I want to begin reading in verse
20, Matthew chapter 11 and verse 20. If you don't have your Bibles
with you and you'd like to follow along, we've got some there in
the pews. Then began He, the Lord Jesus
began to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were
done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Charazin! 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 you, Capernaum, which are
exalted unto heaven, shall 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 you.' And at that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in your sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knows the Son but the Father. Neither
knows any man the Father except the Son. and He to Whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him. Come unto Me, all you 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
you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and
My burden is light. In verse 20, our Lord Jesus tells
us that He had bestowed a great amount of labor upon these cities. He went from place to place,
often without proper rest, often without sufficient food, and
preached to multitudes in these cities. It was said of Him that
He went about doing good. He went about, day and night,
doing good. And in chapter 11 here in verses
4 and 5, we are told of some of these mighty works which He
did. Look at it. He answered John's disciples
and said, Go show John again those things which you hear and
see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, the deaf hear, The dead are raised, and the
poor have the gospel preached unto them." This is some of the
mighty works that Jesus had did in these cities around about
the place where He lived. Truly, He was a servant. Nobody but the Lord Himself could
have performed the miracles that He did. And yet, He was a servant. Not only the servant of God,
But He served men. He did good to the children of
men. And His presence here, He tells
among them, and His mighty acts of mercy towards them put them
at a great advantage. This place, these cities that
He talks about, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, and Chorazin, These
are the cities close to where he lived. He often stayed here
and fished here upon the sea coast of Tiberias. And this is
where he did these mighty works. And he tells them here that this
puts you at a great advantage, having my presence among you,
and seeing these mighty acts that I've done. But then he tells
them that their advantage also laid upon them a greater responsibility
because they had indeed witnessed these miracles. They had saw
Him. They had heard His voice. And
their responsibility and their neglect, in spite of their privileges,
in spite of disadvantages, had not changed their hearts. All the mighty acts that they
saw, did not work a change in their hearts. So He begins here
to rebuke them. He begins to chide them. He begins
to confront them. And He says, because they repented
not. Their hearts were never changed. You know the Scripture teaches
us that God is good to all. that His mercies are over all
His works, that you and I see Him every day of our life, that
it's God that wakens us up every morning, it's Him that sends
His Son upon the good and the evil, the rain upon the just
and the unjust, It's the Lord who gives us all the fruitful
seasons we have. It's the Lord that fills our
hearts with gladness. And above all this, it's the
Lord that sends the good news of the gospel among us. You know
everybody don't have the gospel. All nations don't have the gospel
this morning. But what a blessing it is that
the Lord has granted us the gospel of salvation. To have men this
morning that will stand in the pulpit, called of the Lord, burned
of Him with this message, to get up in the pulpit and say,
to you is born the Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Preaching
peace by the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing what the goodness
of God has been manifested upon us this morning. Only the judgment
will tell, brothers and sisters, all the labor that the Lord has
bestowed upon humanity. Not only Him rising up early
and sending His preachers, but what He's done in Providence.
You and I are here this morning. We're enjoying a measure of health.
Most of us have jobs. Most of us have our livings made.
We don't have to worry about anything, do we? Who has given
us everything that we have? It's the Lord. How good that
He's been. And verse 20 would tell us in
the light of all of this, this is not only for God's glory,
but He has an end in mind. His goodness is manifested to
lead men to repentance. To lead men to repentance. And verse 20 tells us here that
where this repentance is neglected, or as these, despised it, then
the Lord takes notice of that. Then He begins to rebuke. Then
he begins to confront those who have abused his goodness and
have not repented. Goodness and mercies are bestowed
upon us that our hearts may be turned to the One who bestowed
it, to the Lord, to awaken us to our sins, our ingratitudes,
our neglects, and bring from us a thorough confession that
we sinned against our God, that we've abused His mercies. The
goodness of God is meant not only to bring glory to His name,
but it's meant to lead men and women to repentance, to humble
themselves before Him. And where this goodness fails
to change us, This goodness gives way to rebukes and threatenings
and even pending judgments. We're told here that He began
to upbraid the cities, great cities, occupied cities of men
and women that had abused the goodness of the Lord. In verse
21 and verse 22, He gives an example of this. Woe unto thee, he says to Raisin,
woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works that had
been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sodom, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. These two places here
we know were close to where our Lord lived. They were on the
sea coast of Tiberia where our Lord fished. The Lord Jesus often
preached here. Here is where He did many of
His miracles. Tyre and Saddam, these were cities in the northern
part of Israel. As far as we know, the Lord Jesus
never visited this place. So He says here in verse 22 that
Chorazin and Bethsaida would have been better off in regards
to their eternal well-being. if they had never experienced
the presence of the Master, if they had never saw the mighty
acts that He had done. Is that not what He said? Woe
to you, Sher Rosen! Woe to you, Bethsaida! It would
have been much better for you to be a Sodom and a Tyre, a place
that I never visited a place that saw none of my mighty acts,
than to be here, to see and to hear, and yet not have a change
of heart. Better for them never to have
looked in the eyes of that man who was blind, whose eyes the
Lord Jesus had opened. Better never to have heard the
dumb's loosened tongue praising the Lord Jesus Christ. better
to have never seen the lame to walk, better to have never seen
the leopard cleansed and the dead to be raised, than to witness
these things and not to have a change of heart towards the
Lord, never to be humbled in repentance. I stand before you
this morning, brothers and sisters, my dear lost friend, and I tell
you, I'm a leper that has been cleansed. And Jesus did it. I'm a man who was dead in trespasses
and sins. And Jesus Christ came to me and
gave me life. I'm a man that was lame in both
feet and could not walk. And He healed me. Now I'm a follower
of God. I'm a man that could not hear.
