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Judgment is Coming

September 23, 2007

 Bob Bradley

_________________________ 

Matthew 11:20-24

 

20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:

21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

 

As we look at Matthew 11:20-24, there are some wonderful things to think about.  Jesus has been talking and He made a comparison about the generation, starting a verse 16, could be compared unto any generation.  He mentions:

 

16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,

17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

 

Do you know what children would do then and even today?  Children play games.  During the Biblical times, children would dress up and play as they were having a wedding. 

 

When the children come up, they will go in there and dress up, and come out with gowns on, shoes, and crowns.  They are having a wedding. 

 

During Biblical times, not only would kids play as they were having a wedding but they also would play as they were having a funeral.  They would mourn and they would go through the things that would happen at a funeral.

 

Look what Jesus said.  "What am I going to like this generation unto?  They are just like children playing in the marketplace."  What Jesus is saying is the generation in which He was living, and not only that, even in our generation today, we are a very, very childish generation.  The children that were playing here; some wanted to play wedding, some wanted to dress up as the bride, some wanted to dress up as grooms, some wanted to play a funeral and they were never satisfied.  They were very childish.

 

Jesus was comparing this generation that He was living in and we are living in today, unto children that were never ever satisfied.  That is a sad place to get into.  To live in a world as blessed as we are, to live in America today, where God has blessed us as He has; it is sad to see that people says they love the Lord Jesus Christ cannot ever get satisfied. 

 

I am glad that there is a way.  I am glad that when we will live as we should live, I am glad that we can be satisfied. 

 

Paul made the statement that whatever state that he was in he learned to be content.  He learned that when he had much, he could be happy.  When Paul did not have much, he was still yet happy.  When he was hungry, when he had been shipwrecked, when he had been snake bit; Paul said that in whatever state that I am therewith I am content.  I am glad to tonight that we can be content. 

 

Jesus was comparing a generation that was very childish.  They do not want to play with one another.  They do not play this game and they do not want to play that game.  He goes on to say:

 

17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.

 

When John the Baptist came on the scene, he came from the wilderness.  He went over into the wilderness, over into the uninhabited places.  He had a leather girdle about his loins.  He ate locusts and wild honey.  He did not drink any wine.  He did not associate with many people as Jesus did; he did not do that.  Do you know what he did?  He told people that they needed to repent.  They needed to change their way because the Messiah is about to come in on the scene. 

 

Do you know what the generation said about John?  They said he has a devil.  When they looked at John, he would not loaf with them.  John would not drink with them.  John would not do those things that they thought that a prophet should do.  John stood strong for God.  When we do that, people are not going to like it.  They did not like John.  They did not even like Jesus.  This world does not like us either. 

 

I love everybody and I want people to like me.  However, I am not going to loaf with them just to get them to like me.  I am not going to loaf into the hellholes of this world and do what the world does just to get people to like me. 

 

We need to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ in an unadulterated way unto people and you and I as children of God, we need to live as we should live before them and the Holy Spirit of God will draw men unto Him.  We might into many things.  We might loaf in many places, but nothing will save people except this Gospel.  This Word saves people.  When we live as we should live, God will bring men unto repentance.  They looked to John and he did not dress as they thought he should dress.  He did not do what they thought he should.  Do you know what they said?  John has a devil.  They were not satisfied with John.  Jesus said they were childish.  They were like children playing in a marketplace, playing games. 

 

19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

 

Do you know what Jesus did?  John stayed secluded.  He did not go many places as Jesus Christ did.  He simply preached that the Messiah was coming and that they needed to repent.  One day we know that one day, John introduced Jesus unto the world.  He said behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.  We know that John did that.  Jesus went to homes of sinners, not to associate with them, not to communicate in their sin or participate in their sin, but he went there to show them that He loved them and He cared about them.  When he left, things were different in the house.  They looked at Jesus and they said that He is a friend of publicans and sinners.  I am glad that He loves those who are hated by the world.

 

Publicans are tax collectors and the world hates them.  Sinners were the Gentile people that the Jews looked down upon.  Jesus loved them.  Glory to His name!  He lived and did things different than John did, but they said He is a, "...gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners..."  They were not happy.  No matter whatever happened, they were not happy.  There are reasons for that. 

 

We live in a world today where a lot of folks that go to church are not happy.  They go to church but they are not happy.  There is a reason for that. 

 

He begins to say something in verse 20:

 

20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:

 

Do you remember that we have been studying here on Wednesday night, about things that Jesus did.  We also have learned on Wednesday night services that Capernaum was a city down on the Sea of Galilee, a city in Jesus' time, probably 200,000 to 300,000 people.  We think about a little hole in a wall and we do not think much about some of these cities.  However, the city of Capernaum was a big city.  The Bible says that most of Jesus' mighty works were done, in and around the cities of; Chorazin and Bethsaida. 

