God's Grace -- The Answer to Human Guilt

I want to first announce my text
for the message today. I'll be speaking from Matthew
11, verse 25 through 27. I want you to take your Bibles
and follow with me. Will you do that? Matthew 11,
verse 25 through 27. That'll be the text. Now the
subject, God's grace, the answer to human guilt. That's the subject. God's grace, the answer to human
guilt. Now, we're going to school. We're
going to try to learn something. We're going to pray that the
Holy Spirit will be our teacher. We're going to school on one
of our Lord's sermons. Now, I don't know of a greater
blessing, and I don't know of a more effective way to preach,
and I'll pass this along to any preacher who may be listening
to the program today. I don't know of a more effective
way to preach the gospel than to take one of our Lord's own
sermons and re-preach it. Take one of our Lord's own sermons
and just deliver it like he preached it. And ask the Holy Spirit to
give us some understanding and to give us a little wisdom and
help us to make some comments to help folks understand what
is written. Now, in this message, Matthew
11, our Lord was speaking and he had five divisions to the
message, there are five points. Now if you look at verse 7, that's
where the message starts, in verse 7, Matthew 11, And our
Lord begins by talking about the ministry of John the Baptist.
And he said, what went ye out in the wilderness to see? You
people that went out in the wilderness to see and to hear John the Baptist,
what did you go out there to see? Did you go out there to
see a reed shaken in the wind? And you know what that means?
Well, a reed is a blade of grass. And a blade of grass just leans
the way the wind's blowing, doesn't it? You can tell which way the
wind's blowing by looking at a blade of grass. It'll lean
the way that the wind's blowing. Now, he said, is that what you
went out to see? Some religious leaders are like
that. Some preachers are like that. For popularity or success
or riches, they preach what people want to hear. They just go the
way that the wind's blowing. They don't preach what God says.
They don't dare buck the tide. They don't dare swim against
the current. They don't dare test controversy. They don't
dare declare what the word of God says. They go the way the
wind's blowing. You know, whatever pleases the
people. They don't want to upset the people. But God's true preacher
is not a man pleaser. Paul said, if I please men, I
am not the servant of Jesus Christ. God's true preacher doesn't fear
man, and he doesn't fear controversy. if the word of God is at stake.
I've heard preachers say, well, I can't preach that, you know,
it'd split my church, it'd divide my church, I'd lose my job or
something. That's a weed driven by the wind,
or shaken by the wind. He goes the way the wind's blowing,
the way the tide of popularity, the tide of public appeal, the
tide that pleases the people, that tickles the ear, that's
the way he goes, you know. And then our Lord said second
in verse eight, what'd you go out there to see? Out in the
wilderness, when you went to hear John the Baptist What do
you go to see? A man clothed in soft raiment. They that be clothed in soft
raiment, they that wear soft raiment, are in kings' houses.
Now let me tell you something. Let me give a word of advice.
This needs to be sounded. I never heard this when I was
in college or when I was in the seminary or when I was studying
for the ministry. I never heard this preached,
but it needs to be preached. A preacher who becomes involved
in making money in business in acquiring property, in acquiring
stocks and bonds, can say goodbye to his ministry. That's what
our Lord said. Did you go out there in the wilderness to see
a man who was interested in luxury, who was interested in security,
who was interested in acquiring business holdings, who was interested
in stocks and bonds, who was interested in politics? You let
a preacher get involved in business, in politics, In education, you
just name it, he can say goodbye to his ministry. Now that's so.
God's preachers do not get involved in those things. They're called
to preach the gospel. They're called to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ. And the scripture says, they
that preach the gospel are to live by the gospel. Now you know
what that means? It means just what it meant back in the Old
Testament, the priest. You know, the sons of Levi, when
all the tribes had the land divided up, and there were certain tribes
given certain portions of land, the sons of Levi got no land. They had no land, they had no
ownership of any property. Moses says, the Lord is your
inheritance. You will minister about the things
of the temple, and you will live by the things of the temple.
And that's the way God's preachers are to live. His prophets are
not businessmen. His prophets do not get independently
wealthy. His prophets do not live in the
lap of luxury. His prophets live by the gospel.
