Matthew chapter 11, I want to
read beginning with verse 20. Verse 20, and read down through
the end of the chapter. Then began He, that is the Lord
Jesus, to abrade 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 thou, 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 unto 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, 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. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me,
all ye that labour 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 under your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is
light. I'd like this morning to say
a few things to you out of these verses here. There's a saying
that goes like this, what you don't know won't hurt you. Now, men say what you don't know
won't hurt you, but is this true? Is this really true? If a blind
man is walking toward a dangerous cliff, Is he better off not knowing
it than he would be knowing of it? If the food you're about
to eat is poisonous, are you better off if you don't know
that? If your house were to be engulfed in flames as you lie
sleeping, are you better off not knowing that the house is
on fire? If the punishment for sin is
eternal condemnation and separation from a holy God, are you better
off not knowing it? If God has provided all that
he's demanded of you, if God has given his son Thanks be unto
God for His unspeakable gift. The Lord Jesus Christ has been
given here in His love, not that we love God, but that God loved
us and gave His Son to be a satisfaction for our sins. If God has given
His Son to provide eternal redemption for us, If God has sent His Son
on the glorious mission that we have testified to you of His
coming, then, beloved, is it better that we not know it? Are
we better off not to know it than to know it? I say that we're
better off to know it. It is better that a man would
know Because, you know, the Bible says that eternal life is knowing
Christ. It's better that you know. And
the answer to all the questions that I asked this morning is
no. We'd be better off to know. I'd
be better off to know if I'm blind and I'm walking toward
a cliff. I'd be better off to know when
I sit down to a meal if the food is poisonous. I'd be better off
to know if the house is on fire. I'd like to know it. I don't
care what time day or night it is. I want to know it. Because
I believe that's exactly the way I can prepare and the way
I can miss the impending doom and judgment that's coming. And
if God has provided a way, a remedy for my sin, I want to know about
it. Because to know Christ is eternal
life. And the Bible says that salvation
is to know Him. It's to know Him. It's to know
Christ intimately in the heart. He's the only true God and we
must know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. We must be
brought to know something about ourselves. something about ourselves,
what sinners we really are, and to know God in Christ who said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. Now in this chapter
that I've read to you here this morning, I believe that our Lord
Jesus plainly declares four things which every gospel preacher must
constantly press upon the hearts of men. There are four things
that you need to know out of this portion of the Word of God
this morning. And I believe that even though if there be one of
you this morning that would continue on in your sin, continue on in
your rebellion against God, continue on and refuse not the message
of the gospel, And if you refuse the message of the gospel, then,
beloved, you'll go on into judgment and into hell. But you'll be
better off this morning if you just listen to what the word
of God says and take it to heart. You'll be better off. The first
thing is, we find in verses 20 through 24, the responsibility
of all who hear the gospel to repent and obey the gospel. Let's look at these verses, 20
through 24. Our Lord began to upbraid the cities wherein he
did most of his mighty works. Our Lord had been out doing good
among men, preaching the word of God. And those places where
he did his mighty works, where he performed miracles and healed
and did various things that showed that he was from God, that he
was that one who came down from heaven. He began to upbraid these
cities because they repented not. When they saw His mighty
works, when they saw testimony that this was God's Son, that
this was God in flesh, they repented not. not of their sin. They were
responsible to repent. You know, the Bible says that
God has commanded all men everywhere to repent, Acts 17 and 31. That's what God has commanded
men to do, is to repent. And he tells, in verse 21, he
says to Charazin, he says, Woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if
the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tar and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. So Chorazin and Bethsaida, they
had mighty works done in their cities. And he said, the Lord
Jesus said, that if these mighty works had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago and put on sackcloth
and ashes to demonstrate their brokenheartedness over their
sin. But you didn't repent, you were
responsible to, but you did not repent. But I say unto you, Tar
and Sidon, that it'll be more tolerable for Tar and Sidon at
the day of judgment than for you. I say to you, that is to
Charazin and Bethsaida, that it's gonna be more tolerable
for them, for Tar and Sidon that never saw these mighty works,
which were done in you, it's going to be more tolerable for
them in the day of judgment than for you. Because when you know
and when you see and hear, you become more responsible. You are responsible for your
soul and you must repent. I know that there are many preachers
that feel that they must separate and carefully define and explain
and apologize for different aspects of the gospel. But beloved, we
know that the gospel does not, there's one truth of the gospel
does not oppose another truth of the gospel. And men think
that they cannot be consistent and proclaim both. responsibility
of the sinner. But we believe that our Lord
teaches both. We believe that he teaches both.
