Address—C. Hendricks
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Please turn with me this morning to Matthew 11. Matthew 11 verse one. And it came to pass when Jesus had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples.
He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples.
And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again, those things which ye do hear and see.
The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear.
The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.
And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John.
What went ye out into the wilderness to see a Reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out for to see a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in King's houses.
But what went she out for to see a prophet? Yeah, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. But whereunto shall I liken this generation?
It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and you have not danced. We have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, And they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine Bibber.
A friend of publicans and sinners, but wisdom is justified of her children. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto the Qurayshan, woe unto thee, Bethsaida, For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done entire in 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.
Than for you and thou, Capernaum, which art 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 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 saved the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden.
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you.
And learn of Maine.
For I am meek and lowly in heart.
And you shall find rest.
Unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy.
And my burden.
Is light.
In this chapter we have two men.
The greatest?
Of those born of women.
And the Lord of glory himself.
And I also have it on my heart not just to talk about these two.
But there are three from the Old Testament we might look at briefly.
There is so much today to discourage, and there are so many that are.
Getting discouraged because of the way.
There was 1.
Altogether apart.
From all others.
Who never got discouraged?
Can't be said of any others.
We all get discouraged at times.
But there was one who never did.
And all to be occupied with him, to have him.
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Before our soul.
Let's read a little bit more about this mighty man, John the Baptist. Turn with me, please, to John's Gospel chapter one. Just read some verses there, verse 6.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe.
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.
That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Verse 15. John bear witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.
Verse 19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him.
Who art thou?
And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then art thou, Elias? And he sayeth I am not.
Art thou that prophet?
And he answered no.
And they said unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou thyself?
He said I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord.
As said the prophet Isaiah.
And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
Then I asked him, and said unto him, Why baptize is thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
John answered them saying, I baptize with water.
But there standeth one among you whom ye know not.
He it is who coming after me is preferred before me.
Whose shoes latch it I am not worthy to unloose?
These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and sayeth, Behold.
The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John Bear records saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove.
And it abode upon him, and I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water.
The same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending.
And remaining on him the same as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw and bear record.
But this is the Son of God.
Again the next day after John stood in two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked.
He saith, Behold the Lamb of God.
He pointed him out. It was his mission.
In our chapter that we read in Matthew 11.
He says, What went ye out? The Lord says of John speaking to the others, What went ye out for to see a prophet? Yeah, I say unto you, and more than a prophet, he was more than just a prophet. He calls him the greatest of those born of women. Not just the greatest prophet, but the greatest of those born of women, John the Baptist.
Why was he more than a prophet? Because it was his.
Special privilege to point out the Messiah, the one who was predicted to come in the Old Testament scriptures. Look, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He pointed him out.
And God had told him, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, the same as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And he says I bear record that this is the Son of God. What a testimony he was that messenger who was sent.
Predicted in the Old Testament to come the voice crying in the wilderness. Prepare you the way of the Lord.
That was John's message. So he was more than a prophet. He announced the coming.
Of the Messiah, the long looked for a weighted Christ, and he pointed him out.
Let's read a few more verses about him in the 3rd chapter of John.
Verse 23 And John also was baptizing in Enah near to Salem, because there was much water there.
And they came and were baptized.
For John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan.
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To whom thou bearest witness, behold the same Baptizer, and all men come to him.
John answered and said a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly.
Because of the bridegroom's voice, this my joy, therefore, is fulfilled.
Think of the joy that John had.
In proclaiming him, he must increase.
But I must decrease, I'm sure. When John uttered those words, he did little realize what that would mean, how far he would have to decrease to the ending of his pathway of losing his head.
He must increase.
But I must decrease. Sometimes we utter truths.
That go far beyond Most. Many times we uttered truths that go far beyond.
Our realization of how they will be sometimes fulfilled.
He must increase, but I must decrease. He goes on to say he that cometh from above is above all.
That is, of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is above all, and what he hath seen and heard that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony.
He that hath received his testimony has said to his seal, that God is true, For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God.
For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
What a testimony that John rendered.
He really knew, didn't he, clearly, who it was that he was pointing out God had given him?
Unmistakable signs.
Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him.
Saying is he that baptizes with the Holy Ghost. Now there are two scriptures that we're.
