"You Have Taken Away the Key of Knmilledge"

(Luke 11:52)

Introduction: To whom much is , much is required. This ts tYTle in any

area, but especially in the things of God. And if in the things of God,
especially in that most precious and important area of teaching biblical
truth. James wrote ,. "LET NOT HANY OF YOU BECOME TEACHERS, NY BRETHREN,
KNOWING THAT SUCH l~S WE SHALL INCUR A STRICTER JUDGMENT" (3: 1 ) • The teacher
knows more than the pupil, and therefore is more culpable because of his
greater light. But he also sits in the seat of the instructor and seeks to
guide others into the will of God. For that reason, any error on his part
,,)il1 have consequences not (rnly for himself, but also for those who sit
under his teaching. It is important, therefore" that those \vho would teach
be well instructed in the truth, as \\Iell as be able to clearly teach that
truth. The general weakness of the church today is that many do not have
the truth, or having it, have abandoned it. They have adopted teachings
which are more palatable to the hearer, in order to get more people to come
into theiJr fold. Success is measured by numbers, and not by the genuineness
of the conversions, or the quality of the disciples. They have hidden the
true cost of discipleship. They do not tell them that they must g:ive up all
their own possessions (Luke 14:25-33). They do not tell them that if they
are to follow Christ, they must deny themselves, and die to themselves, and
follow after tUm wherever He may lead them (Luke 9: 23) • Therefore, those
coming in do not count the cost to see if they are willing to pay the price.
And thinking that they are safe in the arms of Christ, they give up
Him, and rest easy in their carnal security. But these teachers w:ill :i.ncur
::-J. stricter judgment. for they have taken away the truth and substituted a
lie '\1hich cannot save. It can only them and their disciples a sense of
security and peace, where there is no security and peace.
Such was also true to some extent at the time of Christ. The Pharisee.s
,i}ere the leaders of the church, and the lawyers were the in the Law.
They should have been leading the people into all the truth, and they
were hiding the truth from them. Christ rebukes them because of the
wickedness of their hearts and their works The Pharisees were being
scrupulous in their keeping of the minor points of religjon, and yet were
overlooking the most important things. They ,,'ere looking for the applause
of the people, and not for the praise which comes from God, The lawyers too
were weighing the people down with burdens too hard to bear, but they
themselves were not willing to help them or to put themselves under that
burden. They had taken a\i}ay the heart of true religion and substituted a
man-centered works reLigion which could not save. They had closed the
kingdom of heaven up to themselves and were to do that to others.
The important lesson which this text teaches you this mornj,ng is,

YOH should be careful that you have the true Go;c;pel and that you
represent it truthfully to others as well.
First, I {"ant to exhort YaH to seek the key of knowledge ("hich .1s
able to open the door of salvation; and secoudly. I want to exhort you
not to let anyone take this key away from you, nor for you to take it
away from anyone else.

I. First> Jesus Tells Us that There Is a Key of Knmvledge Which YaH Need to
Have Tha t Opens the Door to the Kingdom of God.
A. First, You Should Know What 11Ji8 Key Is,
1. That there :is a key which ['Ie should be concerned about is
plainly told us by Jesus.
a. He says to the Lawyers. "YOU HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE KEY OF
KNOWLEDGE. "
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b. Because He pronounces a curse upon them for doing this, "[t/OE

TO YOU LAWYf.RS!" it must be something which Christ
considered to be V_I tally
c. And because it '·Jas so important to Chri.st, it must also be
important to you.

2. But {.;hat is "THE KEY OF KNO!JLEDGE"?

a. A key is whicfl is able to lock or unlock
something.
(i) It can be abteral key Wl1ich .is used to un.lock a
litera.l door. You have cl to your house or to your
car whicb aJlows you access to those things, but
others out " You aLso have a code for the alarm
.in the church wh:ich vcs you the abi 1i ty to go
.into the bnilding without setting off the alarm, while
it denies cJCcess to others,
(ii) But the word "key" is also used as a figure of
to refer to that {,?hlch opensfoy us something besides
literal Jocks. For instance, when you teach someone
how to learn something, you are said to have given him
the of understanding, I>I11en you are working on iii
d.iff:icuJ t problem that you C8.11' t solve, and someone
you some direction or a b:int as to how to so.lve
it, he :is said to give you "the to the solution."
(iii) I t is in 1:his figurative sense that the ~vord is used
here. It is not a 1ite:1:'81 wh.ich opens a Literal
door, but a spiritual key which opens a spiritual dOOL

b. It is a certain knowledge which is the key to something very

very important. And:it .is called "the ll key because tvithout
it, no one may unlock that which .it .is made for.