And we believe today that because you have heard the gospel, you
have heard how that our Lord Jesus Christ has died in the
room instead and place of sinners. You've heard how that he is indeed
that one who is to be our representative before God, and that one who
does represent believing sinners before God, that you are responsible
to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 23
it teaches the same thing, verse 23 and 24, as we've been saying
already, that we are responsible, that man is responsible to hear
the gospel and to repent of his sin. Now the second thing, and
we are hurrying, the second thing that we learn here is that God,
in verses 25 and 26, that God from eternity has chosen to reveal
the gospel to some and to hide it from others according to his
own purpose of grace in election. Now we may mention the fact that
The truths of the gospel do not oppose one another. That sovereignty
and salvation and the responsibility of sinners, that these, both
of these truths are taught in the Bible and they do not contradict
each other. But God has from eternity chosen
to reveal the gospel to some and to hide it from others. Jesus
said, and he answered and said, O Father, I thank thee, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
those that supposedly know it all, from the wise and the prudent,
and you've revealed them unto those who who believe like little
children, who come like little children and believe the gospel. You reveal them unto the babes,
unto the babes, unto those whose hearts have been broken, those
who've come to see and understand that they don't know anything
in and of themselves, and they're not wise in themselves, and thou
hast made Christ to be wisdom unto them, unto the babes. But
these, the wise and the prudent, you've hid the gospel from them.
Now many, many, many people will not even try to explain that
verse of Scripture. I recently received from one
of my sisters, bless her heart, a Bible commentary Bible and
a commentary together from the Liberty School down in where
Jerry Falwell's the the administrator down in Virginia I think it's
Virginia and she sent me this big thick Bible and commentary
and And I was reading through some of their comments on these
verses. And you know the Bible is on this side, the scripture,
and on this side of the page is the commentary. And it was
amazing that I noticed on this particular chapter here, that
on this side of the page, when it comes to verse 25 and verse
27, verse 25 through 27, there's nothing over there. Just blank. There's a blank that wide there.
Well, they didn't put a thing in there saying a word about
these scriptures. They dare not take them on. They
dare not address what the Bible says. Now they've gone to seed
on one side, and there may be some others that have gone to
seed on the other side. And they don't know what the
Word of God has to say either about man being responsible to
hear the gospel and to repent of his sin. But the Bible makes
it clear here that the Lord is absolutely, totally sovereign
over those who come to understand His truth. And He says in verse
26, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. If
you come to salvation, it's because the Lord's brought you to it.
It's God's work. If you're blessed to believe,
then, beloved, it's because God has been pleased to give you
the gift of faith. This is His sovereign Good pleasure. And then we learn, thirdly, in
verse 27, that the Lord Jesus Christ is totally sovereign in
the salvation of sinners, giving life to whom He will. Look at
verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, and
neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him. This shows that not only, as
we read in verse 25, is God sovereign in hiding salvation from some
and revealing it to others, but that the Son has life in His
own hands, and that the Son of God is sovereign, and He reveals
the Father to whom He will. He reveals the Father to whomever,
whomsoever He will reveal Him. And so we see here, and I know,
and you know, that Jesus said, I and the Father are one, and
we know their wills are both the same, and we know that the
Father would will nothing that the Son would not agree with,
and we know that the Son would will nothing that would not be
in harmony with His own blessed Father's will. And so the scripture
says that Christ is sovereign. He says that nobody knows the
Son but the Father. You can't know Him. You don't
know Him until He's revealed to you, until He's made known
to your heart. You won't know Him. And then
he goes on to say that nobody knows the Father save the Son.
