Let's look back at this passage
of scripture which I read a moment ago in Matthew 11. Beginning in verse 20, our Lord
severely rebuked those cities in which he preached, those cities
in which he taught, and those cities in which he worked many,
many, many miracles. Down here in verse It says, now
Capernaum, that was one of the cities, Capernaum, Chorazin,
Bethsaida. But Capernaum, he said, which
are exalted into heaven. What happened at Capernaum? Well,
in Capernaum alone, our Lord cured the centurion's servant.
Remember the centurion who prayed for his servant? Our Lord healed
him. He healed Peter's mother-in-law.
He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead. This was in Capernaum
alone. He healed the woman with the
issue of blood who had been sick for so many, many, many years.
He opened the eyes of two blind men. He made a dumb man to speak. All of this was done in Capernaum.
And he said in verse 21 and 22, woe unto thee, Chorazin, woe
unto thee, Bethsaida, if the mighty works, the mighty gospel,
the works that were done and the gospel preached, which are
done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, in those wicked
cities, they would have repented. And I say unto you, it will be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for
you." Now, these are the words of the Master. And they indicate
clearly that life increases responsibility. It'll be easier, it'll be more
tolerable for Sodom and Tyre and Sidon, these wicked cities
in which the gospel was not preached, than for Ashland. Cities of today in which the
gospel has been preached, the scriptures have been read, Christ
has redeemed people. Plenty of blind people have been
made to see. Spiritually blind. Spiritually
dead have been raised. Spiritually deaf have heard.
Spiritually dumb, they speak. God has done so many marvelous,
wonderful works in the name of his Son, and the gospel has been
preached. And our Lord clearly says here that light increases
responsibility. There are degrees of judgment.
Now we know there are no degrees of glory because he said down
here in verse 11, among those born of women, there's none risen
greater than John the Baptist. And yet I say unto you that the
least in the kingdom of heaven is as great as he or greater
than he. So there are no degrees in glory. Can't be. Because glory
is all of grace. Glory is not of works. Glory
is not of merit. Glory is not of wisdom. Glory
is not of what we do. Glory is what God does. So there
can't be any degrees of glory, but there are certainly degrees
of judgment and responsibility. And where the gospel has been
preached and where our Lord has manifested his saving grace and
saving power, those who do not hear will be held accountable
and responsible for what they could have heard and what they
did hear. And down here in verse 25, I want you to look at this,
verse 25. And at that time, at that particular
time, when our Lord had felt the doubt of John the Baptist.
You remember when I read a little while ago, John the Baptist,
forerunner of Christ, servant of Christ, godly, man who knew
God, but a man nevertheless. And he was sitting down there
in prison. Some of his disciples were about him and in contact
with him. And he sent them to Christ with
this question, are you the Messiah? John had baptized him in the
river Jordan, and John had seen the Spirit of God descend in
the form of a dove, as God promised, upon whom you see the dove descend.
He's the Messiah. John heard that voice from heaven,
which said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
And yet, sitting down here in prison, and doubts flooded his
heart, or the heart of his disciples. And he asked Christ, Are you
he that should come, or do we look for another? And at that time, when the doubts
of his own beloved people were evident. And when the unbelief
and rejection of his nation, he came unto his own, and his
own received him not. He was despised and rejected
of his nation. He was in the world, and the
world knew him not. He came to his own temple, his own people,
and they received him not. And he discerned the indifference
of their hearts, and he preached, and they didn't And he manifested his power in
the working of miracles, and they were unmoved. And he preached his deity and
glory, and they couldn't see it. And he called. He said, how oft would I have
gathered you as a hen that would gather her brood, and you would
not. They would not come. They despised and rejected him
at that time. The scripture said, verse 25,
Jesus answered. I looked at that, I thought he
answered? Nobody asked a question. Nobody asked a question, but
he answered. And there were plenty of questions
posed, though, silent. They didn't ask. They didn't
know enough to ask. And what he is answering here
is this. Even though they did not believe,
even though they did not receive him, even though his disciples
were filled with doubt and fear, God's purpose and glory would
be accomplished. He answered that question. What if some did not believe?
What if men did not hear? God's purpose would be accomplished.
And he answered that question. I'll tell you another question
he answered, and that is concerning the purpose and will of God.