B. 8('cond1:)7, You Should Knm.; What This Key Does,

1. It opens a very door.
a. We see that it is a special door wb.:ich the La~\!yers should
ha,le entered and did not.
b. We also see that the Lawyers were cursed by Cbr.ist bN.:ause
they also hindered those ~v11O were en it.

2. I beLieve that the .is the Gospel of the of God, and

tIle door 1'I11ich it opens is the door of salvation.
a. Why e.lse would Jesus have been so c011cerned?
b. The whole thrust of Jesus' message was that men should repent
and beLieve the for the Kingdom of heaven was at !lan(!.
c~ He s[J(lke of 0111y two paths: the pa.th of yjghteousness
which leads to and the broad rDad of destruction ~vhich
leads to heLl.
d. That which the re1ig_ious leaders had done 8.t tbat t.ime was
to keep the truth about Christ and His away froJ'l1 the
people.
e. In a parallel verse in j'4atthew, Jesus says it outright. He
says, "BUT WOE TO YOU, SCRIBES llND PHARISEES, HYPOCRITES,
BECAUSE YOU SHUT OFF THE KINGDOM OF HR4VEN FRON MEN; FOR YOU
DO NOT ENTER IN YOURSEL VES , NOR DO YOU ALLOW THOSE WHO ARE
ENTERING TO GO IN" (23:13).
f. To get into this you need a The only key
which the Lord has to open this door is the Gospel,
It is the simple message of repentance fro111 your sins and
faith :in tbe Lord Jesus Christ.
 g. But though i t is simple, .H is 8.150 eg. God did not
us a book l.vJ:cich contains on.ly tbe words, "BELIEVE IN
THE LORD JESlTS AND YOU SHALL BE SA VED" 16:31).
The Rib1e is a book and tells us many
h. You need to knOtv who this Christ is, He is the eternal SOH
of God, the second person of the Triune God who took upon
Hi111se.lf our na ture, been born of the virgin,
~. You need to know what tIlis Christ has done. He has kept the
requirements of the Law perfectlJ' to mer_it a
for HLs , and He bas died on the
cross to atone for the:ir sins.
j. YOll need to knOf.v I¥hy :i t is tha t you nel.:.'d Savior. ALL
HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD"
3:23). "FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH" (Rom. 6:
k. You need to know what. you nmsi do to become a of
Christ's work. "THAT IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS
AS LORD, AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD RAISED HIM FROM
THE DEAD, YOll SHALL BE SA VED" (Rom. 10:
1. You need to knOl,;t (",hat Ci1dst caLls all of His people to do,
what i t is that He has saved them for. "THEREFORE YOU ARE
TO BE PERFECT, AS YOUR HEAllENLY FATHER IS PERFECT" (MatL
5: 48) • "FOR WE ARE HIS r';ORK~4NSHJP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS
FOR GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND, THAT WE
SHOULD WAU( IN THKI'1" (Eph. 2: 10) •
m. Apart from the knowl of the Gospel, you cannot be saved,
you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. Paul "FOR
1 AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL, FOR IT IS THE POWER OF GOD
FOR SALVATION TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES, TO THE JEW FIRST AND
.4LSO TO THE GREEK" (Rom. I :16), and, "HOW THEN SHALL THEY
CALL UPON HIM IN WHOM THEY HAVE NOT BELIEVED? AND HOfl cr.,'HAlL
THEY BELIEVE IN HIM WHOM THEY HAVE NOT HEARD? AND HOW SHALL
THEY HEAR JVITHOUT .4 PREACHER?" (10:
n. The is the , and the door is the door of eterna1
life. .And so you should strive to know tilis You
should strive to know all that God requires of you in His
Word. And you should strive by all your to enter into
that door of salvation.

