Great Revelation Great Responsibility Luke 10:1-16

Well, welcome and good morning to those who are tuning in and watching this later.

I'm glad you're with us. Four announcements. Prayer meeting tonight at six.

Leadership meeting this Wednesday at six o 'clock. Let's remember that.

Summer Bible study continues on the 15th at 530. Biblical counseling.

Thank you, Dexter, again for a great lesson yesterday. And so again in two weeks on the 23rd at 11 o 'clock.

And again, everyone is open to come to that. If you haven't been before, it's okay.

Just drop in and you'll learn a lot just plugging in at any point in time.

So missionary of the month is Penny Harden.

She's based in Vallejo. She has a special ministry there where she supports the deaf community.

And it's very niche in serving the

Christian community that way. But she has been doing it for years and years and years. And she is a faithful woman.

And just you can pray for her. It's a tough ministry, as you can imagine.

We have words and we can express ourselves very readily to a community that understands everything we say.

But in the deaf community, it's a different approach. It's a different animal and how the deaf community hears and perceives and understands.

So anyway, we can be praying for her. And so for this following month, you'll learn more about her.

I think that's mostly it for announcements. I wanted to share just briefly before we go to the

Lord in prayer. I was in a sermon last week, and they were talking about the pillars of the church.

And effectively, we express that in our church as well.

And they were, the four points were glorifying God in our worship. We do that every week.

And ascribe to the Lord the glory, do his name. And we thank the

Lord that we have a church like Faith Bible Church to come to sound teaching, biblical, Bible -centered, and we can give praise to God for that.

It's not overly common in these times. Another one was community. We gather in the name of Christ, just as we are today corporately.

So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

We are a body. We are a family. Really unique, really special is in being a believer, something we can benefit from.

Discipleship, we grow more like Christ. Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

The Christian life is not stagnant. This is an active thing we do. We're not just, you know, earpieces listening and just sitting there, you know, just taking it in.

We're supposed to then take that and then give back and talk to others about Christ.

And that's the last point, the last pillar was we go for Christ. As the Father sent me, even so I am sending you.

He is sending each one of you to go spread the news, to be

Christ's ambassador. And what a privilege that is. So I just wanted to share that because that was a good reminder of what we do as a church and what we, our responsibility as his believers.

So let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have assembled us,

Father, as Faith Bible Church, that you have given us many generations of faithful people to bring us to this point,

Father. And Lord, may we not take it for granted that we would have hearts of gratitude to you for this church, for pastor, for the teachers, for all those that are involved in what

Faith Bible Church is. We thank you for all the members and attenders.

And Father, your grace and your goodness is being shown in so many ways so very often,

Father. God, we pray for those that are home today that are sick or ill or unable to join us,

Father. We pray that you would bless them, that you would heal them, that you would give them comfort, Father, as only you can do.

Father, we pray that you would allow us to worship you in spirit and in truth, that as we lift our voices to you,

Father, that we would glorify you, that we would not just think about you, Father, but we would be thankful for you and show that and express that in our worship of you, in our song and our listening and the preaching of your word,

Father. We pray for pastor that you would bless him as he brings you today's message. So, God, we thank you for your goodness and your grace.

We are truly blessed people. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. In John 14, we read,

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

So, stand together with me as we sing, Jesus is coming again.

Today's scripture reading is taken from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 19, verses from 41 through 44.

The Gospel of Luke, chapter 19, verses from 41.

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying,

Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace.

But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down from the tear down to the ground, you and your children within you.

And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.

God bless us. Talking about peace, talking about the second coming, in Luke 21, the importance of watching, watching for our

Lord's coming, says, But take heed to yourself, lest your hearts be weighted down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of life, that that day come on you unexpectedly.

So, stand together with me as we sing, What if it were today? And our children are dismissed at Children's Church at this time as pastor comes.

You may turn with me to Luke chapter 10, verses 1 through 16.

Luke chapter 10, verses 1 through 16. After these things the

Lord appointed 70 others also, and sent them two by two before. His face into every city and place where he himself was about to go.

Then he said to them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the

Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way.

Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals, and greet no one along the road.

But whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it.

If not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.

Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.

And heal the sick there, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you. But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

The very dust of your city which clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.

But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

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, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heavens, will be brought down to Hades.

