In these verses, as you know,
the Lord upbraided the cities where most of his works had been
done, and where he had preached along with his disciples, and
they rejected the gospel, which as you know, that's the case
of all of us by nature. If left to ourselves, none of
us would believe. And so he concludes this section
in verse 25 here, and it says, at that time Jesus answered.
Well, there's no question that is recorded here, but there must
have been some question among the disciples about this situation. You know, God has a people, and
he's going to reveal himself too. And they're going to believe
in Christ. They're going to be given the
gift of faith. the gift of repentance. And there
are those that will continue in this life in unbelief and
die in unbelief. And that raises a lot of questions.
Why does God save this one and not that one? Why do some believe
and some not believe? Well, these are the kinds of
questions that are natural to us. It says, 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
the prudent, and you've revealed them, you've revealed these things
unto babes. Now, immediately what Christ
does, he prays to his Father thanking him for his sovereign
work. God is sovereign in the salvation
of sinners and in the damnation of sinners. And I know people
don't like to hear that, but that's what the Bible teaches.
You can read classic passages like Romans chapter nine, for
example. God is the potter, we're the
clay. And I know people, you know,
we have a human rationale that we kind of lean on a little bit
too much because we try to figure out God's mysterious ways and
his purposes. Why does God do this and why
does God do? Well, Christ says, I thank thee,
O Father, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and
the prudent. Well, who are the wise and the prudent? Well, he's
talking about unbelievers. who in some way have figured
out their own way of salvation that is opposed to God's way
of salvation. And he says, you've revealed
them unto babes. Who are these babes? Well, they
are God's children made humble by the Spirit through the preaching
of the word to know that their whole salvation is in Christ
and not in themselves. When he talks about a babe, he's
not talking about somebody who's ignorant or who has no mental
capacity. What he's talking about is a
person, just like a baby. You know, we've got a new granddaughter.
Well, she is, and you all, you've had children, you have grandchildren.
Those babes are totally dependent upon the parents for their physical
well-being. If they didn't have the parents,
they'd die. And that's what the baby is here. It's a sinner who's
been made aware of his sin, his depravity, his spiritual deadness,
the fact that he cannot do anything in order to attain or earn or
gain salvation. That he's totally, completely
dependent upon the grace and the power and the goodness of
God for all salvation. For the beginning of it, the
end of it, and everything in between. That's the babe. But he's hidden these things
from the wise and the prudent. Now these things, he's talking
about the things of the gospel. The things that reveal the glory
of the person of Christ. Who Christ is. He's God, manifest
in the flesh. He's the Messiah. He's the Lord
our righteousness. He's everything to his people. Christ is all and in all. The
power of his finished work. What did he accomplish on Calvary's
cross? He accomplished the salvation
of his people whom God gave to him before the foundation of
the world. That's why he said, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. He said this is the will of him
that sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing. but raise it up again at the
last day. And so when we talk about these things, we're talking
about the gospel that by nature is so offensive to all of us.
And so when you look at this line of demarcation here, here's
the wise and the prudent and here's the babes. What we have
to understand if we believe the Bible is this, we are all by
nature wise and prudent in our own eyes. That's how we start
out, as unbelievers. As one person said one time,
he said, we all think we're saved before we're saved until we're
saved. And that's what a wise and prudent
person is here. They're not wise in the things
of the Lord, by nature. We're all born spiritually dead.
We're all born in darkness. That's why we have to be saved
by grace. That's why we have to be born
again. Christ said you must be born again or you can't see the
kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. You can't enter the kingdom
of God. He says the natural man receiveth
not the things of the spirit of God, neither can he know them.
And the natural man is the unregenerate person. That's how we're born.
Naturally, fallen in Adam, spiritually dead, depraved, not knowing,
not wanting, not desiring, none righteous, no not one, none that
doeth good, none that seeketh after God. That describes all
of us by nature. That's why we need salvation.