In our readings we will have come across and have been quoted, and let's look at them now. And Isaiah 40 is one of them.
Verse 3 They're about John.
Isaiah 40.
Verse 3.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Now, when this is quoted in the New Testament, it's just that much.
Prepare you the way of the Lord.
But the passage goes on. Every valley should be exalted.
And every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight in the rough places plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.
In all flesh you'll see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed. It looks on to the Kingdom.
And then let's read Malachi 3 where you have the verse quoted that we read in Matthew 11.
Malachi.
Chapter 3.
Verse one.
Behold.
I will send my messenger.
And he shall prepare the way before me.
And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple.
Now what? John didn't know.
Is that between those two clauses in that one verse was going to be a parenthesis lasting 2000 years?
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. Now comes the parenthesis, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom he delight in. Behold, he shall come, sayeth the Lord of hosts, But who may abide the day of his coming the Old Testament didn't give.
The detail that we know we have a tremendous advantage over John.
In that we know that there's been an intervening period of time.
Isaiah 40 said The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.
Now let's go back to.
Matthew.
Well, before we go back to Matthew.
11.
Let's read Matthew 3, Matthew 3, just another passage about John, and that will give us a pretty good picture of this great man of God, the greatest of those born of women. In Matthew 3. In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. We just read that in Isaiah 40.
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Saying the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
And the same John noticed nothing more is quoted.
The Kingdom, the setting up of the Kingdom, the coming of the Lord in glory. That's put off. John didn't know that, though. The same John had his raiment of camel's hair and a leather and girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism.
He said unto them, O generation of Vipers.
Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bring forth therefore fruits, meet for repentance, and think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father.
For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
And now also the axe is laid under the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, and is hewn down and cast into the fire, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire whose fan is in his hand. And he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner.
But he will burn up the chaff.
With unquenchable fire.
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him, But John forbade him.
Saying I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me.
And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son.
In whom I am well pleased.
Clearly.
John knew.
Who the Messiah was. Now let's go back to Matthew 11.
He had faithfully carried out his mission.
He was that voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.
The glory of the Lord was to be revealed, but not then.
He would suddenly come to his temple.
But not then.
Something happened.
The Lord was rejected.
John, the herald of his coming, the one that pointed to him.
Is in prison.
And he can't put that together.
He can't understand it.
He knew the Old Testament scriptures that told about the Lord coming in glory and delivering the prisoners out of the prison.
But John was still in prison.
He couldn't understand why.
And he sends a message.
Verse 3.
Verse 2. When John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come?
Or do we look for another?
Ah, a cloud had come in between John's faith.
Between his soul and God.
The pressure of circumstances so overwhelmed his soul.
That he sends this message, you say how could he? How could he have done that? He had pointed him out. He had seen the evidence. He had said this is the son of God testified to him and now he's in this dark, dank prison with no comforters.
Walking back and forth, no one there to have any fellowship with.
Why am I here?
Why is did I make a mistake?
Is Jesus not the Messiah?
Art thou he that should come?
Or do we look for another?
Have you ever been in circumstances so overwhelming to your soul?
That what you well know in your intellect and in your mind, and what you've learned from Scripture somehow.
You raise questions that you well know the answer to, and yet you raise them.
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And you sometimes question God.
Art thou he that should come?
Or do we look for another?
I'd like to pause here to quickly look at the three.
But I have in mind in the Old Testament Numbers 11 please Moses is the first one.
He also.
In the 12TH chapter of Numbers.
It says now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.
But in the 11 of numbers just we have to refer to it very briefly. The people of Israel were complaining as usual.
They were a rebellious, cantankerous, stubborn, stiff necked people.
Hosea says Israel is refractory as an untractable heifer. That was their stubbornness, their refusal to bow to the Lord and to submit. Here they're complaining about the the manna. That's all you've given us is this manna to eat. And they're fed up with it. And then they tried to manufacture it, to change it, to make it more palatable to their taste.
And they complain, and they get to Moses. Verse 10. Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, everyone in the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly. Moses also was displeased. Now here's the meekest man in the face of the earth. Notice what he says.
Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant, and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom as a nursing Father beareth the sucking child.