What shall be done? What of his kingdom? He answered,
and this is the way he answered. Listen. I thank thee. I thank thee. Luke says he rejoiced. When Luke
gave this account, his account of this incident, he said, and
Christ rejoiced in spirit. Even the doubts, indifference,
and unbelief, our Lord Jesus rejoiced. Rejoiced in spirit
and said, I give thanks. Give thanks for what? To whom? Read on. I give thanks. I give thanks to thee. I rejoice
in thee. Listen. Oh, Father, Lord. What is the Lord? The King. The
ruler. the supreme sovereign, I give
thanks unto thee, my father, thou art Lord." Thou art Lord,
listen, of heaven and earth. Most people believe he's Lord
of heaven. He does his will among the armies of heaven. But our
Lord Jesus said he's Lord of heaven and earth. He does his
will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of this earth.
and give it there to whom he pleases. I thank thee, my father,
whatever men do, regardless of the indifference, unbelief of
men, your Lord, your Lord of heaven and your Lord of this
earth. David said, our God's in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased.
Whatsoever the Lord please, that did he in heaven, earth, and
the seas, and all deep places, he sovereign Lord, say to the
heathen, Our God reigneth." At that time, and it is a bad time
and a sad time, and a time of doubt and indifference and rejection,
unbelief, wicked cities, wicked people, they despised and rejected
I thank you. I thank you. I rejoice in spirit
because God reigns. God rules. He suffered in heaven
and earth. And listen, and I rejoice because
you've hid these things from the wise and the prudent. You've
hid these things from the doubters, from the mockers, from the unbelievers,
from the wise who are wise in their own conceits and proud
of their intellectualism. You've heard these things. What
are these things he's talking about that you've heard? What
have you heard? Well, go back to verse 4, verse
3. John the Baptist Those two fellows came, sent
two of his disciples, and they looked straight at the Lord Jesus
Christ. They said, Are you he that should
come? Are you the Messiah? Are you the Christ? Are you that
prophet? Are you the emancipator? Are
you the deliverer? Are you the Savior? Or do we
look for another? He answered and said, Go and
show John these things which you hear and see. You hear and
see these things. The blind receive their sight.
Who are the blind? Well, preacher, the physical
people who are blind physically, and he made them see. They're
just types. Our Lord is describing people
whom he saves who are blind in sin and darkness spiritually,
and he gives them sight. The blind see. He's talking about
man's condition. as a result of the fall in Adam.
By one man's sin entered this world, and death by sin, so death
passed upon all men. And you go show John that blind
people see. And listen, and lame people who
are lame, they walk, lame spiritually. Lepers, leprosy was the most
feared disease. When a man had leprosy, he was
cast out of the camp and went around hollering, unclean, unclean.
Well, they're made clean. The deaf hear. People who can't hear God never
have heard God. They just hear the voices of
the world, but they hear God speak. Dead are raised. Dead sinners are raised. The
poor, poor in spirit, who have nothing, know nothing, can do
nothing, poor in spirit. David was the richest man who
lived in his day, but he continued and said, Lord, have mercy on
me, I'm poor and needy. I'm poor and needy. And God,
I thank you, Father. I praise your name. I rejoice
that you've hid these things. These things, who Christ is,
who we are, what our condition is, what he's done to meet that
condition, his blood, his righteousness, his death, his gospel. You've
heard this from the mockers. You've heard these things from
the doubters. You've heard these things from
the intellectuals. You've heard these things from
the wise in their own conceits and in their intellectualism
and the unbelievers. You've heard these things from
them. But listen, I thank you the second
thing, third thing. I thank you, Yoseph. I thank
you that you reign in heaven and earth, that you do all things
well. I thank you that you've been pleased to hide these things
from the wise and prudent. But where are they hid? Where
are these things hid? They're not hid so as not to
be found. because others find them. This
truth is not hid so that men can't find it. The truth is hid
where men are not looking. Come on now, stay with me. You
see what I'm saying? A thing is hidden to me if I'm
not looking where it is. It will stay hidden until I look
where it is and then I'll find it. The gospel is not hidden. so that men can't find it. It's
hidden in God. Let me show you that. Turn to
3 Scriptures. Turn to Ephesians 3. Ephesians
chapter 3, verse 9. Listen to this. Ephesians 3,
verse 9. It says here, Ephesians 3, 9,
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery The fellowship, the unity, the
