Matthew 11:16-24

If you have your Bibles, we're back in the Gospel

of Matthew this morning. It's been a hot minute

since I've been in the Gospel of Matthew, so

we'll pick up again this morning at verses 16

through 24. Keep in mind the context, Jesus had

just given John the Baptist affirmation that

he is indeed the Messiah. John had been put in

prison. He had some questions. Are you the one

to come? Should we look for another? Jesus said,

go back and tell John all the things that you

have seen. And he then lists his miracles. And

then he gives an affirmation of John's ministry.

Now we will pick up verse 16 this morning. Jesus

said, But to what shall I liken this generation?

Those are the people there in Galilee who have

been privileged to hear him. He said, it's 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

for you and you did not lament. For John, that

is John the Baptist, came neither eating nor

drinking, and they say he is a demon. The son

of man, that is Jesus, came eating and drinking,

and they say, look, a glutton and a winebibber

are drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and

sinners, but wisdom is justified by her children.

Then he, that is Jesus, began to rebuke the cities

in which most of his mighty works had been done

because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorison.

Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works

which are done in you had been done in Tyre and

Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth

and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more

tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment

than for you. And you Capernaum, who are exalted

to heaven, will be brought down to Hades, or

some might say to hell, it's the grave there.

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 will

be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the

day of judgment than for you. Let's pray. Father,

help us this morning to understand the weight,

the gravity, and the importance of these words

this morning, Lord. God, we need you, Lord. We

have just asked you in psalm to speak. Lord,

may the spirit give illumination and unction,

Lord, as we look into the pages of sacred scripture

to behold the glory of Christ. It's in his name

we pray. Amen. So we're here first Sunday in

January. I'm thankful that you've chosen to be

here. It's a new year and we're going back to

our study in the gospel of Matthew. I think if

we're honest, most of us, maybe not all, Most

of us begin a new year with optimism and hope

that things will be different. I know every year

I'm like, well, December 31st, I'll be 25 pounds

lighter. And I've been saying that for about

10 years, so I don't know why I should be optimistic.

We're hopeful since it's not happened in 10 years.

But we all buy new calendars, right? And we set

new goals. Most of us like a reset or even a

fresh start. But if we're honest with ourselves,

most of us end the year the same way it began.

And we do this not because we lacked opportunity,

but because we did not want to do what it took

to change. In our text today in Matthew chapter

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

11, Jesus is pronouncing a woe, a judgment upon

three cities. And these three cities had a front

row seat to see God at work. I mean, the people

who lived in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum,

they all saw Jesus do many miracles with their

own eyes. They heard the truth from His own lips,

and yet nothing changed in their lives. So Jesus,

when He's issuing this woe, He's not speaking

to pagans who had no exposure, who had no access

to God or His truth. Rather, Jesus is speaking

to His own people. These are Jewish cities all

in Israel, and they had every advantage. And

they wasted it. Just like a new year does not

guarantee a new outcome, just because you are

exposed to the truth does not guarantee that

you will receive the truth. And this is the key

in this passage here. What you do with the truth

will determine your future. Here in Matthew 11,

there is widespread rejection of Jesus and his

ministry. Now that's bad enough. But it's worse

because they rejected him despite clear evidence.

Keep up to this point, Jesus had performed in

Galilee, which is a pretty small area, many extraordinary

miracles. In fact, he mentioned those earlier

in the chapter. He said, Go tell John what you

see. The blind are given sight. The lame are

made to be able to walk. Lepers have been cleansed.

Deaf are made able to hear. And even the dead

have been raised back to life. Those are extraordinary,

noteworthy. They're not like the miracles that

we hear of on TV that can't be validated. But

because of these miracles, Jesus was popular.

He had the popularity of a rock star. Throms

of people followed him everywhere. So it's true.

The people were amazed by him, but they did not

repent before him. Amazed, but not penitent.

His miracles were extraordinary, and yet, in

spite of all that they had seen, they still,

by and large, not all, rejected him. But it wasn't

just Jesus they rejected. They also rejected

the witness of John the Baptist, the forerunner.

Earlier in chapter 11, Jesus had affirmed both

John the Baptist's role and importance as the

forerunner of the Messiah. beginning in verse

11. We preached on this last time, so I won't

take the time to really delve into it, but if

you have your Bibles, look at verse 11. Jesus

said, assuredly, I say to you, among those born

of women, there has not risen one greater than

John the Baptist. But he who is least in the

kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from

the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom

of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take

it by force. For all the prophets in the law

prophesied unto John, And if you are willing

to receive it, Jesus said, he is Elijah who is

to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

But then he says, but what about this generation,

the ones who were sitting there hearing him?