And he unstopped my ears. I heard the voice of the shepherd. And there are others here that
can testify of this very fact that I have. And you should receive
our testimony. The Master has been among us. We cannot deny that. Jesus Christ
has visited this place. And nobody has any reason to
deny it. The evidence is clear. But for
those who refuse the evidence, for those who will not be changed
in the face of the facts, the truth, it would have been better
for you never to have walked through those doors. It would
have been better for you to have never known us. It would have
been better for you to never hear our testimony of what Jesus
Christ did for us, than having heard it, never to have your
heart changed. It would have been better to
have been born in a foreign country, lived in a foreign country, where
the gospel was never preached, where the power of the gospel
was never felt in the heart, than to be among God's saints
and to have them tell you that Christ is here, the Son of God
has visited us and has done a great work in our heart, and yet your
heart is not changed by it. Better, he said, Chorazin, better,
Bethsaida, for you to live on the outskirts of this nation
where I never visited, never saw any of my mighty works did
there, than to be in my presence and to witness my mighty acts,
and yet not to have a change of heart." The Lord takes notice. And in verses 23 and verse 24,
the Lord even goes farther. Look what He says here. Neglecting
and refusing to repent in the light of such goodness, in the
light of such mighty acts, is judged of the Lord Jesus Christ
to be worse than open and profane sins. See what He says? Verse 23, Thou Capernaum, which art exalted into heaven,
you'll be brought down to hell if the mighty works which have
been done in you had been done in Sodom. It would have remained
unto this day, but it shall be more tolerable for the land of
Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." Spiritual sins,
a refusal to repent in the face of such clear evidence is a greater
sin than the open and profane sins that you found down in Sodom. Open fornication. Open homosexuality. And here the Lord condemns Capernaum
more than He does them. You remember one of the things
that took place at Capernaum. That's where that wonderful,
the greatest message that has ever been preached in this world
was preached at Capernaum. John chapter 6, I am the bread
that comes down from heaven. He that eateth me hath everlasting
life. My flesh is meat indeed, my blood
is drink indeed. He that eateth me shall never
die. Peter said these are words of
life, life eternal. And you remember what those at
Capernaum did? They went away and walked with
Him no more at all. And the Lord Jesus never confronted
them there. We never read that He said anything
about it there in John chapter 6. But here He confronts them.
Here He says, Capernaum, you were exalted unto heaven. You
had heaven come down in your presence. and preached the gospel
to you, and yet your heart was not changed." And he said, those
men down in Sodom are better off than you are. And in the
day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for them than for you. Listen to these passages of Scripture.
We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word
spoken by angels were steadfast, and every single transgression
and every sin received a just recompense or reward, how shall
we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" This is what these
men at Capernaum had did. They are neglected repentance. They are neglected in the face
of these mighty acts to humble themselves and seek the Lord. The Lord Jesus teaches us in
these verses that where repentance is neglected in the face of such
goodness, in the face of such mercy, in the face of such evidence,
The more severe the judgment will be upon those who do so. What could be more severe than
the judgment that came upon Sodom? The Scripture says they suffered
the vengeance of eternal fire. What could be more severe than
that? I don't know. Lest it would be this conscience,
this worm that gnawed upon a person's conscience. Can you imagine this
morning being in hell and never hearing the gospel? At least you would have a little
ease in your conscience. But to be in hell knowing the
Son of God was in your midst? To be in hell having someone
to preach the gospel to you? To go in there in the face of
such mercy, in the face of such goodness? How the conscience
would tar me in a person. Is this not the worm that never
dies? Gnawing upon the conscience?
