Speaker argues God hides truth from the "wise" while revealing it to humble believers, asserting total depravity and labeling non-Christians as demon-worshippers. He critiques modern liberalism for idolizing nature over family and clarifies that Jesus' "easy yoke" does not lower moral standards but removes the burden of hypocrisy found in Pharisaic rule. Ultimately, the sermon concludes that while God demands absolute perfection, Christ provides it through His sacrifice, urging weary sinners to find relief in grace rather than self-righteousness. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, WAV2VEC2_ASR_BASE_960H, sat-12l-sm, script v26.04.01, and large-v3-turbo
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Text
God Hides Truth From The Wise00:06:51
Amen.
Please join me in standing for the reading of God's Word.
This morning we continue our series through the Gospel according to Matthew.
Our text for today is Matthew chapter 11 verses 25 through verses 30.
Again, that's Matthew chapter 11 verses 25 through 30 is our text for today.
I'll read our text in its entirety.
When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say, this is the Word of the Lord, at which point I would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying, thanks be to God.
One final time, our text for today is the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 11 verses 25 through 30.
The Bible says this.
At that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Come to me, all who labor.
And who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
This is the word of the Lord.
All right, please be seated.
We'll go ahead and dive right in.
The first phrase that I want us to focus on is when Christ says, I thank you, Father, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.
I do believe that there is a literal application in this regard of little children.
God does regenerate and save, not always, but I believe in Christian households, quite often, little children.
It is not a biblical concept that we should assume that God will always wait till adulthood before saving a person.
So there are quite literally little children.
Who God has revealed his gracious will to, that God has revealed Christ to.
But the first thing that I want us to look at in this first portion of our text is that God has chosen to hide certain things, things pertaining to Christ, pertaining to salvation, from the wise and understanding.
From the wise and understanding.
Now, this is one of those moments where we, to really get the proper sense of what Jesus is saying, we have to read this and understand that he is being sarcastic.
When he says the wise and understanding, he's mocking his opponents.
He is mocking the religious rulers of that day who presupposed that they were wise and understanding, but according to Christ, their wisdom is mere foolishness.
They are not, in the actual sense, wise or understanding.
If they were, then they would have received Christ, they would have received him as Messiah, they would have honored him as the Son of God, but they did not.
And so Jesus is not.
Paying them a compliment.
If anything, he is mocking them through sarcasm.
Wise and understanding, so they think, but not in reality.
In your notes, I've written the following God deliberately hides saving truth from the wise and prudent.
I put that in quotation marks.
In parentheses, to describe this group, the wise and prudent, it is those who are proud in their own intellect or their own self righteousness.
They think that they're smart or they think that they're moral.
Going on, not due to arbitrary will.
It's not capricious on the part of God.
It's not baseless without reason.
It's not arbitrary, but God does, in fact, hide and reserve saving truth from the alleged wise and prudent based on his righteous judgment.
It is just that God does this.
Man is blinded by sin and proud by nature.
This is the doctrine of total depravity.
Not to be confused with utter depravity, the doctrine of total depravity does not insist that people do as much evil outwardly as they possibly could every moment of every day of their lives.
That would be utter depravity.
But total depravity says that the unbeliever, while being totally depraved, can do outwardly moral things that outwardly align with the law of God, but they'll never do these things for the glory of God.
They'll never do these things with a reliance upon the grace of God.
They'll never do these things in a way that is truly pleasing to God because they cannot and they will not do these things in faith.
Romans chapter 14 says that anything that does not proceed from faith is sin.
Anything that does not proceed from faith is sin.
You can cure cancer sinfully.
You can help the whole world sinfully.
If it does not proceed from faith, then it is sin.
And I think the best way that I've ever been able to define or explain that phrase to do something in faith is to define it as follows To do something in faith is to do it with a reliance on God's grace and a desire for God's glory.
For the unbeliever, he's going to do something with a reliance on self and for self glory.
Or at best, perhaps, we could give him credit for doing something with a reliance on mankind, a reliance on all his team, his co workers, and a desire for the glory and the good of mankind.
But what the unbeliever will never do and can never do is any good thing with a reliance on God's grace and a desire for God's glory.
He could do it with a reliance on the strength of humanity and the good and glory of mankind.
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
But that's different than saying, everything, every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.
I would not have breath in my own lungs if it was not for the grace of God.
I'm entirely dependent on God and the provision that He gives.
And so it's all because of God's grace.
And I'm doing things for the betterment of humanity.
I'm living a life in such a way that it would.
That it would bless my neighbor, but I'm ultimately doing it for the glory of God.
For the glory of God.
Loving Neighbor More Than God00:05:01
Even what Connor was talking about throughout the liturgy of loving God, now it's not a true biblical love for God, but claiming to love God at the expense of obeying God, juxtaposing love for God against the law of God.
Often, what people who fall into this category, this pit, What they're ultimately doing is they say, Well, I'm loving God while disregarding his law.
What they're really doing is they've elevated love for neighbor above love for God.
