enter on our own terms we cannot enter in our own strength we can only enter by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and Father even though the visible church on earth is imperfect and sometimes her office bearers make mistakes yet Father as a people of God may we support those whom you have placed over us may we as a church seek to hold and use the keys of your kingdom faithfully to your name's glory and honor that the preaching of your word may continue to go forth and indeed open it to believers and shut against unbelievers the kingdom door. And as well, this church might faithfully exercise Christian discipline again to close the door to unbelievers but also to open that door again when they show amendment of life. Father, this is a difficult truth in many respects because there's always a human element involved. that we pray for the grace of your Spirit, for the leading of your Holy Spirit to give to us as a people of God that which we stand in need of from day to day. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name. Amen.