Oh, you fool, the conscience will say. How foolish! You hadn't an opportunity. Why
did not you humble yourself and seek the Lord in repentance? In the face of such evidence,
in the face of such goodness, the goodness of God, the mercies,
the mighty acts of the Lord that was right among you, you hardened
your heart. You neglected to repent. And
now you've got nobody to blame but yourself. And blame yourself
you will. for all eternity. For all eternity. Why did I not repent? Why did
I not seek the Lord? Let's see something else in this
message that our Lord Jesus preached, and it's this. He tells us here
that both He Himself, that is, the Son of God, and God the Father
are discriminated They're discriminating. All of us know what that means,
don't we? They discriminate. The Son of God discriminates
in the works that He does. The Father discriminates in His
saving mercies, in His revelations of love and grace. I don't know
of anything in God, the triune God, that so stirs up the enmity
of the human heart. as this whole notion that God
discriminates. He makes a distinction between
one and another. And it's His prerogative to do
that, you see. He did that before the foundation
of the world when He chose those He was going to save. He discriminated. He's discriminating now. We see
it here in this passage. He'll discriminate on the Day
of Judgment. when all nations are gathered
before Him. He separates them, the one from
another, as the shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. He
discriminates. He made a difference between
Egypt and Israel. We have these two beautiful examples
here. In verse 21, could the Lord Jesus
have brought Tyre and Sidon to repent? Did you see that as I
read that? Tyre and Saddam weren't very
far away. He could have walked there. He
walked farther than that before. And he said, if I had been pleased,
I could have went to Tyre and Saddam and did these mighty acts,
and they would have repented. Could he brought those two cities
to repentance? Of course he could. He says he
could have. Then the question is this, why
didn't he? And for that, brothers and sisters,
you'll have to ask him. I don't know. The fact is he
said he could have did it. And he did not do it. He discriminated. He did to one what he refused
to do to another. And here in verse 23, Could the Lord have so worked
upon the hearts of those Sodomites? Could He have brought them from
their sins in such a manner that He would have not destroyed them?
Verse 23 says He could have. He could have done mighty deeds
there. He could have so worked. Instead of destroying them, He
could have been like He did to Nineveh. He could have brought
them to repentance. Could He have not have done that?
That's what he says. But he didn't. What does that
tell us about the Son of God? He discriminates. Have not I
chosen you? But note this about these mighty
works. It's His works. It's His works of goodness. His
works of mercy. His works of power. And He's
right. It's His right. It's His prerogative
to manifest them to some and withhold them from others. It's
His work. It's His mighty acts. Shall I
not do what I will with my own? It's my works. It's my mercy. It's my goodness. And He says
here in verse 25 concerning the Father, this is what the Lord
Jesus testified of the Father. What kind of a God is God? He
discriminates. And look here how the Lord Jesus
put it. I thank Thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from
the wise and prudent. You have hid what things? Well,
He's hid the Gospel. He's hid it in His heart. He's
hid it in His Word. Oh, it's there. It's there. But they don't have eyes to see
it. It's so plain. But the God of this world hath
blinded the minds of them that believe not. God has hid it from
them. And this is the way He hides
it from them. Just not giving them eyes to
see. But does He reveal it to anybody?
Yes. He has another group, He reveals
it too. And who are they? Babies! The
ignorant, the common, the dependent, the helpless, the weak. You see
your calling, brethren. Not many wise men after the flesh
are called. God doesn't call many men like
that. Who does He call? The poor. The nobody. The babies. The ignorant. The unlearned. He discriminates. God discriminates. And the only reason that He does
that, we're told here in verse 26, the Lord Jesus Himself tells
us, Even so, Father, for it seems good in thy sight. The world rages about this discriminating
grace. God withholding from some what
He gives to others. And yet the Lord Jesus here,
He thanks the Father for. Brothers and sisters, it's good
in the Father's sight that He does this. And if it's good in
His sight to discriminate, then it's good And who among us or anybody in
this world could find fault and evil with that which is good
in the Father, Son? In this parallel passage, our
Master said it like this. He said, Father, I thank Thee. And the Scripture says He rejoiced
in spirit. He rejoiced in spirit. What's your hope this morning,
dear soul? Is it not in this that God is a discriminating
God? I'm the only one in my family
that I know of that knows the Lord. Many of you probably here
this morning could say the very same thing. The only one. I don't know if the Lord is going
to save any more of my family or not. I pray He will. I testify
to Him to that end. But don't you praise Him for
His discriminating grace? Why are you saved this morning?
