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From an early age is that there is truth and there is falsehood. You see the sinful nature of a child. Children learn that they can tell a lie and try to get away with it. It's convenient to tell a lie and not get in trouble.
I remember when I was in elementary school mean that several other students copied off of our neighbors paper. And one of the teachers saw us and he gave us that speech that told us you can't do this.
But we did it because we wanted the teacher to think that we really did the work to earn the grade. So as you think about truth and as we think about falsehood, what is a good definition of truth. A Good definition is this that which corresponds to reality.
Another way to say it is truth is what really happened.
For.
Example. To say that the United States fought against the Soviet Union during World War two is false. We were allies with them. To say that John Kennedy was accidentally killed is false. He was murdered.
To say that the Sun rises in the West is false. It rises in the east. To say that God created the universe is true. To say that humanity is sinful and deserving of punishment is true. To say that God sent his son Jesus on the cross to die for sinners is true.
To say that Jesus is coming again to gather his people and judge. The world is.
True.
Once again truth is that which corresponds to reality? What did happen? What is happening? And what will happen? But we live in a world that doesn't value truth. Many people only embrace truth if it's convenient and not following the facts no matter what as one should.
But there are people out there who still care about truth. Christians, right? One who cares about the truth ask questions and find answers to those questions. As Christians we are people of the truth.
Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. This book right here. It's it's the focus of Sunday mornings. It's the focus of our lives. It's the highest standard of truth in this world.
If something does not agree with it, then it's false. Most people have no problem Accepting the truth that the Soviet Union were allies with the u .s During World War two or that John Kennedy was murdered or that the Sun rises in the east.
However truth goes much deeper than the facts. I just mentioned Every human must be interested in finding the truth to life's deepest questions. I've heard this described succinctly as for big questions.
They are this how did we get here? What is wrong with this world? What is the solution to what is wrong? And Where are we going? Every worldview has to answer these four questions and only one worldview is succinctly and correctly.
Sufficiently does and that is the foundation of this church the Bible. I've already explained those facts to you. God created the world mankind fell into sin. God sent his son Jesus to rescue us and to bring us into fellowship with God and Jesus is coming back to establish his forever kingdom with his people.
Now these are the most glorious truths in the universe, however, they're also very controversial. Satan could have been happy forever in heaven, but he threw it all away because he wanted to be God. Humans can be happy forever, but they don't want to be because they want to be God.
This is the story of life either God is on the throne or we are on the throne and Most choose the latter.
We.
Want to be on the throne. Most desire to live for oneself. And so the great truths of life are inconvenience. So people have no problem accepting the fact that the Sun rises in the east or two plus two equals four but have a problem with the statements that the Bible and Only the Bible has the answers to life's deepest questions.
It is offensive to the rebellious sinful human heart. So many never bow their knee to God but go their own way. And any rejection they put forward they say it's an intellectual pursuit. It's not it's a heart issue and this rejection of the truth as the truth was presented to a person was the experience of God's greatest spokesmen in the first century.
They were rejected largely speaking. John the Baptist and the greatest spokesman of all the God-man Jesus were rejected. They spoke the glorious truth, but people didn't want it this morning. We are going to see this hostile reception to these glorious truths.
At this time. I encourage you to turn in by with me to Matthew 11. We are going to be looking at verses 17 through 24 as we continue our sermon series through Matthew. And if you're using a red Bible in the pews is on page 970.
The sermon is titled Rejecting glory and Here's our big idea unbelievers That reject the truth will pay the ultimate price. Unbelievers that reject the truth will pay the ultimate price and we'll see two types of unbelievers described In this text this morning, but before we jump in Let me give you a little recap of where we were two weeks ago last week Larry Forsberg preached and I heard from any of you that that was a wonderful blessing to hear from him.
But two weeks ago was the last time we were in Matthew and that Sunday We finished a two-week sermon from the first 15 verses of chapter 11 and in that passage We learned about John the Baptist and our big big idea was this.
To better understand John the Baptist is to better understand the Messiah and we saw five reasons why? We saw that he became perplexed about Christ's ministry. His misunderstanding is corrected by Christ.
His ministry as the forerunner is authenticated by Christ. His greatness is tied to the greatness of Christ. And lastly the fifth reason is this his ministry faced the same hostility as Christ. Now this leads us to our text once again this morning and we'll begin by reading verses 16 and 17.
