What To Do When You Just Can’t Seem To Win

Secular -

After the Sunday service, Pastor James stood at the door shaking hands as everyone left.

Little Noah came up, clutching a dollar bill. He looked serious.

“Pastor,” he said, “I want to give this to you.”

Pastor James replied. “Why, thank you, Noah! But what’s this for?”

Noah shrugged and said, “My mom says you’re the poorest preacher we’ve ever had, so I thought I’d help.”

Historical/Cultural Context -

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 11:16–30 NKJV

“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is 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 to you, And you did not lament.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were 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; 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 shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Repent Of Sin, Seek God’s Wisdom & Cast Your Cares On Him.

Life Point- Seek God’s Wisdom

Exegetical -

Matthew 11:16–19 NKJV

“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is 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 to you, And you did not lament.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

Homiletical -

Our text today is often overlooked but there are some real gems to be found in it. Spiritual truths that cannot be denied.

The first thing we have to tackle is what is a “generation” Biblically.

There are different words for what we translate as generation. One is to be understood in the way we think of a generation, that is about thirty years of people and then the next thirty. One simply means everyone who is alive at that time and the last means a long span of time.

Here Jesus is speaking of not only those that are alive at this time but down throughout the ages.

People have preached Jesus and yet the message and messengers have largely been ignored. People have come multiple ways when talking about God’s kingdom and yet violence is done to them.

John the Baptist came eating bugs and calling people to mourn over their sins and people dismissed him saying “He has a demon”

Jesus comes celebrating the Kingdom of God has arrived, yet He was dismissed as a glutton and a drunk. I mean He hung out with tax collectors and sinners!

He says “wisdom is justified by her children.” Those that seek first the kingdom of heaven, those that seek God’s wisdom will be justified before God in their deeds.

It is God who gives wisdom:

Proverbs 9:10 NKJV

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

James 1:5–8 NKJV

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

If you want God’s kind of wisdom you have to be humble about asking and you have to ask in faith without doubting.

This is a promise found in scripture to ask for wisdom and it will be granted. Whole heaps of wisdom will be given!

We should ask for wisdom before we get into problems, but a lot of times we don’t do that. We kind of only ask when there is a problem we need to get out of.

Let’s be proactive with our faith and not reactive. I know I am guilty of being reactive.

So we need to spread God’s word about the kingdom right? Well how do we do that? Through wisdom. We need to ask for wisdom as a church to spread the news of Jesus. We need to seek God’s wisdom as seek people who will yield to God’s message.

Illustration -

In Israel, King Solomon, faced a monumental decision when he became king. He asked God not for riches or long life, but for wisdom to govern his people well. God was pleased with his request that He granted Solomon unmatched wisdom, This serves as a powerful reminder for us to seek wisdom in our lives, and our church.

Life Point - Repent Before God’s Throne

Exegetical -

Matthew 11:20–24 NKJV

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were 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; 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 shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

Homiletical -

As a whole Jesus begins to condemn the cities in which he had done, why? Because they didn’t repent.

You know Jesus is all about repentance.

You cannot have a relationship with Jesus without repentance from sin.

Too many people today want to tack Jesus onto their current lives but don’t want to repent.

Why?

Because they don’t want to own up that they could do anything wrong. They don’t want to face those consequences. The worst thing we did for people today is give them a sense of self-esteem. That they can be great so long as they believe in themselves. Folks that aint scripture.

Scripture says there is no one good, no not one. I don’t want self-esteem, I want Jesus and the only way to get Jesus is to come in humility and repent.

Repentance is just not saying I am sorry, but it means to turn around. It means you are walking one way and then you turn around and walk the other way.

Sounds easy right? If it were easy our world wouldn’t be in the mess it is in right now. Churches would be filled to overflowing.

You can’t turn around and walk the right way without the Holy Spirit empowering you to do so.

But Pastor what if I sin? I am glad you asked that question. Because we all sin, we all fall down in this life. What we need is to get back up.

Proverbs 24:16 NKJV

For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

1 John 1:5–10 NKJV

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Did you know that the more you know and understand about the Kingdom of God the more you are responsible for?

Jesus says that if the works which he did had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would remain to this day. Both were because of their utter wickedness. But as it is, it is destroyed and remains so to this day. The current cities in those areas are not continuations of the old cities but were established after Jesus came. At this time their was nothing their.

Indeed these cities that he rebukes, did fall in history and nothing is rebuilt on them. Unlike Tyre and Sidon.

Me personally, I don’t want to see the works of Jesus and to know about Jesus but in the end I end up in hell. I want to know Jesus through and through and be known by Jesus through and through.

Remember the warning that was given in Matthew 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21–23 NKJV

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

lawlessness means those who revel in sin that is against God. You see they stated they did a lot of works but they never truly grasped on to the truth of grace.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Illustration -

When King David was confronted by Nathan the prophet for his sin with Bathsheba, he fell into deep repentance. He wrote Psalm 51, a cry for mercy during this time. David understood that true repentance is not merely feeling sorry or just sorry because you got caught, but turning back to God with a contrite heart, recognizing that we stand before the throne of grace, where our sins can be forgiven and our hearts and lives restored.

Life Point - Take Jesus’ Burdens Upon You

Exegetical -

Matthew 11:25–30 NKJV

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Homiletical -

Now Jesus begins to pray. In His prayer and subsequent continuation, we find a lot of truth.

Jesus says He did not come for the so-called religious leaders or the rulers.

Why?

Because they weren’t listening to Him anyway. No He came for the common man, those that were paying attention.

Here we also find hints toward what we call the trinity. That Jesus and the Father are one. The son reveals the father to Those He wills. Meaning those that are true Christians.

I have noticed something in all my years as a pastor. Other so-called pastors who truly aren’t regenerate can mess the Bible up really good. They read something and take it way out in left field. While we can all mess things up once in a while. I am talking about those that ordain people who shouldn’t be ordained. Such as the woke and the homosexuals.

They do mental gymnastics to avoid what the Bible clearly says and the worst part is they teach others to do likewise.

Do you think Jesus has revealed the deep things of God to them? Or even the Milk of God’s Word? Well the answer is of course not!

What needs to happen is what Jesus says to all of us. Come to Him those who are heavy laden, burdened so that He can give you rest.

He likens us to an ox. He says to take his yoke upon you for his burden is light.

How can that be? Someone may be asking.

Christ may call us to be martyred. Folks if you know Christ then you know this world doesn’t matter your just a pilgrim walking through. The burden that Jesus speaks of is a part of that supernatural peace that He gives. It is a despite it all, all that this life can dish out and Satan can throw at me. I have Jesus who takes my burdens, my worries, and my doubts. It is supernatural how light His burdens can be.

I don’t know how people without Jesus do life. It is hard without Christ it is burdensome without Jesus.

If you have never experienced the difference between before salvation and after salvation and how your burdens change and are lighter then I gotta ask you. Are you sure you’re saved? If not, then you need Jesus today.

Remember what Peter said about this world’s burdens.

1 Peter 5:6–11 NKJV

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Life Principle– Repent Of Sin, Seek God’s Wisdom & Cast Your Cares On Him.

Call to Action – altar call….