They've actually, and they would claim, Well, I'm loving my neighbor.
I'm obeying God's law.
But they're actually committing idolatry.
They love their neighbor more than God.
St. Augustine was the one who argued that when it comes to sin, all sin ultimately is simply a result, a consequence of misordered affections, misordered loves.
So, we've talked in the past about the order of love.
And, you know, that we're not actually called to love 8.2 billion people equally.
You know that, right?
You can't.
Because the scripture is helpful, the scripture is specific.
In multiple places throughout the New Testament, love, genuine love, is defined as something that's tangible.
It's not just sentiment, it's not just vibes and feels.
1 John says that the one who claims to love God but does not love his brother, And notice there, it doesn't say stranger, but does not love his brother, has denied the faith.
He's a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But then John, in his first epistle, goes further to flesh out what it looks like, and so does James for that matter.
James does a wonderful job in his epistle talking about what does it look like to love your brother?
And what does he say?
He gives physical descriptors, he gives a definition, a description that is That is tangible, that's actual.
So James says if you say to your brother, be well fed and warm, and I wish you well, you know, thoughts and prayers.
You have not loved your brother.
No, if he's naked, you have to clothe him.
Not clothing him metaphorically with compliments, but actual clothes.
If he's hungry, you have to feed him.
Well, but I did feed him with this.
This wonderful word salad, no actual food.
You need to actually feed him.
And if you don't, then according to Scripture, you have not loved him.
So now, going back to this universal love for neighbor, you cannot love if love is defined by Scripture as being actual, physical, and tangible.
You, not because of sinfulness, fallenness, but because of creatureliness, finitude, in your finitude, You cannot biblically love, if biblical love is in deed and not mere word, you cannot biblically love 8.2 billion people.
It can't be done.
It can't be.
If you love all the kids in Williamson County, it will force you, and love them in deed, not mere word, it will force you by way of consequence to hate your own children.
Your own children will be naked and starving because you're loving all the kids in Williamson County, splitting up your paycheck.
Every two weeks, giving an equal portion so that everybody gets just enough to be benefited, not at all.
It's not what the Bible teaches.
So, the order of Morse is that there is a hierarchy, there's a triage of loves.
The commandment to love our neighbor, in that, baked in that, it assumes that we love our family first.
In terms of human beings, I love my wife more than anyone.
After that, my children.
After that, my parents.
After that, extended family.
After that, My local church.
After that, my city, my town, and then state.
After that, my country.
After that, I go broader.
But in terms of priority, I'm going to prioritize those who God in His providence has bound me to.
Those that He's bound me to.
Now, Augustine says that if you want to fix the mess and have properly ordered loves, the first thing that you start with is God at the top.
So, yes, there is a triage of human obligation.
But the first solution to ensure that we are loving the right people at the right amount, in the right ways, at the right times, is to put the first piece in order first.
And that is our love for God.
Prioritizing Those Bound By Providence00:02:54
And what I've found time and time again is for those who substitute the law of God for love, they juxtapose and pit at odds God's law and love.
Ultimately, what they've done, they'll cite scriptures about love for neighbor all day long.
But ultimately, what they've done is they've committed idolatry.
They love neighbor more than God.
And the reason why they get it wrong have you ever seen, you know, on social media, the heat map, right?
The liberal, and this is proven, they've done survey after survey.
It's really fascinating, it's hilarious, and it's also very sad.
But you talk to the average liberal, and you'll see it's like, it shows like, so here's the center.
Yourself and everything and everyone closest to you.
And then it broadens out.
So it's like it's you, it's your wife, it's your children, it's your extended family, it's your local communities, it's your town, and then it's your state, and then it's your country, and then it goes to the world, the people in Uganda, and then it gets even broader than that.
Then it's like rocks and trees and smelt fish that are endangered.
It's like, hey, I can care about the smelt fish.
And this many million people will die of thirst.
Or I can love these people and lose a smelt fish.
The liberals, like, fish, give me the fish.
You know, like liberals, just like, you know, like the crucifixion of Christ.
Give us Barabbas, right?
The murderer.
Give us that guy.
Crucify Jesus.
So too the liberals, like, give us the smelt fish, man.
Save the smelt fish.
But this many people will die of thirst.
There'll be droughts.
It doesn't matter.
So this heat map, and it's really funny, but it's basically, it gets broader.
The further out it gets.
And that's the average liberal.
The average liberal, their order of morals is smelt fish, bees, right?
Gotta love the bees.
We do need bees.
But the liberal is gonna put bees above children, right?
The conservative is gonna say, I like bees, but I like my children more.
So it's the smelt fish, it's the bees, it's the trees, it's the rocks, it's the grass.
Then it's, you know, I mean, it's almost like they get a ruler out with like, Like an atlas.
What is the furthest distance, right?
I don't want to go too far because then I would go around and get closer back to home.
What's the furthest continent?
What's the furthest country, the furthest town away from the town I live in?
Okay, then those people, after the smelt fish and the trees and the rocks, those people are my top priority.