These are the words of Jesus. But to what shall I compare this generation. It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates. We played the flute for you and you did not dance.
We sang a dirge and you did not mourn. So Jesus here he begins by saying to what shall I compare this generation. To start a section with these words to what shall I compare was a common Jewish expression found in their tradition.
Rabbis use this expression to introduce an illustration that pictures a reality and Jesus is asking what is this generation like? We will answer that in a little bit, but let's first look at the word generation.
A Generation of course means a people living within a certain time period in this room. We have several generations represented.
However.
Here the Greek word for generation carries the meaning of a group of people very like each other in pursuits and in character. What Jesus specifically means here is the wickedness of the Jews at this time in the first century.
A Chapter after this one in chapter 12 verse 38 the scribes and the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign. They asked him for a sign even though he had already given them numerous signs. Jesus. Jesus responded back to them with a strong rebuke in Chapter 12 verse 39 where he said an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.
But no sign will be given to it except the sign of the Prophet Jonah. The sign of the Prophet Jonah is that Jesus died was buried for three days and then rose again. That's the sign that they needed to hear and that's the sign they didn't want.
So what Jesus is saying is what shall I compare this wicked generation to? Remember, these are the ones who have been opposing Jesus from early on in his ministry and he tells us what this generation is like.
With this Illustration that we see in these two verses verses 16 and 17 Jesus compares the Jews of this time to children sitting in the marketplaces. The marketplace. At this time was it was the central place of activity.
If you wanted to have Socialization. If you wanted to do business, this is where you went. You went to the marketplace.
As.
The adults sold in the marketplace, of course, the kids have to do something right the kids have to entertain themselves somehow. Just like in our day in the first century the two biggest social events two of the biggest social events in society were weddings and funerals.
And Children like to play wedding and Funeral so so they would sing a song they would play a dirge across the street. Aletheia has played weddings many times with the princesses and princes that we own.
In fact, I think I've done more weddings across the street that I have in my own life at a church. And this is what kids do and this is the illustration that Jesus is using. The kids are pretending To do a wedding and a funeral and Jesus communicates this in verse 17 by saying we played the flute for you and we sang a dirge.
A Flute is what is played at a wedding and a dirge is played at a funeral. The children expected the other children to dance when they played the flute and they expected the other children to pretend to mourn when they played the dirge.
But when the wedding game was played the children were upset. That they weren't playing the other game. Okay, so when the wedding was played, well, why don't we play? The funeral when the funeral was played.
Why don't we play?
The wedding.
It's almost a daily exercise for Brianne and I to ask Do you want to do this? And of course, what do they say? No, we want to do something else, right? So the children have not changed much over thousands of years.
But we expect children to behave this way. They're children. The tragedy is when adults behave this way. One of the saddest realities of life is when adults act like children. An Adult is supposed to be wise and a great example for younger generations.
But so often they are not.
I.
Am great. I am grateful for the many wise older people we have in this church. But there are many older people in this world who are fools and younger ones should not learn from them. These Jews in the first century are a sad story.
They lived in an extraordinary time in History and yet their sinful hearts led their story to be a tragic one. And may we not be like them. One author compared these children to people who complain about God's Church, but really don't have a legitimate complaint.
He wrote some of those who refused to believe the gospel covered their unbelief with criticism. Jesus compared them to foolish children sitting in the marketplace who objected to everything the other children did.
They were like many people today who find fault with whatever the preacher and other church leaders do. No matter what is said or done such people pick it apart and use the objection whether real or imagined as an excuse for rejection.
Because they have no saving relationship to Christ. They refuse to receive his truth or serve his church, but they love to harp against both. This is so common in our world. People say. Those church leaders are the problem.
Everything they do is wrong or those church people are the problem. People say I'm done with the church. Now there may be a legitimate complaints, but sometimes there's not and really what is going on is.
The person making the complaint against the truth and against the church is an unbeliever. Who is really against God and no matter what the church does everything turns into a complaint? When I was in high school the church that I was a part of had a major church split.
Many left the church fewer stayed and some never went back to church and yet still called themselves Christians. The people in the last group said I can do this Christian thing alone and yet God tells us in his word.
That we need to be a part of a church body. The church is always imperfect and some are healthier than others. But God always wants his children to be committed to a local body of believers. People who say that they are done with church.
It is not the church. That is the problem, but their unbelief is the problem. They get to the point where nothing the church does will ever be satisfactory. They're like children in the marketplace saying why don't you do this or why don't you do that?