 

I thought about many times when Jesus went to Nazareth...we know that He was raised there.  We know that He went into the Synagogue one day and He took the scroll that was there and began to read some things that had to do with Him.  He shut the book and gave it to the minister.  When He got through teaching and preaching, they led Him out to the edge of a hill and they were trying to kill Him.  They were trying to throw Him off and kill Him.  He leaves Nazareth and goes down to a place called Capernaum.  We know that Peter lives down here.  When you read chapter nine of Matthew, you will find in the first verse that Jesus Christ calls Capernaum His own city.  He comes down to this place where people - the little shops - lining the streets. 

 

I thought about the little brick buildings that were erected up through there, just one little building after another.  The streets would have been very narrow.  They were made out brick and some, out of dirt, but here the little streets are and here the little shops are lined up.  Here is the Son of God, living in a house down here somewhere, but here the Son of Almighty God, the Savior of the world is living in the city of Capernaum.  I thought many times that He would walk the streets and people would meet Him.  People would meet the Son of God.  Some may have recognized who He was, but some of them did not.  Most did not care because they were looking for something that Jesus did not offer.  He is offering eternal life today and so many people are not interested. 

 

He is in Capernaum.  He begins to upbraid these cities, accuse them, or rebuke them.  The reason He is doing this is the majority of the mighty works that Jesus Christ did was done in and around Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. 

 

There were four major cities in Galilee:  Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida and Tiberius.  They all were within a twenty-five mile radius of each other, some to the north and some to the south. 

 

Jesus begins to rebuke Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because most of His mighty works were done there.  Do you know what you will not find in the scriptures?  You will not find written down here where He ever did a mighty work in Chorazin or Bethsaida.  We also know that when we read the book, John said that Jesus Christ did many things that are not written in this book.  If everything that He ever did was written in this book, he said, "I suppose the world itself could not contain the volumes that should be written."  Therefore, we do not have written down here every miracle that Jesus Christ did.  We do not have that.  We do know that He did many miracles here and around Bethsaida and Chorazin, but we do not have them recorded.

 

Here these cities are, modern at this time.  No doubt, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people living here and they saw the mighty works that Jesus did.  If you remember, a few weeks ago when we were studying when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, those when He was teaching in the synagogue.  The Bible says: a fellow there had an unclean spirit.  When He finished preaching, Jesus gets up and we know that He casts the demon out of this guy.  Do you remember there when He healed Peter's mother-in-law?  These things were happening at Capernaum.  The people here were seeing what was going on.

 

Jesus did many great things here.  Do you remember the story where the four guys came carrying their friend on a cot?  When Jesus was at the house, preaching and teaching, the Bible says that here come four fellows carrying a guy upon a cot that has palsy.  That was here at Capernaum.  We know that they carried the man upon the rooftop.  We know that they broke up the roof and they let him down right in the presence of where Jesus was and we know what Jesus did.  Jesus just spoke the Word.  He told this guy, "You are healed.  You are made whole.  Take your bed and get out of here.  That happened at Capernaum.  There is no doubt that the people heard what was going on. 

 

Read on down a few verses.  Jesus had been on a trip.  He comes back across the lake.  When He comes across into Capernaum, a ruler met Him.  This ruler said, "Lord, you need to come.  I have a family member that is sick and she is about ready to die."  Jesus said, "I'm just going to go with you."  The Bible says that He is going with Jairus to go to heal his daughter.  The Bible says that He meets and encounters here the woman who has an issue of blood for twelve years.  She had spent all that she had on doctors and physicians and she was not getting any better.  She was continually growing worse.  Jesus, just spoke the word and said, "Daughter thy faith hath made you whole."  That happened at Capernaum.  The people in the cities and in the streets of Capernaum, they saw that. 

 

He goes on up the road, goes into Jairus’ house, and takes the little girl by the hand and said, "Just get up."  She got up.  Do you know why?  He even makes the dead live. 

 

I am glad that I am alive today.  I was once dead, but I am alive today because of Him and you are too if you are saved.

 

Many great things happened here.

 

Remember when he got on a boat.  He was going into the land of Gadarenes, the storm hit, the boat was about to sink, and the disciples were scared to death.  They wake Jesus up and He speaks unto the winds.  Then there was a great calm.  That happened right here very close to Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum. 

 

Do you remember when He walks on the water?  Do you remember when He walks on the water because that is where the boat is at, out here on the water?  Do you remember when Peter walks on the water?  That happens right here around Capernaum.  Do you think things like that travels?  Do you think "news" like that would travel?  Do you think if your daughter was dead and somebody came along and raised her from the dead; do you think that you would tell somebody about that?  Two blind men came following Him and Jesus just heals them.  Do you think that they told people that Jesus had done something for them?

 

This city saw the mighty hand of Almighty God.  These cities saw the great power of Almighty God.  These cities saw that but they did not repent. 

