I've titled tonight's subject,
Ears to Hear, and I want to explain why. If you take the fifth verse,
which is at the top of your handout, of our study text in Matthew
chapter 11, into consideration, you can see His great graciousness
in His word to His elect. And I want to explain what I
mean by that. I was studying, and as you know, we left off
last week. There were some verses there that I did not feel comfortable
with. We didn't pass over them. We
don't pass over God's Word, but we leave what we don't understand
for God to teach us from His Word. And there were some verses
there that were very difficult to understand. And from the days
of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets
and the law have prophesied until John." And it didn't make sense,
really, how those verses went with what we were looking at
other verses. And we finished off with that
15th verse, where it says, he that hath ears to hear, let him
hear. And as I was going through this
week reading these next verses after that, I got to thinking
to myself, you know, we couldn't hear anything of God's Word if
it wasn't for Him giving us the gift, the ears of the heart,
a living soul, a living spirit, life to our spirit. If He hadn't
given us life to our spirit, we would be those who don't hear.
So when He speaks, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. I'm just under the assumption,
He's talking to me. Well, He's been talking to me
in that manner ever since the beginning of chapter 10. What
was the beginning of chapter 10? What did He do over in the
10th chapter of Matthew? He called unto Him His 12 disciples
and He gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them
out and to heal all manner of sicknesses and all manner of
disease. He declared Himself to be Christ and He was sending
out His preachers. His ministers, well what did
they do? They preach. Well, who do they preach to?
They preach to the ones that God gives ears to. So you see
how that verse goes all the way back to what we saw in chapter
10 and then in the beginning of chapter 11. And He called
His 12 unto Himself and He gave them power. Oh, that's back in
10 again. I'm sorry. And it came to pass when Jesus
had made the end of commanding His 12, He departed then to teach
and to preach in their cities. Well, who was He teaching to?
Who was he preaching to? I know the world was hearing
the audible voice of God, but they didn't hear with the heart.
They didn't have ears to hear. So again, we see where this verse
is the key to everything that we've actually looked at already.
And then it turns out that this verse continues to be the key.
We're going to start with that verse tonight, as a matter of
fact, because as I looked at that verse and took it into consideration,
these next verses seem to open right up to me. So I hope the
Lord shows you what I'm talking about here. That verse, 11 verse
15, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. As I read my go-to
commentators, and I've shared with you who I go to, I go to
Don Fortner, Robert Hawker, John Gill, occasionally I go to Matthew
Henry, and I go to Henry Mahan when he has commentary
on it, but he doesn't have as much commentary as we hoped for.
There's a lot of his messages. He preached a lot, but he didn't
write as much as some of the other ministers. So as I go to
my commentators over these words in chapter 11, I found myself
once again not clearly seeing eye to eye with their comments.
What I did see is this verse, verse 15. Who are these who have
ears, spiritual ears, but those whom God is merciful to in giving
them spiritual life, spiritual ears to hear? To anyone else,
these words are but foolishness. The Scriptures declare it to
be enmity. Now that word enmity is about
as strong a word as you can come up with to express the opposition
to God's Word to natural man's understanding. So in that sense,
this verse, verse 15, is a key verse to what we have read and
to what we are about to read tonight. Now, I put the Scriptures,
Matthew 11, 16 through 30, 16 and 17, we read these words,
but where into shall I liken this generation? It is like unto
children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows
and saying, we have piped unto you and ye have not danced. We have mourned unto you, and
ye have not lamented." Now, again, taking these words from 15, he
that hath ears to let hear, let him hear, I saw this. I saw this
generation as likened to any other generation. The Word of
God goes out, yet the natural man will not hearken to it. That's what I was seeing there
in those words where it said, we have piped unto you, and ye
have not danced. They've told them the good news.
They've preached to them. That's what the disciples went
out and did. They went out and preached the good news, yet the
people didn't listen. They went out to hear John the
Baptist preach, and yet many walked away without ears to hear
and didn't hear a thing. They piped unto you, and ye have
not danced. We have mourned unto you. We've
told you the mourning, the wrath of God, and yet, unto
you, and ye have not lamented. We've spoken the love of God,
ye have not danced. We have warned you the wrath
of God, yet ye have not lamented. And then in verse 18 we read,
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he
hath the devil. John came preaching the bold
message. Remember what we read in last
week's about John, the Lord sticking up for him and saying, what have
you gone out to see? He preached a bold message. Folks,
God hates sin, that was his message. Sin must be punished, that was
his message, with death. Yet he has sent his son to die
in the stead as the sacrificial lamb for those he has loved from
the foundations of the world. Now that's bold. John said repent
and be baptized. John was no reed swaying in the
wind. He was no fair-dressed hypocrite
sitting in the chiefest of seats. He was humble in his way of life,
yet he declared the religious to be hypocrites, steeped in
their own self-righteousness, so they claimed he was of a devil.