He who hears and hears me, he who rejects you, rejects me. And he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we are thankful that we get to worship you in this country where it is still allowed, where we are allowed to have the

Bible, where we are allowed to celebrate Christ, where we're allowed to sing about you and sing about Christ's second coming.

And Father, we thank you for this nation, and we pray for all those who are hurting right now.

We also pray for those who have been impacted by 9 -11, the terror attack that has been really life -changing for this whole nation.

We ask that you would continue to heal those who have been personally hurt by it and who have been robbed of the loved ones and even the feeling of security.

And Father, we pray that we would trust you knowing that anyone who is responsible for that attack will have to stand before your judgment seat.

We pray that you would help us to receive Christ's loving message for us this morning, knowing that the consequence of rejecting him is dire.

In Jesus' name, amen. So this commission in chapter 10 occurs right after Jesus has revealed extensively of what kind of ministry he has been sent for.

And that is that of the suffering ministry. He has come not to conquer but to suffer.

He has come not to overthrow Rome but to overthrow sin and death through his own death.

And that would have been a shock to all these ancient

Jews who have been waiting for their Messiah who would come to free them from all oppression.

Now, as Jesus is leaving the Galilean region, that is the very north portion of the land of Israel, he actually commissions more of his disciples.

And rather than the 12 again, he commissions 70. Depending on the translation, it might be 70 or 72.

That's because of some ancient manuscripts have 72, some ancient manuscripts have 70.

But the meaning here does not change, right? His ministry, his suffering ministry is not cultish.

It's not exclusive, right? It's not about the inner group. It's about the person of Christ.

That's the focus. The second part of this is what happens to those cities who reject the message of Jesus, who reject the revelation of Jesus.

And that is important because what we will learn today is that great revelation comes with greater responsibility.

These Galilean cities that are named in verses 13 through 16 have seen

Jesus perform miracles. They have heard Jesus preach and teach about himself and God's plan for salvation.

Yet they have rejected him. And such a concept that those who reject

Jesus after hearing about Jesus are at a greater, dire, more severe judgment than those who have not heard

Jesus is important to us this morning because we frankly live in a country where the access to the gospel, the access to the

Bible, the access to theological education is more abundant than ever in human history.

Yet the majority of the people who are exposed to Christianity will reject

Jesus. There is an urgency here, just as we have said, saying about it this morning, what if he does come today?

There's an urgency to respond to the gospel because as this country, with all the privilege and blessing of the gospel and theological education and resources, we're not standing in the great spot.

And that urgent need to carry the gospel must be understood this morning.

The main point of this text is that since Jesus has clearly revealed the gospel through his disciples, how you respond to Jesus will determine your verdict on the judgment day.

Since Jesus has clearly revealed the gospel through his disciples, how you respond to Jesus will determine your verdict on the judgment day.

First, Jesus' followers are fully relying on God to be sent out to urgently proclaim the gospel, which saves from the eschatological judgment.

Jesus' followers are fully relying on God to be sent out to urgently proclaim the gospel, which saves from the eschatological judgment.

Now, Luke sets the background for the second commission of missionaries in verse 1 of chapter 10.

After these things, the Lord appointed 70 others also and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to go.

The phrase, after these things, refers to Jesus' revelation and instruction regarding his messianic mission and identity, which centers around his rejection and crucifixion in Jerusalem.

His mission cannot be accomplished until he suffers the death, a humiliating death of a criminal for the crime he has not committed.

His victory inherently goes through the cross.

Now, that his disciples have a clearer understanding of Jesus' identity,

Jesus sends them out again. Now, although this seems similar to the first commission in chapter 9, earlier chapter 9, there are a couple of differences between Jesus' first commission and the second.

First, instead of the 12 apostles, Jesus sends out 70 others to go before him.

And there is a drastic increase in the number of disciples who are sent out. They're actively participating in Jesus' ministry.

Second, the 70 go out to a greater region. Verse 1 speaks of every city and place that Jesus is about to enter, while chapter 9 stated only the surrounding villages.

The scope of the ministry has grown. Now, before we move on, it is important to mention that some people do believe there's a huge significance to the number 70.

That's because the number 70 is the same number of 70 shown in Genesis 10.

There are 70 nations that stem from Noah's family.