You can't know the Godhead unless the Godhead is pleased to reveal
itself. And thank God that the Father
and the Son has been revealed by and through the precious Holy
Spirit. All right, and then the fourth
thing that we see is in verses 28 through 30. All who come to
Christ will be saved by the free grace of God. And look at these
verses. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. I'll give
you rest. If you're a sinner here this
morning, if you're standing in a state of nature, lost, undone
before God for the want of faith and love in Christ, I tell you,
if you can come, if you come, grace makes you willing to come,
but if you can get to Christ, You'll find rest for your soul. You will find rest for your soul. And so those are the four things
that I think, that I think we're better off to know. Now some
people feel that, oh, a sinner, he shouldn't know anything about
election, but I think a sinner ought to know about election.
I think we ought to preach. what the Word of God says, and
just plainly lay it out, what the Word of God says, and leave
it in the Lord's hands to reveal His truth when He would reveal
it. Now our message is about Christ.
That's what it's all about. These verses here tell us that
if we come to Christ, that we'll find rest. That's where rest
is, is in the Lord Jesus. Now, there are so many things
that we'd like to say and so many directions that we might
like to take, but I think I'm going to handle this thing like
this. Spurgeon made this comment one
time about preaching Jesus Christ. I'd like to give you this. I
want you to listen carefully to what he says. He says, I would
never preach a sermon. He said, the Lord forgive me
if I do, which is not full to the overflowing with my master. I know one man who said I was
always on the same old string, and he would not come and hear
me preach anymore. But if I would preach a sermon
without Christ in it, then he would come. He would come and
listen to me. Ah, he says, he will never come. Wow, this tongue moves. For a
sermon without Christ in it is a Christless sermon. A Christless
sermon is as a brook without water. is as a cloud without
rain, as a well which mocks the traveler, a tree twice dead,
a sky without a sun, a night without a star. It were a realm
of death, a place for mourning for angels and laughing for devils. O Christian, we must have Christ
and we must preach Christ. We must have Him and we must
preach Him. Now then, there was an old lady
that Dr. Gordon told about, and let me
just give you this. He tells of this old Christian
woman, and she was up in age. I mean, she was ready to leave
this world. And when she was younger, she
had a very good memory, so she memorized a lot of the Bible. And then eventually, as she got
older, her mind began to decay, and she lost a lot of what she
remembered about the Bible. And eventually there was only
one precious bit of scripture that stayed with her, and that
was one of the verses that Alan read to us out of the book of
2 Timothy chapter 1. There, this morning, is verse
12, where Paul said, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day." And by and
by, even part of that verse slipped away from her, and she lost hold
of it, and she would quietly repeat, that which I have committed
unto him. She'd be heard saying that, that
which I have committed unto him. And at last, as she hovered on
the borderland between this life and the life to come, her loved
ones noticed that her lips were moving, and they bent down to
see if she was asking for something. And she was repeating over and
over again to herself the one word of the text, Him. Him. Him. She had lost the whole Bible
but one word. But she had the whole Bible in
that one word. Him. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now beloved, that's our message.
Christ. And you this morning that have
heard this word, you're responsible before God to repent of your
sin and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Dost thou believe
on the Son of God? Do you trust Christ in your heart? Believe on Him, and make confession
with your mouth unto salvation. Believe in your heart unto righteousness. Make confession with your mouth
unto salvation. Submit yourself for baptism. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I've commanded you to observe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you're able to come, you are so by divine grace. Come to the
Lord Jesus Christ in your heart. You don't have to move a muscle.
Just come to Him in your heart and believe on Him. The poet
said, wretched, ruined, helpless soul, To a Savior's blood apply. He alone can make thee whole.
Fly to Jesus, sinner, fly. Father, we thank you this morning
for this service, and while we've been brief, we thank you for
the privilege of being here today and having the blessings that
we receive from your hand. Do thou be pleased that Christ
would be believed upon today, and we know that it is your will
that those whom you've chosen come to faith. And I pray that
this day that thou will bring somebody out of sin's death bring
them into the life and liberty of the gospel, bring them into
full hope of eternal salvation. We ask your blessing now again
upon our brothers, he goes away, and pray that you may give him
journeying mercies unto that place where you, our Father,
have chosen to plant him for future life and service. And
may he be a blessing to others as he has been to us. And may
Christ, may he never lose his sweetheart love for the Lord
Jesus Christ because we pray it in his name and for his sake
alone. Amen.