And then Matthew 19, our text in verse 19, the Son of Man came
eating and drinking, and they say, behold, a man gluttonous,
a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, but wisdom is justified
of her children. Christ, too, came in boldness. preaching himself the savior
of his people, the healer of sick. Remember what he said to
those disciples of John when he sent him back? Jesus answered
and said unto them, go and show John again these things, those
things which you do hear and see. The blind receive their
sight and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed, and
the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever
shall not be offended in me." And they would not listen. Rather,
they called him a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of
publicans and sinners. We cannot get around this, folks.
We hear because He has loved us with an everlasting love.
The Holy Spirit has given us life. given us a new heart. We are a new man, one with new
ears, new feet, new tongue. We sing a new song. And I will
sanctify my great name, sayeth the Lord, which was profaned
among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them.
And I can tell you, stop there for a moment, because I want
to tell you, as one of God's people, I know that was me. I
profaned the Word of God. I profaned His name in the midst
of the people. I was profaning God among the
heathen. Let's go on. And the heathen
shall know that I am the Lord. I know I was a heathen. I know
I was a sinner lost without hope. And the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring
you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. Page three. A new heart
also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and
I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put My Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep
My judgments and do them, and ye shall dwell in the land that
I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be My people, and I will
be your God." Ezekiel 36, verse 23-28. I waited patiently for
the Lord, And he inclined unto me, says
David, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit and out of the miry clay, and he set my feet
upon a rock and established my going. And he hath put a new
song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see
it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that
man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the
proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." That's Psalms 40 verses
1 through 4. We sing a new song, folks. We
sing a new song because we hear the truth of God. Those that
have ears, let them hear this. We could be just like those in
the marketplace that have not danced. We could be just like
those who have heard the warnings of God against sin and not lamented. We could be just like those who
went out into the wilderness, who John the Baptist said, who
told you? Who told you to come? Who warned
you of the wrath to come? What have you come to see? A
reed shaking in the wind? No. You've come to hear a message. A message of yea and amen. The message of Jesus Christ,
God in the flesh. Our Savior. The very one who
laid down His life and shed His blood that we would live folks,
that we would live. That's why God sent His Son. He didn't have to do any of that.
By grace we are saved. Through faith, through believing
in Him, yes, but it's by grace that saves us. And Jesus Christ,
His name is the epitome of grace. It's the very meaning of grace
in sending His Son in the flesh to save us. What is our new song? Salvation is of the Lord, mid-page
three. That was Jonah's new song. The Lord put him in the fish's
belly, killed him, killed him, so that he would be able to go
and preach the message to the Ninevites. Salvation is of the
Lord. Noah's new song. That was salvation
of the Lord. That was Noah's new song. Noah,
he had lived, I forget how many years it was now, but he had
lived a long time, folks, in the world before he walked with
God. He had walked, but it doesn't matter, though. He was just like
you and I. He walked in the sinfulness of
his flesh for years after years after years. And then the Lord
saved him, and he sung a new song. And what was that song?
That destruction is coming. Oh, how the churches today want
to pass right over that very fact. They want to tell you how
much Jesus loves everybody. Biggest lie man has ever come
up with. And He died for everybody. Another
big lie. The truth is this, that destruction
is coming. There are those who will not
listen, who will not hear the Word of God. And you and I could
be one of those if it wasn't for His love. if it wasn't for
His grace. Christ went about healing. He
went about healing the poor and the sick. And natural men did
not get the message. This is grace to you and I. We were in that very same boat.
We were on the road of self-righteousness, felt self-righteous works, and
we cared nothing for the truth. We were in the pit of destruction. Christ was clear. He is the Messiah,
the Deliverer. And His own people would not
have Him. It says in John 1 verse 10-11,
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the
world knew Him not. He came unto His own people.
