If you have your Bibles, we're back in the Gospel
of Matthew this morning. It's been a hot minute
since I've been in the Gospel of Matthew, so
we'll pick up again this morning at verses 16
through 24. Keep in mind the context, Jesus had
just given John the Baptist affirmation that
he is indeed the Messiah. John had been put in
prison. He had some questions. Are you the one
to come? Should we look for another? Jesus said,
go back and tell John all the things that you
have seen. And he then lists his miracles. And
then he gives an affirmation of John's ministry.
Now we will pick up verse 16 this morning. Jesus
said, But to what shall I liken this generation?
Those are the people there in Galilee who have
been privileged to hear him. He said, it's like
children sitting in the marketplaces and calling
to their companions and saying, we played the
flute for you and you did not dance. We mourned
for you and you did not lament. For John, that
is John the Baptist, came neither eating nor
drinking, and they say he is a demon. The son
of man, that is Jesus, came eating and drinking,
and they say, look, a glutton and a winebibber
are drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and
sinners, but wisdom is justified by her children.
Then he, that is Jesus, began to rebuke the cities
in which most of his mighty works had been done
because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorison.
Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works
which are done in you had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment
than for you. And you Capernaum, who are exalted
to heaven, will be brought down to Hades, or
some might say to hell, it's the grave there.
For if the mighty works which were done in you
had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
until this day. But I say to you that it will
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for you. Let's pray. Father,
help us this morning to understand the weight,
the gravity, and the importance of these words
this morning, Lord. God, we need you, Lord. We
have just asked you in psalm to speak. Lord,
may the spirit give illumination and unction,
Lord, as we look into the pages of sacred scripture
to behold the glory of Christ. It's in his name
we pray. Amen. So we're here first Sunday in
January. I'm thankful that you've chosen to be
here. It's a new year and we're going back to
our study in the gospel of Matthew. I think if
we're honest, most of us, maybe not all, Most
of us begin a new year with optimism and hope
that things will be different. I know every year
I'm like, well, December 31st, I'll be 25 pounds
lighter. And I've been saying that for about
10 years, so I don't know why I should be optimistic.
We're hopeful since it's not happened in 10 years.
But we all buy new calendars, right? And we set
new goals. Most of us like a reset or even a
fresh start. But if we're honest with ourselves,
most of us end the year the same way it began.
And we do this not because we lacked opportunity,
but because we did not want to do what it took
to change. In our text today in Matthew chapter
11, Jesus is pronouncing a woe, a judgment upon
three cities. And these three cities had a front
row seat to see God at work. I mean, the people
who lived in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum,
they all saw Jesus do many miracles with their
own eyes. They heard the truth from His own lips,
and yet nothing changed in their lives. So Jesus,
when He's issuing this woe, He's not speaking
to pagans who had no exposure, who had no access
to God or His truth. Rather, Jesus is speaking
to His own people. These are Jewish cities all
in Israel, and they had every advantage. And
they wasted it. Just like a new year does not
guarantee a new outcome, just because you are
exposed to the truth does not guarantee that
you will receive the truth. And this is the key
in this passage here. What you do with the truth
will determine your future. Here in Matthew 11,
there is widespread rejection of Jesus and his
ministry. Now that's bad enough. But it's worse
because they rejected him despite clear evidence.
Keep up to this point, Jesus had performed in
Galilee, which is a pretty small area, many extraordinary
miracles. In fact, he mentioned those earlier
in the chapter. He said, Go tell John what you
see. The blind are given sight. The lame are
made to be able to walk. Lepers have been cleansed.
Deaf are made able to hear. And even the dead
have been raised back to life. Those are extraordinary,
noteworthy. They're not like the miracles that
we hear of on TV that can't be validated. But
because of these miracles, Jesus was popular.
He had the popularity of a rock star. Throms
of people followed him everywhere. So it's true.
The people were amazed by him, but they did not
repent before him. Amazed, but not penitent.
His miracles were extraordinary, and yet, in
spite of all that they had seen, they still,
by and large, not all, rejected him. But it wasn't
just Jesus they rejected. They also rejected
the witness of John the Baptist, the forerunner.
Earlier in chapter 11, Jesus had affirmed both
John the Baptist's role and importance as the
forerunner of the Messiah. beginning in verse
11. We preached on this last time, so I won't
take the time to really delve into it, but if
you have your Bibles, look at verse 11. Jesus
said, assuredly, I say to you, among those born
of women, there has not risen one greater than
John the Baptist. But he who 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 suffers violence, and the violent take
it by force. For all the prophets in the law
prophesied unto John, And if you are willing
to receive it, Jesus said, he is Elijah who is
to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
But then he says, but what about this generation,
the ones who were sitting there hearing him?