When that isn't the problem. The heart is the problem. El Paso used to say the heart of the matter is the heart is the matter. Now as we have already seen in Matthew the Jews Largely rejected Jesus and as we've seen more recently they of course did not receive the forerunner to Jesus.
John the Baptist in verses 18 and 19 Jesus explains their critical thinking. About the Messiah and his kingdom offer. He says this. 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 at him a glutton and a drunkard a friend of tax collectors and.
Sinners.
Let's stop right there. In these verses Jesus explains their complaints in the cases of John and Jesus. Whatever they did was wrong. John lived a very clean lifestyle. He's like one of those Christians who doesn't drink doesn't dance doesn't go to movies doesn't play cards.
Now John was not a Pharisee a Pharisee says that you can never do any of these things and Adding morality to the Bible. The Pharisees that's what they did. Now as the unbelieving Jews looked at John they could not make worldly charges against the man because he lived such a clean lifestyle.
But they didn't like his message. They didn't like the truth that he brought before them. So they came up with a charge against him that was completely off the wall. They said he has a demon. As we think about the wedding and funeral illustrations that Jesus gave John's life and message was like a funeral he brought a message of repentance and judgment and If one did not repent They would be doomed and his lifestyle was one of abstaining from worldly pleasures.
So John played the judge, but they didn't want it. Then Jesus explains the reception that he received from the Jews since Jesus hung out with sinners and Feasted they accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard.
We already saw Jesus do this in the Gospel of Matthew and Matthew chapter 9 verse 10 we learned we learned that as Jesus reclined at the table in the house behold many tax collectors and Sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
Now even though Jesus spent time with those who wore sin on their sleeves the tax collectors the drunkards the prostitutes. This did not mean that he took part. Of course he did not take part. First John 3 5 says that in him there is no sin.
We must hold to the sinlessness of Christ because if Christ is not sinless then we are doomed forever. He needed to be a perfect sacrifice for our sins. But the Jews slandered Jesus by saying he's just like the gluttons and drunkards that he hangs out with.
That's what slander does you tell lies about people. Jesus lifestyle was different from John's. John the Baptist lived a life of chastity. Well, Jesus participated in the normal social activities of society where they would have been feasting and drinking.
But the Jews slandered Jesus here in verse 19 saying he's something he is not. It is true that he was a friend of tax collectors and sinners as he shared the gospel with them. But he never joined them in their wickedness.
Jesus life was like the wedding and so they made a false charge against him. He played the flute, but they didn't want it. Once again, just like the children nothing would satisfy them. This was the climate of the Jewish world that Jesus and John lived in.
They accused the life of chastity of John and the life of feasting of Jesus. Nothing they did satisfy the unbelieving Jews, but the unbelieving Jews did not think that they were the problem. It was those prophets of God Who were calling them to repent that were the problem the unbelieving Jews thought we don't have a demon like John and We live a clean life.
Unlike Jesus we keep all these laws and all these extra laws. That we added we are the ones truly following God. We are the true offspring of Abraham. But what a tragedy. Truth was right before their eyes.
Glory was right before their eyes. But they wanted none of it. They wanted to be on the throne.
Not God and.
Yet they deceived themselves into thinking that they were the ones really following God. But in reality they were bound for hell. After highlighting the Jews rejection of him and his message Jesus said at the end of verse 19 yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.
We see here the Greek word Sophia means wisdom. I know we have a Sophia in this church. Now wisdom and holiness are very closely related. Wisdom is understanding the right way to go and the right thing to do.
You can be wise and Still do sinful things. For example Solomon is the greatest example of this. He was the wisest man who ever lived and Yet he plunged into an immoral lifestyle for many years in his later life.
He did not live out the wisdom that he had. Yet the wise will live out some holiness and it is God's design that the wise Would be very holy. In other words, you know the right way to go. So you pursue it?
But one who is a fool and does not know the right way to go will never be holy. Foolishness always leads to wickedness. These Jews who are making these charges against John and Jesus are fools. They went to thought they were fools, but they are fools.
They do not understand the right way to go. They do not understand the way of God. They do not understand the world and so their deeds will be right in line with their foolishness. Their foolishness leads them to make these ridiculous claims about John and Jesus.