He said, they're like children sitting in a marketplace

and calling to their companions, and they're

complaining a little bit. He said, we played

the flute for you. We played music, and you didn't

dance. We mourned for you, and you did not lament.

Now the people had given their assessment of

Jesus. They'd given their assessment of John.

They rejected him. And now in this passage before

us, Jesus is giving his assessment of the people.

And he's going to use a common scene from everyday

life to expose their hard hearts. He says, what

am I going to like in this generation? It's like

children playing in the marketplace. Keep in

mind the marketplace was the center of social,

economic, even the cultural center of everyday

life. If you've ever been to Israel, some of

these marketplaces are still standing. They're

just, it's a long narrow road with throngs of

people. Sometimes they would also be open -air

squares, but they would have been packed with

people and animals buying and selling. Weddings

took place there. In fact, if you needed to buy

something, you go to the marketplace. But if

there was a social event, like a wedding, at

the marketplace. If there was a funeral, it would

be held at the marketplace. But one of the things

you would always find there is children. Children

would be there playing because parents had some

shopping to do and they would bring their children

in tow and let them play while they did their

shopping. Well, how do children play? They play

make believe. And Jesus is borrowing this scene.

They invent games all full of music and dancing.

And so here, he said it would be a common image

to see children playing and they might have been

playing like dress up at a wedding. And at a

wedding, they're playing at a make -believe wedding

saying, there's music, festive music, we're playing

the flute. But there's a complaint, he said,

because even in this make -believe wedding, people

aren't dancing. So they said, well, again, Jesus

is using a metaphor here. He said, it's like

children playing a funeral, a mock funeral. And

it's all sad music, but no one is lamenting.

And you're like, what's the point? That's a little

enigmatic, isn't it? It's a little unclear. Jesus

is making a comparison of how the people responded

to him and John the Baptist. John came on the

scene as a desert prophet. He was an ascetic.

He lived an ascetic life. His life was characterized

by self -denial, marked seriousness, and the

people rejected him. They thought John was some

kind of lunatic. He dressed like an old rugged

prophet. He ate locusts and wild honey. They

said, if he's not lunatic, he must be demon possessed.

John was too fanatical for them. But on the other

hand, give Jesus. He comes preaching the same

message, the same message that John was given,

but he did it with a completely different style.

See, the word Jesus was no ascetic at all. He

lived a normal life. He did not hold to the same

strict dietary laws that John held. Jesus would

go to dinner parties. He would also attend weddings.

He'd find him celebrating with the people. The

very thing that they criticized John for not

doing, Jesus did. And guess what? They criticized

him. They said, John's a lunatic, but they said

Jesus is a glutton and a drunkard. John doesn't

eat or drink anything, and Jesus drinks everything.

Jesus was also criticized for the company that

he kept. He attended social events. but he had

dinner with all the wrong people. He was willing

to set a table with tax collectors. Those are

betrayers of Israel. Those are traitors and sinners.

We're talking about notorious sinners, women

of ill repute. Jesus would set a table and have

fellowship with them. And at that time, table

fellowship was very, very important. So you have

two different men, two completely opposite styles,

preaching the same message. And yet both of them

were rejected. John the Baptist came with all

the seriousness of a desert prophet. The Lord

Jesus came with joy and a willingness to even

fellowship with the people. The fact that they

were both rejected proved something. The problem

was not in the style. The problem lay in the

hard hearts of the people. That's the problem.

Daniel Dorian in his commentary he said Israel

did not like the austere message of John. with

its call to repentance, and they did not like

the sweet message of Jesus with its offer of

grace, they were hard to please. Nothing satisfied

them. And Jesus went on to say that wisdom is

justified by her children. God's wisdom is not

demonstrated or proved by appearances, rather

the wisdom of God is proved by the results it

produces. And Jesus is going to rebuke that generation

who is living at that time for their inconsistency.

They're criticizing John for not eating and drinking,

and they're criticizing Jesus for doing so. You

don't get it both ways. So in their pride, and

that's really what the problem was, pride. In

their pride, they failed to see John and his

role as the forerunner of the Messiah. He was

the Elijah to come, but they missed it. But worst

of all, they failed to see Jesus as their Messiah.

And because they did not see him as the Messiah,

they failed to enter into the kingdom of God.

