Challenges to Our King - Condemnation of the Cities
Notes
Transcript
Mt11:20-30
Are there degrees of hell?
I am often asked this sort of question.
"I believe Hell is a place where the presence of God and Jesus does not exist so it must be a horrible place.
However, if there is any fairness to life and death (and I really don’t believe there is) then there should be degrees of Hell...this scripture certainly makes you wonder if there is.
Whatever - I don’t intend to find out personally!"
Although I do know some people who spend hours debating the very idea of the nature of hell and eternal judgement.
Some things in the Bible are just plain difficult to understand.
Matthew 11:20-24 is one of them for me.
I know, I don’t have to understand everything in God’s Word in order to believe it because I trust in God who knows what He is doing.
It won’t always make sense to me.
I’m glad that He is God and I am not.
But Matthew 11:15 (NLT) says, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!"
Lord let me hear, listen and understand Your words today.
So what is it that I don’t understand all that clearly?
Let me set the scene.
In Matthew 11:20 (NLT), it says,
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God.
They are unresponsive to Jesus, despite His many miracles.
I have no difficulty here.
It makes sense.
In fact what I like about this passage is the raw truth of its justice mixed with love.
Jesus isn’t the sweet, dreamy-eyed, effeminate man with a spiritual song in his voice like a "let’s-please-everyone" kind of preacher.
He lays it on the line and I detect that it’s not without emotional heart wrenching sorrow at their stubborn refusal to get right with God.
His love collides with his justice as Jesus says "what sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida!
For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago..."
Now here’s what I find really difficult to understand.
He says emphatically "I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. ... I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you." (Matthew 11:22,23 NLT).
Tyre and Sidon were openly wicked and so were Sodom and Gomorrah.
Ezekiel 26:7 and 28:11-24, shows that the king of Tyre was so openly wicked he was associated with Satan himself!
Korazin and Bethsaida in Jesus day on the other hand were not openly wicked.
They were simply indifferent.
I’ve got to tell you, this messes with my mind.
Degrees of judgment?
Degrees of hell?
Sodom was a place of open homosexuality and pervertedness and destroyed in a rain of "brimstone and fire" from God (Genesis 19:24 NLT).
How can they be better off?
And if sin comes in degrees does hell come in degrees - slow cook in Sheol, flame grilled in Gehenna, fairly hot, very hot, microwave and superheat crispy???
When a one year old takes a crayon and draws in an expensive book, it is destructive but he doesn’t know that he shouldn’t do it.
On the other hand an 8 year old is without excuse.
He knows it is wrong. He has full revelation of this rule and knows the consequences of such an action. Romans 7:7 (NLT) says "... it was the law that showed me my sin. ..."
The key to Sodom, Tyre and Siddon is that despite their wickedness they would have repented.
Jesus says in Matthew 11:21 (NLT) "... For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago,... for if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today."
Are Tyre and Sidon and Sodom going to be judged on a sliding scale dependent on the amount of revelation they had?
Here’s the facts - Tyre and Sidon didn’t have a Bible that ended at Revelation and didn’t even know about John 3:16.
It wasn’t fully revealed to them as yet.
No miracles, no message.
Yet they would have repented.
Korazin and Bethsaida had it all and they were indifferent.
Is the sin of indifference higher than the murderous, homosexual pervertedness and wickedness of Sodom?
Jesus says it is!
How will you respond to Jesus?
Any sin can be forgiven except for one - the sin of indifference to Christ.
Of course Tyre, Sidon and Sodom and its people will have to answer for a lot on the day of judgment, but they will NOT have to answer for being indifferent to Jesus and His message and miracles.
To reject Jesus and what He has done on the cross for us is the greatest sin of all!
7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.
In my mind this is the sort of passage that speaks to Aussie men.
No beating around the bush.
No wishy washy - well if you would like, you could.
Facts, plain and simple.
Mate this is how it is!
Father’s speak plainly to your children.
They need to know the boundaries.
In a world with endless options they are overwhelmed with choices.
So much so that so many of them find it hard to make a decision, lest they make the wrong one.
That is why so many are indifferent today.
Are there degrees of hell?
Does Sodom end up in the same hell as those who are indifferent to Jesus?
Do they still suffer for eternity to the same degree?
I don’t know how all that works!
The Bible doesn’t get down to specifics and I’m not God.
But it sure makes me say; "I’m so glad that I never have to find out because I am not indifferent, I trust in Jesus and as Romans 8:1 says there is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"
Now here is an idea for you.