union of God with men and men with God, which from the beginning
of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by
Christ Jesus. That's where the gospel is in
God, in Christ. Light is in Christ. Truth is
in Christ. Life is in Christ. Now, if I'm
looking for life in the church, I'll never find it. It's hid
to me. It's in Christ. I'm looking for it in my works,
or my decisions, or my feelings, or my duties, or deeds. I won't
find it. I'm looking for life in ceremonies,
and sacrifices, and traditions, and doing the processionals,
and all this. I'll never find it. It's hidden
in God. Look at, if you will, Colossians
2. Over just a couple of... Colossians
2. Listen to this. Colossians 2,
verse 2 and 3, Colossians 2, verse 2 and 3, that their hearts
might be comforted, being knit together in love, and into all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God. And of the Father and of Christ,
that's all things we're talking about, these things, the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ, in
whom in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I thank you, Father, your sovereign
Lord of heaven and earth. And these glorious treasures
of grace and forgiveness and mercy and peace and life is hid
in Christ, contained in Christ. In Christ dwelleth all the fullness
of God. And these things are hid from
the wise in their own conceit and the intellectuals and the
mockers and the unbelievers and the disputers and debaters. But it's revealed to babes. You've
revealed it to babes. You've revealed it to those who
are blind, lepers, lame, poor, lost, needy. Those are the people that came
to Him when He was walking on this earth. People that needed
Him. The Pharisees never came. The religious folks never came.
The wise and intellectuals, Turn to John 9. I want you to look
at this carefully. Our Lord is speaking here in
John 9 to these doubters. John 9, verse 39. John 9, verse 39. These men that
are wrapped in religion, righteousness,
self-righteousness, human wisdom, He said in John 9 verse 39, for
judgment, Jesus said for judgment, I'm coming to this world, that
they which see not might see. And they which see might be made
blinder. Some of the Pharisees, these
religious fellows which were with him heard these words and
they said, are you saying we're blind? The wise intellectuals,
traditionalists, legalists, moralists, you saying we're blind? Our Lord
said, if you were blind, you'd have no sin. You'd see. You see, the blind people, blind
Bartimaeus was sitting there by the roadside and Christ came
by. He heard the commotion. He heard
the people, something going on, and sitting there in his dirt,
begging, darkness, that blanket around him back
in. And he heard all that noise and he said, what's going on?
And somebody said, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He'd heard of
Jesus of Nazareth. He'd heard that he had power
to heal, power to give sight, that he had the power of God
upon him, that he was God's messenger, God's redeemer. He called him
the son of David. When nobody in that bunch was
crying out for help, Christ was passing through the city of Jericho,
the wicked city of Jericho. He'd come in and He was passing
through. He didn't stop. Nobody asked anything. Nobody
sought anything. Nobody tried to find help. But this man, Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me. And our Lord stopped. He stopped. And he said, bring him to me.
And by and by, Mary's came. And our Lord said, what do you
want? He said, Lord, that I might see. And our Lord gave him sign. Now that's
what he's talking. He said, Father, I thank you.
They're full of indifference and unbelief and argument and
tradition and religious nonsense and playing games, playing church,
looking for life in everything. Looking for life. Everywhere
but where life is. And therefore it stays hidden.
It stays hidden. But blind Bartimaeus knew that
one person could make him sick. One person on this earth that
could heal him. And he cried. And those are the babes. Those
are the babes. Are you saying we're blind? Look
at verse 41, John 9. He said, if you were, if you
were and knew it and acknowledged it and sought for help, you'd
have no sin. But now you say, we see. We don't need Christ. We don't
need salvation. We don't need mercy. We don't
need help. And your sin remains. Thank God, and listen, back to
my text, Matthew 11, listen to this. Three things, our Lord
said, he rejoiced in the Spirit, he said, thank you Father, Lord,
Sovereign, reign over heaven and earth. You hid these things
in Christ, but you revealed them, revealed them to babes. See, salvation comes by revolution.
One day our Lord said to his disciples, whom do men say that
I am? Oh, they said, some of them say
you're John the Baptist who'd come back in the dead. Some of
them say you're Elijah. Some of them say you're one of
the prophets. He said, whom do you say that I am? And Peter
said, you're the Christ. You're God in human flesh. You're
the Son of God. You're Christ, the Son of God.