And his own received him not. Remember what he said in the
book of John when the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes
came to him and said, how long will you cause us to doubt? And
he said, I told you who I am. And the works that I did in my
Father's name, they proved who I am. Yet ye believe not, because
ye are not my sheep. That was the very people. That
was his own, he came onto his own and they would not receive
him. But wisdom, it says in our text,
is justified of her children. Who is this wisdom? It says,
but of him, but of God, are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us what wisdom? Wisdom is justified of her children. Who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." 1
Corinthians 1, verse 30 and 31, page 4. And without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, and seen of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into
glory. Who is this wisdom that was justified? It's the Son of God, the Lord
Jesus. He was justified in the Spirit,
1 Timothy 3.16. Matthew 11 verse 20, we read
these words, then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most
of His mighty works were done, because they repented not. Our
Lord stops now here and He begins to talk about the cities who
would not receive Him. Remember what he told to his
disciples if he went somewhere and they would not receive him
to shake the dust off of their feet and go on? Well, that's
what our Lord has done. Listen to what he says about
these cities. Woe, woe unto thee, Chorazin. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida,
for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done
in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you. There was no good works done
in those days. There were no good works of salvation
that were being done in those cities in Sodom and Gomorrah
and Tyrethon. These were natural men and women
who had grown up in the world, in the nature of the world, in
their own, steeped in their own religious thoughts, their own
ways of salvation, because that's what religion is, is man trying
to come up with a way to appease God for their sin. And here,
in these two towns, Bethsaida and Terazim, it would be better
for them, for Tyrethon, than these two, because of the good
works that God did in those towns. They would not hear the Lord. They would not hear. Going on
in verse 23, And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven,
shalt be brought down to hell, for if the mighty works which
had been done in thee had been done in Sodom." Remember, the
Lord spent almost all of His time there in Capernaum. He spent
more time there than anywhere else. If those mighty works which
had been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for thee. So here we see the Lord once
again expressing the dire Terrible. The destiny. The destiny of those
who do not know God. Those who are not brought to
an understanding. Those who have not been given
the gift of faith. And that could be us. The Lord
is pointing this out to you and I. Because you are not part of
that group, I am gracious to you. It's because of my grace
that you're not. It's because of my love for you
that you're not. And we praise out, thank you
God, for that, don't we? We glorify our Savior for saving
us from what we deserve. Brother Don Fortner wrote this,
we're back in mid-page four. Every time I read these verses
of Holy Scripture, two striking facts are forcibly driven home
to my heart by the Spirit of God. Number one, God Almighty
is totally sovereign in providence and grace. He sends the gospel
to whom he will. And secondly, the most heinous
wickedness in this world is the sin of unbelief. Did you know that that's the
one unforgivable sin? Scriptures talk about an unforgivable
sin. It's the sin of unbelief. If
you go through that doormarked death in unbelief, your sins
are unforgiven. Did you catch that? Did you understand
what I meant by that? If you believe, it's because
God has loved you from before the foundation of the world.
Those people who hear the gospel and yet believe it not, goes
on to say Don Fortner, believes it not, are guilty of the greatest
evil in the world. They may be moral, Decent, respectable
in behavior before men, but before God they are guilty of crimes
far more abominable than the idolatries of Tyre and Sidon,
and more vile than the homosexuality of Sodom. That crime is willful
unbelief. Now listen to the words of Proverbs
1, verse 23-33. Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit
unto you, I will make known my words unto you, because I have
called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no
man regarded. But ye have set at naught all
my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh
at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind." Folks, this is
God talking about those who will spend eternity in hell, who will
spend eternity in hell for their unbelief, which is exactly where
you and I were at one time. Page five, when distress and
anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me and I
will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me for that they hated knowledge and did
not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. They would none of my, therefore
shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with
their own devices. For the turning away of the simple
shall slay them and the prosperity of the fool shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall
be quiet. from fear of evil. Proverbs 29.1,
we read these words, he that being often reproveth hardneth
his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. Don
closes his statement there in the light of what is said here
of Chorazin and Bethsaida and the great woe pronounced upon
those cities which were favored with such high privileges, and
regarded them not, I cannot help thinking what horrid condemnation
awaits this generation in hell." I cannot help myself, that was
end of quote, I cannot help myself but think of what Paul wrote
to the saints of Rome in chapter 10 and 11. Listen to these words,
Romans chapter 10 beginning at verse 16, bottom of page 5, but
they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith to the
LORD, Who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard?
Yes, verily their sound went out into all the earth, and their
words unto the ends of the world. But I say, did not Israel know?
