Woe to the Rebels! (Matthew Chapter 11)

All right, let's open up to Matthew chapter 11, Matthew chapter 11, and the title of this message is

Woe to the Rebels, Woe to the Rebels, and no, this is not a message about the rebels that just attacked

Israel, but that might come up, I don't know, but you know, some people are just simply committed to rebellion, isn't that true?

There's some people that are committed in their unbelief and rebellion against God, and maybe some of you were those people before the

Lord saved you, but in this passage in Matthew 11 where Christ is now rebuking the cities of Israel because of their unbelief, the message is clear, the kingdom of God is at hand, salvation is available to anyone who would want it and take it, but woe to those who would reject it, woe to those who rebel against the

King, King Jesus. So let's read Matthew chapter 11 starting in verse 13,

Matthew 11 starting in verse 13, Jesus said,

For all the prophets in the law prophesied until John, that is

John the Baptist, and if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come, he who has an ear or has ears to hear, let them hear, 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, but 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.

So last time, if you remember, verses 1 through 12, John the

Baptist, where is he right now? Yeah, he's in prison for preaching against Herod who took his brother's wife to be his own, and that was called adultery back then, still called adultery today, but John preached against Herod and Herod had him put in prison.

So John, because of his situation and things really aren't working out the way he thought, he sends this message to Jesus asking him, because he seems to be having doubts, he asked

Jesus, are you the coming one or should we look for another? So John the

Baptist seems to be having some doubts about whether or not Jesus was indeed the

Christ. I think he knew he was, but he's looking for reassurance. Jesus gives him that reassurance, and then

Jesus turns to the people and he tells them basically John the Baptist is the greatest prophet

Israel has ever seen, and yet where was right? The greatest prophet that God has ever risen up, he's in prison.

And the rulers, they did this to John, they rejected him, and we see where this is going.

John the Baptist, how does he die? Well, Herod has him beheaded. So basically, if this is what

Israel is going to do to the forerunner of Christ, guess what they're going to do to the

Christ? Okay, and of course Jesus does end up being rejected and killed just like John.

So Israel, generally speaking, has rebelled and is rebelling against the

Lord. And this is what has been happening throughout their history, and now it's coming to a head.

Now, Jesus hasn't technically come out and declared himself to be the

Messiah yet. There was all this talk, people thought he was, some people thought, no, he's just another prophet.

People weren't sure. Jesus hadn't come out and stated that. When we get to chapter 16, we're going to get the report that some people think that Jesus is who?

Yeah, he's this, he's that. Some believed he was Elijah. Now, why would some people think that Jesus was

Elijah? Well, first of all, John is the one who's more in the spirit of Elijah.

Look at verses 13 and 14 again. What Elijah was going to do, and we'll talk about that in a moment, that's more of John's role.

Matthew 11, 13, and 14 says, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to receive it,

John is Elijah who was to come. Basically, if Israel in theory, right, because this isn't what happened, but if Israel had accepted

John's message, since he was preparing the way for Christ, if they had accepted his message, they would have accepted

Christ and his message. And if that happened, if then the kingdom would have been established on the earth,

Israel would have received the kingdom. Now, that didn't happen, and because it didn't happen, is John Elijah?

Because Elijah was going to come before this. So, is John Elijah? Now, he's saying, if you're willing to receive it, which they didn't receive the message, he is, but since they didn't receive the message,

John is not Elijah. Let's turn to 2 Kings chapter 2. 2

Kings chapter 2. If you know your Old Testament, Elijah was also rejected by Israel's rulers, right?

I know Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet, but among the

Jews, their view, and this is still the viewpoint, I think, of most Jews today, that Elijah is the greatest prophet.

Well, what happened to Elijah during his ministry? Well, King Ahab and his wife

Jezebel, they despised Elijah by the majority.

You know, the majority of people back then were worshiping Baal. So, Elijah was called the troubler of Israel.

This guy is nothing but a troublemaker. The nation rejected him. Ahab rejected him.

Jezebel was trying to kill Elijah. And listen, I know we live in different times, but Christian, you need to realize this.