 

He says, "Woe, unto thee..."  Woe means judgment or damnation.  He says:

 

21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

 

Look at the slap in the face that He gives these cities of whose streets He walked.  He went into their shops.  People knew Him.  People met Him.  They saw Him in the shops.  They saw Him in the streets.  They saw Him on boats.  They saw at the synagogue.  They saw Him at the carpenter's shop and at the grocery store.  They saw Him at all these places and He did all these things in their presence.  He looks at these cities and says:

 

21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

 

He said if the mighty works had been done up on Tyre and Sidon (in Gentile country, way up to the North and on the Mediterranean Sea, but Gentiles lived up there) Jesus looked at them and said, "If the mighty works that were done here had been done up there, they would have repented a long time ago."  Tyre and Sidon were very wicked cities.  A lot of wickedness went on up there, but Jesus said if the mighty works that were done here would have been done up there, they would have been sorry for their sin.  That is what sackcloth and ashes mean.  Sackcloth is a piece of burlap (poor people made their clothes out of it) other people would use it for mourning, they would throw ashes into the air but they would use it for morning. 

 

Jesus said if the mighty works had been done Tyre and Sidon they would have repented a long time ago in sackcloth and ashes. 

 

America has been blessed.  Some sitting here tonight, and some listening tonight, you have seen God do some great things.  There can be no mistake in your life that some of the things that God has done for you ...You have sat in these pews and you have saw God do some great thing or seen...you have seen God do some great things.  He has healed people.  He has saved people.  He has cleansed people.  He has blessed people.  You have sat here and watched that.  Just as the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum were blessed with His presence, Campbell Chapel is blessed with His presence.  You are not blessed because I am here.  We are blessed because He is here.  When He is here, we need to be very attentive and very careful how that we do things and we need to be very reverent and respectful on what God does do.  We need to appreciate what God does. 

 

These cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida are here and Jesus comes and says:  "Hey, if the works that you all have seen would have been done up the road in Tyre and Sidon, these people do not know anything about me up there.  They are wicked and they are ungodly but if what I done here would have been done up there, they would have repented a long time ago.  Jesus makes this statement:

 

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

 

Capernaum was a city where people were very proud.  There are little communities around even in this little area.  If you do not belong to the right crowd, you cannot live there.  We look at people that live in some of these cities and they are very proud people.  They would not come and eat at my table.  They would not come and sit in a church like this.  They would not do that because they are too proud.  Capernaum was a very proud city.  They had exalted themselves with money, very proud place and they thought that they were better than everybody else was.  Jesus said:  "You may have exalted yourself.  You may be exalted, a lifted up city.  You may be a city where everybody wants to go to, but I have news for you; you are coming down.  Just as you have been exalted..."

 

We think about some of the cities today in America.  We think about New York.  We think about Las Vegas and I do not want to go there.  We think about some of the major cities where many people wants to go to and where many people live...the name that is hung on these cities, Las Vegas is called "sin city."  Why in the world would a Christian want to go to sin city? 

 

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell...

 

He uses the analogy, "being lifted up in pride," and now He is saying, "Just as high as you went up, that is how low you are going to go."

 

... if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

 

If the mighty works that were done in Capernaum, were done in Sodom; which was a city that we associate with homosexuality, wickedness and immorality; they would have repented a long time ago.

 

We think that we can just sin, sin, sin, sin and sin and think that there we will never have to pay for our sin.  We think that we can sin and that there is never going to be repercussions; we think that there is never going to be any judgment.  We think that we can live anyway that we want to.  If you had been living in the time of Jesus, these cities were great flourishing cities that everybody went to and visited, but Jesus pronounced a woe upon them.

 

There were four major cities there:  Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida and Tiberius.  If you looked at a map that was made in 1967 or before, you will see Tyre, Sidon, Tiberius and you can see the city of the south called Sodom.  It is a different name now, but the city is still yet there.  However, you do not see Capernaum.  You do not see Bethsaida.  You do not see Chorazin.  Those cities saw the mighty works of Almighty God and they would not repent.

 

Tiberius is still there.  They did not see even twenty-five miles down the road what they saw in Capernaum.  Jesus said that I am going to send judgment.  I am going to send judgment.  Even though Capernaum was a city of 300,000 people, they are not exactly sure where Capernaum was really. 

 

Do you know why?  It was because they would not repent at the preaching of Jesus Christ.  Chorazin and Bethsaida are now gone.  Cities that were flourishing and filled with all kinds of ports and docks and all kinds commerce and all kinds of trade during the days of Jesus; they are gone and been gone for centuries.  They saw and heard the mighty words and saw the mighty miracles of Jesus Christ and they did not repent. 

 

God has spoken to some of you.  God has done some great things in your life, in your family’s life and you know that God has done that, and God is doing some great things in, around, and for you and yet you won't repent,

 

I promise you something tonight.  Judgment is coming. 

 

Capernaum stood for a few years after Jesus left planet earth, but it was not very long before it was gone.  Jesus said it is going to be doomed.  Jesus said it would be destroyed and it was and so was Chorazin and Bethsaida.  When you reject Jesus Christ, when you reject the miracle that He has given us, that is the new birth, and when you turn Him away...when you say I have seen what He does, I have seen how He has changed people's lives.  I have seen what He has done for mom and for dad, my brothers and my sisters, and my co-workers; I have seen all of that.  I have seen Him do all that and yet you will not repent I promise you that judgment is coming.  I

 

I do not know when.  I begin tonight.  It may be a month from now or it may be a year from now, but I do not know when it is, but if you do not repent, horrible judgment is coming.

 

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