And then these people, and then these people, and then these people.
And eventually it's like, gets to, you know, and then there's my mom and dad, you know?
Must Love God Above All Else00:03:46
And my point, To say that loving God first is the solution.
It's loving God first that ultimately solves this problem.
And so, with all this, we have to recognize that ultimately it's a spiritual matter in the sense that it's not just intellect, it's not just capacity or ability that people just find out the right formula, that they find out the right way to.
Prioritize all their commitments in life.
Ultimately, what it comes down to is God has to reveal himself to you through Christ and cause birth in you a love for him that supersedes all other loves.
If he doesn't, then you will love neighbor above God.
And for the one who loves their neighbor above God, this is what I found they always will love their furthest neighbor first.
That's the formula.
That's what I'm trying to explain.
You have to love God first.
And in order to love God first, he has to first love you first.
1 John 4 19 says, We love because he first loved us.
If you don't truly love God because it has not been revealed to you through Christ, God's love for you in the beloved, if that has not happened, then you will always be quoting the verses of scripture about neighbor, but at the expense of loving God.
And so then when it gets into the neighbor category, conveniently, and it's not a coincidence, but conveniently, it will always be a love for the neighbor that you've never seen, the neighbor that you've never known.
The neighbor that you have no interaction with.
And the reason why it always plays out this way is because it's a facade, because it's easy.
It's easy to love people in theory.
That's what James is talking about.
If you love people in theory, then you're not loving people.
You must love people in practice.
The reason why the liberal always selects at the highest echelon of their love for neighbor, the neighbor that they have never seen and never will, Is because that's the kind of love that is in word only and not deed.
It's an easy, attainable love.
It's a love that doesn't require anything.
The only action that it requires ever, it doesn't require any of your money, it doesn't require any of your effort, any of your time.
The only action that it ever requires, if any action at all, is getting out once a year to vote to make sure that somebody else has to give their money to love the person that you claim to love.
And that's about it.
So it all has to start with God.
That's what Augustine was arguing in the order of Morris, if you want to get the second and third and fourth and fifth rung in proper order, you have to first start with the top rung, which is God.
You must love God more than anyone, more than self, more than wife, more than children, more than anyone.
A love for God.
And this love for God only comes by his sovereign revelation.
Apart from that, everyone is totally depraved.
Everyone is spiritually blind, spiritually deaf.
They cannot see, they cannot hear.
And this isn't something that Jesus did to us, just for the record.
This total depravity, this spiritual blindness, this is not something that God imposed upon us.
Sovereign Revelation And Spiritual Blindness00:10:12
I think that the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16, 17, 18, is really helpful.
Really, verses 16 all the way through 21.
But we know verse 16, probably most of us by heart, for God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, and whoever should believe in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
But then it goes on and says, For God did not send his Son in the first coming of Christ to the earth.
He did not send his Son in order to condemn the world, but that in order that the world might be saved through him.
And then it goes on, I believe now verse 18, and says, For anyone who believes in him is not condemned.
Who believes in Christ is not condemned.
But whoever does not believe is condemned already.
So when Jesus entered the world as the Son of God, the light of the world, he didn't bring condemnation with him, but he simply exposed all those who were already condemned.
What condemned them was their precondition of sin, their precondition of Pride, their precondition of spiritual blindness.
And that's what we're seeing in our text today that God reveals truth to those who are babes, those who are children, that is, those who are of low esteem, those who are humble, those who are willing to be taught by the Spirit.
And God does this by way of divine election.
It is God who chooses to reveal, and not man.
Discovering.
God reveals.
It is not man who discovers.
God takes the initiative.
Romans chapter 3, we quote this often.
I quote this often.
But the description of fallen man apart from saving grace in Christ Jesus is not a pretty description.
The biblical anthropology view of man is not flattering.
It describes him as his throat being like an open grave, that he lies and waits for blood.
But another part of that description, Romans 3, is that no one seeks for God.
No one seeks for God.
The idea that I found Jesus is a misnomer.
There are only those who have been found by Jesus.
No one seeks for God.
And that's what our text is saying.
Verse 25 At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Later on, as we go further in the gospel narratives, the disciples ask Jesus, Why do you speak in parables?
And he explicitly answers them by saying, You know, because a lot of times we're under the impression, well, I've heard lots of pastors say this.
They'll say, Well, Joel, you know, sermons should be really, really simple.
And mostly, you know, about 80 90% stories and analogies.
Because that's how Jesus preached.
And you're like, that's how Jesus preached?
And what they're referring to is the parables.
Jesus told parables as helpful, simple illustrations so that people could understand, says the evangelical pastor.
But Jesus said in the Bible, it shows how many pastors have actually read the book.
But Jesus says, when he's confronted by the disciples, why do you speak in parables?
And Jesus says, so that the prophecies of Isaiah might be fulfilled, that they would be fulfilled.
Ever seeing but never perceiving.
Ever hearing but never understanding.
So, why does Jesus speak in parables?
He speaks in parables to make sure that his sermons are misunderstood.