And they to whom they minister the gospel support them. That's
right. The people, the preachers of
the gospel are supported by those to whom they preach the gospel.
And they're to wait upon God. God supplies their needs and
meets their needs and they do not acquire these things. A man
that goes to war does not entangle himself with business affairs
back home. He's busy in a battle, and the
people back home take care of his business needs and his physical
needs and his material needs. He doesn't do it. He's at war.
He's got something to do that's far more important than those
things. And he's not to get involved.
That's what our Lord said in verse 9. What did you go out
there to see? When you went to hear John the Baptist out in
the wilderness, what did you go to see? A prophet? A preacher? Just any preacher? Just any religious
spokesman? Are all who call themselves preachers
the same? Doesn't it matter who you hear?
Will just any theologian do? That's what some folks think.
Will just any Bible teacher do? Christ said, what did you go
out there? Did you just go out there to hear a preacher? Did
you just go out there to hear a prophet? Just any preacher
or any prophet? No. I say unto you, listen to
the next verse, I say unto you, he is more than a prophet. He
is more than a preacher. This is he of whom it is written,
I will send my messenger before my face. to prepare the way for
the Redeemer. This John the Baptist he's talking
about here, this preacher, is more than just a religious leader.
He's more than just a Bible teacher. He's more than just a theologian.
He's God's messenger. God sent him. He's ordained and
anointed by God. He's God's spokesman. He's not
spokesman for the Baptist church or the Methodist church or the
Catholic church. He's God's spokesman. And he's not a spokesman for
himself or you or anybody else. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John, and he came to deliver God's message. And
he would not be turned aside. He wouldn't let the wind of popularity
drive him this way, or the wind of possessions drive him that
way, or the wind of worldly luxury drive him that way. He wouldn't
let anything change his course. He was God's messenger. He had
something to say. Whether men liked it or not,
he said it. Would God, we could find some
preachers like that today. But the only way we can find
them is for God to send them. And I believe if God sent one,
you'd recognize it. His people would anyway. Look
at verse 11, but now watch this. God's messenger does not need
to vie for recognition. He doesn't need to. He doesn't
need to vie for popularity. He doesn't need to extend himself
for riches. He's the greatest richest man
in the world. That's what Christ said. There's
none born of woman, he said, greater than John the Baptist.
None. And yet I say unto you, he that's
least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Do you understand
that? The grace of God is the leveler
of all men. Nowhere in the Bible do you find
one of God's men called a priest. Nowhere in the New Testament.
Now in the Old Testament you do because the Old Testament
preached to But in the New Testament church, there are deacons and
elders and bishops and all of that. There are no priests. Why?
Because every believer is a priest. We are a holy priesthood. We
are a royal nation. We are a holy people. Every believer
is a priest. Christ is our high priest, and
every believer is a priest. And he that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than John the Baptist, and yet none born of
woman greater than God's messenger. He is the greatest man born of
woman if God sent him He's a messenger of God, he's sent of God, he's
ordained of God, and we're to listen to him. But now the second
point in this message, look down at verse 16. Our Lord secondly
deals with this. He deals with the unwillingness
of natural men to hear that messenger. Now God says, I've got a messenger,
and he's not a reed driven by the wind, and he's not a businessman,
he's a preacher. And he's not just any preacher,
he's my preacher. He's my messenger. He's going
to say what I've sent him to say. But you're not going to
hear him. That's what he says. He says you won't hear him. He
says you're like children. Read verse 16 through 19. You're
like children sitting in the marketplace. And the fellows
say to him, we've piped unto you and you haven't danced. We've
played beautiful music, we've played happy music, we've played
exhilarating music, and you don't laugh and you don't dance? And
said, then we played to you sad music. We played funeral songs. And you didn't cry, and you didn't
mourn. No matter what we played, whether we played happy songs,
you won't laugh, and we played sad songs, and you won't cry.