He said, they're like children sitting in a marketplace
and calling to their companions, and they're
complaining a little bit. He said, we played
the flute for you. We played music, and you didn't
dance. We mourned for you, and you did not lament.
Now the people had given their assessment of
Jesus. They'd given their assessment of John.
They rejected him. And now in this passage before
us, Jesus is giving his assessment of the people.
And he's going to use a common scene from everyday
life to expose their hard hearts. He says, what
am I going to like in this generation? It's like
children playing in the marketplace. Keep in
mind the marketplace was the center of social,
economic, even the cultural center of everyday
life. If you've ever been to Israel, some of
these marketplaces are still standing. They're
just, it's a long narrow road with throngs of
people. Sometimes they would also be open -air
squares, but they would have been packed with
people and animals buying and selling. Weddings
took place there. In fact, if you needed to buy
something, you go to the marketplace. But if
there was a social event, like a wedding, at
the marketplace. If there was a funeral, it would
be held at the marketplace. But one of the things
you would always find there is children. Children
would be there playing because parents had some
shopping to do and they would bring their children
in tow and let them play while they did their
shopping. Well, how do children play? They play
make believe. And Jesus is borrowing this scene.
They invent games all full of music and dancing.
And so here, he said it would be a common image
to see children playing and they might have been
playing like dress up at a wedding. And at a
wedding, they're playing at a make -believe wedding
saying, there's music, festive music, we're playing
the flute. But there's a complaint, he said,
because even in this make -believe wedding, people
aren't dancing. So they said, well, again, Jesus
is using a metaphor here. He said, it's like
children playing a funeral, a mock funeral. And
it's all sad music, but no one is lamenting.
And you're like, what's the point? That's a little
enigmatic, isn't it? It's a little unclear. Jesus
is making a comparison of how the people responded
to him and John the Baptist. John came on the
scene as a desert prophet. He was an ascetic.
He lived an ascetic life. His life was characterized
by self -denial, marked seriousness, and the
people rejected him. They thought John was some
kind of lunatic. He dressed like an old rugged
prophet. He ate locusts and wild honey. They
said, if he's not lunatic, he must be demon possessed.
John was too fanatical for them. But on the other
hand, give Jesus. He comes preaching the same
message, the same message that John was given,
but he did it with a completely different style.
See, the word Jesus was no ascetic at all. He
lived a normal life. He did not hold to the same
strict dietary laws that John held. Jesus would
go to dinner parties. He would also attend weddings.
He'd find him celebrating with the people. The
very thing that they criticized John for not
doing, Jesus did. And guess what? They criticized
him. They said, John's a lunatic, but they said
Jesus is a glutton and a drunkard. John doesn't
eat or drink anything, and Jesus drinks everything.
Jesus was also criticized for the company that
he kept. He attended social events. but he had
dinner with all the wrong people. He was willing
to set a table with tax collectors. Those are
betrayers of Israel. Those are traitors and sinners.
We're talking about notorious sinners, women
of ill repute. Jesus would set a table and have
fellowship with them. And at that time, table
fellowship was very, very important. So you have
two different men, two completely opposite styles,
preaching the same message. And yet both of them
were rejected. John the Baptist came with all
the seriousness of a desert prophet. The Lord
Jesus came with joy and a willingness to even
fellowship with the people. The fact that they
were both rejected proved something. The problem
was not in the style. The problem lay in the
hard hearts of the people. That's the problem.
Daniel Dorian in his commentary he said Israel
did not like the austere message of John. with
its call to repentance, and they did not like
the sweet message of Jesus with its offer of
grace, they were hard to please. Nothing satisfied
them. And Jesus went on to say that wisdom is
justified by her children. God's wisdom is not
demonstrated or proved by appearances, rather
the wisdom of God is proved by the results it
produces. And Jesus is going to rebuke that generation
who is living at that time for their inconsistency.
They're criticizing John for not eating and drinking,
and they're criticizing Jesus for doing so. You
don't get it both ways. So in their pride, and
that's really what the problem was, pride. In
their pride, they failed to see John and his
role as the forerunner of the Messiah. He was
the Elijah to come, but they missed it. But worst
of all, they failed to see Jesus as their Messiah.