Now, what's even worse than all this is it was

inexcusable. There's no excuse for the unbelief

of the people, for they had access to miracles

and witnessed them that no other generation had

ever been proving to. And they were still unbelieving,

still underpentant. And because of that, Jesus

begins to pronounce a judgment upon them. Verse

20, he began to rebuke the cities in which most

of his mighty works have been done. Why? Because

they did not repent. They did not repent. They

had access to the truth, they had access to the

light and revelation of God, access to the miraculous,

and still wouldn't repent. Jesus is looking for

the people to change in light of his arrival.

But they continued on and lived as if nothing

was different. Nothing changed with the arrival

of Jesus. But what we find today, it's incredible

if you think about it, these people saw Jesus

perform these mighty miracles. These miracles

were signs. They were proof, evidence, demonstrable

evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. And yet,

in spite of all that they had, they remained

indifferent. Now, I think it's important to note

this does not mean they were necessarily hostile

to Jesus. No, the religious leaders were hostile

to him, but he's rebuking common people. They

weren't necessarily hostile, they were indifferent

to him. And when someone is indifferent to Christ

in light of the overwhelming evidence that is

provided, it is sin. Neutrality is never ever

an option when it comes to Jesus. So the Lord

is going to pronounce a woe upon three cities,

Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. All three

cities are located on the north side of the Sea

of Galilee in the area of Galilee, which is in

Israel. These three cities are being judged because

it's in these three cities that says where he

did most of his mighty works. Most of his miracles

took place within this geographic location. And

it's all pretty packed together, by the way.

Coruscant and Bethsaida is just like a two to

three mile difference there. Now keep in mind,

we do not have in the scriptures a record of

all the miracles that Jesus had performed. Sacred

Scripture does not give us an exhaustive list

of everything Jesus did. There are many things,

many words, many actions, many miracles that

took place that are not recorded. How do we know

that? The Apostle John tells us that in John

21. He says, there are also many other things

that Jesus did, which if they were written one

by one, I suppose that even the world itself

could not tame the books that would be written.

Amen. So we don't have everything, but we have

what we need to have. This is what God has preserved.

Now these miracles that we just mentioned, the

earlier mention in chapter 11, these miracles

should have been enough evidence to cause the

people to repent and turn to Christ in faith.

But that's not what happened. And Jesus says,

woe. Woe to you, Corson. Woe to you, Bethsaida.

For... If these mighty works which were done

in you had been done in Tyre, in Sidon, well

those two cities would have repented long ago

in sackcloth and ashes. Now again, we don't know

a whole lot about Chorazin and Bethsaida in scripture.

We're not given a lot. We know that Bethsaida,

it's the hometown of Andrew, it's hometown of

Peter, the hometown of Philip, but apart from

that we really don't know a whole lot about Bethsaida.

But we know there's a woe. You see this a lot

in the Old Testament. A woe is simply a pronouncement

of divine judgment. Woe to you. Now what could

be worse? What could be worse than the Lord Jesus

Christ pronouncing the judgment of God upon you?

I mean, there's nothing worse than that. God,

now notice, he said, if the works that were done

in you would have been done entire inside, and

we'll get to that in a minute. They would have

repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. So

first of all, we see that God has absolute perfect

knowledge of all things and all people. God not

only knows what we will do, He knows what we

would have done had circumstances been different.

That's what we see here. It's often called contingent

knowledge. You might hear it called middle knowledge.

Jesus said, if the miracles that I did were to

take place in Tyre and Sidon, those two cities,

they would have repented a long time ago. Now,

what are Tyre and Sidon? Well, you need the Old

Testament for that. Tyre and Sidon are notorious

pagan cities which worshiped false gods and opposed

Israel. They were bordering countries to Israel

in the north. But they're always causing problems

for Israel. Pagans, false gods, idolaters. And

Jesus said, if these two pagan cities would have

had the same amount of light and revelation that

you enjoyed, they would have repented. And now

notice verse 22, but I say to you, it will be

more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day

of Judgment than for you. The very first thing

we've got to take note of from this is that there

will be a Day of Judgment. Now friends, this

ought to cause us to listen with rapt attention,

and I don't say that hyperbolically. We need

to listen up. Jesus ain't a day of judgments

coming. What this means is there's a day of judgment

that is marked on God's calendar in which his

anger and his wrath will be poured out on impenitent

or unrepentant sinners. Acts 17 verse 30. Truly

Acts 17:30

these times of ignorance got overlooked. But

now he commands all men everywhere to repent.

because He has appointed a day on which He will

judge the world in righteousness by the man whom

He has ordained, that is Christ. He has given

assurance of this to all by raising Him from

the dead. You can be sure. As sure as Jesus is

living, so also a day of judgment is coming.