Now, in the context of this also clues us in as to maybe this is the expansion into the

Gentile region, which is that in other synoptic gospels, so Matthew and Mark, instead of this second commission, they actually have the feeding of the 4 ,000.

The significance of the feeding of the 4 ,000 is that it represents the eschatological blessing toward the

Gentiles, which comes after the feeding of the 5 ,000, which represented the eschatological blessing toward the

Israelites. And the feeding of the 4 ,000 happened in the region where there were

Gentiles rather than just the Jews. And because of that, many believe that Luke, instead of depicting the feeding of the 4 ,000 to show that the gospel is spreading to the rest of the world, to the non -Jews, but rather he chose to depict the commissioning of the 70 disciples to proclaim the gospel to the greater region, which would signify a mission toward the

Gentiles, non -Jewish people. Now, however, some believe that there is nothing significant to the number 70 or 72, depending on your translation.

Jesus just happened to choose this specific number. Now, rather than choosing one or the other interpretation,

I think it is important to see what they both emphasize. There is a greater number of followers who partake in Jesus' messianic ministry.

There is something to say about Jesus' ministry growing.

And not only that, Jesus' kingdom is not limited to just a few, but it's open to many.

Jesus' ministry is not exclusive, but it is inclusive of all who follow him, who choose to trust him and follow.

Now, furthermore, Jesus' ministry is geographically extensive, right?

He did not selectively decide on the few surrounding villages, but expansively sent out the 70 to all the regions that he's about to visit.

And really, there is a foreshadowing of the early church here. Christianity did not remain in Jerusalem, but it reached out right.

It branched out to the rest of the Roman Empire. No religion to this day can claim that.

No religion can say that where they started out is not the most important part or the thriving part, rather, right?

Because right now, Jerusalem is not the most thriving Christian center, although it started out that way.

While Hinduism, Islam, they actually stay around where they originated.

There's something different about Christianity. Now, prior to the instruction of the 70,

Jesus draws attention to a problem. The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few.

Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. The harvest metaphor signifies the gathering of God's people before the judgment, right?

This is not an agricultural advice. The problem is that there's so many people who need to hear the gospel and respond to the gospel that there's a worker shortage.

Now, rather than telling them to work harder, just work overtime or come up with a streamlined cookie cutter program for discipleship or evangelism.

Jesus commands them to rely on God. Pray to God. Pray to the

Lord of the harvest. Pray that God will raise up more faithful disciples who make disciples.

Pray that God will make sure all who need to be saved will be saved. And this sets the tone for what is central in Jesus' ministry, a deep reliance on God rather than one's own strength.

Faithfulness over practicality. Then verse three warns the new ministers of the risk and danger of their mission.

Go your way. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

Even though the harvest will be fruitful, it does not mean it will be safe.

Even though your ministry, Jesus' ministry will be flourishing, doesn't mean it is risk -free.

Jesus is pointing out that the disciples will face danger. They will come across predatory people.

The wolves in the New Testament always have very negative connotations, right?

They are deceptive, right? They lie. They spew out false teaching.

They feed on the sheep, right? What a grotesque picture, right?

They hunt down innocent Christians to feed off of them.

They seek to scatter God's people.

They cause divisions in the church. And in the

Old Testament, the wolves take advantage of God's people. They profit off of God's people.

They see God's people as just objects for their own profit, right?

Very dehumanizing. Implicitly, the solution here is the same as that of the previous verse.

Just as the workers rely on God of the harvest to provide more workers, these lambs must rely on the guidance of the shepherd to stay secure.

And indeed, that is how the vulnerable sheep in real life stay secure.

They don't fight against wolves. They can't. They rely on the shepherd.

They must go under the protection and refuge of the great shepherd who gives his life to save his sheep, right?

That's what kind of the shepherd we have, a shepherd who risks his own life for the safety of his sheep.

Now, finally, verses 4 to 12 entail Jesus' instruction for the 70.

First, verse 4 lists the minimal preparation for this mission. Carry neither money, money bag, knapsack, nor sandals, and greet no one along the road.

In this concise verse, Jesus stresses the urgency of this mission and a total dependence on God, right?

The first half of the verse shows the minimal material that they must carry. They're not to have extra sandals.

