Bibles and turn with me to Matthew
11. Kind of deviated today. That's OK. Matthew chapter 11. For the sake you can read this,
but for the sake of time. In verse 20, through verse 24. And I would encourage you to
read that. The Lord upbraided the cities. The Scripture says, verse 20
says this, most of His mighty works were done because they
repented not. give heed to the glorious and blessed Lord
Jesus Christ through the preaching of His gospel. Listen, this is
our hope. This is all of our hope. We have
nothing else found to be needy Oh, there is
one. I think about what that woman
at the well says, Come see a man that told me all things ever
I did. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? There's a Savior that came into
this world to save sinners. Well, our Lord began to upbraid
these cities there in Chorazin, the Seedah. And he told them, he said, if
the things that were done here had been done in Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, Those cities would have remained
until this day. But it's going to be, in verse
22, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and
Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum,
which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell.
For if the 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 should
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for thee." You know, those words cannot be taken lightly. Those are spoken by our Lord,
and those words are life, and those words are true. And those
words are not going to pass away. Heaven and earth are going to
pass away, but not those words. To hear the glorious gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ and to refuse to bow to Him as He Himself
is set forth as the truth, to refuse the very conscience
that is within a man, that tells a man, I'm wrong. And there is a conscience
in every man. There's that conscience and consciousness
of guilt. You don't have to teach anybody.
You don't have to teach a child that he's got to hide things
that he breaks or lie. That just comes natural. It's
there. Why do you think a criminal wants
to do things at night under the cloak of darkness or secrecy?
You know why? Because he knows that there's
something that he's doing that's wrong. The conscience. And the Lord said that there
is a state that's going to be less tolerable in hell than for
those that have seen, beheld, heard the marvelous gospel of
God's grace. Let me warn you according to
the words of our Lord. Let me warn all of us to hear
the gospel of Christ and to refuse it. to die and leave this world having
heard the gospel of God's grace, to make light of it, to laugh
at it, to scorn it. According to our Lord's Word,
it's going to be more tolerable for those where the gospel was
never sent in power and mercy. than it will be for you. That
is a serious, serious thought. Man, as he is born in Adam, is
a rebel against God. He's lost, blind. And there's no other way to describe
him except the way the Scripture sets him forth from the sole
of the foot even to the head. There's no soundness in it but
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores They've not been closed
up, neither bound up, neither mollified. After giving that rebuke, our
blessed Savior began to pray. And the wonder that the Spirit
of God would allow us to hear His prayer. Think of the marvel
of God's grace and mercy. that we have these Scriptures
where the very heart of our Lord is set forth. The words of our
Lord. Words that He Himself spoke. And the Spirit of God has written
these words down for our admonition and our correction and our instruction
and our comfort. Listen to the words of our blessed
Savior. He starts in verse 25. It says,
"...and at that time Jesus answered..." You know, there was no apparent
question. The Scripture says He answered. He spoke. in answer to these
things that He had set forth as absolute truth. Oh, despise
not the privilege to hear the Gospel. Thank God that you have
a place that God Almighty would manifest His truth. May the Lord
grant me a hearing today. I need to hear. I want to hear. Lord, help me to hear. 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. Now
think about what he had just said. He had just told the cities
where most of his works were done. Woe unto you! If the mighty works done in this
place had been done there, they would have remained until this
day. But it's going to be more tolerable
for them in the day of judgment than for you. And immediately
he answered and thanked his Father for distinguishing grace. I thank Thee, O Father, that
Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent and
has revealed them unto babes." Listen, the sovereignty of Almighty
God is a mystery beyond our comprehension. But to deny it is to deny revealed
truth. The moment you try to figure
out Almighty God is the moment you're going to make yourself
out to be a fool. How can I answer these things?
I can't. I thank the Lord for them. The
Lord Jesus Christ glorified and praised and acknowledged the
Father's wisdom, purpose, His will to reveal to
those that He had brought down in their own eyes to be who they
are. Babes, I thank Thee. I thank Thee, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth. You who rule in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of earth, I thank You. I thank You
and I praise You and I bless You because You've hidden these things
from the wise and prudent. I think about the manifestation
of the hatred and the resentment and the rebellion against sovereign
grace, Christ, the wisdom of God. I think about that and how
man by nature rebels against that. And the only thing that I can
tell you is that God Almighty has been pleased in His absolute
wisdom, justice, pleasure. He who does all things well. Christ said, I thank you that
you've hidden these things from the wise and prudent. These things that are hidden
from those that think themselves to be wise and prudent. Those that think themselves to
be able. Those that think themselves to
be possessors of the ability to produce a righteousness before
God Almighty. These things. I thank you that
you've hidden these things. What? the glorious things of
the Gospel. If you have eyes to see this
morning and ears to hear, you didn't produce that. Will you go away? Peter said,
Lord, where are we going to go? You have the words of life and
we're sure. You're the Messiah. And he said,
Peter, flesh and blood didn't tell you that, but my Father
which is in heaven. If you see this morning, thank
God right now. Lord, thank you that you've given
me eyes to see. Thank you that you've given me
a heart to believe. Thank you that you've given me
a heart to cast myself upon you. These things that are hidden
from the wise and prudence have been revealed unto babes. Babes. Those that have been made to
see themselves as helpless, childish, immature, unskillful, impotent
children. Lest you become as little children.