And friends, this is the truth. If you are not

clothed with the righteousness of Christ, that

day of judgment will be an absolute terror to

you. You must be close with Him. Now friends,

no one, especially man today, our culture, no

one likes to think about God's coming judgment.

But that doesn't change the reality of it. Every

one of us, all people everywhere, will one day

stand before the holy bar of God's judgment.

And that's a sobering thought. But not all will

receive the same judgment. Jesus, now look his

words, not mine. He said it will be more tolerable,

more bearable for Tyre and Sidon. Those are those

two pagan cities. Then it will be for the cities

of Chorazin and Bethsaida, Israeli cities. So

right here, this is something that the church

has always taught and we see it clearly, there

will be differing degrees of punishment. Jesus

said that. The punishment will be according to

the right and to the light. and revelation that

you have access to. In Luke 12, notice the words

of Jesus. He said, that servant, slave, doulos,

who knew his master's will and did not prepare

himself or do according to his will shall be

beaten with many stripes. He's going to get a

bad punishment. But that servant, he who did

not know, so there's one who knew, there's one

who didn't. Yet he also committed things deserving

of stripes. He deserved to be beaten as well.

He shall be beaten with few. One who knew and

didn't do it gets a greater punishment than the

one who did not do, still did it, still punished,

but with less stripes. For everyone, he says,

to everyone to whom much is given, much light,

much revelation, from him much will be required.

And to whom much has been committed, of him they

will ask the more. Querson, Bethsaida, had witnessed

firsthand the mighty miracles of the Son of God.

Much had been given to them, but they remained

indifferent. Much will be required of them. These

cities, and we're talking about cities, obviously

it's the people in the cities, they enjoyed access

to God's truth. But they failed to do anything

with it. It didn't produce any result in them.

Thus, judgment will be greater for them on that

day of judgment. Jesus said so. And this is the

principle. Those who hear the Word of God, those

who have access to the Word of God regularly

and still reject it, will receive the greater

condemnation. And here, let me just say, rejection

doesn't mean outright unbelief. It can mean indifference.

It doesn't do anything in you. That's the case

of these people. Remember, they're not hostile.

They're indifferent. And they're going to receive

greater condemnation because of the more like

given and rejected makes them more guilty before

God. Paul mentioned this in Romans. Or do you

despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance,

and longsuffering? Do you not know that the goodness

of God is meant to lead you to repentance? But

in accordance with your hardness, and your impenitent

heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath

in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous

judgment of God who will render to each or every

one according to his deeds. So bring words. You

are treasuring up wrath for the day of wrath.

Because there are degrees of guilt, there are

differing degrees of punishment. Now that doesn't

mean there are some who are innocent. The Bible

never teaches that. All are guilty before God.

That's Romans chapter 3. But some have greater

Romans 3 · chapter mention

guilt before God because they had greater exposure

to the truth of God. And Jesus comes and he says,

whoa, judgment is coming. But this itself is

an act of mercy. Jesus' judgment is coming, but

it had not yet come. So that meant there was

still an opportunity to repent if the people

would do so. R .C. Sproul said this, we might

be tempted to think that Jesus pronounced woe

on Chorazin and Bethsaida because he hated them.

On the contrary, he loved them. That was why

he told them to wake up. The day of salvation

had dawned upon them and their Savior was in

their midst. When you see God's warnings, you

see them in Hebrews 6, you see them again in

Hebrews 10, Jesus often spoke of warning. When

you see that, that is meant to be a wake -up

call. It's meant to awaken us out of our slumber

and stupor, to grab or arrest people's attention

and lead them to a place of serious repentance.

This is why we must preach the whole counsel

of God's Word. No one likes to think of the Day

of Judgment, but the Day of Judgment's coming.