Just take the one that you're wearing. Don't take money bags. You're not funding your own mission.

You're relying on God to provide. Now, they must trust

God's provision rather than their materials. Not only that, they must urgently get going.

No need to stop along the road for a chit -chat. They must not get sidetracked.

They must focus on the mission of proclaiming the gospel to the world that needs to hear it.

And verses 5 through 6 detail the instruction for when they do arrive at the designated location.

First, they must greet peace to this house. Peace in the

Jewish context is more than just the absence of violence, right? It's actually the presence of good.

It's the presence of good and well -being. It's not just neutral here. It's overwhelmingly positive.

Now, the disciples, as the ambassadors representing the Prince of Peace, announce peace of God in the house because their business is primarily about reconciling sinful humans to the

Holy God. And the blessing here for those who receive

God's messengers is actually not even temporary. It's not dependent on the presence of the disciples.

But it is a lasting blessing that's dependent on their faithful response to what the disciples have to share.

Now, if they refuse, that peace does not remain. There is no peace for those who refuse

Christ. There's no peace for those who don't know Christ. Now, verses 7 to 9 specifically show what must be done when they receive the disciples.

So, they tell us that the disciples must rely on the hospitality of the first house that received them.

And unlike the traveling Greek philosophers who would go around, beg for money, beg for food, go from house to house to stay one night, and then stay the other night, they must rely on that first house which

God has provided for them. They are not relying on their own abilities to provide.

They're not even relying on their own begging abilities. They're not even trusting other houses that could have provided for them.

They're staying in where God has first provided for them until they must leave. They eat what they're given and they stay where they're first received because it is

God who provides, not them. Now, as they're provided for, they minister and they heal the sick there and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near you.

As I talked about it in chapter 9, the act of healing served as a sign for the message of the gospel.

Remember, as Jesus entered the world, the kingdom of light has arrived and the kingdom of darkness has been challenged.

And for the first time in human history, the kingdom of sin and death was directly opposed by God's kingdom in this intensified manner, right?

For first and foremost, the dead were getting raised left and right. Sure, in the

Old Testament, there were a couple people who raised right rose from the dead. But man, with Jesus, he seems like he can do whenever he wants.

And the sick were getting well. And the demanding acts, no matter how many demons are possessing the poor victim, they had no chance against the very word of Christ.

Now, how were the disciples to prove that the good news that God's very

Messiah has come to deliver them from darkness and sin was true? Well, all they had to do was reverse the course of sin and death, heal diseases that oppress.

And they would know there is something different about the message that they are spreading.

It's not just too good to be true. It's not just the fluff.

They can back it up with power against darkness. Now, the core of this mission, of course, is the proclamation.

The kingdom of God has come near to you. This is a message that requires the people to respond.

Now that God's kingdom is near through the person of Jesus Christ. What will you do now that God has sent his

Messiah, his Christ to save you from sin and death? Will you trust him?

Will you receive the king, Jesus, who will die to bring you into his kingdom?

That's the response. Now, knowing the harshness and danger of the mission field,

Jesus prepares for them, prepares them for the rejections they're about to face in verses 10 through 12.

Verse 10 sets the scenario of an outright rejection, right? They hear the greeting, but they reject them.

Now, when that happens, they must go out into the streets. The streets here means the public square.

It's the bustling, busy downtown. And they must loudly proclaim the very dust of your city, which clings to us.

We wipe off against you. Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.

This is a prophetic proclamation for the rejection of God's gracious offer of salvation.

The kingdom of God has come near you, but you have rejected it.

Your opportunity to be saved has come to you so close, but you have rejected it.

Now, verse 12 shows the eschatological end for such a city that rejects Jesus. But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

This is a promise of a future judgment. And for those who reject

Jesus, God's ultimate and final savior for the whole world, even

Sodom will be better off on the judgment day than them. And this is astounding because Sodom in the

Old Testament is the most despicable and perverse city. It's the type of city that would have made the

Old Testament saints cringe upon just hearing it. And it is so heinous that God had destroyed it because of the outcry of the victims of that very city.

The very symbol of wickedness will be better off than those who reject Christ.

That speaks volume of what kind of rejection that is to reject Christ. It far surpasses any perversity and wickedness seen in the

Old Testament to reject the coming Messiah. And what really it tells us is with greater revelation comes greater responsibility.