But in our own eyes, we consider ourselves to be wise in the ways
of God. The Bible says there's a way
that seemeth right in the eyes of men, but it's a way of death. And that's what we all think
by nature. We think salvation in some way, at some stage, in
some degree, is conditioned on ourselves. And we think we've
attained it when we've met certain conditions that in our minds
seem wise and prudent. It means an intellectual, somebody
who's knowledgeable. Oh, I know the way. Well, we
don't know the way until God reveals himself to us. We think
we know the way. That's the wise and the prudent. And here's the point. If God
leaves us in that state, we'll die in unbelief and be damned
forever. But God has a people. And he
reveals himself, he revealed them unto babes. Who are these
babes? They are those whom, they're
God's elect, Christ's sheep, his brethren, his church, chosen
before the foundation of the world, given to Christ. Christ
died for them and he sends the spirit to reveal himself to them. And what he does, he reveals
himself to show us our sin and depravity, and he brings us to
the point to where we see we have absolutely no hope of salvation
in ourselves. We come to the point to know
that if salvation were conditioned on us, we'd be damned forever. He brings us to the point like
he brought that publican. Remember the Pharisee and the
publican? The Pharisee's standing up in
his self-righteousness. I thank God I'm not like other
men. I've done this and I haven't done that. See, that's the wise
and the prudent. But the publican, remember what
he did? He beat upon his breast and he said, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And that word merciful there
is the word propitious, propitiation, propitiation, which is a sin-bearing
sacrifice that brings satisfaction to God's justice. Well, who is
that? That's Christ. He's the mercy
seat. Remember the mercy seat in the
tabernacle in the temple that covered the Ark of the Covenant?
That's a type of Christ. And the blood had to be sprinkled
by the high priest on the mercy seat. That's the blood of Christ.
Salvation is by grace. That means it's unearned. That
means it's undeserved. Now, why did God reveal himself
to some and not to others? Well, look at verse 26. He says,
even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. That's the
answer. Right there. It's God's sovereign
choice. And Romans nine speaks of that.
You see, look over there at Romans chapter nine just for a moment. God doesn't save some because
they're better than others, because they've done something more,
or that they've met certain conditions. Remember when he uses the example
of Jacob and Esau in verse 13 of Romans nine? Now listen to
what he says here. He says, as it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now God's hatred is not the evil
hatred that resides in us. His hatred is his justice against
sinners to whom sin is charged, whom sin is imputed. And here's
the point that he's making here in Romans nine. He loved Jacob. Did Jacob deserve God's love?
Did Jacob do anything to earn God's love? Absolutely not. It's
free, unconditional love, 1 John 4, 10. Herein is love, not that
we love thee, God, but that he loved us and gave his son to
be the propitiation for our sins. Did Esau deserve God's hatred? Yes, he did. Do we deserve God's
hatred? Yes, we do. Have we earned God's
hatred? Yes, we have. Why? Because we're
sinners. That's right. That's why salvation
is not a matter of what we deserve or what we've earned. Salvation
is a matter of God's grace, God's righteousness at Christ's expense,
God's redemption. And so he goes on, look here,
he says, verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness
with God? Is God unjust to love Jacob and
to hate Esau? Is he unfair? Here's your answer,
verse 14 of Romans 9. God forbid. Verse 15, for he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. That's
God's prerogative. He's God. He's the potter. We're the clay. And he says,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So what's the conclusion? Verse 16. So then it is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. It's not by the will of men that
we're saved. Because if God left it to ourselves,
none of us would will to be saved God's way. Men and women want salvation,
but by nature we want it our own way. That way that seems
right, but it's a way of death. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. So God brings his people by the
power of Christ through the spirit under the preaching of the word
to be brought down and humbled. just like a babe to show that
we have no hope in ourselves. We're totally dependent upon
Christ to save us, to keep us, and to bring us to glory. God
requires righteousness, doesn't he? The Bible says in Acts 17
31 that he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world
in righteousness. You ask the average person out
here who claims to be a Christian, do you have to be righteous to
go to heaven? And they'll say yes. Well, how righteous do you
have to be? Well, you just gotta do your
best, or you gotta do this, or you gotta be sincere, you gotta
try. No. How righteous do you have to
be to go to heaven? You've gotta be perfect. Perfect. I had a man, I was telling a
man that one time, he looked at me, his eyes got real big,
he said, well, nobody can do that. And I said, that's right,
that's why salvation's by grace and not by works. But God has
appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. Well, what is the standard of
righteousness? He said he will judge the world
in righteousness by that man whom he hath appointed. in that he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. It's
Christ. Christ is the end, the finishing,
the fulfillment, the completion, the perfection of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth, believeth in him. I've got to be as righteous as
Christ. Well, how can I do that? Only as I stand before God washed
in his blood, forgiven of all my sins by his blood, and clothed
in his righteousness. That's his righteousness imputed,
charged, accounted to me. That's what the gospel is, the
revelation of the righteousness of God. So even so, Father, it
seemed good in thy sight. Well, whatever seems good in
God's sight is good. Whatever God does is right. Abraham
said it. Abraham said it when the Lord
was about to bring judgment upon Sodom, but out of Sodom he was
gonna save Abraham's nephew Lot, one of God's elect. And he said
this, he said, shall not the judge of all the earth do right?