And he said, that's the way this generation is. John the Baptist
came neither eating or drinking. He came fasting. He came preaching
the wrath of God against sin. He came crying, repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. He came telling men to face the
law of the Holy God and repent. He came preaching, prepare you
the way of the Lord, and people called him a devil. That's right. John came either eating or drinking,
and you say he hath a devil. Well, the Son of Man came, the
Son of Man came preaching grace, mercy, and peace. The Son of
Man came eating and drinking. The Son of Man came to friend
the publicans and sinners. The Son of Man came with a message
of God's love. The Son of Man came with a message
of God's grace. And how do you treat that message?
Well, you say, he's a winebibber, don't listen to him. He's a glutton,
don't listen to him. Whatever note the messenger sounds,
you won't listen. You're indifferent to it. If
he preaches a sad note, you don't weep. If he preaches a happy
note, you don't rejoice. You don't laugh. No matter what
God's preacher preaches, it falls on deaf ears. Christ said, you
will not come to me that you might have life. Isn't that sad?
But that's the nature of the human heart. God said to Ezekiel,
he said, I'll send you these people, but they won't listen
to you. He said to Isaiah, go and preach to them, but your
message will fall on deaf ears. They won't hear you. And he said,
Christ said to them, you will not come to me that you might
have life. He said, let another come in his own name, and him
you'll receive. I come in my Father's name, and
you receive me not. What's the third note of this
message, third point? Verse 20. Our Lord began to warn
these people. He said to them, he said, now,
God sent you a messenger, God sent you a messenger, and you
wouldn't hear it. And God sent his own son, and
you wouldn't hear it. Now he said, I'm going to warn
you. He said, I'm going to warn you. He said, it's going to be
easier, it's going to be more tolerable for the cities of Tyre
and Sidon Those were wicked cities of the plain, heathen, idolatrous
nations. It's going to be a lot easier
for the city of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you,
than for you in which my mighty works were done, than for you
who heard and wouldn't hear, than for you who saw and wouldn't
see, than for you to whom the light of God came and you loved
darkness and resisted the light, and to you to whom God sent his
messenger to declare his message. What a sad note. You will not
hear. And Christ is saying here that
men are going to be responsible and accountable for the life
which they have received, for the gospel which they have heard
or could have heard. It will be easier for Sodom and
Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for cities in which the
gospel has been preached. I'll tell you If I were going
to the judgment tomorrow, I had much rather go, I mean going
unprepared, unregenerated. If I were going to the judgment
tomorrow, I'd lots rather go from some heathen, idolatrous
nation to which Christ has never been preached, to whom Christ
has never been declared, than to go to the judgment from Huntington,
West Virginia. Lots rather, that's what, it'll
be a lot easier, it'll be a lot easier for Sodom in the day of
judgment And for this city from which I'm preaching right now,
you've heard the gospel. They didn't. God has done mighty
works in your midst, not in theirs. You know, over in Ezekiel 33,
this is an interesting scripture. Write this down, look it up later.
Ezekiel 33, verse 30 through 33. Does not the scripture here
warn us? He says, Ezekiel, Ezekiel, Ezekiel
was God's prophet. He was one like John the Baptist,
one God called, one God sent, one God ordained. He had the
message. He had God's message. He said,
Ezekiel, people are talking about you by the walls. You know, back
in those oriental countries, they had a little house here
and it always had a wall around it. And people stood by the walls and
talked about things. They conversed by the walls.
In Mexico and a lot of countries now, in Spain, they still have
those walls. Every house has a wall around it. Not a fence,
but a wall. And he said, they're standing
by the walls talking about you, and they're talking about you
in their homes. And they're saying, let's go hear the preacher. Let's
go hear the word that comes from the Lord. And he says, they come
to hear you. They come together to hear you.
And they sit before you as my people. They pretend to be my
people. They come and sit there reverently,
and they come and sit there listening to you, and they hear the words
you preach. Read this, Ezekiel 33. And they
hear the words you preach, but they're not going to do them.
They hear them, but they're not going to do what you say. Why,
he said, with their mouths they show great love. They make great
swelling professions. They call him Lord. They call
him Jesus. They call him God with their
mouths. But their hearts are set on what? Covetousness, greed,
and gain. They're set on this world. That's
where their hearts are. Their hearts are not on God.