Why did He reveal to you? Why did He give you eyes to see?
The ear and ear and the seeing eye is of the Lord. Why you? He discriminates. And what the
world hates in Him, you will not love in Him. What the world
sees as cutting off their hope, you and I see, is the only hope.
God discriminates. He didn't have to do any mighty
acts to anybody. He didn't have to reveal the
gospel to anybody. Praise God that He did. He gives a reason here for doing
this. His right to do it. The rights of the Son to do it. How can He discriminate? How
can He do that? Look in verse 25 again. Here's
what the Lord Jesus said. I thank Thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth. That's why He can do it. Who
is He? He's Lord. You know what that
word means. Mister. Mister. There's one being in this universe
that everybody's going to call Mister. And that's the everlasting
God. That's the Father. He's the Mister. He's the Sir. He's the Sovereign. The Lord of heaven and the Lord
of this earth. He has a right, you see. And
what He says of the Son. The Son Himself discriminates.
And look what he says of the Son in verse 27. All things are
delivered unto me of my Father. All things are delivered to me
of my Father. The whole governorship of this
world? Yes. All power in heaven and in earth? Yes. The whole administration
of the kingdom of grace? Yes. The Father hath put all
things under His feet and gave Him to be head. He's the head. He's the Lord of glory. He has
the right. All power. All power. Brothers
and sisters, let me ask you this question this morning. Would you rather these things be in your hands Would you rather
it be in your will? Would you rather your will be
the determining factor? We had our will back there in
the garden. How did we handle that? Do you remember that? How
did that work out for us? We had our free will. We had
our free will there at the judgment hall. Remember that? Pilate delivered
Christ unto their will. How did that go? This is the
only hope any man has. The Father in heaven, He's Lord.
Everything's been delivered unto the hands, the power, the authority
of Jesus Christ. That's the only hope that any
man has. He makes this wonderful statement
here in verse 27. And I don't know how better to
explain this but read Read two or three people's comments on
it. No man knows the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any
man the Father, but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. Albert Barnes said this about
this passage. No man knows the Father, but
the Son. Such is the nature of the Son
of God. Such is the mystery of the union
between the divine and human nature, such is His exalted character,
His attributes, that no mortal can fully know Him." No mortal can fully know Him.
Ain't that amazing? I pretty much know you, and you
pretty much know me. I know all I want to know about
Clarence, and Clarence knows all he wants to know about me.
See what I'm saying? But there is one. There is one
that you and I know so little about. He's so glorious. He's so beautiful. He's so trustworthy. He's so
truthful. All of his attributes, He is
such a person in His divinity and in His human nature, such
a glorious person. Nobody can fully know Him except
the Father. You know what Paul said? Paul
knew Him better than anybody. And you know what Paul said?
Oh, that I may know Him. That I may know Him. There's
only One that knows Him, and that's the Father. We'll spend
eternity in heaven learning about Him. His love, His kindness,
the depths of what He's did for us, how effectual His work is,
His faithfulness in bringing us through all these dark valleys
and up Ever Hill, His wisdom in guiding us to that end. But
He'll take us all eternity to learn just a little more about
Him than we know now. The depths, the breadth, the
length and the height passeth knowledge. Only the Father knows
the Son. John Gill said this, The transcendent
glories, the perfection of His nature as the Son of God, nor
the whole of His work, His office as mediator, or all that is committed
to His charge, All that He was sent to do? All that He suffered
for His people? All that He has done for them? All that He will communicate
to them and give to them? No man knows the depths of this
but the Father only. Neither knoweth any man the Father
except the Son. Now what a statement is that?
God is the Spirit. He is an eternal holy, incomprehensible
being. And yet here was this man, the
Son of Mary, the Son of God, and he says, I know the Father
perfectly. I know Him in His eternal being. I was with Him before the world
was. I know His heart. I know His mind. I know Him in
His eternal perfections, in all His attributes, His will, His
purposes. I know everything about Him,
and I know Him perfectly." What a statement! What a statement! John Brown said this, what a
saying is this, that the Father and the Son are mutually and
exclusively known one to another. A higher claim to equality with
the Father cannot be conceived. Either we have here one of the
most revolting assumptions ever uttered, or we have here the
proper divinity of Jesus Christ, which is beyond dispute. If He knows the Father, as He
says He knows Him, then He must be God Himself. Here we have it. Here we have
it. The salvation of any individual
is wrapped up in this one thing. God's choice. God's will. No man can know anything except
God wills to reveal it to him. We have to know the Father. This
is life eternal to know Him. Who knows Him? Whomsoever the
Son wills to reveal Him. Our destiny, brothers and sisters,
is not in our own hands. We are not the captain of our
fate. We may make our own damnation
sure, but we cannot save ourselves. And here you and I sat this morning,
poor, miserable, fallen creatures. We're looking at such marvelous
scriptures. Are you concerned this morning?