What?
Why?
Because there are people who are condemned by their sin that God, in his sovereignty, has chosen not to reveal saving faith to.
And Jesus, in honor of his Father, is going to ensure that.
That prophecy is fulfilled, and that these people die in their spiritual blindness and go to hell forever to the praise of God's glorious justice.
Whoa.
Sounds terrible.
Sounds biblical, terribly biblical.
But that is what's going on.
And that's what Jesus is referencing in our text today.
I thank you, Father.
Notice, he doesn't just, because you would think that, you know, Jesus, who is sugar and spice and the author of everything nice, you know, the Palestinian version of Mr. Rogers, you would think that Jesus would say, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have revealed these things.
To even little children.
He does say that, but it's not all he says.
He first says, I thank you that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding.
This is Jesus praying in front of his disciples, and he's praying to the Father and thanking him God, I thank you that you have taken the truth, the only truth, the only truth that has the power to save a man's soul from hell.
And I thank you, God, that you took this truth, the only hope of salvation that people have, and you veiled it and hid it and have kept it away from these guys over here who call themselves wise and pretend to have understanding.
I thank you that you've done that so that they might die in their sin.
Based Jesus, He is not the author of sugar and spice and everything nice.
Jesus is the God man.
And he loves people dearly, but never at the expense of justice and truth.
Let God be true and every man a liar.
So Jesus is thanking his Father for hiding things from some and revealing those same things to others.
That's the first part of our text.
Now he begins to flesh this concept out a little bit more.
Look at the phrase in our text all things have been handed over to me.
By my Father.
That's the beginning of verse 27.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father.
We'll get there in a moment.
I've written in your notes this all knowledge, power, and revelation are entrusted to Jesus Christ.
He is the sole mediator.
There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the God man Christ Jesus.
There's no other mediator, there's no other go between.
We have, on the one hand, a thrice holy God who is terrible in his judgments, as the scripture says.
And as even Exodus 20, that we read earlier in our liturgy, says, by no means will pardon the wicked.
Now, he pardons the wicked every time he saves a soul by grace through faith in Christ.
But what that means is he will not turn a blind eye to wickedness.
He will not pardon the wicked by any other means but by Jesus.
So we have a God who does not sweep sin under the rug.
He does not turn a blind eye to moral failure.
He does not put his finger on the scale to tip it, to weigh it in our favor.
He is just, perfectly just, and he will not compromise his justice.
That's one of the most terrifying truths in all the universe about God, he's just.
Because God is just, millions and millions of people are in hell, and millions more will join them.
Because God is just.
And only because God is merciful, his mercy coupled with his justice, are there millions of people in heaven and millions more to join them.
It's only on the basis of his mercy, not justice.
If God were to grant us justice, all of our hearts would stop this very moment and we would awaken in a conscious eternal torment under the wrath of God in hell forever.
It's only on the basis of mercy.
That we have salvation.
But in God's judgment, or in His justice rather, many will perish under His wrath.
And the only mediator, the only Savior, the only go between, between a thrice holy, perfectly just God and sinful men who have committed treason against God, the only mediator is Christ.
There's no other go between, no other mediator.
Mary is not a mediator.
Saints are not a mediator.
Your parents, your friends are not a mediator.
Ministers are not a mediator.
The Catholic priest or the Protestant pastor are not mediators.
There is one God and one mediator between man and God, and that is Christ Jesus.
He is the only Savior.
There is no co redemptrix, no co Savior.
Only Christ.
Christ Is The Only Mediator00:13:29
And according to Christ, no one knows the Father except for him, the Son.
And outside of him, that is Christ, there is nothing but blindness.
Furthermore, our text says, To whom the Son chooses to reveal him to.
This is a decisive statement of what is known theologically as effectual calling.
That is, that the initiative in salvation lies not in man's choosing.
Not in man's work or his will, but rather in Christ's sovereign will.
Let's go back to the text, start in verse 27.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
So there's only one category of people that know the Father, that know God.
God the Father.
No one knows God except for Jesus and those that Jesus chooses to reveal his Father to.
Which means that if you don't know Jesus, and not just you've heard of Jesus, but know Jesus as the Messiah, know Jesus as the Son of God, then you don't know God the Father.
That means that Jews do not know God.
It means that Muslims do not know God.
Muslims do, objectively.
I mean, this is just a fact.
Objectively, They have a less hostile view of Jesus than Jews.
That's true.
But Muslims are not on our team.
Well, but we honor him as a prophet.
We're not saying that he's in hell.
We honor him as a good man and a prophet.
Yes, but is he God?
And for that matter, we can go on.
Mormons do not know God.
Mormons believe that Jesus is an archangel, Michael, and that he's not the creator who is forever to be praised, but that he is the first created being.
So they believe that Jesus is not eternal, and he is not God, but rather a first, not capital G God, but the first created being.
And therefore, they don't know Jesus.
They don't know Jesus for who he is.
The Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the promised one, the Savior, but here's a big one the Son of God, eternally begotten Son of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and that is Christ, the Logos, the Word.
And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus is the Word who from the beginning has been with God and was God.
Anyone who denies the eternality of Christ and the exclusivity of Christ and the supremacy of Christ and the deity of Christ does not know Christ.
And if they do not know Christ, they do not know the Father.
They don't know God.
This idea of Abrahamic religions no, no.
Well, there are Muslims, there are Jews, and there are Christians, and there's a lot in common.
There is nothing in common.
Nothing in common.
What fellowship can light have with darkness?
What partnership does Beelzebub have with Christ?
None.
They worship demons.
Jews worship demons.
Muslims worship demons.
Mormons worship demons.
Jehovah's Witness worships demons.
Hindus worship demons.
Buddhists worship demons.
Secularists worship demons.
There is one truth, there is one God.
And he has one son.
And Jesus, the Son of God, said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one gets to the Father but through me.
Period.
And that's what Jesus is saying in our text.
No one knows the Son but the Father.
But also, no one knows the Father except the Son.
And who else?
Only those whom the Son chooses to reveal him to.
So, it's not a picture of all of humanity having an equal fighting chance.
You know, there's Jesus, and then there's mankind.
And we're all on a spiritual journey.
And for those of us who are noble hearted, you know, and diligent, and really try and humble, well, those of us will find Jesus.
And if we find Jesus, then Jesus will show us his dad.
No.
That's not what the text says.
No one knows the Son except the Father.
No one knows the Father except the Son.
And those who find the Son?
No.
And those whom the Son reveals him to.
Why do people go to hell?
Because they're sinners, yes.
But we can also equally truthfully say why do people go to hell?
Because the Son chose not to reveal the Father to them.
I thank you, Father.
That you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding.
I thank you, Father, that among these religious rulers who have been a thorn in my side, opposing me and mocking me at every turn, I thank you, Father, that they'll be in hell.
You've hidden these things from them, but you've given and revealed these things to the ones who worked hard to find them.
No, to babes.
To children.
Yes, again, I think there's a literal sense.
Children can be saved.
But the big idea, what Jesus is saying, is not the literal sense, but the spiritual sense.
Notice the contrast.
Why isn't understanding spiritually blind?
And why?
Because the Father hid something.
The initiative is on God, He hid it.
Over here, who are the ones who see clearly?
Who have revelation?
Babes, infants, children.
And why?
Because they found it.
They achieved it.
No, because it was revealed.
And the language of this group of people to whom salvific truth has been revealed is used by Christ as babes and children to put all the more emphasis on the Father and the Son for revealing.
The babe doesn't achieve this.
No, if the babe knows, it's only because the Father reveals, and because the Son reveals the Father.
This is the way that salvation works.
This is what is known as the effectual call.
And yet, it's important theology, we distinguish, but we want to be balanced.
We want to have the whole truth.
There is such a thing also, and we find it actually right here, virtually in the same breath as Christ is teaching us in our text today.
We have the effectual call that only some are called truly unto salvation and receive salvation, only those whom the Son reveals the Father to.
But we also have in our text, immediately afterwards, the universal call.
The universal call is not the effectual call.
The universal call goes out to all, but it does not save all.
It goes out to all and it is heard by all.
Not necessarily with spiritual ears and true hearing, but it is heard by all people so that all are without an excuse, that all stand rightfully, justly condemned by God, if not having been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone.
But there is this universal call that is sufficient to universally condemn, to universally damn.
But it is only the effectual call that does not go to all, but goes rather to some that is sufficient.
To save, I'll say that again.
There are two calls a broad net, a universal call that is not sufficient to save but sufficient to damn, and then there is an effectual call, a subgroup of the whole.
The effectual call is what saves.
The effectual call is Jesus, a description of it in our text that we've just read, verse 27, is Jesus supernaturally revealing his Father to those who are of lowly estate.
To those who are the spiritual humble, those who are spiritually impoverished.
This is what Jesus taught earlier in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 5, the Beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will be made rich in faith.
It's the poor in spirit that God is pleased to reveal himself to.
And so they are indeed blessed.
But woe to the prideful, woe to those who claim to have understanding, for they will hear the universal call that goes out to all.
But they will not be given the effectual call, the revelation of God through his Son, and they will die in their sin.
So here's the universal call.
Jesus says, verse 28 Come to me, all who labor, all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Now, when Jesus says this, he's speaking to all, he's speaking to everyone.
The same people who opposed him at that moment, This call is coming to them.
It's not just coming to the crowd, to the fishermen, to the peasants, to the plebes, but it's coming even to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the religious rulers, and the lawyers.
It's coming to them as well.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.
In your notes, I've written this.
This represents a universal call to all who feel the weight of sin.
And the weight of the law.
However, although this is a universal call, Christ invites not all indiscriminately.
You know that God shows discrimination.
You know that, right?
God is an unapologetic discriminator, constantly discriminating.
And it is his prerogative and his right to do so.
God is not egalitarian.
And God is not a universalist.