Their mouths use the name of God. And they sit there as my
people, and they listen to your words. but they're not going
to do what you say. And with their mouths they express
great love for God, but in their hearts God sees the heart. He
looks not on the outward countenance, he looks on the heart, and he
says with their hearts they go after greed and covetousness
and the things of this world. And Ezekiel, you are to them,
you are to them as one who has a pleasant voice. You are to
them one who can play well on an instrument. But he says, they
hear your words and do them not. And watch this. When judgment
comes to pass, and it will come, he said, that's exactly what
he said there, and it will come. It's apparted to men who wants
to die, and after this, the judgment. It will come. When judgment comes,
and it will come, it's apparted unto every man. All men who wants
to die. And after that, judgment. And
when judgment comes, he says, and it will come, then shall
they realize that a prophet has been among them. They'll realize
that a prophet has been in their midst. That's when they're going
to realize it. But it'll be too late. And then
the fourth point in this message, in Matthew 11, at that time,
now this is interesting, at that time, Jesus rejoiced in spirit,
and he said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, from
the worldly wise, and thou hast revealed them to babes. For even
so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight." Now, God has sent
his messenger, and men will not hear the good news. They are
totally indifferent. No matter how it is preached,
in sadness or joy, they are not going to listen to it. And God's
going to judge him. God's going to hold him responsible.
God's going to bring him to the judgment. He's going to judge
him. But the Lord Jesus declares here that some are going to hear,
and some are going to believe, and some are going to be blessed
with the knowledge of God, because God in his grace reveals it to
them. He said at that time, when he
told them these things, when he told them who John was, and
God had seen him, and told them about their response or lack
of it to John and told him about the judgment. He lifted his eyes
to heaven and he said, Father, I thank you. I thank you. I rejoice
that you've hid these things from the wise and prudent, but
thank God you've revealed these things. What are these things?
God's mercy. What are these things? Deliverance
from sin. What are these things? The substitutionary
work of Christ. What are these things? God's
grace in Christ Jesus through his obedient life, through his
shed blood, through his resurrection, through his intercession. What
are these things? God's effectual work of grace
whereby he can be just and justify the ungodly because his Son died
for them. And Christ said, Lord, you hid
these things from the wise and prudent, but you revealed them
unto babes. Now, there are four or five things
here that are important. First of all, here you have a
cause for gratitude. Thank God he didn't leave us
to ourselves. Now, who made you to differ?
You say, Preacher, I know I'm a sinner, and I believe the gospel,
and I rest in Christ, and I know that sinners are not saved by
works of righteousness which they've done, but according to
his mercy. Who made you to differ? You say, I don't refuse the gospel,
I receive it. Who made you to differ? What
have you got that you didn't receive? Now, if you received
it, why do you glow as if you didn't receive it? God gave it
to you. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is telling us how we ought to
rejoice and praise God that he made the difference. Father,
he said, I thank you. I thank you. All men are not
going to be damned, thank God. Some men are going to be saved,
thank God. I'm one of them, by his grace,
thank God. You're one of them by his grace.
Thank God. Father, I thank you because he's
the author of grace. Thou hast hid these things. Thou
hast revealed these things. It seemed good in thy sight.
Yes, sir. Thank God. We're his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. He didn't leave us in our darkness,
but he visited us in his mercy. Paul said, When it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb, to reveal his son in me."
Who revealed him? God did. He's the author of all
grace. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. Salvation's not something you
do for yourself, or the preacher does for you, or you do for God.
It's something God does for you. He makes you a new creature.
He gave his son to die for us. That's right. All right, here's
the Father's right to act as he does. The Lord Jesus at that
time when he had told them about his messenger and their unwillingness
to hear it, and the certainty of judgment at that time, he
lifted his eyes to heaven and he thanked God. He thanked the
Father, that the Father was pleased in his mercy, in his grace, to
save some people for his namesake and for the praise of his glory.
And you know the right that God has to do? You say, what right
has God Does God have to save some and pass by others, to reveal
Christ to some and hide the gospel from others? He's Lord of heaven
and earth. That's what right he has. That's
what Christ said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You know what the Lord is? He's
the king. He's the boss. That's right. He's the sovereign.