First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that
are no people, and by a foolish nation will I anger you. But
Isaias is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought
me not. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, all day
long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people. I say then, hath God cast away
his people? God forbid, for I also am an
Israelite, writes Paul, the seed of Abraham and of the tribe of
Benjamin, page 6. God hath not cast away his people. which he foreknew? Wot ye not
that the scripture saith of Elias how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets
and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they
seek my life? But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present
time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. Aren't you thankful? for the
election of grace? Do you not rejoice in the election
of grace? I rejoice because I know. I know
I would not have loved God if He had not first loved me. So after declaring His wrath
on the wicked for rejecting the truth, He then gives us a word
of peace. Listen to our text, Matthew 11,
verse 25. And at that time, Jesus answered
and He said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes." Oh, what praise we have that the
Lord would reveal anything, especially to babes. Even so, Father, for
it seemed good in thy sight." Not because of anything those
babes had done. Not because of anything we had
done. Not because of anything we could earn. But because it
seemed good in His sight. Oh, what precious words to hear
from our Lord. The Lord Jesus gives thanks to
His Father for the distinguishing grace bestowed upon chosen sinners. While hiding the wonders of redemption
from the wise in their own eyes and the prudent in their own
sight, woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and the
prudent in their own sight, as we read in Isaiah 5-12. The Lord
reveals His mercy unto the humble and the lowly. Salvation comes
by divine revelation. But this revelation of grace
never comes to any but those who receive the Word of God by
faith as humble children. God will never lift up any by
His grace until He has brought them down to need His grace. He will never teach any until
they are made to see their need to learn of Him. In seeing the
people who reject His Word, we are brought low to see what we
deserve. Folks, we didn't see that before. We didn't see how low we were,
the worms that we are before God, until He shows us. And this
is how He shows us in His Word. This is what's going to happen
to the world. But this will not happen to you, my people. I have
sent my Son to take that for you. That very death that you
deserve, my Son has come and done it. Paid the price. It is finished. We are brought
low to see what we deserve. Therefore, we can look up to
Him as our brazen serpent. As we see the serpent has bitten
us, where do we look? We look to our Savior, the brazen
serpent held up on the pole above all things. And we see His grace. I am not the judge of all the
earth do right. Isn't that what we read in Genesis
18-25? Robert Hawker wrote this. He
said, surely the Lord is not called upon to give an account
of His motives, of His holy will, and the pleasure to any of His
creatures. One thing we know, namely, that
it's his counsel and purpose must stand, and he will do all
his pleasures, and that all he doeth is right. His conduct towards
his creatures is by an unerring standard. His mercy is not moved
by any good in us, neither is it kept back by our undeservings. For neither our merit nor our
misery can be said to have any hand in disposing the purposes
of his sovereign will towards us. That the Lord hath taken
occasion from our misery to magnify the abounding riches of His mercy
is true, but then His mercy was before our misery, and His own
everlasting love the sole cause of our blessedness in Christ.
Therefore, our Lord's own words are most blessed in the point,
even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." Lastly, we
come to a word for needy souls. Matthew 11, verse 27 through
30, we read, All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father needeth knoweth any man. The Father saved the Son, and
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. Come unto me, all
ye that labor and heavy laden. and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light." These are gospel words of grace
addressed to needy souls, both the lost and the saved. Our Lord
and Savior declares His greatness in verse 27. He says, all things
are delivered unto me of my Father. No one can know the Father lest
the Son will reveal Him. All creation, including unregenerate,
are in His hands to be ruled and disposed of by Him for the
glory of the triune God and the salvation of His people, as we
read in John 17, verse 2, as Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given unto him. All of God's elect
are delivered to him to be kept and saved by him. They are all
preserved in Jesus Christ as we read in Jude 1.1 for all eternity. All power in heaven and earth
are his. All the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are in Him. All the blessings of grace, all
the promises of mercy in the everlasting covenant, and all
the glory and happiness of His people are in His hands. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all the fullness dwell, is what we read in Colossians
1 verse 19. It is the purpose and pleasure
of the triune God that all the fullness of grace And all the
glory dwell in the Lord Jesus Christ, our God-man, mediator
and Savior. Whatever we get from God, we
receive of His fullness. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth. John bare witness of Him and
cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake. He that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for He was before me, and
His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." So we see
His fullness is ours. All things were created by Him.
All things were created for Him. He is before all things. By Him
all things consist. God the Father has given Him
preeminence in everything. And all things shall be reconciled
to God by Him. dwelling forever in the Lord
Jesus Christ, there is an infinite, immeasurable wealth of grace
and glory. In Matthew 11, 28-30, the Son
of God, the Savior of the world, commands, invites, and persuades
sinners to come to Him, promising salvation and eternal life to
all who come to Him. The Lord Jesus calls sinners
to come to Him. He does not call us to come to
an altar. He does not call us to come to
a church. He does not call us to come to a priest, a preacher,
a baptistry, the Lord's table, or the Law of Moses, or even
to His doctrine. He says, Come unto Me. What does that mean? What is
it to come to Christ? He does not leave us to guess
about that at all. He explains it very clearly in
John 6, 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. To come to Christ is to believe
on Him. It is an act of faith. And faith is the gift of God.
So see how the Lord receives all the praise in all the glory,
in all things. Brother and sister, I may come
back and look at those last three verses again before we go on
any further into chapter 12. Pray that the Lord might lead
me in that. I wasn't sure I could go deep enough into that, coming
to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Take my yoke upon
you, learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And ye shall
have rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light. I pray the Lord bless you folks.