Nov10
Matthew 11:20-22……Working
11:20 Then(After having sent out the 72-disciples-(Luke 10:1) Jesus began to denounce (rebuke, reprove, indict, unbraid-K.J.V.) the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.(3340-Turning from sin & turning to God, a change of heart & mind”.)21″Woe to you,(Expresses not judgment or doom. But deep sorrow, greif, and pity.) Korazin! (Not much is known about Korazin) Woe to you Bethsaida (Jewish fishing village a few miles from Capernaum. Bethsaida was Andrew, Peter, and Philip’s hometown.) If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, (Phoenician cities on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Expresses a euphemism for all that is godless, corrupt, and wicked.) they would have repented long ago (In Ezekiel’s day. (Ezk. chps. 26-29) in sackcloth-(4526-Goat or Camels hair. Burlap) and ashes. (To sit on or to pour ashes over the head. Taken together was a public display of sincere remorse, sorrow, and grief over sin.) 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. (Jesus holds these Jewish cities more accountable on the day of judgment because far worser cities would have repented on lesser evidence.)
Continued From Book
“Warns the danger of remain unresponsive & indifferent to God’s Saving grace.” ⇒ If we’ve been this exposed to Jesus’ love, grace, and forgiveness, and yet we’re unresponsive we’re in deep trouble. This life is not all there is. There is a judgement to come. We really don’t want to turn up at the judgement unforgiven. With the privilege we’ve had, with the exposure to the person of Jesus –None of us can plead ignorance as an excuse.
“Teaches those who appreciate God’s Saving grace will show it by living changed lives”. ⇒ Those who experience God’s forgiveness will turn to Him in thankfulness by living changed lives. Will you pray; Jesus help us to stay alert, to notice, to listen. Help me to look at my life and grow in appreciation and gratitude for all you have done. God I ask you to open my eyes and help me to grow in gratitude. I pray that I may not miss what you have done, and doing, and want to do in my life. Lord, open my eyes and my heart to the signs of your grace all around me.
“Displays God’s omniscience in knowing all possible outcomes from all possible situations.” ⇒ God knows everything. God knows what choices people in the past would have made if they had been in different circumstances. This is called “contingent knowledge.” God knows all the “what if’s.” So often we wonder, “What would have happened if this had occurred?” That is usually an impossible question for us to answer, but it is not a difficult one for God at all. God knows not just what we’ve been, but what we’ve could have been and what we should have been given the light we received.
“Teaches how indifference is more grievous to God than gross immorality and open sin”. ⇒ Unbelief and indifference is more scandalous to the Lord than even the most grievous sins! Indifference to Jesus as greater than the sin of adultery, greater than the sin of homosexality. Greater than the sin of rape. Greater than the sin of murder, etc.
“Warns against thinking if we just saw a miracle we would be believe. If we just had some piece of evidence, we would no longer doubt. If we just had more revelation we would be faithful.” ⇒ If we think that all we need is a sign to believe, then we are lying to ourselves. We have the tendency to think that a mighty work of God would be a game changer in our lives. Don’t think “Well if I would have just met and seen Jesus and all He did I wouldn’t have any doubt. Being near Jesus or close to His work is no substitute for trusting in Jesus……(To be Continued)
“Even today, God has been more than fair with us. There is no one who is going to be able to say on the day of judgment, “God, You never gave me a chance. I would have trusted and followed You if only I had the opportunity.” The Lord will say, “You had plenty of chances. You just kept ignoring & rejecting Me.” ⇒ No person will have the excuse of ignorance in saying “I just didn’t know.” Just saying I didn’t have enough information or data to act on it will not be a valid rebuttal. There’s general and natural revelation that God has given us through His creation.-(Rom. 1:19-20, Ps. 19:1) Then there’s special and divine revelation God has given us through Christ and His Word. In fact He has given those of us in this age many more chances, many more opportunities, to hear God’s Word than most people who have lived on this planet have had………(To be Continued)
“In this day and age we have no excuse for not responding. We have unlimited access to the Gospel on computers, Smart- Phones, tablets, etc. We have Church’s on every corner. We have Christian programs, websites, podcasts, books, etc.” ⇒ Here in america we are inundated with every resource to know and grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We not only have a Bible, we have many and in all sorts of bible translations and versions. We are loaded down with books and commentaries, CD’s, Christian music, expository teachings, Bible studies etc. Any person living in the United States can tune in to radio or television and hear the Gospel almost every day. It is certainly not for lack of materials that one is not deep in their faith; it is for lack of desire. No people in history have had as many opportunities to hear the truth about God, to learn how salvation can be found by turning to Jesus Christ, than those who live in this country at the end of the 20th Century. Do you realize there are 450,000 churches in the United States. In fact, 24% of protestant congregations in the world are in this country. There are 600 religious radio stations, the vast majority run by evangelical Christians, who daily broadcast the message of Jesus Christ to people across the land. Christian TV, Christian publishing, Christian music recording, all communicate the Bible’s message. God has given us so many chances.
More Notes & Applications
Teaches how God gives all men ample opportunities and inducement to change their lives and come back to Him.
Teaches how Salvation is a precious gift that should never be treated contemptuously or in vain.
Teaches how as Christians there’s no business as usual, that we can’t continue to do as we want and live as we want.
Warns against a common mistaken notion that says if we can have enough of the miraculous then more and more people will believe in Jesus. There’s a belief in a lot of churches that think If God would just do miracles in our mists more people would get Saved. That if we could pray down miracles and just heal someone who is sick or just do something amazing it would convince them to believe and come to Christ. But as we see from this passage miracles are no guarantee that people will respond to the Gospel in faith. In fact miracles can be faked. Satan can to miracles too. Not only that, but faith is not depended on the display of the miraculous. If you never see a miracle or a supernatural thing in your life are you going to allow it to shake your faith?
Teaches how God doesn’t owe us anything. His grace and mercy are not payment for a job well done. God chooses to give a portion of grace to every-one. And He chooses to give more grace to some than others. God’s grace is a gift. It is never unfair when God does not give as much of His grace, as many chances, to one person as He does another. That is His choice.
Displays the love of Jesus in rebuking us while in our sins that we may change course before its to late. Jesus cares about seeing us come back to Him. Don’t think that Jesus loves everyone no matter what we do or how we live. That Jesus understands our weaknesses and is O.K. with it. Don’t allow God’s kindness and patience as an excuse to sin, thinking God will look over this one little sin.
Many use this verse to teach how there will be different degrees of punishment in hell based on how much light and revelation a person received. Those who will receive the harder punishment will be those who have received the divine revelation of God and been the most religious and outwardly upright.
We have no record in the Gospel’s of Jesus performing miracles in Chorazin or Bethsaida. There is no account of the work that Jesus did, and of the wonders he performed in these places, and yet they must have been amongst His greatest. Which goes to show how little we know of Jesus; it shows us–and we must always remember it–that in the Gospels we have only the barest selection of Jesus’ works. The things we do not know about Jesus far outnumber the things we do know. (cf. John 21:25)
Interesting to note that these cities “Korazin” and “Bethsaida” are nothing more than a pile of rocks and ruble today.
Korazin & Bethsaida
Sack-clothe & Ashes
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