God is not, he's not a supporter of our sacred democracy.
He is not a God who supports 20th century liberalism.
God has always shown discrimination.
And even here, Christ is discriminating.
All throughout his earthly ministry, he discriminates.
So he says, All, anyone who is burdened down by the weight of sin and the law, come, come to me.
There is a free invitation.
Christ invites, but he does not give the effectual invitation, the effectual call, indiscriminately, but rather he specifically, but specifically to those who are truly humbled by their misery and guilt.
So the call is universal and yet also effectual.
Universal to all who hear, but effectual only to those who are burdened by guilt.
Their guilt.
And this is so important.
It's funny.
It feels as though it's a sense of divine irony.
But one of the greatest sources of assurance of salvation that I've experienced over the years is my guilt.
Guilt As Assurance Of Salvation00:04:06
If I ever got to a place where I just thought that I was above everything, that I no longer felt.
Guilt and shame, like real shame for sin, for my sin, not just sin as some ethereal entity floating out there, universal sin of humanity.
No, Joel's sin.
If I ever got to the point that I didn't actually feel shame and guilt and misery for sin, then I would probably begin to doubt.
Whether or not I've actually been forgiven of sin.
Read throughout church history, read the reformers, read the Puritans.
One of the things that they longed for most when they thought about eternity, it wasn't just being free from death as a consequence of sin, or free from sickness, or even being reunited with children that had died in infancy, or their wife that passed away in childbirth.
It wasn't just a desire to be in heaven so that there'd be no more lack and no more poverty.
The greatest desire of many of the most righteous men throughout church history when they thought of eternity, when they thought of heaven, is they desperately wanted to be free from sin.
They were miserable over their sin.
More than sickness, more than death.
More than the loss of loved ones, more than global wars, more than corrupt politics.
Their greatest grief, daily grief, was woe is me.
I'm a sinner.
I hate, I hate that I continue to do that which I do not want to do.
And the good that I long to do, this I cannot carry out.
Oh, what a wretched man I am.
Who will save me from this body of death?
I don't believe that Romans chapter 7 was written by St. Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit pre conversion.
I believe all those things I just said.
I do believe it was written by St. Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but post conversion.
I believe that Paul wrote this in Romans 7 as a Christian.
And as a Christian, Paul says, as an apostle, he says, The good I want to do, this I cannot do.
And the evil that I do not want to do, this I find myself still doing.
Oh, what a wretched man I am.
Brothers and sisters, when was the last time you were legitimately grieved by you and not someone else?
Grieved by your sin.
Distraught over your shortcomings.
Because the moment that you're not is the moment when real doubt should come into your mind over whether or not you belong to Christ.
Because the one Who the universal call becomes specific and effectual for is the one who, when they hear the universal call, come to me, all who are weary, all who are heavy laden, all who are tired under the burden of sin, your sin.
The ones who are actually of Christ, belong to Christ, are the ones who are powerfully propelled to run towards Christ, to answer that call.
Because they are weary of their sin and not merely weary of the sin and consequences of sin that comes from someone else.
Now, that said, I'm weary of both.
Weary Of Others Sins Too00:15:17
So, I'm not saying that you're not allowed to notice that we live in a fallen world.
Of course, we do.
And you're allowed to notice that when it comes to some of the atrocities in the world, in the same way that I said God's not egalitarian, well, neither is the devil, turns out.
The devil, in terms of temporally in this world, he does not use everyone equally.
When I look at the world, it's not just like, man, it's just a perfect division.
Guilt in terms of temporal consequences of the world split across 8.2 billion people.
No, it's not.
No, of course, some people cause more destruction and harm and corruption than others.
All people are totally depraved.
That's the inward spiritual reality of man apart from saving faith in Jesus.
But in terms of outward manifestations of sin and their temporal causes, no, that's never been equal.
And I'm not trying to reopen a wound here.
It's just, it's a good example.
And so I'm going to speak respectfully, but I am going to use the example.
We can talk about it.
Lord knows everybody else talked about it, so I'm allowed to talk about it too.
But one of the reasons I didn't sign the Antioch Declaration was there were a few different statements that I thought were very bad, just on its face, bad theology.
But one in particular was it said that we affirm that Judaism is no more pernicious than any other false world religion.
And I couldn't sign it because I'm not a liberal.
I'm not an egalitarian.
I actually believe in hierarchy.
I believe in a hierarchy of good.
I believe in a hierarchy of evil.
I can't sign a statement that says Judaism, over centuries and centuries and centuries, has caused the same exact degree of temporal, right, in the earth, not eternal, spiritual, but the same exact degree of temporal, earthly consequences as Mormonism.
It's not just wrong, it's actually laughable.
It's embarrassing.
That is an embarrassing statement for a pastor or a theologian to sign your name to.
You should be embarrassed.
That all false religions are equal, and the document wasn't just saying that they're equal in their ability to separate you eternally from the Lord.
That's something that I could agree with.
All sin is equal in the sense that if not forgiven by Christ, you will be separated from eternity from God for a white lie or for being a serial killer.