We believe and are assured that thou art the Christ, the Son
of God. He said, Peter, blessed are your eyes, they see. Blessed are your ears, they hear.
Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. My Father revealed
it. And I thank you, Father, that
you hid these things The blind see, the lame walk, the dumb
speak, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the
poor. You've hid these things from the mockers and doubters,
and you've revealed it to babes. Those who are spiritually blind
and know it, and spiritually deaf and dumb and lame and dead,
and know it, and come to Him like blind Bartimaeus and say,
Lord, oh, that I may see." And then the next verse. Matthew
11, verse 26. Now let me say this before I
read this verse. Whatever question that men have
about what our Lord just said, God is sovereign. He's hid these
things from the wise and prudent. He's revealed it to babes. He
saves whom He will, He'll be merciful to whom He will, He'll
be gracious to whom He will. Whatever questions rise as a
result of that statement, whatever objections arise, whatever arguments
may be presented, here's the only answer. And to those who
see, it's enough. To those who do not see, no answer
is enough. Our Lord said, even so, father,
it seemed good in your sight. That's enough. Father, surrounded
by indifference and unbelief and hatred and mocking and doubts, I thank you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth. You hear these things from the
world of intellectualism and conceit and self-righteousness,
and you've revealed it to babes, even so, Father, it seemed good
in your sight. And that's answering up. It's
like Eli, the priest. Samuel, the Lord spoke to Samuel
about Eli's household. And Eli said, Samuel, what did
God tell you? He said, well, I'd just rather
not say. Now, he said, Samuel, Whatever
God told you, you tell me, or be it unto you. Samuel said,
well, the Lord said, because of the evil of your sons, he's
going to destroy them, both of them. You know what that old
man said? It's the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth good to him. That's the answer our Lord gave
right here. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight. So, in the matter of God's eternal
covenant, and God's eternal grace, and our Lord's particular redemption,
and their effectual call, and God's kingdom, and his elect,
and he saves whom he will, he's merciful to whom he will, he'll
reject whom he will, he'll pass by whom he will, even so, Father,
it seemed good in thy sight. You know any better place to
put it? He's still God. Whatever happens to me, He's
God. He reigns, He rules. And then he says in verse 27,
"...and all things are delivered unto me of my Father." All things. All things are in Christ. My
friends, we can't exalt the Lord Jesus Christ too much. He says
all things. are given unto me, delivered
unto me of my Father, all things." What's he talking about? Let
me just name a few. You're familiar with it. All authority, all power. He said to his disciples, all
authority and power is given unto me in heaven and earth.
All persons. He prayed in John 17, Father,
thou hast given me power over all flesh, that I should give
eternal life to as many as you've given me. All life, the Son quickeneth
whom he will. All judgment, the Father judgeth
no man. He hath committed all judgment
to the Son. All the elect, all that my Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I'll
in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, the will of him that sent me. And this is the
will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day." All things
in heaven and earth, all glory, the Father hath given him a name
which is above every name that is the name of Jesus, every knee
will bow, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the
glory of God the Father. All preeminence, that in all
things he might have the preeminence. Everything is in Christ. Preachers
who are not preaching Christ are not giving their hearers
any hope. Preachers who are not preaching Christ are not giving
their hearers any light or any truth, because Christ is the
truth. He's the way. He's the light.
And listen to the next thing he says. All things are delivered
to me of my Father, and no man, no man knows the Son but the
Father. And no man knows the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. No man knows
God but the Son, and no man knows the Father who doesn't know the
Son. The disciples said, Show us the Father. He said, He that
has seen me has seen the Father. He who knows me knows the Father. He who loves me loves the Father.
He who worships me worships the Father. I and my Father are one.
