Matthew 11 again Verse 20 Matthew 11 20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. 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. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have 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."

At that time, after pronouncing woe on these entire cities for their unbelief, Jesus answered and 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. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word. As we come to night, Lord, to especially remember you for taking of your table, Lord, I pray that you'd open our hearts, cause us to put aside all earthly vain concerns and think on things above where you're seated on your throne. Bless us, Lord, to teach us of yourself. We say with the Apostle Paul, Lord, oh, that we might know you, the power of your resurrecting power. Thank you for every blessing, Lord. Be with us tonight and bless us for Christ's sake. And in his name, we ask it. Amen.

so i i think it's beneficial that we see these passages of scripture in their immediate context there's of course the context of the entire bible but then there's immediate context in all scripture but after speaking of john the baptist and how he preached the kingdom and there was no greater man born of a woman than him because he pointed to Christ. He preached the kingdom of God. And then our Lord begins to upbraid these cities and he says something that I suspect was shocking to them. That Sodom and Gomorrah are in a better position than you. Their place in hell won't be as bad as yours.

There are two ways to look at, there are two possible conclusions to draw, and only two. One of them is that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were just better people. If they had been given the same outward advantages that Capernaum and these other cities had, they were in some sense naturally better, more spiritual people, and they would have heard the gospel and repented. But we know from Scripture that that's not so. Not only is there no difference in sinners, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's no difference. But also, sinners only repent if God gives them repentance. It takes God's grace to save Jew or Gentile. There's one lump, Romans chapter 9, from the same lump the Lord makes two vessels, one unto honor and the other unto dishonor.

So we of course reject that possible conclusion. The only way a vessel of honor exists is that it was formed purposefully by the potter. So our Lord is teaching in this passage clearly in a hypothetical way the scriptures should always be understood as literal unless there's obvious reason to understand them hypothetically. And there is obvious, clear reason to see this as hypothetical because Sodom is no more. Gomorrah is no more. There never will be any actual repentance in Tyre and Sidon. There's not gonna be, the Lord is saying that generally speaking, this kind of revelation is accompanied by repentance. When he does his mighty works and sinners have that outward advantage, that generally speaking, there would be some who would repent. He normally saves people when he does that.

But why make this hypothetical statement? Well, again, it's pretty clear. He shows that there is a special judgment upon these people in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Special, particular, and horrible judgment on them. Why? Because they heard the gospel and rejected it. They rejected Christ outright. There was never any gospel preached in Sodom.

And we can draw a lot of conclusions from this. What we do here is a serious thing. When the gospel is preached to a sinner, it's not a take-it-or-leave-it situation. It's not a casual thing. It's not something to be taken lightly. And people argue about things like this. How could Tyre and Sidon have repented if Capernaum didn't repent? And they ignore the clear teaching of Christ, which is this, to willfully, knowingly reject the gospel of Christ is greater evil than anything that happened in Sodom or Gomorrah. We don't usually think that way. Religious people don't think that way.

In the previous chapter, Matthew chapter 10, verse 14, look over there for a minute. He sends his disciples out two by two. And look, it talks about mighty works, mighty works. Is that talking about the miracles that he did? No, no. He was just talking about John the Baptist had gone preaching among them. And John the Baptist, he said, was the greatest man born of a woman besides the Lord himself. And we know from the scriptures that John did no miracle. That's actual scripture. John did no miracle. All he did was preach the kingdom of God.

We know that from this, Matthew 10, 14, and whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. He sent them out to preach the gospel. And when they do, he said, if they won't receive you or your words, they won't hear your words. They don't want to hear about a Christ who's successful, that they can't manipulate. They don't want to hear a gospel of grace. People hate grace worse than they hate the law.

Shake the dust off your feet, which is exactly what it says they did in chapter 11. But if they won't hear the gospel, their sin and evil has exceeded that of Sodom and Gomorrah, upon whom God rained fire from heaven. Can you imagine that? We have no idea what this is. The ministry is serious business, this ministry, the ministry of Christ that he's given to us. And he gives this example deliberately of his manifest judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, raining fire down from heaven to consume them.