When you get a call from a telemarketer.
And you will know that it is a telemarketer because when you pick up the phone and said "Hello," there will be a momentary pause before the person speaks.
And when they say are you the owner of the house.
You can reply, "That’s good! I love it when people ask to speak with the owner.
But you don’t need to go through me!
He’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week!
His name is Jesus!
He says "Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."
They will almost certainly say, “thank you for your time. Goodbye."
They don’t want to speak to the owner – once they find out who the real owner is!
But the owner’s offer still stands.
Jesus says "Come to Me and I will give you rest.
How many of you could use a little rest from the work you did this year?
How many of you could use a little rest from the chores you have to do?
How many of you could use a little rest from the stresses and strains of life itself?
In verses 20-24, Jesus denounces the people who reject the gospel message.
But in verses 25-26, He rejoices over the people who accept the gospel message!
He says, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
It sounds like He’s saying “Thank you for hiding the truth from smart people and revealing the truth to small people.”
But I think what He’s really saying is
“Thank you for concealing the truth from those who THINK they’re smarter than everybody else, and revealing it to those who like little children are completely dependent on the grace of God for everything they have. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”
Then Jesus says “All things have been committed to Me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father and no one who knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."
He’s saying "I’M THE ONE who has the authority to connect people to God.”
Jesus says something similar in John 14:6
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Then Jesus issues one of the greatest invitations ever.
He says “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
First thing I want you to notice is the PERSONAL nature of the invitation.
Notice Jesus doesn’t say “Go talk to your minister and see what he says.”
He says “Come to ME! I’LL take care of you! I will hold you in my arms! I will wipe away the tears from your eyes! I will rejuvenate your spirit.”
Second thing I want you to notice is the UNIVERSAL nature of the invitation.
Who is being invited to come to Jesus?
ALL who are weary and burdened.
For the Jewish people, and for us, this means “Come to Me, ALL who are weary and burdened from trying to keep all 613 commandments.
Come to Me, all you who have tried your best to break bad habits, but your best isn’t good enough!
Come to Me, all you who are tired of being judged by people because they think they’re better than you!”
Come to Me, all you who weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”
Usually when we think of rest, we think about physical rest.
Like the rest my back decided it needed after trying to get the rear wheel off the ride on mower.
I don’t believe the wheels have been removed from the axle since the mower was build decades ago.
They are well and truly siezed on.
At the end of it my back was sore and then a day or two later I tried to tie my shoelaces.
Well after being stuck on the floor unable to get up for 35 minutes, I finally managed to haul myself to my feet.
My back needs some rest.
But Jesus is not just talking about giving us rest from our work and our aches and pains.
He’s talking about giving us a rest from our worries.
A rest from stress!
A rest from the anxieties and the annoyances of daily life!
He’s talking about rest for our souls!
I think about Mary of Bethany in Luke chapter 10.
While her sister Martha was running around the house.
Distracted and stressed out by all the preparations that needed to be made for supper, what was Mary doing?
She was having Bible study.
She was sitting at the Lord’s feet.
Listening to what He said.
Resting in his presence.
Today, Jesus is inviting you to take your backpack of burdens and worries and lay them down at His feet, and He will give you rest.
Then He says "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me."
The “yoke” was the wooden frame joining two animals for pulling heavy loads.
The animals that wore the yoke were completely subject to the one who worked them.
Jesus is saying, "I want you to live your life under the yoke of my teaching.
I want you to learn from me."
Maybe you’re thinking, "Whatever happened to “I will give you rest?”
This isn’t rest! I’m just trading one backpack of burdens for ANOTHER backpack of burdens!”
Not exactly.
Jesus says in verse 30 “My yoke is EASY and my burden is LIGHT.”
Trading the yoke of sin and stress for the yoke of Christian discipleship is like trading a 200 kilogram yoke for a 2 kilogram yoke.
Following Christ is WAY easier and WAY better than trying to do it yourself!
I like what the great commentator Leon Morris says,
“Those who bear Christ’s yoke know rest at the center of their being. They do not worry and fuss about what they are doing, for their commitment to their Saviour means that they recognize his sovereignty over all.”
So before us today stands a simple choice.
The sin of indifference to Christ’s Lordship and the condemnation that comes from such a choice.
Or the easy yoke of dependence on Christ and his Lordship, not only for your salvation, but also for your day to day life.
Which will you choose?
And especially to Fathers today, which will you choose for your family.
The certainty and security of Christ and his service or the the indifference of a world of endless meaningless choice.