Are you somewhat burdened about all of this? When you hear that
after all, God is God, Have you come to the understanding
in your heart that you have indeed procrastinated? That you've not humbled yourself?
You've not sought Him in repentance? You've even despised His goodness? Are you concerned about these
things? I've been preaching to you this morning. How do you
feel in your heart? Do you hear these things and
you feel like you just want to lay down in despair? It would
be presumptuous of me to think that God would be pleased and
would will to save me. I know it's His prerogative,
but look what I am. Look what I've done. Look how
I've despised His goodness. And you're tempted just to sit
down and despair about it all. Is that the way you feel? But here's the way the Lord Jesus
closes His message. He preached to us about these
wonderful, humbling truths. And now He closes His message
this way. Verse 28. Come unto Me. Come unto Me. Are you concerned
with these things? Is your soul heavy? Are these
heavy things to you? Are you troubled? Are you weary?
Come unto Me, he says. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I will give you rest. I study some of these things
and see these wolves. See the Lord's discrimination. Am I among the chosen few? Would
He ever look in my direction? And I'll be honest with you,
sometimes my heart grows doubtful and heavy. But I tell you where
I find rest about it all. I come to Jesus. I come to Him in my doubts. I
come to Him in my fears, in my heaviness, in my guilt, in my
confusion about it all, my questions. I come to Him Come to Me. There's where your
doubts will be removed. There's where you'll find rest
for your soul. Come unto Me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There are some people trying
their best to figure these things out. They've quit coming to the service.
They've got to get all of this straightened out first. I've got to know what God's doing,
what He's like. You know what the Scripture calls
a person like that? A prudent person, in a very negative
way. A prudent person has to figure
everything out first. And then once they've got everything
figured out, then they can act upon it. The Lord don't call
prudent people. He just calls people that says,
yes, I'm a sinner. I'm going to hell. I need a Savior. God has a Savior, then I'm coming. I'm coming in spite of everything
I've done. I'm coming in spite of how I've
abused His mercies and His goodness. Come, come unto me, and I will
give you rest. I've quoted some commentaries.
Let me quote David. I think he's the best commentary
on this, and I'll close with this. David said this in Psalms 116. The sorrows of death come past
me. The pains of hell got hold upon
me. I found trouble, soul trouble. I found sorrow. Then I called
upon the name of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. I came
to Jesus Christ the Lord. weary, and worn, and sad, and
fearful, and doubtful, I came to Him. O Lord, I beseech Thee,
deliver my soul." What did David find? Well, he
says this, Gracious is the Lord, and righteous. Yea, our God is
merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple.
There it is. There's the babes. I was brought
low, and He helped me. Return unto your rest, O my soul,
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." Lord, You have delivered
my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Come to Christ. Come to Christ. Delay no longer. Come to Christ.
And I tell you what, when you do, you'll be so thrilled and
so happy and so amazed that the heart of this sovereign
Lord has been made known to you. And
you'll be astounded when He shows it to you. Because you know what
you'll see in this sovereign? You'll see a heart that's meek,
A heart that's gentle. A heart that's patient. A heart
that's lowly. And at the same time, you'll
bow to Him as your Lord and your Sovereign. You'll come and embrace
Him. And you'll not be afraid of approaching
unto Him because He's so good and He's so kind. And when He
tells you to do something, He won't be grievous to you. When
He tells you to go and preach and uphold His name and love
His people and do them good, you'll say, Lord, that's not
grievous. Is that the heaviest burden you've got? Your burdens
are so light. Your ways are so good. Come unto
Me. Don't leave this place this morning
without coming to Christ. I tell you what will go on in
heaven if you do. Just what I've told you this morning. Don't
think the Lord will say, Woe to you, and not say, Woe to you,
if you leave here this morning without coming to Christ. You
can't afford to leave here this morning. You can't afford to
open those doors and get in your car and leave this place without
coming to Christ. I'm telling you, you cannot.
He's watching. He's waiting. I'm not a bit afraid
to say that. He's given you space. He's revealed
His goodness. Humble yourself before Him and
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.