For those cities who were offered the chance to hear the gospel, but rejected, will be judged much more harshly than those cities who never had a chance.

Now, this instruction for Christian ministry is important because we often forget our need to depend on the

Lord of the harvest. We need to rely first and foremost on God to provide for every ministerial need.

Not only that, even when there's rejection, it is not our job to punish them.

It solely depends on God. From the start to the end of the ministry for the 70, it's all about what

God does. And the disciples are just the ambassadors. They rely on God for everything.

And there are two, two obstacles that prevent us from relying on God in the church.

The first one is practicality. Practicality does not focus on God, but focuses on the results.

Practicality does not use God's method, but uses human wisdom to get the biggest bang for the buck.

Instead of personally proclaiming the gospel and pouring into a new believer's life, we tiptoe around spiritual conversations.

It's kind of the backdoor Jesus method, right? Let's host an event that's something everyone might be interested in, workout, music, hobbies, running.

And after the third meeting or so, we start dropping spiritual hints, right? What do you think about the afterlife?

What do you think about religion? And if they don't want to talk about it, just you don't have to mention

Christ, right? And if they are sort of interested, awkwardly overload them with all the spiritual terms that they don't know about and tell them

God loves them without mentioning sin or their need to repent.

Of course, they would leave if they hear about their sin. Who wants to hear about their guilt?

Now focus on the nebulous term of God's love. It's all good without showing them the epitome of God's love is found in the crucified

Christ who took on their sin and suffered the wrath that they deserved so that they may live and that they may be declared righteous and that they may be adopted into God's family, that they're not alone, that there was someone out there who wanted them so badly because he is good, that God is love, that he willingly died for their sin, not because they were lovely to behold, but because God is that compassionate and merciful.

You wouldn't hear from there. After all, where's the practicality in that if they just leave your program after hearing the gospel because they got offended by the cross?

That's not reliance on God, but that's reliance on men. The focus is not

God. The focus is on positive opinions of humankind. The second seems like it's the opposite, but it belongs to the same group, and it's pride.

This is the lack of reliance of God because you believe you're the answer to the

Christian ministry. It's all about your gifts. It's all about your skills.

It's all about how well you speak. It's all about you. Sure, you may pray in the beginning, but deep inside, you know you got it.

You can't even keep up with the number of times you've shared the gospel, and this would even be the true gospel that has the saving message.

You just can't keep track of how many times you've shared the gospel with others, and you have led so many people into that prayer to accept

Christ. Man, God must be really fortunate to have you.

That, although even though the true gospel may be shared, is a despicable way of doing

Christian ministry. It's not reliance on God. It's a reliance on self, and that has no place in the church.

No matter how gifted a pastor is, no matter how well -educated that person is, no matter how many degrees that he or she holds, that kind of attitude is not that of those who follow the suffering

Messiah who is humiliated on the cross to save the lives of many.

Both courses of action rely on self rather than God. Both courses of action are self -centered and perverse, and far from God -fearing,

God -dependent ministry described by Jesus in this passage. And if you belong to any of those churches, it may be time to leave and find the true church that ministers according to the way of Christ, which is on full dependence on God.

Now, what happens to those who reject the Messiah? Those who have witnessed the

Messiah, yet reject Him, face a more severe judgment because they have rejected

God's ultimate gracious offer of salvation. Those who have witnessed the

Messiah, yet reject Him, face a more severe judgment because they have rejected

God's ultimate gracious offer of salvation. Now, as Jesus is leaving the northern region, the

Galilean region, He pronounces judgment against the cities of Galilee. Woe to you,

Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! Woe is a one -syllable word, three letters.

We may not think much of it, but it is the most severe proclamation of God's condemnation upon that city.

This is more than just a friendly warning. These cities are too late for a warning.

This is a guarantee of a judgment that is coming in the last days. Chorazin and Bethsaida are cities in Galilee, north of Jerusalem, and these cities have witnessed

Jesus' miracles. The feeding of the 5 ,000, in fact, happened near Bethsaida.

Now, what's the reason for the judgment? For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

The reason is that God's chosen Savior not only visited but performed great miracles in these cities, yet there was no response of faith.

Instead of repenting, they were just spectating. Instead of humbling themselves before Jesus, their lives remained unchanged.

