So as I said, the Lord's very
graciously given the gospel to finish with. But he has declared
his gospel on and off throughout this chapter, hasn't he? And
he continues to teach and grow and comfort his people. And his people are just men at
best, aren't they? We're all hypocrites, naturally.
We all invert the truth and grace of God in the gospel. And the Lord's talking to a multitude
that include his children. See, the bottom line is that
the nation, it just represents all flesh in Adam. All flesh
that's rejected God, that's rejected his son by rejecting his gospel,
and they always will unless God does a saving work in their hearts. And that saving work begins with
the very same gospel testimony that they persecute. All scripture declares the gospel,
so Matthew 23 is no different. The Lord has declared the gospel
a number of times in this chapter, and look at the grace that he
continues to give in spite of the rejection. Verse 34, Wherefore,
behold, I send. He's still sending. I send unto
you prophets and wise men and scribes, faithful gospel witnesses. And some of them you should kill
and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in the synagogues
and persecute them from city to city." And it's a promise,
isn't it? It might not be the same as in
the old days. But you can read about it in
Galatians 4 and Hebrews 11. And you know, our church, this
little church, has experienced the same thing physically and
spiritually. We've had people send word up
and down the coast, warning people to listen to our gospel messages.
We've had people sit in our midst and continue to work in the darkness
on people's souls. Now there's a spiritual connotation
to all that that we don't half know. Everything in this world
sets itself against the preaching of the gospel. Satan, every circumstance,
our own flesh, everything. And such is the glory of God
to prevail in the midst of it all. Our Lord continues to send his
gospel to his people in spite of our constant rejection of
him. He's just seeking out his own
sheep from the wilderness of this world. And in the time of
his love, he causes them to hear his voice in his gospel. But we need to remember that
the gospel is a two-edged sword. Look at the result of the gospel
regarding those that stand as enemies against God. Verse 35, the Lord sends witnesses
that upon you, these Pharisees representing all the enemies
of God, upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon
the earth. From the blood of righteous Abel
unto the blood of Zacchaeus, the son of Baracchus, whom you
slew between the temple and the altar." Basically what he's saying is
all who faithfully stand for the gospel, great or small, from
the first to the last, all of them stand as one combined testimony
against the enemies of God. And he says, verily, I say unto
you, all these things shall, again a promise, come upon this
generation, this gospel generation now. All the witnesses that God sent
to them, all who stand for God and for his Christ, the complete
testimony of the gospel in this world, stands as one complete
righteous accusation throughout all time and all history against
those who oppose God. And it stands eternally. Verse
37, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest The prophets and
stoners, notice that that's continual. They're still doing it. They
kill us. The prophets and stoners, them which are sent unto thee,
how often would I have gathered thy children? See, he's not talking
about them. He's talking about his children
in the midst of them. How I would gather thy children
together, even as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wings. See,
that's the Lord gathering his people out of the multitude.
He's doing it right now in this passage. And gathering them into
his gospel care. And look what he says at the
end there, you would not. They prevent them. False religion
is always preventing. We need to realize here that
our Lord's referring to nation Israel. and the multitude in
general, not just the Pharisees, all the enemies that set themselves
against God and his gospel in pride, arrogance, ignorance,
and rebellion, all that stand in defiance of God, just as Jerusalem
had. But amazingly, in the midst of
this constant rebellion, our Lord, in his grace, continues
to send his gospel to this multitude, as he does today, calling his
sheep out of nation Israel, calling them out of the law. He seeks
true Israel, saints that were chosen in the everlasting covenant
and secure from eternity. And you know what? If you read
Acts, even some of these Pharisees will be there. But he's not loving
all men, as often is suggested here out of this passage. He's
just loving his own. Look at verse 38. Behold, your
house is left unto you desolate. It means no life. There's no
life in Jerusalem. There was no life in the law
of itself. There's no life in the flesh
of Adam. Dying, you will die. And there's never been any life
in Satan's lie. So what hope is there for anyone? Well, there's amazing gospel
hope in the midst of our enemies and in the midst of our rejections
of God. David in Psalm 23 says the Lord
sets a table in the midst of our enemies. Nothing will prevent us from
feasting. Verse 39, he says to them, for
I say unto you, you shall not see henceforth till you shall
say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. This
started out exposing men's heart issues. But you know, it comes
right back to the same thing. It's a heart issue. God must
work in their hearts before they ever rejoice in regard to the
gospel. Zechariah 9 prophesies the coming
of the Lord and it's fulfilled in Matthew 21. And in Matthew
21 verse nine, it says, Just turn in your Bibles to Romans
10 and we'll finish up pretty quickly. You see, when we testify
of the gospel faithfully, the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. According to 2 Timothy 1, he's actually revealed in
that gospel declaration. According to Psalm 22, he personally
inhabits the praises of his people. So to receive his messengers
is to receive him. Christ is our gospel. Which is why when God works in
our hearts individually, personally and powerfully, we will love
the Lord Jesus Christ. And because we love Him, we also
will love His servants. Why? Because they just bring
us more of Him in their testimonies. Romans 10, we'll read from verse
13. "'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord "'shall
be saved.'" What an amazing statement, isn't it? They didn't have to
do anything. "'How then shall they call on
him "'in whom they have not believed? "'And how shall they believe
on him "'of whom they have not heard? "'And how shall they hear
without a preacher? "'And how shall they preach except
they be sent?' That's a declaration of salvation that's completely
by the sovereign grace of God. He sends them, he opens his. As it is written, and this is
what the saints, believing saints say, how beautiful are the feet
of them that preach the gospel of peace. It's peace with God
and bring glad tidings of good things. It speaks of a personal salvation
that's the complete and absolute work of God. As I said at the
start, it is Father's Day. What greater Father can there
ever be than our Father in heaven? He sits sovereign over all things.
He knows the end from the beginning. He never fails. He never lies. He secured the salvation of his
people from eternity. And he loves us with an everlasting
love. How secure is the church of God? And he's given us the greatest
gift that anyone can give anyone. He's only begotten Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our God spoken to us today in
Matthew 23 with simple but clear descriptions, arguments and explanations. And he's done it that we should
recognize these things from our own experience. He's also spoken
to us of serious warnings carrying serious consequences. In fact, this is the most serious
issue you'll ever have to deal with. But what's most amazing is that
no matter what goes on in this world, no matter what sets itself
against the Church and the testimony of God, The gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ just continues uninhibited in this world, completely and
perfectly performing the will of our Father in heaven. Brothers
and sisters, thy God reigns. And may our great and merciful
Father in heaven continue to cause us to know that He reigns
in His Son, our victorious King, our great Saviour, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you
that in the midst of so much apparent chaos and turmoil as
this world is, you are a rock to your people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You do stand far above this world,
Heavenly Father, and we have security that extends before
time and past time and is absolutely secure in the finished work of
your Son. Father, cause us to realise that
salvation of anyone is a finished work in Christ and not a work
left to be done by men. Father, we pray you bless the
travels of our pastor and bring him home safely to us. You bless
us as we scramble along without him, but we have you, Heavenly
Father, and you've made promises to us. So I pray you just keep
fulfilling those promises that you have done. And we just think
again for our brothers and sisters that Suffer trials and afflictions
in this world and we just pray in that moment, those moments,
you just draw near to them and remind them of the same thing
we're talking about here. Take the water of the wine of
the gospel to them and bless them and refresh them because
your presence is life, Heavenly Father. And we just commit all
these things to you in the name of your son and for your glory's
sake. Amen.