C. But Thirdly, You S1100ll1 Kl10w HOl.1 It Is That This Key Works.
1. It does not work automatically as i f knowing the is
enough. It isn't.
a. Not eVe1"'yolle who hears tlJe w.ilJ be saved*
b. It does not t,rork .like the Roman Catholics believe
their sacraments, merely .by adminis them,
c, Something more is

2. You must actually trust in the One I.thom .it revea.ls.

a. When the is believed, and Christ is restpd in fHl
for salvat.l0n, then it opens the door.
b. And i t is important to see that this .belicv-ing .is not a work
which e,1r.ns salvation.
c. This believing, this faitrl, is em act of looking entireJy
away from yourseJf to Christ and a trusUng in Him to save
you. It is a looking away from £'111 of your works, t:o {'est
in His works alone.
d. And this [a.ith, as we saw last l/ieek, is the gin of God. Tt:
is His supernatural work, given by His Spirit to His elect. to
His chosen ones, It is only given by God, and i f you do not
possess it, He is the only one ~ you may go to receive it.
-tb
 e. And so first this morning, r want YOH to see i.hat the key oi'
knowledge is the , which unlocks tlle door of Paradise
to those r';}10 {<Til.l their trust :111 Chr:isi: and turn fyom
all of their sins.
Secondly, this key is already in many of your hands here
tl1.is morn:ing, and .if YOI1 came f.ii( t.hI'9PFt; here wi tlwut j t, now
you have it.
g. The/e are those here who have entered the kingdom wi th this
, and there are those (4/10 have 110t.
h. I f you have not, I would encourage you to str.ive ft.7ith aLl
your might: to do so while there is sUll time!
i. Be.1ieve on the Lord Jeslls Christ, and you Sh81J be saved!
j, Seek for His grace, see/\ for Ris mercy to change your heart
and make you w.i 1 to come. "STRIVE TO ENTRN BY THE
NARRDtif DOOR, 1/ Jesus .says to you, "POR NANY, I TELL YOU, WILL
SEEK TO ENTER AND WILL NOT BE ABLE" 13: 24).

II. Second.ly, 11wre Is A.lso a Lmplied In This Jesus Tells

Us that It Is Possible for to Be Taken
A. In Jesus' Day the Lawyeys Taken It Away from the People of
ISYf!.e.l.
10 Remember, the Lawyers were those who knew the .law. They ("ere
the in the Nosaic code.
2. They had an that they needed to recognize Christ ,'!hen He ca:me,
for the whole Old Testament pointed to Him. Jeslls said to His
, "THESE ARE NY WORDS WHICH I SPOKE TO YOU WHILE [ ["AS
STnL ~lJTH YOU, THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN ABOUT ME IN
THE LAW OP NOSES AND THE PROPHETS AND THE PSALNS NU:;T BE
(Luke 24:44) ~
3. The lawyers knew .from the Scriptures that the time was fulfilled.
TIleY saw the fu1fi.l1ment of the propher:ies. ha.d no excuse,
Jesus "YOU SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT' IN
THEN YOU HAVE ETERNAL AND IT IS THESE THAT BEAR WITNESS OP
HE; AND YOU ARE UNWILLING TO COME TO HE, THAT YOU M.4Y HAVE Llf?E'"
(John 5: 39-40),
4.. It was not for lack of knowl that they would per.ish. It was
because they were ul1wil They didn I t see the beauty of
holiness, or desLre .it.
5. But not onl)' were they unwil to benefit from this themselves,
tlley were also unwilling that the people should benefit from it.
6. They were the teac111':rs of the people, but they had hid this key
from them lest they should the and they
should lose their place of prominence.
7. They had Sl1tlt up tin,'