And under the land which thou swearst unto their fathers, whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people?
For they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone.
Because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me.
I pray thee out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight, and let me not see.
My wretchedness.
Kill me, Moses says.
Deliver me from this.
Insuperable burden of.
Carrying this people, this stubborn, complaining, stiff necked people through the wilderness, I can't do it.
The meekest man on all the earth uttered those words.
He got down under his circumstances.
And he uttered words altogether different.
From the second man that we're going to look at a little bit later.
Now turn with me to 1St Kings, please. First Kings Chapter 18, the next person that we're going to just talk quickly about.
Is Elijah, and the Lord says in that 11 of Matthew, if you will receive it. This is talking of John, this is Elias, Elijah, which was for to come. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah.
And you know, in this portion, Ahab was the king of Israel.
He was the 7th king from Jeroboam down over the 10 tribes. Jeroboam had set up two golden calves at Dan and at Bethel.
And it got worse and worse and worse, and finally the most wicked king of Israel was Ahab. And he had.
Jezebel is his wife.
And she led him on to do evil.
More than any other king that had ever lived.
And all of a sudden, if you'd looked, if you'd been in Israel at that time and looked at the idolatry that Jezebel had introduced, the worship of Baal, you would have said Baal lives in Jehovah's dead.
That's what you would have said, but all of a sudden Elijah comes on the scene in chapter 17, verse one.
He stands before that wicked king Ahab, and with all the power of that prophet.
He says, as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be, do nor rain these years, but according to my word. And then God says to Elijah, now you've said enough, you go and hide yourself by the brook, Cherith. And he did, and he learned dependence on the Lord. He had commanded the Ravens to feed him there.
In the morning and in the evening, and then the brook dried up, and then he sent him to Zarephath, which was way up in Zidane. It was the citadel of Baal worship. It's where Jezebel had come from.
And he says I've commanded a widow woman to feed thee there.
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And then after he had taught him the lessons of dependence and being fed by the barrel of meal which wouldn't waste, the barrel of oil which wouldn't waste.
And.
Then he's going to use him.
And in this 18th chapter, he's there challenging the people.
And he says.
If they will be God, follow him. If the Lord be God, follow him. Tip of the true God.
What a man he was. He stands before 450 prophets of Baal.
And 400 prophets of the.
That Ada Jezebel's table.
Of the Of the Groves. Prophets of the Groves.
And he was the only one. Later we read that there were 7000 that hadn't bowed the knee to bail. But now one of them stepped forward and said, I'm with you, Elijah. He was all alone. And he stood before those prophets of Baal and he challenged them. He says, we're going to have a contest. You take a Bullock and I'll take a Bullock. And you put your you cut your Bullock in pieces and put it on an altar. Put no fire there under call upon your God. And he who answers with fire from heaven, let him be God. And the people said, that's good.
And so they went first, and they cried upon their God, and nothing happened, of course, from morning till noon. And then Elijah mocked them. He says maybe he's on a journey or maybe he's asleep. Speak louder.
And then he called the people, he says, come near to me, and he set up the altar, 12 Stones, and he took 3 barrels, 4 barrels of water. He said, pour it on the altar, pour it around the trench. He said, do it again a second time. That's 8 barrels. And then he said, do it again the third time. That's 12 barrels, one for every tribe of Israel. And the water ran all around.
And then we come to verse 36 of 1 Kings 18.
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came here and said, Lord.
God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel.
Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me.
That this people may know that thou art the Lord God. Notice, notice this was the burden of his heart. And that thou hast turned their heart back again, turn their heart back to the worship of the true and living God. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord he is the God, the Lord He is the God, apparently.
Elijah was successful.
He had turned the people back to the true God.
But it was superficial.
It was just.
They were forced to own this, but there was number reality in their hearts.
Then Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. And they took them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook. Caution.
And slew them. There he executed the judgment of God upon false prophets, according to the law.
And then Elijah said to Ahab, get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
He said there wouldn't be rain, but according to my word, he had stopped it.
And now he's the one to start it again, the mighty prophet of Jehovah.
And it says in verse 45, it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain and.
Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
What a mighty prophet Elijah was. Now let's read chapter 19.
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying.