And because they did not see him as the Messiah,
they failed to enter into the kingdom of God.
Now, what's even worse than all this is it was
inexcusable. There's no excuse for the unbelief
of the people, for they had access to miracles
and witnessed them that no other generation had
ever been proving to. And they were still unbelieving,
still underpentant. And because of that, Jesus
begins to pronounce a judgment upon them. Verse
20, he began to rebuke the cities in which most
of his mighty works have been done. Why? Because
they did not repent. They did not repent. They
had access to the truth, they had access to the
light and revelation of God, access to the miraculous,
and still wouldn't repent. Jesus is looking for
the people to change in light of his arrival.
But they continued on and lived as if nothing
was different. Nothing changed with the arrival
of Jesus. But what we find today, it's incredible
if you think about it, these people saw Jesus
perform these mighty miracles. These miracles
were signs. They were proof, evidence, demonstrable
evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. And yet,
in spite of all that they had, they remained
indifferent. Now, I think it's important to note
this does not mean they were necessarily hostile
to Jesus. No, the religious leaders were hostile
to him, but he's rebuking common people. They
weren't necessarily hostile, they were indifferent
to him. And when someone is indifferent to Christ
in light of the overwhelming evidence that is
provided, it is sin. Neutrality is never ever
an option when it comes to Jesus. So the Lord
is going to pronounce a woe upon three cities,
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. All three
cities are located on the north side of the Sea
of Galilee in the area of Galilee, which is in
Israel. These three cities are being judged because
it's in these three cities that says where he
did most of his mighty works. Most of his miracles
took place within this geographic location. And
it's all pretty packed together, by the way.
Coruscant and Bethsaida is just like a two to
three mile difference there. Now keep in mind,
we do not have in the scriptures a record of
all the miracles that Jesus had performed. Sacred
Scripture does not give us an exhaustive list
of everything Jesus did. There are many things,
many words, many actions, many miracles that
took place that are not recorded. How do we know
that? The Apostle John tells us that in John
21. He says, there are also many other things
that Jesus did, which if they were written one
by one, I suppose that even the world itself
could not tame the books that would be written.
Amen. So we don't have everything, but we have
what we need to have. This is what God has preserved.
Now these miracles that we just mentioned, the
earlier mention in chapter 11, these miracles
should have been enough evidence to cause the
people to repent and turn to Christ in faith.
But that's not what happened. And Jesus says,
woe. Woe to you, Corson. Woe to you, Bethsaida.
For... If these mighty works which were done
in you had been done in Tyre, in Sidon, well
those two cities would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. Now again, we don't know
a whole lot about Chorazin and Bethsaida in scripture.
We're not given a lot. We know that Bethsaida,
it's the hometown of Andrew, it's hometown of
Peter, the hometown of Philip, but apart from
that we really don't know a whole lot about Bethsaida.
But we know there's a woe. You see this a lot
in the Old Testament. A woe is simply a pronouncement
of divine judgment. Woe to you. Now what could
be worse? What could be worse than the Lord Jesus
Christ pronouncing the judgment of God upon you?
I mean, there's nothing worse than that. God,
now notice, he said, if the works that were done
in you would have been done entire inside, and
we'll get to that in a minute. They would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. So
first of all, we see that God has absolute perfect
knowledge of all things and all people. God not
only knows what we will do, He knows what we
would have done had circumstances been different.
That's what we see here. It's often called contingent
knowledge. You might hear it called middle knowledge.
Jesus said, if the miracles that I did were to
take place in Tyre and Sidon, those two cities,
they would have repented a long time ago. Now,
what are Tyre and Sidon? Well, you need the Old
Testament for that. Tyre and Sidon are notorious
pagan cities which worshiped false gods and opposed
Israel. They were bordering countries to Israel
in the north. But they're always causing problems
for Israel. Pagans, false gods, idolaters. And
Jesus said, if these two pagan cities would have
had the same amount of light and revelation that
you enjoyed, they would have repented. And now
notice verse 22, but I say to you, it will be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day
of Judgment than for you. The very first thing
we've got to take note of from this is that there
will be a Day of Judgment. Now friends, this
ought to cause us to listen with rapt attention,
and I don't say that hyperbolically. We need
to listen up. Jesus ain't a day of judgments
coming. What this means is there's a day of judgment
that is marked on God's calendar in which his
anger and his wrath will be poured out on impenitent
or unrepentant sinners. Acts 17 verse 30. Truly
these times of ignorance got overlooked. But
now he commands all men everywhere to repent.
because He has appointed a day on which He will
judge the world in righteousness by the man whom
He has ordained, that is Christ. He has given
assurance of this to all by raising Him from
the dead. You can be sure. As sure as Jesus is
living, so also a day of judgment is coming.
