He said, when you give your testimony of salvation, you should say, this is what I was before I was saved. This is how I was saved. This is what happened after I was saved. Now, that's not a bad way to go through your testimony. But then he went and said, if you used to be this and this and this bad sinful person, after you're saved, you're not that anymore. And that's not the gospel. That's a misleading message. That's a false gospel if you think right down to it. Because many people don't have an automatic deliverance from all of the wickedness that they were involved with before. Some do. Billy Sunday was a drunkard, and he got saved at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, and he left it. He never touched alcohol again, and he preached against it, and he preached against it vigorously, but not everybody has that kind of deliverance from sin as soon as they're saved. So you don't preach that as though it's part of how to be saved. You preach that as something what God can do for you. The other preacher is not a local preacher, but he's got on a local radio station. And he said plainly, the way you get saved is you make Jesus your boss. And then he went on and said, it's by grace through faith without works. But he said, you've got to make Jesus your boss or you're not saved. And that's a false message. That is works in and of itself. So I have a song this morning that I'd sing for you, if you don't mind, from the, I'm sorry, 60s or 70s. I don't remember where I learned this. Some of you will say, I don't like that style anymore. Well, it's kind of about giving a testimony. It's kind of about a testimony. And it goes something like this. One day I was wondering, what's it all about? Life was full of heartache, restlessness and doubt. Then a gentle stranger whispered words of love, pointed me to heaven, wrote my name above. I know where I'm going and who I'm going to see. I have a friend named Jesus waiting there for me. He has given something that only he could give. He gave his life in payment so that I might live. And in a very real way, that's my testimony. Not that I was so much searching, but I ended the evening where I first heard the gospel, to my knowledge, I ended the evening knowing where I was going because I knew the Savior, 1 John 5, 13. I knew I had eternal life because the Bible said so. Let me ask you a question about that first fellow and the idea that after you're saved, everything changes. Things can. You ought to. make some good decisions, get God to bless you. Salvation comes by receiving a free gift. Blessings in this life and rewards in heaven come by hearing what the Word of God says by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and doing what it says instead of what it says not to do. Do what you're supposed to do, don't do what you're not supposed to do, and God can bless you. and he will reward in the next life. And the next life is eternal. So it's a simple enough plan. You're saved by faith. If you want blessings and rewards, blessings now, rewards later. You do what you're supposed to do, happy. In the book of Proverbs it says, he that covereth his sins shall not prosper. Happy is he that confesses and forsakes them. You want to be happy, don't just say, oh, I messed up again. Stop it. I'm thinking about a Bob Newhart show I saw one time. It was a spoof of a Bob Newhart show that Bob Newhart did, I think, on Saturday Night Live. But if you're familiar with Bob Newhart, you know he had some unusual, his character had some unusual things about being, always washing his hands, different things like that. woman came in and she was afraid of something. And he said, well, it's $50 for the session. You get five minutes. And she said, well, here's my thing. And he said, well, stop it. She said, what? He said, stop it. You want to write it down? Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. She said, well, that was the spoof. But that's kind of a Bible idea. Just stop it. You say, I can't. Well, then pray, and get counsel, and get people like-minded that will not be doing what you're not supposed to be doing, and stop it. And when you stop it, you'll be blessed. All right, now we go to Matthew chapter 11, and we pray that the rest of this will be a message from God's word instead of a little Babology. Father in heaven, help us this morning to open your word in a way that will be a blessing as we hear and see what the Lord Jesus said and what he did and learn from him. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, at the end of the message this morning, I forgot the notes, it's the last of the notes, it says gracious invitations, and it's Matthew 11, verse 28, and there it is on the screen in front of you. Jesus said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The word come is a very nice word of invitation. It is connected with salvation. You come to Jesus. without anything, just to be saved. John 1.12 says, as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. He says, if you come to me, if you're trying hard and working and you're heavy laden, you're burdened down, he says, I will give you rest. In the old Christian allegory story written by John Bunyan called Pilgrim's Progress, he set out on his journey with a huge weight on his back, a huge weight of sin on his back. He was burdened down, laboring, heavy laden, but he found his way to the foot of the cross And the sin just rolled off. He couldn't pick it up and give it to the Lord. It just rolled off because he believed and became what his name was, was Christian. That's an invitation to salvation. The second part, the next verse is an invitation to service. Take my yoke. What is a yoke? That's a thing you put on a beast of burden to pull. a farming implement, a plow or a cultivator or something else. And before there were motors, there were beasts that put the yoke on, and often they would not just have a single harness on an animal, but they'd have a yoke that had two places to put an animal under, and you'd put one under each side of it. And Jesus said, I've got a yoke, just get in here with me. Take my yoke upon you. It doesn't mean you've got to pull this by yourself. You get in there with Jesus. If you have two animals and one of them is significantly stronger than the other one, that's going to help the weaker one, isn't it? And pulling with Jesus is a good plan for me. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. The older, wiser, well-disciplined beast of burden knows how to pull. I am meek and lowly in heart. What are we supposed to learn of Jesus? As servants of the Lord, be meek. Don't be, bah! Well, that's not the American way. I like going around saying, we won and so we're gonna get, no, that's not it. Meek and lowly in heart. Jesus and Moses were the two men in the Bible said to be meek. It doesn't mean they were weak. Neither one of them were weak. Lowly in heart, that's humble. I made a joke last week about Dr. Arnold gonna write a book called Humility and How I Attained It, but I don't think that's a joke. Lowly in heart, and what do you find? You find rest to your souls because before my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Jesus said that. There's an invitation to salvation which is free, just come to me. I give you rest. And then there's an invitation to service. Get in harness with me, Jesus said. My yoke, it's a yoke, but it's easy. My burden, it's not like you're carrying nothing, but it's light. Now let's go back to the beginning of chapter 11. This is page 1010, if you're using the Schofield Bible. Excuse me. Verse 1 says, it came to pass when Jesus had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples. He said, get out there and preach, two by two and go. He departed himself thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Well, who went with him? Just God, just the Father. When Jesus, excuse me, verse 2, when John the Baptist had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples." What? He's in prison, and he communicates to two of his disciples and sends them to Christ. And they came to Jesus in verse 3, they said to him, "'Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?' Minotes says this, John the Baptist is in prison for rebuking the sin of Herod. Herod, a descendant of Herod the Great that tried to kill Jesus when he was first born, Herod's descendant Herod had taken his brother's wife Herodias By the way, she was the granddaughter of Herod the Great, kind of blood relative. She was the niece both of Herod's brother Philip and Herod himself. And she married Philip first and then she married the other one. The first one was still alive. In order for Herod to marry her, he had to divorce his wife. She was the daughter of a king of Arabia, Petraea. And that king didn't like Herod divorcing his daughter. and went to war with him, and Herod lost the war. This is a man that knows what he wants and gets it in spite of the fact that it ruins everything. Herod put John in prison for rebuking this awful marriage. He's in prison, and it didn't end well for Herod. You say, well, it didn't end well for John. Well, no, he went on to heaven. but we'll not go there right now. "'Art thou he that should come?' the disciples asked. "'Art thou he that should come?' in verse 3. "'Art thou he that should come?' Whoops, that's not where I'm going. And I think this is a reference to this. In Habakkuk, which is page 596, if you want to go there, Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3. I'm going to read this, and then we're going to read a note about it. Habakkuk 2, 3. The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry. I'm going to make a suggestion. All those places where it says it, let's read it he. See what it says. The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end he shall speak and not lie. Though he tarry, wait for him, because he will surely come, he will not tarry. Let me display the notes here just for a second. The note of, that's not the notes, this is the notes over here. It's a long note, I've got to get down to the part of it about. At the end it shall speak and not lie, rather he shall speak. And so in the following clauses it should be rendered not it, but he. And so the apostle has taught us to interpret it of a person and not a thing. In Hebrews 10 verse 37, It didn't pop up big enough over there, let me just go there. Hebrews 10.37 says this in the book of Hebrews, for yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Oh, so it's not just commentator John Gill that's saying this, it's the apostle Paul in the book of Hebrews writing it. I'm sorry, I lost the beginning of the part of the note I wanted. He that is to come is coming, will come and will not tarry. This is a periphrasis. I didn't know what that mean either. I think it means kind of a name for, a name for the Messiah. For being so often spoken of as to come, the Messiah is to come, it becomes a description of him, he that is to come. And here's Matthew 11, three referred to, which we just read. And as it was foretold he would come, so assuredly he would come, and not stay a moment longer than the time appointed of the Father, in which fullness of time God sent him, and