And you know, good religious Christian folk, and I put that word Christian in quotes, say, boy, they deserved it. You know, I wish God would rain down just, have you ever heard anybody say that? God's gonna rain judgment on this city, it's so evil. They sure did deserve it. Well, I'm glad God rained homosexuality and godless debauchery and vile indecency of every imaginable kind. And they did deserve it. But what the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching here is that if you hear the gospel and do not run to Christ with all of your heart, praising God for his free grace and worshiping Christ for his mercy, rejoicing in his precious blood shed for your sin, then you are more vile and damnable than the Sodomites. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16, 22, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha, accursed when the Lord comes.

Now, just in case, you know, someone might read that passage and say, well, what the Lord's teaching there is that man, given enough outward advantage, And repent. Man has the capability to repent. If he's given enough outward advantage, he'll repent on his own. If you think maybe that's part of what's being taught there, then watch the next passage of scripture here.

And think about this. Did our Lord go away defeated and dejected? Think about this. The Lord just said that he had displayed his mighty work of salvation. in the preaching of the gospel to these people, and they rejected him. They had no use for him. They didn't want to hear it. Did he go away dejected and defeated? He said, I've done so much work in these cities, and all my work was in vain. Nobody's made any decisions for me here, and what a shame. No?

At that time, when everybody turned thumbs down on him, when there was no repentance, no interest in the gospel in an entire, in entire cities. He said, I thank Thee, Father. Thank you. Thank you. Oh Father, Lord, Lord, the one who gives repentance and withholds it, the one who reveals and hides. You see the context here. Whoever that is, whoever gives life or doesn't give life purposely, whoever reveals the truth that's unto the saving of the soul or withholds it, He's Lord of heaven and earth. That's who He is.

At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, a bunch of smarty-pants religionists that know more than everybody else, and they're involved in their church. You know, we're so involved in our church. They go around with their noses in the air. We can't be too hard on them because that's all up inside of us. Thank you, Lord, for hiding the truth from them and revealed life, revealed salvation, revealed the Son of God to babes, to those who can't understand anything unless God reveals it to them. to those who can't do anything for themselves, that have no energy, no wisdom, no understanding, no strength.

You've got the wise and prudent. You've got your doctors of theology. You've got your longtime Christians, you know, the son of a Baptist, son of a Baptist, son of a Baptist. And then you got little babies. that if nobody does anything for them, nothing will be done. They can't do anything for themselves. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.

You remember this morning we were talking about how we're learning who a person is. We're not getting smarter in facts. We're learning who a person is. That's who this God is. Those who are proud and haughty and impressive in the flesh, he hides the gospel from them and they perish. And those who are broken by his grace, those whose hearts are in shreds, Those who cry for mercy because nothing else will do. Nothing else is going to do except God not giving me what I deserve. That's what's going to help me. That's what seemed good in our God's sight. to give glory to babies. Even so, Father, all things are delivered unto me of my Father." Everything. The power of God, the Word of God, the will of God. He said, just like the Father, quickeneth whom he will. He's given authority to his son to give life to whomsoever he will all things are delivered unto me of my father He's God in human flesh not limited in any way whatsoever all of its given to the son He's the fullness of the Godhead in a human body

And nobody knows who I am nobody knows me nobody I'm glad it didn't stop there But the father, only the father knows the son. Neither knoweth any man the father save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. You revealed him unto babes.

That time, at that time, at that particular time when there was great rebellion against the gospel and opposition to the gospel, the Lord Jesus and John both rejected by so many entire cities, upbraided for their unbelief. When we look on our godless generation, what do you think the Son of God would say to our generation? What would he say to the cities of this world now?

under these same circumstances, who gather by the thousands to rejoice together in the religion of man. They have itching ears to hear about man's almighty will, to practice religious rituals that God has expressly forbidden in the scriptures. They delight in their entertainment-based religious activities, have no interest whatsoever in the true Christ of the Bible. You can have breakfast with Santa there, but you're not going to hear about Christ there. Nothing of free grace. The only hope for a sinner. You think of the tragedy of that. You think of the unmitigated gall of that. To hold in their hand that which is life. and turn it into death, deliberately, willfully. They have no interest in the sovereign God, in the sovereign Christ. They may know the Scriptures very well, but like the Pharisees, they testify of Christ, but you don't. I thank Thee, O Father. Lord, Lord, we rejoice in Christ on the throne.

