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Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
Tonight we are continuing right on in our Journey Through Matthew, and we are going to continue on right where we left off this morning.
So, if you would like to start finding the Scripture in your Bibles, we will be in , verses 25-30 tonight.
And I have titled the message for tonight, Rest for the Weary, but actually in this passage, Matthew records Jesus actually talking about three slightly different things in this portion of this address.
And we are going to get to each one of them in a minute, but we are actually going to be talking about:
The Truth being hidden from the wise.
Chosen to know the Truth.
And, then finally Rest for the Weary.
And if you recall where we were this morning as well as where we were last Sunday morning, we have been looking at this long address that Jesus is giving to the people.
It started out with Jesus’ blistering condemnation of the hypocrisy and inconsistency of the generation of people around him.
Some of them were claiming to be his followers and others were Jews trying to stir up trouble for Jesus and his disciples.
And the main point that Jesus was trying to get across to them was that in reality he did not need to prove anything to them.
And then this morning we looked at Jesus actually giving them some examples of how God was going to show Himself and prove Himself for their sake.
And that proof was going to come through destruction.
With the reason for that destruction being their refusal to repent of their sins.
Even though Jesus had walked with them, talked with them, offered them tangible evidence and proof that He was the Messiah and that He was offering the all of the hopes of the Messiah.
They refused to believe and they refused to repent.
And tonight we are going to take it one step further and we are actually going to be looking at this idea of Truth and some of the reasons these cities refused to repent.
So, lets get right into it.
Again I will be reading from .
I’d invite you to stand with me if you are able.
Matthew writes . . . .
Scripture Focus
The Truth is Hidden From the Wise
So, right after Jesus tells Capernaum that . .
He begins to reveal to them the extent of why their judgement will be so severe.
And remember he has already established that they had a dark and unrepentant heart.
But the real question is, why?
Why have they refused?
Why have they not seen?
Why are they doing what they are doing?
So, Jesus now says . . .
M
And Matthew didn’t just mishear what Jesus was saying here.
Because in , he records . . .
So Jesus is saying that God has hidden things from these people.
God did this?
Of course our question is, why?
How?
Well, we need to understand what Jesus is saying here.
First, what is actually being hidden?
The truth.
And when we are talking about the truth, we are not talking about the concept of the truth.
We are talking about the ONE who IS the TRUTH.
We are talking about Jesus, as the Messiah.
Remember . . .
But still, is God hiding Jesus’ true identity from these people?
What’s up with that?
Well, it actually has to do with faith.
In the end of that verse it says that the truth is revealed to little children.
And Jesus isn’t just talking about little kids here, he is talking about those who have the faith of a little child.
That innocent and complete faith.
And the faith is not in humans or themselves, but faith in God.
It is a hard thing for adults to believe a lot of things because the world has damaged us so much.
We have lived through all of the trouble, heartache, and evil in the world and it has damaged our view of things.
Our belief system is somewhat warped because of the world.
And Jesus is saying that if we want to be able to actually see the truth.
If we want to actually be able to see Him, we have to be able to sit aside the warped view that the world has instilled in us and develop that same faith that is found in a child.
We have to learn to return to babes and then grow up in Christ.
And when we can do that then . . .
And that is freedom from the bondage of sin and death.
That is freedom found in Christ and only in Christ.
And it wasn’t that there were blinders put on people, but rather they refused to accept and see the truth.
The truth was right there in front of them, but their hearts had been so darkened by sin, they refused to see it and they refused to accept it.
And because of that the consequences of sin, which is death would fall on them.
**Jesus is the Truth (Remember this)
We have a lot of people that want to blame a lot of things on God.
**They couldn’t see the truth because their heart had been darkened by sin.
The reality is, God’s truth is revealed to us and has been for over 2000 years.
It was hidden but it was hidden because they refused to accept it.
We just choose to ignore it.
And because of our choices, the consequences follow.
Even though God warns us of the consequences, we still choose to ignore.
We fit the bill of . . .
And the result of our actions . . .
:18
:23-
And it all starts with the wholesale rejection of God.
Chosen to Know the Truth
However, for those who do choose to follow God and respond to God’s calling . . .
And what Jesus is talking about here is that intimate relationship with God.
He is meaning just what is being said here.
God the Father has given Jesus the Son the authority over all things, that means everything.
And in their day, and ours, no one really knows or can explain the true nature of the Son except God the Father.
We know Jesus.
We love Jesus.
We have a relationship with Jesus (hopefully-and if you don’t we can do something about that).
But, we do not understand Jesus’ nature as “fully man” and “fully God.”
We really cannot grasp the full nature of the Holy Trinity.
It is one of those things that we must take by faith.
Because to be honest, the more we try to understand it, the more I think we become confused.
Part of what’s wrong with humanity is the fact that we question absolutely everything.
We have tried to remove faith from everything.
We say “prove it,” or “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
And when things of God that are beyond our comprehension, like creation itself, we reject it, not because it is not true, but rather because we don’t understand it.
However, if we would just search our heart and listen to the Holy Spirit, even though we don’t understand it, we would know that it is true.
Because God reveals to the truth to us through the Spirit.
Always have and always will.
But, again, it goes back to whether or not we are willing to listen.
And when we are able and willing to listen, then as Jesus says, no one knows the Father except the Son AND those whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
And that doesn’t mean Jesus excludes people, but rather those who refuse, Jesus doesn’t force things on us.
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