a sermon by Teaching Elder, Dr. Robert E. Griffin Jr
Without the moving of the holy Spirit in a heart, man either actively REJECTS the Gospel or man IGNORES the message. No one wants to be told they are not “good enough” to get to heaven so they put up a defense of either ACTIVE or PASSIVE resistance.
I. ACTIVE RESPONSE: REJECTION/CRITICISM
A. MEN ACTING LIKE CHILDREN
Matthew 11:16-17 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like little children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions: “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a mournful song, and you did not wail.’
1. Acting like Children – Attitude reflected in action
2. Playing Children’s Games
Wedding – dress up and party with music and dance like at a Jewish wedding
Funeral – dirge, wailing and mourning
Wanted to play a THIRD game: stoning the prophet
B. MEN REJECTING MESSAGE/MESSENGER
Matthew 11:18-19a “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look! a man [who is] a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”
1.Rejecting John the Baptist – John came with Funeral mode
2. Rejecting Jesus Himself – Jesus came with Wedding mode (open, intimate, loving lifestyle)
C. MAN STILL IS CRITICAL TODAY
Matthew 11:19b “Yet wisdom is proven by her actions.”
1. Finding Fault in Christianity
2. Rejecting God
II. PASSIVE RESPONSE: INDIFFERENCE/APATHY
A. UNREPENTANT SPIRIT
Matthew 11:20-22 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you”
1. Jesus rebukes the cities that did not repent in light of both John the Baptist’s ministry and Jesus’ own ministry
2. No Response from Chorazin and Bethsaida
When Jesus said that it will be more tolerable for certain cities in the day of judgment, He implied that there are in fact different degrees of judgment.
Most of His miracles in small villages around the sea of Galilee where Jesus centered His ministry
Tyre and Sidon would have repented
B. IGNORING MESSENGER AND MESSAGE
Matthew 11:23-24 “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
1. No Response from Capernaum
2. What is Great Sin of These Cities?
Indifference, ignoring Jesus = greater punishment than outright rejection!
Rev 3:15-17 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
C. MAN IS STILL INDIFFERENT TODAY
1. Sin of Omission
2. No Open Hostility
Not convenient to hear and consider the message
As was happening in days of Noah – people busy eating, drinking, marrying, burying, vacationing, buying, selling, planting, harvesting, – cycle of life – then came the JUDGMENT and it was eternally TOO LATE!
When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree,
They drove great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed Him by,
They never hurt a hair of Him – they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.
Still Jesus cried, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,”
And still it rained the wintry rain that drenched Him through and through.
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.
– G.A. Studdert