This is how the world, this is how every nation always responds to the true prophets of God.

And we don't have prophets today, but we have preachers. And this is how the world responds to those who uncompromisingly preach and declare

God's word. They're always rejected by the majority, right? Elijah was rejected.

Even Moses faced rebellion from the Israelites. But Elijah was rejected.

John the Baptist was rejected. Jesus was rejected. You're seeing a theme. And that's the same thing today.

Those who preach the word, those who are faithful to the word, are not going to get invited to dinner by the mayor, right?

You're not going to get invited by the governor to have dinner. A true preacher of God's word is not going to be invited to the

White House. So this is the way the world always responds to the true preachers of God's word.

Maybe there's been an exception or two throughout history, but there's nothing new under the sun.

So whether it was during the ministry of Jesus, who is the popular preachers during Jesus's day?

Scribes and Pharisees, right? Everyone looked to them. Who were the prophets in Elijah's day?

It was the false prophets. So the true prophets are always hated. This is a theme you see straight through the scripture.

So don't let that get you down. That's one of the reasons why I bring it up. When you see how true

Bible believing Christianity is being rejected by the majority of people today, don't let that get you down because that's the way it's always been.

What did they do to Jesus? They rejected him. They crucified him. Even the cities of Israel, which

Jesus is going to rebuke, in general, they rejected his message.

Now as for Elijah, who is rejected as well, but why did the Jews think that Elijah would come first?

So this is their mindset that before the Messiah comes, Elijah comes first.

And Jesus says, if you're willing to receive it, John is Elijah. But they weren't. So why did

Elijah, how long ago did Elijah live at this point? In the first century, was it?

You know, yeah, I don't know. Hundreds and hundreds of years longer than that. So how can

Elijah come back when he's dead? Well, he never died, right?

Okay, look at 2 Kings 2, starting in verse 1. 2 Kings 2, starting in verse 1, says, and when it came to pass, when the

Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went from Elisha, from Gilgal, then

Elijah said to Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.

But Elisha said, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.

So they went down to Bethel. Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, do you know that the

Lord will take away your master from over you today? And he said, yes,

I know. Keep silent. That's a nice way of putting it, I think. So what do we see?

Elijah, the great prophet of Israel, he's not going to die. He's going to be taken up to heaven.

So this was a unique event, only happening once before. Who is the only other man in the

Bible who never died and was taken to heaven? Enoch. Right. And we could talk about how maybe this is like a foreshadowing of the event known as the rapture, how

God's people, some of them, there will be that generation of believers who never die.

They're simply taken up to heaven without tasting death. That's a different sermon for a different day.

But in this passage, before Elijah is taken, he and Elisha have a conversation where Elisha asked for a double portion of his spirit.

Look at verse 10. So he said, after asking Elijah for the double portion, you have asked a hard thing.

Nevertheless, if you see me, when I am taken up from you, it shall be so for you.

But if not, it shall not be so. Then it happened as they continued on and talked that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and it separated the two of them.

And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Okay, so Elisha saw

Elijah taken up. Therefore, he did receive that double portion of the spirit. So all the miracles that Elijah did,

Elisha did, but times two. So if you keep reading, what's the next thing that happens to Elisha?

Now that he is Israel's prophet, he is what? He's mocked by the young children, which again, that's a different message for a different day, but it just shows that consistent nature.

Elijah was rejected and mocked. Elisha is rejected and mocked. John the Baptist now is being rejected.

Jesus will be rejected. Now how do you think the Lord feels about all of his prophets being rejected by his own chosen nation?

How do you think God feels about that? Is he going to let that slide? Now he is patient.

He's long suffering. The judgment for that didn't come until later on, but he's not going to let that go.

All of that to say this, Elijah is going to come back before the

Messiah returns to the earth. And how can Elijah come back? Because he never died.

He is in heaven. He's waiting for this time to come back.

Most people agree. Most end time scholars believe that Elijah will be one of the two witnesses that the book of Revelation mentions.

Now let's turn to Malachi chapter four. Hopefully all of this background information will be useful when we come back to Matthew.