You know, I need to learn. I want to learn. Grow in grace. I want to grow. I want to hear. I don't know at all. Do you?
No, I know you don't. Almighty God must discover to
a man concerning man's impotence. You find a person, you find a
man or woman, you find a sinner that realize that they're in
themselves, they're alienated from God. And they're going to
come to the water. You find themselves that they
truly in their hearts, They need a Savior. God taught them that. These things have been revealed
unto him. The Lord's got to reveal that
salvation is according to his will and purpose, his choice.
And for him to unveil this truth to a man's understanding is a
miracle of God's grace that he unveils. that Almighty God in
the person of His blessed Lamb, He made him sin who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. It pleased the Father to bruise
him. They're going to go free, but
you're not. They're going to live. You must
die. Grace, grace beyond our greatest
comprehension. I thank Thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because You've hidden these things. from the wise and prudent and
revealed them unto babes. Why did He do that? Aren't you
thankful that the Spirit of God doesn't leave us in suspense?
Verse 26 says, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. Hiding these things from the
wise and prudent is done in absolute justice. You will not come. You shall not come. You're going
to have just exactly what you want. Let me ask you this. Shall the judge of all the earth
do right? Do we have a right to question
his motive? or His will or His pleasure. You've got two attitudes. You've got an attitude that just,
I don't want that. I'll not have that. I'll not
have that man rule over me. Okay. Okay. And then you've got an attitude
of a regenerated heart that just rejoices, Lord rule over me. Lord, rule over me. Lord, guide
me. Lord, would You allow me the
privilege to be able to realize something of Your presence? Lord,
You said that when we pray, when we enter into our closet, You
said, God Almighty who hears in sacred, Lord, You actually
hear me. Lord, You actually Give me audience. God Almighty has set forth in
His Holy Scriptures who He is. Job says in Job 33 verse 13,
Why dost thou strive against Him? For He giveth not account
of any of His matters. Can you imagine Almighty God
who spoke this world into existence? who chose to show mercy to a
people that he knew before he ever brought them into existence,
that he knew that they would rebel against him and provided
the everlasting surety because he loved the arrangement, the
order of man that he would Create man in time. He created them,
but He everlastingly knew them. Before I formed you in the belly,
I knew you. If He said, I've everlastingly
loved you, how long do you think that is? Everlastingly. And He brought
into existence. He took a lump of dirt and clay
and breathed into it and became a living soul. And in that which He's created,
He's been pleased according to His wisdom, will, and purpose
to impart the very life of His Son and to give unto some that
He's chosen to show mercy to. He gave life and understanding
and He teaches them. And they live on this earth for
a few years. And He's been pleased He's going
to bring them to Himself. And they're going to live with
Him eternally. Can you imagine? Oh, Almighty God has been pleased. I thank You that You've been
pleased to reveal these things unto babes. Even so, Father,
So it seemed good in thy sight. But how has God revealed these
things? The Lord says He has. Thou hast
revealed them unto babes. It seemed good in your sight.
How? How has He done it? Well, verse
27 says, All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father neither knoweth any man.
The Father saved the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him." These things are actually the
all things of verse 27. We know through Him. He is the revealer by His blessed
Holy Spirit blessing His words. These words. Now here we are
today and something marvelous, mysterious, something wonderful
is happening. God is revealing some things,
Mark. He's revealing some things. And
there sitting under the sound of His blessed gospel is the
wonder, the marvel of God's grace and mercy in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I thank Thee, Father. These things
have been hidden from some according to Your will. It seemed good
in Your sight. Oh, I thank You that You've revealed these things
unto babes. And there's some babes. I'm convinced
there's some babes sitting here. And look, they just sit there
and they just want to drink the milk of the Word. They want to
hear. They want to be refreshed. They
want to eat the bread, drink the water of His blessedness
and hope. Oh, as Almighty God, these things
have been set forth to a people helpless, needy, hungering, thirsting. All these things delivered unto
Me, My Father. No man knoweth the Son but the
Father. No man knows Him but the Father. I see Him part. You see Him part. We preach Him
part. see through a glass darkly, oh, but the Father that knows
Him, trusts Him. Nobody knows the Father but the
Son. What's the Father's will? What's the Father's mind? What's
the Father's purpose? Christ knows. He's here 30-plus years to finish
the work that was given Him, and He finished it. And Almighty
God, in the revelation of His blessed Son, is going to reveal
to His people His purpose. Now, since all things have been
delivered unto Him, that's what He said, all things are delivered
unto Me of My Father. The Scripture says in John 17
too, As thou hast given Him power, over all flesh. Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou
hast given Him. Well, here's my question. What, or let me say who, is the
sinner's only hope? Now you know according to this
Scripture now that Christ set forth that He
has pleased the Father to hide some things, or hide these things,
and reveal these things. It seemed good in His sight. All things are delivered unto
Christ. No man knows the Father but Christ.