And he's the Lord of heaven and earth. That gives him the right
to do with his own what he will. He asked that in the scripture.
Cannot I do with my own what I will?" The heathen said to
David, Now, our gods are down here in our temples. We know
where our gods are. David, where is your god? David
said, Our god's in the heavens. Well, what's he like, David?
Read Psalm 115, 1 through 4. Psalm 135, 1 through 5. He said, Where's your god, David?
David said, Our god's in the heavens. What's he like? Our
god hath done whatsoever he pleased. Whatever the Lord pleased. That
did he in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and in all deep places. One time I read the Concordance,
and I looked up to see what it pleased God to do. David said,
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that's what he did. He said it
twice in Psalm 115 and Psalm 135. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he. What did it please him to do?
Well, 1 Samuel 12, 22 says it pleased God to make you his people.
That's right, that's what it pleased God to do, make you his
people. You didn't deserve it, you didn't
earn it. And then in Colossians 119 it says it pleased God that
in Christ should all fullness dwell. Who put all fullness in
Christ? The Father did. Who decreed Christ
to be the surety? The Father did. Who wrote the
will and sent his Son to be the Savior? The Father did. Who loved
the world and gave his Son to be born of woman under the law?
The Father did. It's all God's doing. And then in Isaiah 53,
10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Who sent him to the cross
of Calvary? The Father did. Who nailed him
to the cross? You say the Roman soldiers. I
beg your pardon. They did what God determined
before to be done. Yes, with wicked hands they crucified
the Lord of glory, but they carried out the determinate counseling
for knowledge of God. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He said, you don't take my life from me. I lay it down.
No man has the power to take my life from me. You couldn't
have any power over me at all," he said to Pilate, except it
were given you from above. It pleased God to reveal Christ
to us. That's right, on our Damascus
road to hell, just like old Saul of Tarsus, God stopped us, and
God unhorsed us, and God humbled us, and God brought us down,
and God granted us repentance and faith. The goodness of God
led you to repent. It pleased God to reveal Christ
in me. That's what Paul said. And it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. And here are the objects of grace, not the wise and prudent,
not the smart alecks, not the worldly wise. Their pride would
never allow them to cry for mercy. Their self-righteousness would
never allow them to confess sin. Their worldly wisdom will never
allow them to know nothing to the children, except you become
as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God.
They know everything. They can't be taught. They'll
never shut their mouths long enough to open their ears. They
know everything. And then these wise and prudent,
their love of praise won't let them glorify God. But the babes,
he revealed it, the babes. Who are the babes? Poor in spirit.
Poor in spirit. They're guilty and they seek
forgiveness in Christ. They're lost and they need a
Savior. They're poor, miserable, blind. But in Christ, sight,
riches, all in him. All that they need, they find
in him. They're nothing. They need all things. They're
weak. They look to him for strength. They need his help and his mercy. And here's the reason why God
saved them. Here's the reason. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight. I thank you. I thank you. I thank
you, Father, that you've been pleased to hide these things
from folks that wouldn't appreciate it anyway. And you revealed it
to a bunch of babies. Why? Because it seemed good in
thy sight. Why did God save me? Why did
he save you? Well, ask the angel Gabriel, and Gabriel will shake
his head and say, I can't give any answer except the one my
Lord gave. It seemed good in his sight. And then our Lord
closes this message with an invitation. Come unto me, not to the church,
to the front, to the preacher, to me. All you that labor, labor
in the service of sin, heavy laden with a burden of guilt,
come to me. I'll give you rest. But don't miss Christ. Don't
stop short of Christ. Don't stop in the pool or at
the table or the altar at the front. Get to Christ. He'll give
you rest. He'll give you rest. Now this
message, God's grace to answer the human guilt, and what happened
in the garden, on the cross, in the center, can be had by
writing to me. The address will be given to
you at the close of the program on cassette tape for three dollars. We have to charge this because
it costs to make them. You write if you'd like to have
it. Till next week at the same time, I bid you a very pleasant
good day.

God's Grace -- The Answer to Human Guilt

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God's Grace -- The Answer to Human Guilt

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