But the Jews were looking for the coming of the Christ. They were looking for the Messiah, but they expected

Elijah to come first. And Elijah will come first.

Malachi chapter four, this is the final book of the old Testament. It's right before Matthew.

Malachi chapter four, starting in verse one. Now, again, let me ask you, was

John the Baptist Elijah? No, he came in the spirit and the power of Elijah, but because the

Jews rejected the message, and we understand that many Jews believed on Christ, but the majority, the nation, and certainly the leaders rejected it.

So because the message was rejected, he wasn't Elijah. He would have been in theory, if they had accepted it.

Okay. Malachi four, verse one. For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.

And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch.

But you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.

So the Israelites understood something about the day of the Lord. When the Messiah comes, there would be a separation and a judgment.

The wicked would be destroyed, right? And that kind of lines up with woe to the rebels.

If you reject God, this is what's going to happen. As Malachi wrote, he said, they will be burnt up.

But on the other hand, for those who feared God, they would be vindicated.

Look at verse three. To those who fear my name, God said, you shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.

So I think the message is loud and clear. When the day of the Lord happens, when the Messiah comes, it will be a day of reckoning.

Now we're still looking forward to this. So that we're talking about the second advent of Christ, when

Jesus returns the second time here to the earth. Verse four, Malachi writes, remember the law of Moses, my servant, which

I have commanded him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgments.

In other words, the message to the people is you need to obey God. That's what it means to fear

God, that you obey him. As Jesus said, he said, if you love me, do what?

Keep my commandments. But here is the promise concerning Elijah. Verse five, the

Lord says, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the

Lord. So before Jesus comes back, before the battle of Armageddon, before all of that happens,

Elijah is indeed coming first. And notice what he will do. Verse six, he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

Okay, so you read it. Elijah is coming first. He is coming before Christ comes back to the earth.

And what will Elijah do? He will bring reconciliation between God and his people.

You know, that's the exact opposite of what happened when John showed up. John came, he came preaching the gospel.

He came preaching a message of repentance. Did people listen? Were the people reconciled and were they reconciled to God?

No, the exact opposite happened, really. So let's go back to Matthew chapter 11,

Matthew chapter 11. So all that say this, Jesus is telling the Jews, if you are willing to receive it, if you would believe, then

John is Elijah and the kingdom truly is at hand. Were they willing?

No. Now again, during the tribulation, when Elijah comes back, there will be that great, we believe, end times revival.

The two witnesses along with 144 ,000, you can read about all of that in the book of revelation.

There will be a revival in the end times where the Jewish people, you know, there is reconciliation.

They turn back to God. They start following Moses because they're not following Moses now.

And they weren't even following Moses in Jesus's day. John 5, 46, Jesus told them, if you had believed

Moses, you would have believed me for he wrote about me. You know, sometimes you hear it repeated today.

This is common in the news media and from politicians. They will talk about the Judeo -Christian faith or the

Judeo -Christian tradition. America was built on Judeo -Christian principles.

Who's heard that? I think everybody's probably heard that. Listen, that doesn't work. America was built on Christian principles, not on Judeo -Christian principles.

What people have in their mind is that, no, no, Judaism is fine because that's the religion of the

Old Testament. No, it isn't. Judaism is the religion of the Pharisees. Judaism was a false religion, even in Jesus's day.

Because again, John 5, 46, he says, you're not even following Moses. And that was back 2000 years ago.

So it's the Christian faith. It's the Christian principles. Judeo -Christian really is an oxymoron.

It's a contradiction. Because those true Israelites who loved God and were following Moses, what did they do when

John showed up? They were baptized and they repented.

Those true Israelites who had not just the circumcision in the flesh, but had their hearts circumcised.

When Jesus came and preached, what did they do? They received him as the

Christ. Those were the men and women. They were the true Israel of God.

And if you just look at Israel's history, I mean, there's a few bright spots, but it's just one example after another, after another of rebellion.

And when Jesus shows up, does Jesus know he's going to be rejected? Yeah, he does.

Why did Jesus come to begin with? Ultimately, to live a perfect life and to die on the cross.