Now you mark it down. You read the Bible, and you might
see some things that'll perplex you about God's dealings with
men. You might come up and say, well, that just seems unfair
to me. That just doesn't seem right to me. Well, that's to
you. But in God's sight, it's good. And you mark it down. Whatever God does is right and
just and fair and good. He's God. Now, that's what most
people don't want to understand or don't want to accept. They
wanna accept that God, he's in this box that I've made for him,
but that's not the way. Well, look at verse 27. He says,
all things are delivered unto me of my Father. All things in
providence, all things in creation, all things in salvation are in
the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son incarnate. God the
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, in Christ dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And it's all in his hands. And you know what that tells
me? I wanna be in his hands. I wanna be upon his shoulders.
I want to be found. You know what, Paul said it in
Philippians chapter three, oh that I may know him and be found
in him, Christ, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ, even
the righteousness of God, which is by faith, which we receive
in the power of the Spirit under the gospel. But we find this,
that long before this world was created, God had already charged
the sins of his chosen people to Christ. Gave us to Christ. Paul speaks of it in 2 Timothy
chapter one verses nine and 10. He talks about a salvation, listen
to this, and we won't turn there, but look, a salvation that was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And it's not that God looked
down through a telescope of time. James and Jackson, God had brought
you by revelation to a saving knowledge of Christ. He didn't
look down through the telescope of time and foresee that you
guys would do something good. That's not how he did it. He
chose you before the foundation of the world just like he did
Jacob. That's God's prerogative. So he says in verse 27, all things
are delivered unto me and my Father. And listen to this now.
No man knoweth the Son but the Father. Now what does that mean?
You're not gonna know the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
as your Redeemer, as your Savior, as your righteousness, except
as the Father reveals him in his word. Who is Jesus Christ? What did
he do? Why did he do it? Where is he
now? Is he coming again? Now, if you're
gonna answer those questions, you better go to God's word.
Because that's how the Father reveals him. Who is he? He's
God, manifest in the flesh. He's not a lesser God. He's the
true and living God, equal with the Father and the Spirit in
every attribute of deity. And yet he's sinless humanity,
sinless man. The word made flesh dwelling
among us. That's the kind of person it
took to save us from our sins. He had to have the power to give
life. Well, man doesn't have that power,
but God does and he is God. And then he had to die because
the wages of sin is death. In order to satisfy justice on
behalf of his people, he had to shed his blood. He had to
die. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission,
forgiveness of sins. Justice had to be satisfied.
God's gonna be honored and glorified. That's why Paul wrote, God forbid
that I should glory, boast, except in the cross. That's Christ crucified,
risen from the dead. And that's what it's all about.
So what did he do? As man, he died on that cross
to save us from our sins. And so in that transaction, what
did he do? He saved his people from their
sins because in that transaction, he made an end of sin, he finished
the transgression, and he brought in everlasting righteousness.
The only thing that enables God to be both a just God and a savior. And there's the glory of God.
He saved his people. And then, why did he do it? For
the glory of God. Read John 17. That's what he's
talking about. I have glorified thee, I have
finished the work which ye gave me to do. That's the glory of
God. Where is he now? Well, he died,
he was buried, but he arose again, and he's now seated at the right
hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us.
So the Father reveals him. Now look at verse 27 again. Neither
knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. Turn to John chapter six. You're
not going to know God as a heavenly Father a merciful, loving father,
except as he reveals Christ to you. Because apart from Christ,
now think about this, apart from Christ, God is not a loving,
heavenly father. Apart from Christ, God is a righteous,
wrathful judge. But in Christ, he's both a righteous,
wrathful judge and a merciful, loving, heavenly father. And
look at John six and verse 44. Christ says here, no man can
come to me except the father which has sent me draw him. And
I'll raise him up at the last day. Now how does the father
draw his people? He makes them babes now, remember?