And friends, this is the truth. If you are not
clothed with the righteousness of Christ, that
day of judgment will be an absolute terror to
you. You must be close with Him. Now friends,
no one, especially man today, our culture, no
one likes to think about God's coming judgment.
But that doesn't change the reality of it. Every
one of us, all people everywhere, will one day
stand before the holy bar of God's judgment.
And that's a sobering thought. But not all will
receive the same judgment. Jesus, now look his
words, not mine. He said it will be more tolerable,
more bearable for Tyre and Sidon. Those are those
two pagan cities. Then it will be for the cities
of Chorazin and Bethsaida, Israeli cities. So
right here, this is something that the church
has always taught and we see it clearly, there
will be differing degrees of punishment. Jesus
said that. The punishment will be according to
the right and to the light. and revelation that
you have access to. In Luke 12, notice the words
of Jesus. He said, that servant, slave, doulos,
who knew his master's will and did not prepare
himself or do according to his will shall be
beaten with many stripes. He's going to get a
bad punishment. But that servant, he who did
not know, so there's one who knew, there's one
who didn't. Yet he also committed things deserving
of stripes. He deserved to be beaten as well.
He shall be beaten with few. One who knew and
didn't do it gets a greater punishment than the
one who did not do, still did it, still punished,
but with less stripes. For everyone, he says,
to everyone to whom much is given, much light,
much revelation, from him much will be required.
And to whom much has been committed, of him they
will ask the more. Querson, Bethsaida, had witnessed
firsthand the mighty miracles of the Son of God.
Much had been given to them, but they remained
indifferent. Much will be required of them. These
cities, and we're talking about cities, obviously
it's the people in the cities, they enjoyed access
to God's truth. But they failed to do anything
with it. It didn't produce any result in them.
Thus, judgment will be greater for them on that
day of judgment. Jesus said so. And this is the
principle. Those who hear the Word of God, those
who have access to the Word of God regularly
and still reject it, will receive the greater
condemnation. And here, let me just say, rejection
doesn't mean outright unbelief. It can mean indifference.
It doesn't do anything in you. That's the case
of these people. Remember, they're not hostile.
They're indifferent. And they're going to receive
greater condemnation because of the more like
given and rejected makes them more guilty before
God. Paul mentioned this in Romans. Or do you
despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance,
and longsuffering? Do you not know that the goodness
of God is meant to lead you to repentance? But
in accordance with your hardness, and your impenitent
heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath
in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God who will render to each or every
one according to his deeds. So bring words. You
are treasuring up wrath for the day of wrath.
Because there are degrees of guilt, there are
differing degrees of punishment. Now that doesn't
mean there are some who are innocent. The Bible
never teaches that. All are guilty before God.
That's Romans chapter 3. But some have greater
guilt before God because they had greater exposure
to the truth of God. And Jesus comes and he says,
whoa, judgment is coming. But this itself is
an act of mercy. Jesus' judgment is coming, but
it had not yet come. So that meant there was
still an opportunity to repent if the people
would do so. R .C. Sproul said this, we might
be tempted to think that Jesus pronounced woe
on Chorazin and Bethsaida because he hated them.
On the contrary, he loved them. That was why
he told them to wake up. The day of salvation
had dawned upon them and their Savior was in
their midst. When you see God's warnings, you
see them in Hebrews 6, you see them again in
Hebrews 10, Jesus often spoke of warning. When
you see that, that is meant to be a wake -up
call. It's meant to awaken us out of our slumber
and stupor, to grab or arrest people's attention
and lead them to a place of serious repentance.
This is why we must preach the whole counsel
of God's Word. No one likes to think of the Day
of Judgment, but the Day of Judgment's coming.