And he knows that. So Jesus, he knows the cities will reject him.

So he's preaching salvation to those who would hear it. You know, let him who has an ear, let him hear.

But he's preaching woe to the rebels. And you know, it's the same thing now.

The gospel goes out. And isn't it amazing how a preacher can stand up in front of a group of people, people can hear him on the radio and on TV and the internet.

And half the people love what he's saying. He's preaching the gospel and the other half hate it.

Isn't that amazing? Why? Because the message of good news, that's what gospel means, good news.

It is good news to those who would believe. But to those who reject

Christ, it's a message of woe because they're just piling up judgment for themselves.

So to those who fear my name, God says, you shall trample the wicked, that's

Malachi, for they shall be souls or they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.

So whether it's rebellion against Moses in the wilderness or their idolatry in the book of Judges or their rejection of asking for a king when they got

King Saul or whether it's John the Baptist or Jesus, it's just the same thing over and over again.

Okay, so John the Baptist, he's languishing in Herod's prison. Did John turn the hearts of the people back to God and to reconcile?

No, that didn't work. It didn't happen. Here's what Jesus has to say about it. Look at verse 16.

But to what shall I liken this generation? So do you want to know how Jesus felt about the

Jewish people of his time? I don't want to give you the wrong impression. Obviously, Jesus loved the people, didn't he?

He wants them to be saved. But this, based on how they're acting, here's Jesus' assessment of it.

But what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace calling to their companions.

Anytime you're compared to a child, you know this isn't going to be good. In saying, what are these children saying?

We played the flute for you and you did not dance. We mourned to you and you did not lament.

Jesus, in some ways, is comparing the religious leaders of Israel and the people in general to a bunch of stubborn children who are not listening.

How many of you either have children or you remember when they were young and they just kind of got in this mood and you couldn't do anything and they were just set on being mad?

A few amens, I'm sure. You can take a soft approach. You can take a hard approach.

Nothing's going to matter. They are committed to their rebellion or stubbornness.

And that's what happened with Christ. John the Baptist took kind of a hard approach. John the

Baptist was one of those hellfire and damnation preachers, right? I mean, John didn't mess around.

He was preaching this hard message of repentance. He lived a very strict, ascetic life and he told people and warned them about the wrath to come.

John was very austere, you could say, and the people rejected his message.

Jesus kind of struck a different tone, didn't he? When Jesus came, I mean, John would fast,

Jesus would celebrate and eat and drink, and Jesus was very merciful, at least at first. He was very merciful to every person he came across.

Did it matter? See, that's the thing. Some people say, well, yeah, a few Christians or a few preachers just took this approach.

If you just kind of softened up on this, then the world would accept the gospel. That's not true.

Some people are just committed to their unbelief. So that's what Jesus is saying, you know, we played the flute for you.

We're trying to take a lighter approach and you didn't dance. We mourned.

John had that harder approach and you did not lament. Nothing we did worked.

Verse 18, Jesus said, for John came neither eating and drinking, and they said he has a demon.

That's what the people of Israel said about John the Baptist. The guy is demon -possessed. He's out in the wilderness.

He's crazy. And the son of man, he came eating and drinking, doing the exact opposite.

What did they say about him? Of course, they said Jesus was demon -possessed too, but they said, look, he's a glutton and a wine -bibber.

So John doesn't drink alcohol. And he, and of course, you know, wine, there's a debate whether or not it's grape juice.

We don't need to get into that. But John would fast and he wouldn't touch any wine. And he's demon -possessed.

He's a weirdo. Jesus turned water into wine and he's a drunkard. You starting to get the idea?

You can't win. They're not happy. No matter what you do. And we need to realize this.

For the world, you have the idea maybe, and you're told that if you'll just compromise here and compromise here and kind of lighten, lighten up here and here, then people will accept the gospel.

It's not true. So what do we need to do? Just preach the word, share the gospel.

God will do his work. So this is what Jesus is saying. You can't win.

They're not happy with this. They're not happy with that. But then

Jesus says, wisdom is justified by what? Her children.