B. As a Resul t, They Had Not Entered .1 nto the Kingdom Tbemselves, and
They A.lso Hindered Those Who Were Trying to Enter It.
1, Their hardness of heart and their pride would not allow them to
acknowl Jesus as the Lord. ,4nd so they t the.iT pride ane!
stayed outsidf.~ of the Kingdom.
2. But they were not content w.Hh this. They also tried to stop
those who were persuaded the ~l1ings that saw and heard.
a. There were those t'l.lw d.id not lean 011 the wisdorn of tl1eir
elders. They were convinced that they did nat have the
truth. And so they sought to enter through the tvay which
Jesus prescribed.
b. But the .leaders of the Jews ~"ere jealolls, a.nd they
threatened to excommun:lcate from the church al.l who
Jesus to be the Christ (John 9:
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c. It was evil of them not to enter, and it was even more evil
to hinder others from entering. Jesus IS
INEVJTABLE THAT STUMBLING BLOCKS SHOUIJD COME, BUT "''OE TO HIN
THROUGH WHON THEY COME! IT flOULJJ BE BETTER FOR HIN IF A
NIDDSTONE WERE HUNG AROUND HIS NECK AND HE WERE THROWN INTO
THE SEA, TRAN T1M;], liE SHOULD CAliSE ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES
TO 17:1-21,
d. Upon these, Jesus pronounced a curse, TO YOU LAllfYERS."
f/lho would seek to lead any of the f_lock of God astray
is a cursed child of the dev~i1. And he Ls s up
wrath for himself in the day of God IS \.lra.

III, In Closing, J Would .Ask You These Questions Based Upon What We Have
Seen.
A, F~irst, Do You Possess the Key of Know1edge?
1; llre you c.lear on ~"hat the Gospel is? Do you understand that .it
is onJy through faith in Christ and repentance from all of your
s.in.5 thai you may ente.r the kingdom?
2., .Do you Un(lel~sta.l1d that" tbere is sal v-a t,iOl1 ill none else but
Christ?
Do you realize that a.lthougfl saJvaiion is free, "it w_ill cost you
everything? Do you that Christ has set you free from
all sin in order to live according to Ris r"ighteollS
requirements?
4, Or has someone hidden tlle key of knowledge from you? Do you
have the remnants of another Gospel from another source of
teaching around .in your head causing you not to fully
embrace the biblical ?
a. Do you think that you can receive Jesus as Savior without:
rece~i,/'_ing Him as Lord?
h. Do YOll think that the Gospel does not require a rad.1ca1
change of life?
c. Are you not fully convinced that what Jesus said He require,~
is r<7ha t: He real , tba t i t really won't cos t you
everything, and that you can li-ve the tvay that }'on want and
still go to hef-lVen?
d. Hake sure that you have the true knowledge, the that
win open the and not a counterfeit. A lie wi.11 not
save you no matter how sincerely you believe it.

B. Secondly, Have You Entered by This Key into the Kingdom?

1. Have you accepted Chris t on His terms?
2. Are you 1 i ving according to all of His cornmandmen i:s, and
away from all of your sins?
3< Have you not only counted the cost, but are yotl in the process
of paying !"ha t you owe by way of obedi ence?
4" Brethren, there are mal1Y in the church who profess Christ;
but who are strangers to Hi..:; grace. They have deceived
themselves into thinking that Christ is the.irs, but they have
not died to themselves to follow Him.
5" Make sure that you are 011 that narrow roa.d. Hake sure t.hat your
foundation of assurance 1..:; a sound one.

C. Lastly, Are You Properly Represen Christ and the Way of

Sa.lvation to Otbers? Are You Guilty of Hiding the Key?
1" If there is anything worse than ourselves into
thinking that we can have the wor.ld and heaven too, :it is
deceiving others into believing the same thing. .Make sure tl1at
you are 110t deceiving anyone.
2, .Make sure that the message that you atbers, and the LiFe that
you .live are in accord with the Scriptures,
a. Represent Chris ,~nd H:is demands
b. And 1.ive what: you There is nothing which tUTns
away from Christ a person who says one , but
does another.

J. The fai th that you have l;vas handed down by your brethren bef"ore
you both .in word and in the po{tler of a life.
4, Nake sure that you properly rep.resent Christ tv others, and tha
you do not hide the of knowledge, by not entering the
on Christ's terms and persuading others not to enter by
that l1arrot'l gate as l¥fe1.l.
5, In light of this the of James comes forth "7i th even more
force, "LET NOT NANY OF YOU BECOME TEACHERS, NY BRETHREN, KNOWING
THAT AS SUCH rJE SHALL INCUR A STRICTER JUDGMENT" (James 3: 1).
6. God grant to us that we might receive H.is grace to hear His
Word, may He grant that our entrance :into H:is kingdom might: be
abundantly supplied, and may He grant ZlS His SpLrit in great
measure to strengthen us in hoLiness and of life, knell.
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