In order to illustrate the severity of their rejection, Jesus brings up Tyre and Sidon.

These are the northern port cities that don't actually belong to Israel. They're actually found in modern -day

Lebanon, and they were notoriously wicked in the Old Testament. In fact, the evil queen

Jezebel in the first kings, right, and partly the second kings too, who killed so many of God's prophets, and she's the one who deceitfully planned every possible thing to falsely accuse

Naboth so that this righteous man Naboth who wanted to be faithful to the land that God has given his family, he's slandered and accused for blaspheming against God and the king, and they take him out to stone him to death, an innocent man, and that was all their plan.

You would not see a more wicked queen in the Old Testament than Jezebel, and she was from Tyre.

She was also the one who brought Baal worship to Israel, and which remained until Israel was conquered by Assyria.

Now, in comparison to these wicked pagan cities, Chorazin and Bethsaida are actually

Jewish cities, yet they will be judged more harshly.

Why? The sin of rejecting Jesus when

He has clearly revealed Himself is much greater than the filth of Sidon and Tyre indulged in.

In fact, if Jesus had shown up in the Old Testament, Tyre and Sidon, they would have actually responded in faith.

A modern illustration would have been, curse you Western Europe and England, for if the preachers and theologians that God had sent to you have gone to Communist China and Soviet Russia, they would have repented long ago.

Western Europe and England have seen some of the greatest theologians and preachers in modern history, yet they're far from Jesus this morning.

But we consider Soviet Russia and Communist China of the 20th century to be the most godless places.

After all, their ideology is atheistic. They killed Christians in droves, but the

Western Europe and England have rejected Christ this morning. While the northern

Jewish cities reject their Messiah when He shows up to deliver them, the foreign pagan cities would have repented in the utmost humility of sackcloth and ashes.

They would have humbled themselves enough where they would externally change their clothes into sackcloths, which are uncomfortable, made up of goat's hairs.

They would look like beasts, and they would put ashes all over their body in utter humiliation and disgrace if Jesus had done the works that He did in the

Galilean region. And there are two, at least two, important aspects of Jesus' pronouncement of judgment here.

First, Jesus has the knowledge of what could have happened in the course of history if it had taken a different path.

Obviously, Jesus did not show up to Tyre and Sidon, and they were judged, and they will be judged in the last days.

Yet, Jesus knows precisely that if He had shown up and done the miracles that the

Galileans have witnessed, these foreigners, these pagans, would have repented long ago.

This is actually a glimpse of God's omniscience. God's omniscience, His all -knowing nature, covers more than everything that has happened, is occurring, and will happen.

It's more than that. God even knows the potential events that did not happen.

That's something. In fact, when people ask me about speculative questions during Bible studies, such as, well, what if Adam and Eve had children before they sinned against God?

I don't even attempt to speculate the response to that. Rather, I tell them, well, that's interesting to think about, but what

God has not told us, and what God has not chosen in course of history, we cannot know.

That's not in my business. I am not

God. I am not omniscient. However, here,

Jesus knew even the different threads of history that did not even take place. Who could

Jesus be? Second, Jesus not only sets the standard for judgment, but He is the standard for judgment.

All these Galilean Jews would have all agreed how severely Tyre and Sidon would be judged on the

Judgment Day. Their influence really single -handedly drove the

Northern Kingdom down with Baal worship, right? Yet, Jesus comes along and pronounces a judgment that is far worse for them because they did not receive

Him as their Messiah. They may say, but Tyre and Sidon, they're idolaters.

They make idols. They worship. They bow down before these bulls.

They sacrifice human babies. They worship false gods.

They rejected the Creator God. They believe in multiple gods. We are monotheistic.

In passing this judgment, Jesus is effectively saying, these Galileans are far worse because they rejected the

Creator God who actually visited them in the flesh. Tyre and Sidon did not have such an opportunity, and they would have faithfully received

Him if Jesus had shown up in the flesh. Hence, rejecting

Jesus' messianic identity after hearing His sermons and seeing His miracles is far more senseless idolatry than the idolatry of the pagan nations.

These people of the Galilean region saw God walking among them and outright rejected them.

Sidon and Tyre never saw God. And rejected

God. Which one's worse? In a similar way,

Jesus judges Capernaum. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.