A man cannot have the Father without the Son, the Son without
the Father. They're one. Then he said, coming to me. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest." Is that addressing every human
being? Every human being is laboring,
most of them laboring in sin, but they love it. They're laboring
in evil, they delight in it. They're laboring in pleasure,
They ain't get enough out there. They're laboring under the influence
of Satan. They're heavy laden with iniquity
and evil and hatred and covetousness. And that's what they love. That's
their life. Most of them are not even aware that it's a laborious
enterprise. Or they're heavy laden. So he's
not talking to them. He's talking to those who are
laboring and heavy laden and weary of sin, who are burdened with the guilt
of sin before God, who are laboring and groaning under the requirements
of a law they cannot keep, of a death they must die, of a judgment
they must face, who are laboring and heavy laden under the traditions
of religion which gives them no peace, a religion that gives
them no hope. the ceremonies and dead works
in which they found no rest. They have tried to find God and
the way to God through the religious way and the traditional way and
the law and they are laboring and heavy laden under guilt and
sin and tired of it and weary of it, of the darkness of it.
Christ said, Are you laboring and weary and heavy laden? That's who he's talking to. He's
talking to the thirsty. Oh, everyone that thirsty, come
to the water. Well, I'm not thirsty. Well,
I'm not talking to you. I'm not weary of sin. I love
my life the way it is. I love the materialism and the
evil and the wickedness and the companions and the The woman with issue of blood,
11 years, she tried many things, she tried many positions, she
spent everything she had trying to find healing, trying to find
healing, trying to find healing. And she was no better. And that's
the picture of people trying to walk down this aisle, walk
down that aisle, been baptized in this pool, joined this church,
joined that church, tried this preacher, that preacher, all
this trying to find some peace and rest. Tell a ship with God,
and they can't find it. They're weary and heavy laden
with the guilt of sin. Spent all they have, and no better.
And then she heard of Christ. And she said, if I can get to
Him, and just touch His garment, I'll be made whole. And that's
the ones He invites. Are you weary? Are you tired
of it? Are you weary of it? I've watched
it on TV, I listen to their preachers, I read their bulletin boards,
I'm so sick of it and tired of it, I don't know what to do.
Religion is farther from God than it's ever been. Confusion,
and none of them have any rest. But he said, if you are, come
to me. There it is. You come to me.
That's the main thrust, that's the main object of gospel preaching,
of gospel believing. That's one essential condition
for all who would be saved. Come to me. Come to me. Don't move a foot or a leg or
a hand, but come to Christ. I didn't say come down here.
He's not down here. He's not down here. He's back there. He's wherever
you are. He's wherever your need is. You come to Christ. Don't
come to a preacher. Don't come to a church. Don't
come to an altar. Don't come to a pool. Don't come
to a law. Don't come to me. To me. That's where we start. We come to Christ. And that's
where we continue. To whom coming? I've been preaching
the gospel and believing the gospel for 48 years. I'm still
coming to Christ, still coming, still believing, still looking,
still repenting, still confessing, still trusting. And that's where
I'm going to wind it up when I hear him say, come ye, blessed,
into the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of
the world. And I'm going to come to him
again. And that's where I'm going to stand. That's right. Come to Christ. Oh, I wish I
could make that plain. Lay your burdens at His feet.
Lay yourself at His feet. Look to Him. Don't look to a
man. Look to Christ. Look to Him for all things, for
rest, for peace, rest from guilt, rest from the law, rest from
conscience, rest from works, rest from labor, rest from religion,
rest from the requirements. Come to me, I'll give you rest."
And I tell you to whom he speaks, he's speaking to those who will
come. Those who are laboring and heavy laden, because when
they find out where they can get rest, they're headed there.
When they find out where peace is, that's the reason when a
man preaches this gospel to a congregation, those who belong to Christ will
believe it. Those who are called will believe it. They've been
listening for something like this. They've been looking for this.
They've been, this is, hey! This is what I've been wanting
to hear. That salvation is not what I do, it's what He did.
It's not in me, it's in Him. It's a rest, it's a peace, it's
a joy. It's not an outward show. Trying
to impress somebody with how spiritual I am. It's to rest in Christ and confess
how sinful I am. by nature. You come. I'll give
you rest. And you take my yoke upon you. You take my yoke. You learn of
me. He didn't say learn from me, though we do. He learned
of me. You learn of me. I'm meek and lowly in heart.
The world's not impressed by me at all, or anything I have
or do. But you will be. I'm meek and
lowly. And you'll find rest. You'll
find more rest. You still, you keep learning.
You'll find more rest, rest for your souls. You'll find rest,
continue where you found rest to start with. You come to Christ
and rest. My yoke's easy. It is. The way
of the transgressor is hard. The way of the believer is easy.
It becomes easier because we trust Him.