And if we don't preach it, people are never going
to be woken up. from their sin. This is what
Jesus is doing. Whoa, judgment's coming, and
you better repent. But Jesus reserved his most
severe criticism and judgment for that third
city, Capernaum, verse 23 and 24. And you, Capernaum,
who are exalted to heaven, you will be brought
down to hell, to Hades. For if the mighty works
which were done in you had been done in Sodom,
you know Sodom, Gomorrah? It would have remained
until this day. Now why in the world is this
city of Capernaum marked out so severely? Because
of all the revelation they received. Do you know
what Capernaum was? This was Jesus's base of
operations. This was his hometown. You're like,
no, no, no, no. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Yes, he was born in Bethlehem. He was raised
in Nazareth, but Capernaum was his hometown for
the entire years of his earthly ministry, which
was about three years long. It's his hometown.
In fact, if you go to Israel, when I was there,
and you go into Capernaum, it will say the hometown
of Jesus. Can you imagine the Son of God being
a resident in your town? Can you imagine Jesus
lived in Nierton? And then imagine rejecting
the witness of the Son of God after he had done
so many miracles in that city. He said, Capernaum,
you have been exalted to heaven. How? You had
the privilege of having God's Messiah live there
in your borders, but you will be brought down
to hell. You will be brought down to the grave.
You will be brought down to Hades. Why? Because
he said, if the miracles that Jesus had done
in, excuse me, if the miracles that Jesus did
had been done in Sodom, he said that wicked city
would have repented. and would not have been
destroyed, it would have remained until this
day. Sodom! Sodom is the paradigm in the Old
Testament for wickedness. You know about Sodom?
So immoral, so cruel, so violent, because it
wasn't just homosexuality, all that was a big
part of it, it was also inhospitable, it was
a violent city, so cruel, so immoral, so violent,
that God rained down sulfur and brimstone on
that wicked city in a terrible time of judgment.
And Jesus said, listen up, it's going to be better,
more tolerable for the people of Sodom on that
final day of judgment than it will be for the
people of Capernaum. The Sodom was not less sinful
than Capernaum was. The Sodom had much less light.
God's judgment is just. It is always right. It
is proportionate. It is precise. Now think about
us. What about those living in Lawrence County?
If exposure and access to the truth brings greater
guilt, then we better take note. There are churches
galore in our county where truth is taught. We're
not the only church here. We live in the Bible
Belt. of the country. But even apart from that,
we have the internet and podcasts, and there's
a strong Christian witness there. There are more
opportunities today to hear the saving gospel
of Christ than ever before in all of history.
You know what that does? It makes us more responsible.
It also makes us more guilty if we reject. Now
reject doesn't mean I'm outright hostile. if
I remain indifferent to the witness." See, that's
what angered the Lord Jesus. That generation
saw the miracles, didn't do a thing about it.
They were complacent, just indifferent. The kingdom
of God had clearly arrived, and they did nothing.
They felt no need to repent. They had seen things
that no other generation before or since had
ever seen. Now the people, they were familiar
with him, but indifferent and I want to stress
that and that is not an option that is given
to us. Today, I think of so many people, especially
in our culture, here in where we live. The word
on the street, if we could interview a man on
the street, most people would identify as a Christian.
They're not Muslim, they're not Hindu, they're
not Jewish. Yes, I'm Christian. I'm of the Christian
faith. You see it in obituaries all the time.
There's not a particular church, but they were
of the Christian faith, or the Baptist faith,
or whatever. There are many who affirm Jesus.
They would even say He is Savior. They would
recognize that. Yet, they live their lives indifferent
to Him. He doesn't make a difference in their
life. People in Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum,
they were amazed by him, but they didn't repent
before him. Now there are people today, and they're
like, well, listen, because everyone that you
talk to around here has made a decision at some
point. Yeah, I remember at a Bible school or
at a church camp or whatever. They made a one
-time decision, but repentance is not a one -time
event. It is a posture of your life. Love and
obedience to Christ are the evidence of repentance
rather than what you say. It is true in any other
relationship. You can say you love your spouse,
I love them, but your actions, if your actions
show indifference and complacency and there's
nothing ever being done for them, it doesn't
matter what you say, it rings hollow. It's the
same thing with Christ. It is easy to say, I've
repented, but the scriptures point us and teach
us that the fruit of our lives will reveal whether
that profession and confession of repentance
is genuine or not. What the Lord does not allow
is us to pay lip service to Him. You find in
the Old Testament, God rebuked Israel over and
over and over again. He said, their lips, they
honor me with their lips. But what was the problem?