Capernaum was the center of Jesus' earthly ministry. Jesus exercised demons there, cast out demons in Luke 4.

He healed the centurious servant from a distance. He never saw this servant. Now, Jesus reveals their mistaken view of their destination.

They may think that all is well. After all, they worship the one true

God. Yet, because they rejected the

God incarnate, Jesus Christ, the one whom God has sent, their destination will not be heaven but Hades.

It is the place of all the unrighteous. And Jesus explains

His basis for the pronouncements. He who hears you hears me. He who rejects you rejects me.

And he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. I'll unpack this logical train of thought here.

For first, those who reject Jesus' disciples and their message of Jesus are actually rejecting

Jesus. Now, second, the biggest problem of rejecting Jesus is in the end they are rejecting

God who sent Jesus. Now, those who are sent by Jesus represent

Jesus. Not only that, by this logic, Jesus who was sent by God also represents

God. In fact, He is God. So, therefore, rejecting

Jesus is effectively rejecting God. It is idolatry. We have a similar analogy in America.

Whenever a foreign country disrespects the U .S. ambassador to send to that country or attacks the

U .S. embassy, that nation has effectively declared war against the whole of the

United States. This is because that one officer who is sent to represent the

U .S., he is there in place of all of us. He represents the whole nation.

Not only that, the U .S. embassy itself is built on the U .S.

soil. That plot of land in which the building stands belongs to the

United States. And anything that happens to it, whether favorable, nor, or rejection is an onslaught against the

United States. And what this tells us is how a person responds to the clear revelation of Jesus Christ has an eschatological consequence.

There are multilayered implications here. First, nations and cultures that God has blessed with deep

Christian heritage and theological resources, yet have rejected the Lord, will face a harsher judgment than the nations and cultures who have never heard of Jesus Christ.

This does not bode well for America. We've had some of the greatest preachers preaching on the soil.

George Whitefield, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Billy Graham, yet we're on a decline.

There are more people blaspheming God this morning than ever before. Unless God intervenes and gives us a revival, this nation's judgment day will not be pretty.

It might be even smokier than the day for Sidon and Tyre. And that, that, that also counts for all the academic institutions.

Did you know Harvard used to be, their main purpose was to train up pastors? Now they can't even define what a woman is.

And after Harvard became very, very liberal and started rejecting the God of the Bible, some of the faithful professors went on to found

Yale. Yale's now of the same group. On the judgment day, it would not be a pretty sight for these institutions and nations.

Second, individuals who grow up in the church, who have been fed scripture, who have heard the unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ, that he alone came to die for our sin and experienced the wrath that we deserved so that we may be forgiven.

Yet, when they reject Jesus, their judgment day will be smokier than that of an atheist boy who has never heard of Jesus.

You may know more about Jesus than that boy. You may have more scriptural verses memorized than that boy.

In the end, if the response is not that of a humble faith, that it is by Christ's atoning death alone that you are saved, then a harsher punishment is coming.

The knowledge of Christ that does not respond in faith is the knowledge that will speak against you on the judgment day.

You were given more, yet you rejected more. And what's important is everything hinges on your response to Jesus.

No matter how good you have been, no drugs have touched my mouth,

I didn't sleep around. No matter how generous you are, you don't know how many charities have been helped by me.

No matter how pure you seem, everyone looks up to this person as ideal.

No matter how often you worship with the church, I've been a member for decades. Without Jesus, you stand in the filthy record before the holy

God, and that record will count against you. Without Jesus, you're already under condemnation.

And for those who have heard more, know more of Jesus, must humble themselves and repent to believe that Jesus is the only way, or else the judgment day is coming.

We don't know when, but the severity is guaranteed. Let us pray.

Father, we pray that this morning for any who have heard the gospel but have not responded, that they would not delay, that they would believe that Jesus is the only way to be saved from sin, that there was no other way to be forgiven, not by own righteous works, not by good deeds, but through Jesus' death on the cross alone, who suffered on our behalf, and that he rose from the dead victoriously against sin and death.

Father, we pray that you would move their hearts to believe and to respond in faith, that they would not wait another day, because we do not know when

Jesus is coming back. In his name we pray, amen. Stand together with me as we close in song.

You haven't made the