No man knows Christ but the Father. Now let me ask you this, what
is our only hope? Verse 28 to 30 says, Come unto
Me, all ye that labor and are 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
for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." You that toil weary with the
burden of sin, a burden that you yourself can't get rid of. You that the Spirit of God has
taught Not by the works of righteousness.
Not by the works of righteousness. Not by the works of righteousness.
But by mercy and grace. Come to Him. Come to Him. You that desire the Father's
will. Father, it seemed good in Thy
sight. in your heart, I need Him. I want to know something about
this. You who see yourself unworthy,
come to Him. Now listen, this church has stood
for 50 plus years and preached what men proclaim as the truth
asked. The doctrines of grace. We believe
in total depravity. We believe in unconditional election. We believe in particular redemption
or limited atonement. We believe in irresistible grace. And we believe in preservation
of the saints. Doctrines of grace. But we don't
come to the doctrines of grace. We come to Him who these blessed
doctrines set forth as the truth. We don't come to the church.
Well, I'm a member at Katie Baptist Church. Judas was an apostle. We don't come to the baptismal
pool. We don't come to the Lord's Supper.
We come to the Lord of the Supper. We come to Him. Come unto Me,
O ye that labor heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take My yoke
upon you and learn of Me. Take My yoke, not the yoke of
the lost. He bore that yoke. He alone could bear that yoke.
Take My yoke. Cast yourself upon Him who has
fulfilled all obligation before God Almighty for His people. Take my yoke on you. I am meek and lowly in heart. He is the submissive one, submitting
Himself to Almighty God on the behalf of His people. who intercedes
for them right now. Come to Him. He's not harsh. He's not overbearing toward His
people. You say, yeah, but what about
when He sends His chastisements? Whom the Lord loveth, He chastens. It's for my good. It's for your
good. I'm meek and lowly in heart,
long-suffering and gentle and kind. Lord, I'll never forsake you,
Peter said. The Lord said you'll deny me three times before the
cock crows twice. And it did. Scripture says the
Lord looked at him when Peter denied him that third time and
Peter went out and wept bitterly. Surely, there's no way in the
world that he'll ever have mercy on me. A few days later, I saw
him out on the seashore there. He said, Peter, lovest thou me
more than these? Lord, you know I love you. Thomas
said, I'll tell you one thing. I don't see the prince myself.
No way. Thomas, come here. Come here. Put your hand on my side. Put
your finger here in these prints. Thomas said, My Lord, my God,
thank You for mercy. Thank You for grace. Thank You
for kindness. Come unto me. Take my yoke upon
You. Learn of me. I am meek, lowly
in heart. You'll find rest for Your souls.
That rest that cost Him everything. That rest that is established
before God Almighty and men by His blood. You'll find rest unto
your souls. It cost Him and it's revealed
to you, given to you. My yoke is easy. My burden is
light. Believe Him as to take His yoke.
I'll tell you this. Take my yoke. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. How do I
do that? Believe in Him. Trust in Him. That's the yoke that He said
is easy because He's borne all the burden of it. In closing, four things that
I want to tell you about coming to Christ. Come unto Me. Four things. How do we come? How do we come? Number one, we
come by faith. Coming to Christ is coming to
God. Coming to Christ is coming to
God. He is God. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life.
Hebrews 11, 6, For he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. How does a man come? He said,
Come unto me, come unto me. How do you come? Not by works. Not by works. Not by works of
righteousness. How do you come? I walk down
the aisle. No, you just walk. That's all
you did. You didn't come to Christ because I was baptized. Baptism never saved anybody.
I joined the church. Coming to Christ is a work of
the heart. and faith that's given unto you. If a man comes to Christ, he
comes by faith. Here's the second thing. He comes
as a needy sinner. Needy. Like that publican that
stood afar off and would not lift so much as his eyes unto
heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me. A sinner. A sinner. Here's the third thing. about
coming to Christ. You'll come joyfully. You'll come thankful. Listen,
let me read you Psalm 511. Let those that put their trust
in Thee rejoice. Rejoice that they have a heart
to come to Him. Rejoice that they can look and
have no confidence in their flesh. Aren't you thankful that God
would deliver you from that? Let those that put their trust
in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy because
thou defendest them. You cover them. Let them also
that love thy name be joyful in thee. How does a man come
to Christ? by faith as a needy sinner with
a thankful heart that God has delivered him. And here's the
last thing about coming to Christ. You come right now. Right now. This is all you've got. As I've
told you before, what's yesterday? That's gone. Tomorrow's never
going to get here. 2 Corinthians 6, 7, He that saith,
No, for He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted. This
is the accepted time. In the day of salvation have
I succored thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. What if I've never come before?
What if you haven't? You've got it right now. Does
a man, does a woman have a heart to come to Christ? Come right
now. A man that comes to Christ by
faith as a needy sinner, thankful that Almighty God would by His
blood put away his guilt and robe him in the righteousness
of His blessed Son, that man that comes right now is accepted
in the Beloved. He will be refreshed with a glorious
revelation of God's mercy. And I'll tell you this, if anybody has ever truly come,
they'll come forever. They'll come forever because
God has kept them by the power of God. May the Lord bless these
words to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's stand together.