And likewise, not just all sin, but also all false religions are equal in the eternal sense that apart from repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, every false religion, whether it's you and 14 other people with the religion of our Savior Zog, you know, and you're waiting for this alien to come back, or whether it's, you know, you and A couple, you know, billion Muslims.
All false religions are equal in the eternal, ultimate sense of separating you from God.
But not all sin, we know this, not all sin is equal in its earthly consequences.
And not all false religions are equal in the detriment and destruction that they cause in a temporal sense.
We know that.
I thought we knew that.
So, yes, you can still reject liberalism, reject egalitarianism, and say, I believe that God created a hierarchical world.
And hierarchy, when it's good, means that everyone is doing good, but some people do more good than others.
And not only is God hierarchical, but so is the devil.
The devil is not an egalitarian either.
And so, some people, when they do bad, it's really, really bad.
And other people, when they do bad, again, apart from grace, apart from forgiveness, apart from faith in Jesus, they'll go to hell.
But the temporal, practical, physical consequences of this guy's bad deed don't necessarily cause as much temporal harm as this other guy's bad deed.
Right?
The atom bomb is a little bit more consequential than a boy who stole a Snickers from a convenience store, right?
Can we recognize that?
Surely.
Surely.
So, yes, you can believe that other people are sinners and that some of these individuals, especially if they're in positions of leadership, the corruption and sin that they commit makes life really bad for a lot of people.
I believe that.
I'll never stop believing that.
But what I also believe, and I don't just encourage, I demand that you believe too, along with me.
Is that your sin?
Your sin is the biggest enemy you have.
And you must, you must be made miserable, a godly, divine, righteous misery over your sin.
Or you will die in your sin and go to hell.
And I want to provide political application, I want to provide how we should think culturally.
And I want to be honest when a lot of other ministers are not and be willing to say, yeah, there are some people that are doing some really bad things, and it's not equal.
But I've failed you as a pastor if I do all that, but I do it in such a way that it assuages your own guilt over your own sin or even distracts you over your own guilt for your own sin.
All who are heavy laden and weary, come to me, Jesus says, and I will give you rest.
The Jewish religious leaders of that day did not go.
They did not go to Christ.
But here's the thing in terms of being weary of other people's sins, they were actually weary of other people's sins.
If you had sat there and talked to them and said, Are you weary, not of your own sin, but are you weary of the sins and the terrible corruption of others?
And they would have talked to you ad nauseum about the Romans.
Oh, yes.
The deep, profound corruption of the Romans and the way that they've oppressed us, the Jews, under their thumb, and they've done this and they've done that.
And they would have been able to talk to you, give lectures for hours and hours, symposiums about being weary, being heavy laden under someone else's sin, but not their own.
The call that Jesus gives is universal.
But the only ones who answer it are those who receive not merely the universal call, but the effectual call.
And the distinction between the two, the one who has truly received the effectual call from Christ because they've received a revelation of the Father from Christ, is the one who is weary not merely under sin universally or sin from someone else, but their own sin.
As we try to change the world in a positive way for the glory of God and for the good of His people, we have to be discerning.
We have to be able to see, okay, this is a problem.
This over here is a much bigger problem.
You can't be a doctor or work in medicine if somebody comes in, they got hit by a truck, and you're like, all right, they're bleeding out, gaping wounds, their heart has stopped, and you bust out a nail file and say, first, I see a hangnail here, and if we could just kind of shave that down, we might be able to save his life.
That would be ridiculous, right?
You triage.
You start with this thing is the most important thing.
This is the most threatening thing.
If we want to be effective Christians, we have to be able to do that.
Discernment's not just permissible.
God doesn't say in His Word, you're allowed to discriminate on a righteous basis because you're allowed to exercise righteous discernment.
God doesn't just make it permissible, He doesn't just allow us, He commands us.
You want to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, you must be discerning.
And then you must act in accordance with that spiritual discernment, which necessarily will result in discrimination.
You must, not just aloud, you must.
And simultaneously, we've got to walk and chew gum at the same time.
We've got to be able to do both.
Do that and feel godly sorrow over your sin.
Godly sorrow, which produces repentance, which leads to life.
Never lose.
Never forget the first time that the Lord brought conviction to bear on your heart over your sin.
Don't lose that.
Don't become proud.
Don't become calloused.
Stay nimble.
Stay humble.
Stay soft hearted.
And yet at the same time, Stay shrewd.
Stay wise.
Stay discerning.
Right?
Innocent as doves, shrewd as vipers.
The godly Christian must be both.
They must be both.
Lastly, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Why?
There's one point I want to make here and we'll be done.
In your notes, I wrote this Christ is not suggesting that God has a lower standard for holiness.
Than the Pharisees did.
What makes Christ's burden light, because he's speaking in contrast here.
When he says, My yoke is easy, my burden is light, he's saying in comparison to these religious rulers, he's speaking to them and to the crowd, he's speaking to everyone.