Jesus is a glutton and a drunkard. John has a demon. That's wickedness that comes from their foolishness in Our world sometimes we have to ask is there any wisdom left? It makes you think of the conversation that God had with Abraham as they overlooked Sodom.
Are there any righteous people left in this town. A number of us men went to a men's retreat at the beginning of April? In fact a couple of the men are here today. Good to see you. And I found it very encouraging.
God's working in Polk County. Polk County is not a forsaken place. Like many places are becoming in America and I preached a pretty controversial sermon and I Didn't know what the response would be and I called out the evil of the country and the evil of the church and I was So encouraged to see that many of the men agreed.
The men are standing for Christ no matter what happens around them. We have a legion of men women Children in this area who are not bowing their knee to bail. But are loving God with all their heart and loving others.
We have many people that are wise and as a result are living holy lives for the Lord in These trying times. What a great thing it would be if people flocked to an area like this. Where there's still wisdom and flock to sound biblical churches leaving the corruption behind.
Jesus says wisdom is justified by her deeds and made people see the difference between foolishness and wisdom between unrighteousness and holiness. The lives of John and Jesus were in stark contrast to that of the unbelieving Jews.
Who slandered them and this goes without saying? Jesus is the standard of wisdom and holiness. Okay, Jesus is the standard of wisdom and holiness in this world. There is no other standard besides him.
Wisdom is also justified by its fruit. The fruit of the Jewish leadership is one of dead religion and the fruit of John and Jesus is one of life as They ministered people what people's lives were transformed and no one could deny it.
The world makes lots of charges against Christians, but they can't question a changed life, and they can't question the fruit of healthy churches as People are transformed this leads to others who are transformed as contagious.
The Christian life is contagious as people leave lives of foolishness and unrighteousness. To live lives of wisdom and holiness and in the end the critics voices.
Hold no water.
So unbelievers that reject the truth of Jesus will pay the ultimate price. And the first type of unbeliever We have looked at are those who are critical when exposed to it. Here's the second type of unbeliever who reject the truth of Jesus and will pay the ultimate price.
Those.
Who are indifferent when exposed to it those who are indifferent when exposed to it? We'll see this in verses 20 through 24. Now the big problem as we saw in the previous point is that all these glorious things were done before them before these Jews.
The group of the glorious truth of God's work was presented before them, and they didn't want it. They preferred darkness over light and unrighteousness over righteousness. The people who rejected him were those in high positions and also common people and You've heard me say before That much of Jesus ministry was spent out in the sticks.
It was it was in northern Israel in the Galilean region. His hometown was Nazareth and his hub during this time would have been Peter's home in the city of Capernaum. In verse 20 tells us that he called these places out For their rejection.
Let's look at verse 20. Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. So as Jesus went to these places He healed many he cast out demons and the most important thing He did was he offered hope and he offered the solution to spiritual bondage as We have seen John the Baptist preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and Jesus did the same thing.
They preached the gospel of the kingdom that said the only way You will be residents of this future kingdom is if you repent. Turn from your sins and put your trust in this Messiah. Now some received this message, but most did not and what we see in the next verses is Jesus rebuke of those places.
Where he preached? They saw glory and they would experience glory if they received the glory that they saw. That's the offer right you're presented with glory. Do you want this because if you receive it?
It's gonna be the greatest thing that there is. But if you reject it, it's the worst second. Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 10 through 12 describes The preference of unbelievers when when given truth.
That passage says this they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion. So that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned. Who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Now this is a prophecy about the end times.
About.
Delusion that a strong delusion that's gonna be sent over these people who reject Christ during the final tribulation. But this happens always when one sees the beauty of Christ and chooses darkness over his light.
Did you see that they took pleasure in? Unrighteousness. But God created us to have pleasure in righteousness to understand what true majesty in beauty is. To love what is truly lovely and to hate what is unlovely.
But unbelievers do not love the truth and they do not love what is lovely. When I was younger I Used to think that secular music was better than Christian. And what it shows is where my heart was at that time.
I Had more pleasure in a false beauty of secular music than in true beauty. But one of the reasons I thought this. One of the reasons I thought this was because. Much of the Christian music I grew up with wasn't very good.
I thought it was good, but it wasn't very good. The Christian music Was trying to have a secular ring to it and putting shallow Christian words to the tune. Right lots of repetition. Sounding like a sounding like a rock show.
But as I have grown in my walk with the Lord what I have learned is that true Christian music is far superior. To secular this is so because true Christian music is truly beautiful. By God's standard.