So let the gods do to me, and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
Why, that was nothing compared with He stood before 850 prophets and challenged them. He stood before the wicked king of Ahab and challenged him.
What is the effect of this message from Jezebel?
And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die.
And he said it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's. Here's the man that never went through death.
He was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, never went through death, and he asked that he might die.
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God had something far more glorious for Elijah than death.
But he was down.
The effect of his message had not really reached the souls of the people. They had not really been converted.
To God.
And so he was a failure, it would seem a failure. You know, that's hard to take.
Very hard.
To have the people of God turn against you. Saul of Tarsus of Paul the apostle knew what that was.
In Two Timothy he says all that be in Asia.
Have turned away from me.
But there's no word of bitterness from him.
The last one is in Jeremiah 20.
You'll notice that both of these prophets asked for death.
To release them.
Jeremiah 20.
This is the weeping prophet. Moses was the lawgiver.
Elijah was the one that called them back to Jehovah.
Now, Jeremiah 2014, he's under, he's under the.
The influence of those that wouldn't hear his message and he says cursed be the day wherein I was born.
Let not the day wherein my mother bear me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee.
Making him very glad, and let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew and repented not.
And let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide, because he slew me not from the womb.
Or that my mother might have been my grave and her womb to be always great with me.
Wherefore came I forethought of the womb, to see labor and sorrow, that my day should be consumed with shame?
Everyone of these prophets, Moses says kill me. Elijah says slay me.
Jeremiah says, oh, that death had taken me before I ever saw the light of life.
They all looked for death as deliverance.
They were all under the.
The circumstances under which they were.
And those of us that have gone through trials, severe testings, we know something about what it is to get down.
To get low.
We know something what it was.
With dear John, let's go back to Matthew 11, please.
He sends this message.
John wasn't alone as we saw these great men of the Old Testament.
They also got discouraged.
A cloud came between their soul and God.
There was a wavering of their faith.
And they give expression to it.
And so it is here with John verse 3 Again he said unto him, Art thou he that should come?
Or do we look for another and notice the beautiful answer the Lord gives him? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go.
And show John again.
Show them again.
Those things which ye do hear and see.
The blind receive their sight.
And the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear all the works of power of the Kingdom which was to come.
But it wasn't time for the setting up of that Kingdom yet.
The people were not in the suitable state of soul for the Kingdom to be established in power and glory.
It was the time of rejection.
And so, he tells John, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear.
The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And this last arrow that went right to John's heart.
Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Don't be stumbled, John, because of the things which are happening, you don't understand why you're in prison.
You don't understand why I'm in rejection. It's all there, written in the scriptures if you'd only read it carefully.
It's there. Isaiah 53 speaks of the suffering Messiah.
But all how easy it is to Passover things that we don't want to hear.
And justice, to be occupied with things we want to hear. That's so easy to do.
So easy to do and then we miss.
We miss the path. We miss the mind of God.
Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.
And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John. Notice what he says.
About John to the people.
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What went ye out into the wilderness to see a Reed shaken with a wind? But what went ye out for to sea? A prophet.
A man, a man clothed in soft raiment. Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in King's houses.
But when went ye out for to see a prophet? Yeah, I say unto you, more than a prophet.
For this is he of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater.
Then John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of heaven.
Is greater than he when we look at these greats among men, Moses.
Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, they all failed.
And we all fail. There was only one who never failed. What folly then, for us to make any of them? I don't care who they be.
Our object God has given US1 object, and that's the blessed Lord Himself.
Time is running out. The chapter ends with the Lord in rejection.
He has to pronounce woe upon.
Those cities woe unto thee. Verse 20. Then began he to upbraid the cities, wherein most of his mighty works were done.
What kind of a generation was it to whom the Lord Jesus came? Was He when he was here? Was it any different from the generation that Moses had to deal with, or the generation that Elijah had to deal with, or that Jeremiah had to deal with?
What he tells about it in verse 16 he says Whereunto shall I liken this generation?
It is like unto children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and you have not danced. We have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented.
They were to such a set that.
No matter how the message was presented to them, they wouldn't hear it.
John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say He hath the devil.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking.
And they say, Behold, a man gluttonous in a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
So they would reject the message no matter how it was presented. Sometimes, you know, we get reproached because people say, well, I don't like the way you presented that.