But he's essentially saying this some of you guys are exhausted, you're tired, you're exasperated.
Under these guys' rules.
And if that's you, if you're heavy laden and you're weary and you're tired, then come to me and I'll give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you because it's light, and my burden is light, and my yoke is easy.
But here's the thing, and we got to be careful because if we're not careful, this is where again the modern evangelical seeps in false doctrine because they'll look at that and they'll say, Okay, so the Pharisees were heavy, they gave heavy moral burdens, and they had lots and lots of rules, lots of laws.
Jesus, He says, It's the words of Jesus.
I'm being faithful to Jesus.
He says his burden is light and his yoke is easy.
So, conclusion Jesus, who is God, so God has a lower moral standard than the Pharisees.
No.
No, Jesus says elsewhere, he says, if your righteousness does not exceed that of the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
So, no, this is not Jesus saying, hey, these guys, they're real sticklers for the law.
And you're worn out probably.
But come to me.
You'll enjoy my class.
You'll enjoy my moral expectations because I've set the bar really low.
Because I don't really care about holiness, I don't really care about morality.
I just care about vibes and feels, thoughts and prayers, love.
That is not what Jesus is saying.
So then what?
But he's also not a liar.
It's Jesus after all.
So it really is a light burden.
And it really is an easy yoke.
So, how?
How can God have the highest standard of holiness far above the Pharisees?
Right?
I mean, that's the whole Sermon on the Mount.
We talked through that.
He's like, You've heard it was said, but I tell you it's harder.
You've heard it was said, but I tell you it's harder.
You've heard it was said, outwardly do this, that, and the other.
But I tell you inwardly, you have to be perfectly pure in heart and thought.
Every thought, Hebrews says, every single thought will be laid bare one day when we stand before the Lord.
God does not lower the bar.
He raises the standard to a little thing called absolute perfection.
So then, how in the world could Jesus say, because he doesn't lie, how can he be raising the bar and speaking truthfully at the same time, saying, but this will be easier and this will be lighter?
One reason, very simple.
Look at Matthew chapter 23, verse 2, 3, and 4.
This describes Jesus' opponents.
And we'll see the contrast between them and Christ.
Here it is.
The scribes and the Pharisees, they sit on Moses' seat.
So do and observe what they tell you, but do not the works they do.
Jesus is saying they actually have the right doctrine in many regards, in terms of the moral doctrine of what is the law of Moses, and therefore the law of God.
So do what they say, but not what they do.
Because they're hypocrites.
They don't do it themselves.
And then he goes on, he says, They preach, but do not practice.
And look at this verse 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
What makes Jesus' burden light and his yoke easy?
Because he lowers the bar?
No, he raises it.
Jesus Lifts The Moral Burden00:03:35
The difference is that the religious rulers.
These Jews, they would not help to lift the burden at all.
They actually had a lower standard.
They actually made the law more achievable, not less.
Right?
What would they do?
They say, where the law actually says, don't swear, neither by heaven nor by earth, but let your yes be yes and your no be no.
And they're not raising the bar.
They add more rules.
They're like the IRS.
Do you know why the IRS adds more rules?
So that there will be less rules for them.
But technically, in code C4, blah, I get all your money.
Thank you, please, and thank you.
All right, have a nice day.
They add more rules.
So, that they are actually bound by less rules.
Same with the Pharisees.
Well, if you swear by the temple, that's technically okay, just don't swear by the gold of the temple.
So, they're adding another rule, but in essence, what does it do?
Is that raising the moral bar or lowering it?
It's lowering it.
So, yes, they had a lot of rules, but they actually lowered God's standard of morality.
So, they had a lower standard, but their burden is heavier.
Lower standard, heavier burden.
Why?
Because they don't ever help to lift the burden.
Not even with a finger.
What makes Jesus' burden light?
He lifts it.
That's the whole thing.
That's a whole enchilada.
What makes God's thrice holy, perfect standard inside and out, thoughts, feelings, actions for an entire lifetime, perfect moral perfection?
What could possibly make this burden, this yoke, Light and easy because Jesus gives you a lot more than a finger to lift it.
He gave his whole life.
He didn't just give a finger, he gave both hands, both feet, his back torn to shreds, the spear in his side, thorn of crowns on his head.
He lifts the burden.
It's not that moral standards were lowered, it's that Jesus lifts it for you.
He provides grace every time you fall and forgiveness for every trespass and every sin.
He cleanses by His blood each iniquity.
And by the Holy Spirit, He sends from the Father and the Son.
They send the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to indwell you.
That your body is now a temple of the Holy Spirit.
And the Spirit empowers you each morning fresh mercy, fresh grace, fresh vigor to live in holiness.
And when you fail, to be brought up in righteousness.
And forgiven time and time again.
That's what makes his burden light.
That's what makes his yoke easy.
God expects perfection from us, but he gave perfection for us.
He gave us Jesus.
You need Jesus.
Receive Jesus.
And you won't unless you are weary and heavy laden and struggling with righteous misery over your sin.