Well much of the secular music is a false beauty. Now not all secular music is bad. For example, I love the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. That music is beautiful and I believe it's honoring to God. Even though there aren't any lyrics to it.
There's a beauty to that music. That's not vain and I think that the Lord of the Rings Music is more honoring to God than a lot of the so-called Christian music out there. No, that might that might be surprising to you.
But think about that. One is well done while the other makes music that does not capture the true beauty of God and his world. Something something to think about but the greatest music in the history of the world is Christian music that honors God through its beautiful sound and through rich truths that it conveys.
And We try to do our best to sing these songs on Sunday morning. Some of these songs are old. But some are new. The age of it doesn't matter. Just as long as it as it meets that criteria. Whether old or new the words are rich with biblical depth combined with the beautiful music that brings glory to God as the come thou fount of every blessing.
To in my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy. Never see seen call for songs of loudest praise. Look, I'm gonna stop right there. But.
Is that beautiful?
That's music.
And that's Sean's favorite song to The world can't match that. They can't match. The weight of it that the gravity of it the majesty of it and the truth that the lyrics put forth. Everyone here in dwelt with the Holy Spirit is drawn to true beauty because you know beauty because you know the beautiful one.
You love God. You love his truth. You see it as wonderful and glorious. But the unbeliever does not see this. The unbeliever delights in falsehood in Unrighteousness and delights in a false beauty that in God's eyes is ugly.
When Jesus came on the scene in the first century many did not want the truth. They saw the glory, but their hearts did not treasure the glory they saw. For these people Jesus has a very strong response.
He talks about them here in verses 21 through 24. This is what he says. Woe to you Kharazin. Woe to you Bethsaida. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon. They would have repented long ago.
And sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you it'll be more bearable on that day on the Day of Judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you Capernaum. Will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades.
For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it'll be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.
So the cities here that he's talking about these cities in the Galilean region known as Kharazin and Bethsaida were two cities that Jesus ministered in in two cities that largely Rejected him and the third one here Capernaum as well.
He didn't spend a lot of time in Jerusalem as I've told you this is where he spent his time. God became flesh and the people wanted nothing to do with their Creator. The very one who was keeping them alive.
Giving them breath to breathe. They didn't want anything to do it. You see a problem with that. And what Jesus says is if the works that you saw the glory that you saw Were shown to Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago.
So who are these these two cities Sire? Tyre and Sidon. They were Phoenician cities located on the shores of the Mediterranean. The Old Testament prophets prophesied judgment upon these cities that they did not repent for their bail worship and their arrogance.
Ezekiel predicted their destruction in Ezekiel 26 through 28 and the destruction was fulfilled exactly how Ezekiel predicted. Now Jesus is not talking about the virtue of Tyre and Sidon it is somehow these were great people.
And they just didn't repent. What's the difference between Tyre and Sidon in the cities that Jesus? ministered in. The difference is Kharazin and Bethsaida had more Information. One had the God-man present and the other did not.
One saw more truth and the other saw less. One saw more glory and the other saw less. This is the reason that Jesus gives as to why the punishment pronounced that the final judgment will be more severe.
For the cities that he ministered to than these in the Old Testament. The more information one has the more accountable one will be. This is the principle set forth in Luke 12 48 as Jesus says the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating.
Everyone to whom much was given of much will be required and from him to whom they entrusted much they will demand the more. Not too long ago I explained to you That not everyone's experience in heaven will be the same.
Those who do more Faithful work here on earth will have a better experience in the age to come. This is the same for people's experience in hell. Those who are more wicked will receive a greater punishment while those who do less wicked will receive a lesser Punishment.
God gives everyone what they deserve. But what Jesus tells us here is that one's experience in hell will also depend on how much they knew. This is sobering to think about. Someone who grew up in the church and Rejected Christ Will have a worse experience in hell than someone who did not grow up in the church But remained an unbeliever all the way through in verse 23.
Jesus says the same thing about Capernaum. He says will you be exalted to heaven? Then he says no you won't. You'll be brought down to Hades and what made what Hades means here is future eternal punishment in hell.
The people in Capernaum were Jews who thought they had it all together. We're good Jews. We're offspring of Abraham but they rejected Jesus and did not repent when the kingdom was offered to them and Jesus tells them remarkably that the unbelievers of Capernaum who rejected Jesus will have a worse experience in hell than Sodom.