It's not accidental that John was given a glimpse into heaven, and how did he describe it? I see a throne and somebody sitting on it. You think that's how religious people, if you ask them to describe heaven, they'd be, oh man, there's streets of gold, there's gates of pearl, every gate is hewn out of one pearl. You know, the city's like, it's gold, but it looks like glass, it's so pure, and everything's, there's mansions all up in heaven for his people. How many of them would say, All I know about heaven is this, there's a throne there, and Jesus Christ is on that thing. John really was giving a look at it when he really saw it, because that's what heaven is, it's Christ. It's Christ in all of his glory. We just catch little glimpses, and how gracious he is to give us glimpses now. Christ in all of His glory. That we're never going to have another thought except to praise Him. We praise Him for coming to babies.

I thought of the baby in the open field in Ezekiel chapter 16. A baby had been born and cast into a field. And it says it was in its blood. It wasn't washed or swaddled. There was not bound up, no ointment, no health care whatsoever. It's interesting that what passes for health care in this world is just that. Killing a little baby. Oh, you're against health care. don't like to see babies murdered. No, that's not what that is. And this baby had no help, no hope, nobody cared. And the Lord Jesus Christ passed by. And it was the time of life. Has our time come for that? Has the Lord brought to pass in this The minutes and the seconds and the hours and the months and years go by, and what is life but a vapor that appears for a short time and then vanisheth away?

But if God, somewhere among those years, among those months and weeks and days and hours and seconds, kept an appointment with you that he made in eternity and said, live, The rest of this is not so much life, but that is. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.

You see how again this says that he's talking about the mighty work of God is the gospel. That's what was hid. The miracles weren't hid. The truth was hid. The miracles weren't revealed. The truth of Christ was revealed to these people, to a few. Thank God for electing grace. He hides and He reveals. He has mercy and He hardeneth. How many times does He have to say it in the Scripture? There's the chosen and there's the rest in Romans chapter 11.

We're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. If we ever, by God's grace, see what we are, Well, thank God for electing sovereign, free, distinguishing grace. Because if we know what we are, we know that's our only hope. If you ever see yourself as you are before God, another chance is not going to mean anything to you. You're not going to be interested in an opportunity to be saved. You're going to say, Lord, save me. I don't need an opportunity. Lord, save me. You save me.

Verse 27 is so clear and beautiful. 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. We are given the unbelievable, unspeakable privilege of knowing what only God can know. Only God and His Son can know this, and His sheep, and these ignorant, incapable, helpless, hopeless babes. My soul is in the hands of God's Son. If he wants to reveal God, he will. He's able to open our understanding that we might understand the scriptures. You remember that in Luke 22 or 21 when he was on the road to Emmaus with his disciples? Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. How much do you think you're gonna understand apart from that? If the son of God doesn't do that, what do you know?

He who is rich in mercy, he said, I have power to give life to whomever I will. And here's his word to you, that one. the Christ of God, the one who alone can reveal God to you. You know what he says? Come to me. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. You know, it's God that you need to know, clearly. You've got to know who God is. That's what he said. Nobody knows who we are, who I am, except I reveal it to them. And how are you going to know? How does he do that? Well, it's him. If your journey, your purpose, your goal in life is to know God, you come to Christ and you can rest because you just found him. You just found him. You just found out who he is. You just learned of him. He says, learn of me. Take my yoke. You wanna know who God is? You want the father revealed to you? You want the son revealed to you by the son? Learn who I am. And you'll know God.

Have I been so long time with you, Philip, and still you don't know me? Do you ever think about that and put your name in there? Oh, that we might know him and his almighty power to save. Amen.