Well, that may be true. Maybe we don't present it correctly. Maybe we get in the flesh sometimes in presenting the truth of God and arguing to others, we shouldn't argue.
But still, the point is, no matter how it's presented, these kinds of people won't take it. They won't receive it.
Their heart is set against the truth.
And so they rejected it, whether it came through the ministry of John.
With the ministry of the blessed Lord, and then the Lord pronounces woes upon these cities that have rejected him.
He was in that generation and he administered goodness and grace and kindness. He had healed their.
Sick, he had raised their dead. He had cleansed the lepers. He'd cast out demons. All the works of power of the world to come were done through him.
That generation wouldn't have it. They wouldn't have him.
And then he has to pronounce judgment upon those cities where his mighty works would were done.
He says it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Judgment than for you.
And thou, Capernaum, which art 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 shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, and for thee.
Now how does the Lord take this? How does he respond to this rejection of his love?
For my love I received hatred, and for my good, evil.
He turns to his father.
It says at that time Jesus answered and said.
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.
Because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent.
And has to reveal them unto babes.
Even so, Father.
For so it seemed.
Good in thy sight.
Here is the.
Totally dependent.
Submissive man.
Who receives everything from the Father?
And this is the way of joy, this is the way of peace, this is the way of rest.
Is to realize that.
The Father knows what he's doing, and whatever he does is best. And the Lord could could wait for the Kingdom. He could wait for it.
00:40:02
You don't have to turn to it, but in Isaiah 49 there's a verse I want to read. Connection with the Lord Jesus.
I think it's verse 4.
Then I said I have labored in vain.
I have spent my strength for naughty and in vain.
Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God.
He looked upon all his laborers here, the Messiah.
And it was apparently for naughty The people hadn't been turned back to God.
When Elijah saw that though they had to cry at that time, the Lord he is God.
But when they saw that, there wasn't reality there, when he saw that.
He runs out into the desert, requests for himself that he might die.
Here the second man, the last Adam, that blessed dependent 1.
He lifts his eyes to heaven, and he says, in view of his rejection, he says, I thank thee, Father.
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent.
Revealed them unto babes Father. It seemed good in thy sight. He receives it from the hands of the Father.
Without a word of complaint, No irritation, nothing like that in that blessed One.
We wonder at thy lowly mind.
And fame would likely be in all our rest and pleasure find and learning.
Lord of the And so at the end of the chapter he gives us beloved Saints of God. He gives us the secret.
For rest and peace and joy in the midst of everything which is contrary to the way it should be.
Injustice.
Disease, sorrow, grief, tears, anguish.
Oh, we're going through a scene where hearts are heavy.
He says, Come unto me.
All ye that labor.
And are heavy laden laden.
Some of us are heavy laden.
He says come to me.
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke.
The yoke of submission to the will of God.
Take my yoke.
Even so, Father for so it seemed good.
In thy sight.
The yoke of submission. I remember one time recently in view of some of the trials.
We were going through.
My whole prayer was, Thy will be done.
Thy will be done.
Thy will be done.
Couldn't say anything else.
Just that.
Take my yoke upon you.
And learn from me, literally.
For I am meek and lowly in heart.
And you shall find rest.
Unto your souls.
Oh beloved, it is hard to kick against the ******.
We cannot resist him.
And what He does is always for our good and blessing.
An ode to submit. It's the hardest lesson I believe we have to learn here in this scene.
My yoke is easy.
My burden is light to submit.
Maybe a loved one that's been taken away. Now we have to go it alone. Even so, Father.
For so it seemed good in thy sight.
To submit.
To bow to him, that's what he, that's what his pathway was. It was the pathway of submission.
To the will of his father.
Oh, may this encourage us. And what folly to be looking to a Moses, as great a man as he was, or to an Elijah, or to a Jeremiah, or even John the Baptist, the greatest of born of women. They all failed. They all got under it.
They all said things they shouldn't have said.
Things which they knew better.
Far better.
But he remembereth our frame, He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust.
There was only one.
Who never had to retrace a step, never had to take back a word.
Keep our eyes upon him. Take his yoke, the yoke of submission.
Upon ourselves, and then the burden is light.
The yoke is easy. Let's pray.