And Sodom yes, you heard that right. We know about Sodom. When we were going through Genesis a couple years ago Genesis 19 talks about Sodom. Sodom was a bad Place and in modern times when we think of a bad city a wicked city in America or around the world.
We compare it to what? Sodom. But as wicked as Sodom and Gomorrah the neighbor in town were. Jesus says in verse 23 that if the mighty works done in you have been done in Sodom. It would have remained until this day.
But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. What Jesus is saying here? Is that the miracles he performed in Capernaum in? The Galilean region during his ministry were so amazing that the people in Sodom Would have believed if they had seen them.
This is very sobering to think about. The people in Capernaum were law-abiding Jews. They would have been good neighbors. But they were self-righteous and rejected the glory of Jesus in his message.
They received far more information about God and his truth than Sodom and Yet they hated it. They said we don't want it. We don't want your glory. We want the glory of unrighteousness of falsehood in God's eyes a nominal Christian who knows the truth and yet is Indifferent toward it is worse off than pagans who know little to nothing about Christianity.
This is a sobering application. We should be more outraged at cultural Christianity and dead religion than we are at the godless pagan Society in our country and in our world but I contend you that I think our pull is more to To shout at the pagan society and less to shout at cultural Christianity.
Even though we should address the evil of society. We should and I think if you don't it's probably because we're afraid of what's gonna happen to us if we do we should Address the evil society, but are we?
Outraged at what God is outraged about are we outraged at cultural Christianity and dead? Religion. I was at a.
I was at.
What a church that I would call dead religion a while back and I'm telling you God hates it. Where God is present there's life. He he hates it. If we go through the motions if we do our rituals. Everything I mean, how could people make the same mistakes as the Jews in the first century, but we see it today.
He hated it then and he hates it now. The last thing I want this church to be is dead religion. When you come here, you shouldn't feel that and if we do we need to wake up and think about this dead religion.
It's not just something that can't has flooded the liberal Protestantism and in the Roman Catholic Church. It's made its way into evangelical churches as well. The person who never reads their Bible never prays.
Rarely comes to church has no obvious love for God or his people and is outwardly upright. So a good neighbor is More abhorrent to God than the pagan society then Sodom and places like Sodom and. This is so because one person received much more knowledge of God and said, you know what?
Not that impressed, but I'll be a cultural Christian. I'll Sneak my foot in the door a little bit. God hates that all this information should transform you. But it doesn't to the one who is a cultural Christian.
In my prayer that no one here would be. That we'd be real Disciples of Jesus Christ who would love the truth embrace the truth and and are transformed by the truth. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation the old has gone the new has come.
You've been gripped in such a way where you never will go back. To your old ways. So outward religion is worthy of greater judgment than the irreligious who live a very sinful lifestyle. It's because of how much information you received.
And what you did with it? So unbelievers to summarize our sermon here today. Unbelievers that reject the truth of Jesus will pay the ultimate price and we've seen two types of unbelievers. The first type are those who are critical when exposed to it.
The second type are those who are indifferent when exposed to it. It is a blessing to receive the Word of God. Those who receive it will live forever in eternal glory with God, but to the one who rejects will be cursed for rejecting and.
For many in this world life is a tragedy. We have to be honest about that. The whole point of life is The truth of Jesus Christ. The truth is put before people and so many don't want it and my prayer is that everyone in this room would be on that path to glory and Anyone listening that you'd be on that path to glory seeing the glory receiving the glory.
Not delighting in falsehood not delighting in wickedness. So we have seen many intense passages in Matthew from chapter 10 to this chapter. But next Sunday is a nice change of pace. Jesus tells us there is only one place to find rest and It's in him and I look forward to looking at that with you is that verse of the month that I talked about is tied.
With the passage we're gonna look at next Sunday. Let's bow our heads in prayer father. There are places in the Bible that we might be shy to go to and this is one of them. This is one of them. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.
For the one who rejects the truth as Hebrews says There needs to be warnings. The alarm needs to sound. Because people need to treasure Christ with all their heart. Lord you created the universe to be worshipped to be loved to be adored not for people to Criticize the truth or to be indifferent toward it but to embrace it and to love it and to live it and I pray that we would do that Lord that we'd be a shining example of that that our church would be in this community use this Text Lord that we just looked at.
Right where people need it this morning in Jesus name. Amen.