And if we don't preach it, people are never going

to be woken up. from their sin. This is what

Jesus is doing. Whoa, judgment's coming, and

you better repent. But Jesus reserved his most

severe criticism and judgment for that third

city, Capernaum, verse 23 and 24. And you, Capernaum,

who are exalted to heaven, you will be brought

down to hell, to Hades. For if the mighty works

which were done in you had been done in Sodom,

you know Sodom, Gomorrah? It would have remained

until this day. Now why in the world is this

city of Capernaum marked out so severely? Because

of all the revelation they received. Do you know

what Capernaum was? This was Jesus's base of

operations. This was his hometown. You're like,

no, no, no, no. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Yes, he was born in Bethlehem. He was raised

in Nazareth, but Capernaum was his hometown for

the entire years of his earthly ministry, which

was about three years long. It's his hometown.

In fact, if you go to Israel, when I was there,

and you go into Capernaum, it will say the hometown

of Jesus. Can you imagine the Son of God being

a resident in your town? Can you imagine Jesus

lived in Nierton? And then imagine rejecting

the witness of the Son of God after he had done

so many miracles in that city. He said, Capernaum,

you have been exalted to heaven. How? You had

the privilege of having God's Messiah live there

in your borders, but you will be brought down

to hell. You will be brought down to the grave.

You will be brought down to Hades. Why? Because

he said, if the miracles that Jesus had done

in, excuse me, if the miracles that Jesus did

had been done in Sodom, he said that wicked city

would have repented. and would not have been

destroyed, it would have remained until this

day. Sodom! Sodom is the paradigm in the Old

Testament for wickedness. You know about Sodom?

So immoral, so cruel, so violent, because it

wasn't just homosexuality, all that was a big

part of it, it was also inhospitable, it was

a violent city, so cruel, so immoral, so violent,

that God rained down sulfur and brimstone on

that wicked city in a terrible time of judgment.

And Jesus said, listen up, it's going to be better,

more tolerable for the people of Sodom on that

final day of judgment than it will be for the

people of Capernaum. The Sodom was not less sinful

than Capernaum was. The Sodom had much less light.

God's judgment is just. It is always right. It

is proportionate. It is precise. Now think about

us. What about those living in Lawrence County?

If exposure and access to the truth brings greater

guilt, then we better take note. There are churches

galore in our county where truth is taught. We're

not the only church here. We live in the Bible

Belt. of the country. But even apart from that,

we have the internet and podcasts, and there's

a strong Christian witness there. There are more

opportunities today to hear the saving gospel

of Christ than ever before in all of history.

You know what that does? It makes us more responsible.

It also makes us more guilty if we reject. Now

reject doesn't mean I'm outright hostile. if

I remain indifferent to the witness." See, that's

what angered the Lord Jesus. That generation

saw the miracles, didn't do a thing about it.

They were complacent, just indifferent. The kingdom

of God had clearly arrived, and they did nothing.

They felt no need to repent. They had seen things

that no other generation before or since had

ever seen. Now the people, they were familiar

with him, but indifferent and I want to stress

that and that is not an option that is given

to us. Today, I think of so many people, especially

in our culture, here in where we live. The word

on the street, if we could interview a man on

the street, most people would identify as a Christian.

They're not Muslim, they're not Hindu, they're

not Jewish. Yes, I'm Christian. I'm of the Christian

faith. You see it in obituaries all the time.

There's not a particular church, but they were

of the Christian faith, or the Baptist faith,

or whatever. There are many who affirm Jesus.

They would even say He is Savior. They would

recognize that. Yet, they live their lives indifferent

to Him. He doesn't make a difference in their

life. People in Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum,

they were amazed by him, but they didn't repent

before him. Now there are people today, and they're

like, well, listen, because everyone that you

talk to around here has made a decision at some

point. Yeah, I remember at a Bible school or

at a church camp or whatever. They made a one

-time decision, but repentance is not a one -time

event. It is a posture of your life. Love and

obedience to Christ are the evidence of repentance

rather than what you say. It is true in any other

relationship. You can say you love your spouse,

I love them, but your actions, if your actions

show indifference and complacency and there's

nothing ever being done for them, it doesn't

matter what you say, it rings hollow. It's the

same thing with Christ. It is easy to say, I've

repented, but the scriptures point us and teach

us that the fruit of our lives will reveal whether

that profession and confession of repentance

is genuine or not. What the Lord does not allow

is us to pay lip service to Him. You find in

the Old Testament, God rebuked Israel over and

over and over again. He said, their lips, they

honor me with their lips. But what was the problem?