So how do you know if someone is truly wise? Well, Psalm 11, verse 10 says, the fear of the

Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You want to look for and find a wise person, find a person who fears

God and obeys God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

A good understanding have all those who do his commandments. His praise endures forever.

Here's how the world looks at the 10 commandments. God's just trying to ruin all our fun. You know, he just won't let us do anything that we want to do.

Yeah. God knows better. He knows if you do those things, you're going to make a mess out of your life. The fear of the

Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So if somebody truly has this wisdom, this wisdom that is from above, it is going to produce faith and obedience.

But when John came, he was rejected at this point, the gospel of, at the gospel of Matthew in the next chapter, especially

Jesus is going to be rejected by the leaders. You remember what they do to Jesus?

They call him, they say he is doing his miracles through the power of Beelzebub.

And Jesus identifies that as the unpardonable sin. Miracles wrought by the

Holy Spirit. They attribute it to Satan. So the leaders of Israel have then crossed the line.

They have rejected him. All right, let's finish up with Jesus preaching woe to the cities of Israel.

He's already tried that soft, delicate approach, right? Showing mercy, being kind, forgiving, healing.

Jesus did everything right, but they wouldn't listen. Now here's what he says. Look at verse 20.

Then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done.

Why? Because they did not repent. He says, 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. I mean, Jesus set up shop there and worked wonders there and preached to the people.

They were brought up to heaven in that sense, but they rejected Christ. And he says, you will now 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 in the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.

You realize what he's saying? Sodom and Gomorrah are going to have it easier in the day of judgment than for these

Jewish cities that rejected Christ. Does that show you how serious it is to reject

Jesus as the Son of God? I know people live their life, and this is my life, and I'm going to do what I want.

They make all these excuses. Well, if I just had the evidence, then I would believe.

Or if this just happened, then I would believe. Is that true? No, because there's people that are committed to hating

God. There are people that are committed to their unbelief. You know, the scripture says that it's the goodness of God that leads a person to repentance.

How do we apply that? Realize that God so loved the world.

God so loved you. And if there is a rebel listening here in the building today, or someone listening later on, you know you're a rebel against God.

You've lived your life in rejection to God. I would just tell you that God loved you enough to send

Jesus into this world to die for your sin. And he rose again the third day.

Because Jesus lives, you can live also. Do you want eternal life? Do you want

God's forgiveness? You must bow the knee to King Jesus.

Because otherwise, if you reject that good news, if you reject the gospel, what is it that remains?

A message of woe. Especially for those who are brought up in the church, hearing the gospel for years, being given the gospel again, and again, and again, and rejecting it again, and again, and again.

In verse 25, Jesus says, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and you have revealed them unto babes.

Who are the wise and the prudent? Probably a little sarcasm going on. This would be the scribes and the

Pharisees who thought they were wise. Jesus says, you have hidden the truth from them, and you have revealed it to the lowly, to the meek, to the average common man.

Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. And then

Jesus makes this statement about his own deity. He says in verse 27, 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.

Why is it that you have to believe in Jesus in order to be saved? Why do you have to go through Jesus, so to speak, to get to God?

Because he is God in human flesh. To reject Jesus is to reject the only

God there is. So we're going to end with how Jesus characterized the gospel.

What's the title of the message? Woe to the rebels. There's a lot of rebels in the world today, but this is the good news that went out back then, continues to go out even today.

Jesus says in verses 28 through 30, 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.

This is what people in the world are looking for. They're looking for peace, peace in their heart.

They're looking for rest for their souls. It's only found in one person.

The Lord Jesus Christ. He says, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Let's close. And Lord, how thankful we are that you have given us rest for our souls, that we can face anything life has to throw at us, because we know that we have been forgiven, and that through faith in you, we have been given everlasting life.

Lord, we praise you for every life that you've touched, and we pray that you would continue to open people's eyes to the truth.

Lord, open the eyes of the rebels. And Father, if there's someone listening today who has never trusted in the gospel, if there is a rebel listening, may they heed this warning, and may they finally bow the knee to King Jesus.