Their hearts are far from me. You don't get to
do that. John the Baptist, when he came, he started
preaching repentance. And you're like, what does
that look like? Well, let me tell you what it
looked like in Luke chapter 3. This is John the
Baptist. He said to the multitudes that came
out to be baptized by him, brood of vipers, very
welcoming, who warned you to flee from wrath
to come? A loving message. Therefore, bear fruits
worthy of repentance. And don't begin to say
to yourselves, because he's talking to Jews,
we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you
that God is able to raise up children to Abraham
from these stones. And even now, the axe, it's
laid to the root of the trees. It's going to
be cut down. Therefore, every tree which does
not bear good fruit is cut down, thrown in the
fire. So the people asked him, John, if you're
preaching, what shall we do? He said, I'm glad
you asked. He answered and said, he who has two
tunics, outer garments, let him give to him who
has none. And he who has food. Give to him who
has none, let him do likewise. Then tax collectors,
remember those crooks? They came and they wanted
to be baptized and they said, teacher, what shall
we do? And he said, I'll tell you what you do.
You don't collect any more than what is appointed
for you. Stop stealing. That's what repentance
looks like. Likewise, the soldiers, apparently
Roman soldiers said, and what shall we do? He
said, stop intimidating people. Don't intimidate
or accuse falsely. And by the way, be content
with your wages. Stop trying to pill for people.
John the Baptist clearly taught that our actions
demonstrate our repentance. The Apostle Paul
preached the very same thing. I'll just read
one verse here. Paul preached, he said, to the
Gentiles, here's what he's preaching, that they
should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting
repentance. Do you see what all the witness of
Scripture is trying to say? True repentance reveals
itself in new ways of thinking about Christ.
about sin, about ourselves, and about the will
of God. That's what happens. One writer said
this as we close. Biblical repentance. What does
it mean? It is to change your mind about your
sin. No longer is your sin something to toy with.
It is something to be forsaken as you flee from
the coming wrath. It is also changing your mind
about Jesus Christ. No longer seems to be mocked.
discounted or ignored. He is the Savior to be
clung to. He is the Lord to be worshiped and
adored. He said, now what? What do we do? What
do we glean from this passage? Jesus did not
end this particular passage with words of comfort.
We'll see that next week, Lord willing. But he
ended with a warning. The warning that cities
which had seen his miracles, they remained unchanged.
and people who heard his truth remain unmoved.
But the problem was not a lack of evidence at
all, it was a lack of repentance. Today, you
and I, listen, you live with more light and revelation
than even these cities enjoyed, because Jesus
had not died and risen yet. There's not one in
here who lacks opportunity. So the only question
that would be left with concerns our response.
I'm not asking you, have you ever heard, but
did you respond? Or are you living your life
indifferent to Him, ignoring Him? You may pay
lip service. You may say, yes, He's Lord. I believe
He's the Son of God. I believe He rose again.
I believe He's the Savior of the world. And you
can still die in your sins and face the judgment
of God terribly. You cannot ignore Him. To ignore
Him or remain indifferent to Him is to invite
peril, the very judgment of God, into your life.
But today, this woe that Jesus has pronounced,
it's a wake -up call. So if you will repent,
if you will leave your life as sin and you come
to Christ in faith believing, come empty -handed,
clinging only to Christ, friends, He will save
you. Because His body was broken and His blood
was shed for sinners, which is what we're going
to celebrate and fellowship with right now. Let's
pray. Father, thank you. Lord, thank you for
your word. The incredible power it has to instruct
us, Lord. Thank you, Lord, even when we read
things that make us uncomfortable. Lord, a passage
of judgment and woe, Lord, is terrifying. Lord,
it's a fearful, terrifying thing to fall into
the hands of the living God. But Lord God, we
also, we would ignore this word to our own peril
in the future, Lord. Father, I pray that you
would awaken. people who are in stupor, who are
lost in their sin, Lord, who are remaining indifferent.
They live their lives, and Lord, you're just
casually on the peripheral of their lives. Lord
God, please allow them to see the glory, the
weighty glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Let them behold His beauty. Turn their lives
over to him run to him fall on their faces repenting
before him confessing their sin and receiving
Christ as Savior and Lord Oh father do this for
thine own glory Lord help us Lord to make much
of Jesus and Lord I thank you for this table
we come to we're reminded of our sin Lord Lord
this table is a table for fellowship for sinners
Lord we don't come perfect we come weak and limping
and halting Lord this is the table that where
you invite people Lord who know they have no
strength on their own to receive strength from
Christ Lord, our only hope in life and death
is the body and blood of Jesus Christ was given
for us. And we thank you for that in His blessed
name. Amen.