Their hearts are far from me. You don't get to

do that. John the Baptist, when he came, he started

preaching repentance. And you're like, what does

that look like? Well, let me tell you what it

looked like in Luke chapter 3. This is John the

Luke 3 · chapter mention

Baptist. He said to the multitudes that came

out to be baptized by him, brood of vipers, very

welcoming, who warned you to flee from wrath

to come? A loving message. Therefore, bear fruits

worthy of repentance. And don't begin to say

to yourselves, because he's talking to Jews,

we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you

that God is able to raise up children to Abraham

from these stones. And even now, the axe, it's

laid to the root of the trees. It's going to

be cut down. Therefore, every tree which does

not bear good fruit is cut down, thrown in the

fire. So the people asked him, John, if you're

preaching, what shall we do? He said, I'm glad

you asked. He answered and said, he who has two

tunics, outer garments, let him give to him who

has none. And he who has food. Give to him who

has none, let him do likewise. Then tax collectors,

remember those crooks? They came and they wanted

to be baptized and they said, teacher, what shall

we do? And he said, I'll tell you what you do.

You don't collect any more than what is appointed

for you. Stop stealing. That's what repentance

looks like. Likewise, the soldiers, apparently

Roman soldiers said, and what shall we do? He

said, stop intimidating people. Don't intimidate

or accuse falsely. And by the way, be content

with your wages. Stop trying to pill for people.

John the Baptist clearly taught that our actions

demonstrate our repentance. The Apostle Paul

preached the very same thing. I'll just read

one verse here. Paul preached, he said, to the

Gentiles, here's what he's preaching, that they

should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting

repentance. Do you see what all the witness of

Scripture is trying to say? True repentance reveals

itself in new ways of thinking about Christ.

about sin, about ourselves, and about the will

of God. That's what happens. One writer said

this as we close. Biblical repentance. What does

it mean? It is to change your mind about your

sin. No longer is your sin something to toy with.

It is something to be forsaken as you flee from

the coming wrath. It is also changing your mind

about Jesus Christ. No longer seems to be mocked.

discounted or ignored. He is the Savior to be

clung to. He is the Lord to be worshiped and

adored. He said, now what? What do we do? What

do we glean from this passage? Jesus did not

end this particular passage with words of comfort.

We'll see that next week, Lord willing. But he

ended with a warning. The warning that cities

which had seen his miracles, they remained unchanged.

and people who heard his truth remain unmoved.

But the problem was not a lack of evidence at

all, it was a lack of repentance. Today, you

and I, listen, you live with more light and revelation

than even these cities enjoyed, because Jesus

had not died and risen yet. There's not one in

here who lacks opportunity. So the only question

that would be left with concerns our response.

I'm not asking you, have you ever heard, but

did you respond? Or are you living your life

indifferent to Him, ignoring Him? You may pay

lip service. You may say, yes, He's Lord. I believe

He's the Son of God. I believe He rose again.

I believe He's the Savior of the world. And you

can still die in your sins and face the judgment

of God terribly. You cannot ignore Him. To ignore

Him or remain indifferent to Him is to invite

peril, the very judgment of God, into your life.

But today, this woe that Jesus has pronounced,

it's a wake -up call. So if you will repent,

if you will leave your life as sin and you come

to Christ in faith believing, come empty -handed,

clinging only to Christ, friends, He will save

you. Because His body was broken and His blood

was shed for sinners, which is what we're going

to celebrate and fellowship with right now. Let's

pray. Father, thank you. Lord, thank you for

your word. The incredible power it has to instruct

us, Lord. Thank you, Lord, even when we read

things that make us uncomfortable. Lord, a passage

of judgment and woe, Lord, is terrifying. Lord,

it's a fearful, terrifying thing to fall into

the hands of the living God. But Lord God, we

also, we would ignore this word to our own peril

in the future, Lord. Father, I pray that you

would awaken. people who are in stupor, who are

lost in their sin, Lord, who are remaining indifferent.

They live their lives, and Lord, you're just

casually on the peripheral of their lives. Lord

God, please allow them to see the glory, the

weighty glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Let them behold His beauty. Turn their lives

over to him run to him fall on their faces repenting

before him confessing their sin and receiving

Christ as Savior and Lord Oh father do this for

thine own glory Lord help us Lord to make much

of Jesus and Lord I thank you for this table

we come to we're reminded of our sin Lord Lord

this table is a table for fellowship for sinners

Lord we don't come perfect we come weak and limping

and halting Lord this is the table that where

you invite people Lord who know they have no

strength on their own to receive strength from

Christ Lord, our only hope in life and death

is the body and blood of Jesus Christ was given

for us. And we thank you for that in His blessed

name. Amen.