He reveals himself. Verse 45, it is written in the
prophets, they shall be all taught of God. God teaches us by revelation
through his word. He teaches us who he is. He teaches
us who we are. And then he teaches us who Christ
is. Look at it. Every man therefore
that hath heard, that's the spiritual hearing given by the spirit,
faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God, and hath
learned of the Father. We mean learn of the Father.
You learn through the gospel how God can be both a just and
righteous judge and honor his law, honor his holiness, as well
as a loving, merciful, heavenly Father who saves sinners. Learning
of the Father. And when you learn of the Father,
he says, cometh unto me. That's who comes to Christ. Go
back to Matthew 11 now. So, he follows it up in these
famous verses that most people know. Look at verse 28. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Salvation is coming
to Christ. And the rest that he's provided
by his work in his obedience unto death on the cross to save
us from our sins. Laboring. Sinners laboring under
the law, trying to save themselves. Heavy laden, a burden. The law
lays upon you and me a burden that we cannot bear. It requires
perfection. Paul wrote about it in Romans
chapter three. Listen to this. He says, verse
19 of Romans 3. Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
God. That's what the law does. Therefore
by deeds of the law, by your works, there shall no flesh be
justified made right, forgiven, declared righteous, in God's
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law condemns. That's right. And that's why
he says labor and are heavy laden. But he said, I'll give you rest.
What is that rest? That's in his law keeping. His
obedience unto death. The sorrow and the suffering
and the dying that he did, it's all his work. The word rest here
is not a word that we find in the New Testament that is commonly
translated Sabbath, even though Christ is our Sabbath rest. You
can read about that in Hebrews chapter four. See, our Sabbath
is not a day under the new covenant. Our Sabbath is Christ. We rest
in him. We cease from our labors trying
to save ourselves and we rest in his finished work. That's
what that Sabbath pictured even in the Old Testament. But he
said, I'll give you rest. It's the rest and the peace and
the assurance that comes from resting in Christ and his finished
work. And then he says in verse 29,
take my yoke upon you and learn of me. When God the Holy Spirit
saves us by grace, gives us that revelation that drives us to
Christ, we're joined to him like a yoke, like a yoke of oxen,
a team pulling together. And we're joined with Christ
and we learn of him. We grow in grace and knowledge
of him. He says, for I am meek and lowly
in heart. That's his humanity. He humbled himself. That's why
he tells us to humble ourselves. We're not humble, you know, humility
is not natural to us. The very moment that I say that
I want my way and the heck with everybody else, that shows you
my humility. But he humbles us to know that
we have no hope of salvation but in him. And you shall find
rest unto your souls. Rest and peace and assurance. What does the Bible say? He is
at perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And then he says,
for my yoke is easy. Now that's not saying that the
Christian life is an easy life, it's not. It's a struggle. We're
in a warfare with the flesh, the world, the flesh, and the
devil. And the biggest war we have is within ourselves. Fighting
sin. Paul described it in Romans 7.
But it's easy in this sense. The victory is already won. Christ, the struggles we have
on this earth in the flesh, if we're in Christ and believe in
him, the victory's won. Paul said, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
my Lord. He said in the world you'll have
tribulation, but he said be of good cheer. I've overcome the
world. And he's already put down the
devil, and he says my burden is life. The burden that Christ
puts upon his people is not a burden of legalism or a burden of law
that says if you're not doing, you're dying. Or if you don't
meet up to this one or that one, you're gonna die or gonna go
to hell or you're gonna lose your reward. That's not the burden,
that's a heavy burden. The burden he gives us is a burden
of grace and love and gratitude. And the reason it's a burden
to us in that sense is because we're still so full of self-love,
self-preservation. Our rights, you know, we wanna
assert our rights. But that burden of love and grace
and gratitude, what does it tell us? It tells us love God and
love your neighbors, love your brethren. What a struggle, but
it's a light burden because it's not something we're trying to
do in order to be saved. It's something that we do because
we love him and his people, we love his word, Our salvation
is already secure and certain in the person and work of Christ,
and we're joined to him and certain to enter heaven's glory by his
merits alone. Okay.