he came, Galatians 4.3. The person here prophesied of is not Jeremiah, but the Messiah, and this is acknowledged by some Jewish writers, ancient and modern, and removes the doubt and the objection that might arise from the Chaldeans coming upon the Jews and carrying them captive, as if the promise of the Messiah would fail, whereas it would not. In the Talmud, they say God does not renew his world till after 7,000 years. Another says 5,000. Rabbi Nathan says this scripture penetrates and descends into the abyss, fixes no particular time. The vision is for an appointed hour, At the end it shall speak and not lie. Anyway, this is probably, as Matthew was quite familiar with the Old Testament, a reference to Habakkuk. And we might not have noticed if we didn't have that help. So we go back and look at it now. Art thou he that should come? The disciples of John the Baptist knew the scriptures too. Or do we look for another? And Jesus' answer, starting in verse 4, is a list of the wonderful works he had been doing, not the least of which is the preaching of the gospel to the poor. Let's see what he said. Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you do here and see. Show him again. He already saw this and now he's in prison. Go tell him it's still going on. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. That's what John the Baptist started, preaching the gospel. Jesus added all the healing and the cleansing. And so he's taking up where John started, and he mentions it again to encourage John. The poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is he, John. Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. So he gave that answer to the disciples of John the Baptist. And while they depart, in verse 7, as they departed, Jesus teaches the crowd that's gathered around him concerning John, about John the Baptist. And he starts out with some attention-getting devices here. What went you out into the wilderness to see? What did you go out there to see? Just the reeds shaking with the wind? Now, he may be talking about the way John preached vigorously. I don't know. It's just, who knows? Did you go out to see a man clothed in soft raiment? They that wear soft clothing are in king's houses." John wore camel skins, as I recall. Did you go to see the fancy clothing? No, you wouldn't go to see fancy clothing in the wilderness. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes! Jesus says, was he a prophet? Yes, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. He's greater than all the prophets before him because the coming one was so much closer, as he said, now at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand was the summation of John's message in all the gospels. The kingdom of heaven. And in John's gospel, he says, there's the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He's better than the other prophets. And then Jesus says, this is he. John the Baptist is the fulfillment of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before thy faith, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Jesus said John the Baptist is that one. He's that one. And really, wow. Oh, fiddle. Went to the wrong one. Okay, we'll just go here and back up one. I just erased my bookmark. In Malachi 3.1, this is what Jesus is referring to. He's the, John the Baptist, he's the messenger. Malachi, Malachi chapter three, verse one, page 982, if you want to look at it. Behold, it's right before Matthew. I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. Well, that's John the Baptist. Jesus said he's the one that did that. What's he supposed to do? Prepare the road before Jesus. We read way and think something ethereal. No, he's supposed to smooth out the road. The high places be knocked down, the crooked places be made straight, the low places be filled in. He's doing road work to make the way for the king to be straight and smooth. The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight of. He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. John the Baptist is the one preparing the way for this great one. And Jesus goes on in his message to the multitude about John the Baptist in verse 11. Verily I say unto you, when he says verily I say unto you, he's emphasizing something he thinks is important. Everything he said was important, but sometimes he who never lied says I'm telling you the truth, verily, truly. And then he says I'm the one talking here, I say unto you, among them that are born of women, everybody except Adam I think, I guess Eve, Adam and Eve were not. Among them that are born of women, there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the greatest of the prophets, and the prophets were the greatest of all the men before. Not the kings, not the priests, the prophets that spoke for God. He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." This greater business, it's kind of like Jesus said, my Father is greater than I. You ever wonder about that? Why? Because the Father never leaves heaven. He's everywhere present, but He's in heaven. And God in heaven is greater than anybody that's not in heaven. God on earth is. Jesus said that he's there. And this is, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. Once we're in the kingdom with the Lord Jesus, everybody that came before, they're not in the kingdom. Now we're with the king. The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, because we're with the king in the kingdom of heaven. Not a hard thing. And then in verse 12, he says, from the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. In the notes it says, this could mean either of two things. Either men of violence take it by force, or the kingdom of seven itself forces its way like a violent, mighty wind. There was a violent, impetuous thronging to gather around Jesus and his disciples. That much is true. It could mean that the people in a position were being violent, or it could mean that when people came to Jesus, some of them got excited. I'm reminded of Elisha's servant. He got all excited. Shall I smite them? Shall I smite them? No, it was the king in Samaria. The king said, as the blinded enemy army was there in his midst, he said, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them? No, I don't think so. Just feed them, send them home. Verse 13, he says, all the prophets and the law did their work until John. But when John came, his message was, here he is. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The king is here. And he says in verse 14, if you will receive, this is Elias, this is Elijah, which was for to come. Another reference to the book of Malachi. If you will receive, notice ye, not thou, ye, plural, talking to the people of Israel. If you will receive, what? The kingdom and the king. Well, then John the Baptist is not only the messenger preparing the way, he is Elijah the prophet, Malachi 4-5. I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Why didn't this happen? because the nation of Israel did not receive the king. Many did, many individuals did, but the nation did not. And so there is going to still come Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. If they would have received the kingdom in Jesus' day, John the Baptist would have fulfilled that and we'd gone right in. was a hypothetical that couldn't happen, we know that, but he did say it that way. When is Elijah coming? I believe he's one of the two witnesses that rise up at the beginning of the tribulation period and preach the gospel, leading those 144,000 other Jewish believers who become evangelists to the Lord, who lead a multitude of every nation and kingdom and people and tongue to the Savior during the tribulation period on the earth. Awful period, but a great evangelistic period, and you don't want to go there. It's so much better to get out before that. Because when Elijah does come in the tribulation, he's going to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, the heart of the children to the fathers, but then this coming and smiting the earth with a curse, that's going to happen too. And the part of the tribulation is just things going bad. But the last three and a half years, Satan's doing his worst on the earth, and God is pouring out his vials of cursings onto the earth as well at the same time. It's an awful, awful time. We go back to Matthew here. If I can do that, that's not what I meant to do. Go back here, clickety-clickety-click, maybe, maybe, there. If you'll receive it, this is Elijah, which was Forticum as a New Testament English spelling of the Greek word, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Elijah. And then Jesus says this to this multitude that's wondering about the answer he gave to the disciples of John the Baptist and what he's been telling them about who John the Baptist was. He says, he that has ears to hear, let him hear. We have a modern version of that phrase. I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you. Then Jesus says, what am I going to liken this generation to? Where unto shall I liken this generation? What about you? What am I going to say about you? I told you about John the Baptist. This nation of Israel is like children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows and saying, we piped unto you and you didn't dance. We mourned unto you and you haven't lamented. You're childish. What's he saying? We made music, and you wouldn't dance. We got sad for you, but you were not sad. He's saying people are not paying attention. You're childish. Something's going on, and you're missing it. John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking. And they said, he got a devil. Who said that? Maybe Herod passed that rumor around. They said he, they say he has a demon. And then he says in contrast to John the Baptist, I came, the son of man came eating and drinking. And they say, he's a glutton and a winebibber. He's a friend of publicans and sinners. You saw John the Baptist, fasting, living a pure life, and they said he's demon-possessed. And then you see me coming, and I eat, and I drink, and I make friends with the despised, with publicans, and friends with vile sinners. And you use that as a slur, and now we've come to know, friend of sinners, it's a wonderful thing that Jesus was. But in the Jewish mind in that day, that's something wrong with him. He eats too much, he drinks too much, and he hangs around bad people. Why would we want to listen to him? Maybe because The blind see, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up. The lepers are cleansed, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. What he said to John the Baptist, these people had observed as well. Wisdom is justified of her children. I'm not sure I like this phrase, but the plan of God is justified by the results. In other words, you'll see. You'll see. Just hang out. It's coming. It's coming. I step away from the term plan of God. Some people say that God has a plan for everything. God has instructions that we can choose the best thing we can choose in everything. But he didn't plan the last time I sinned. He did not. I did that. I'm responsible. He didn't plan the first time, I say. He didn't plan any of it, but your sin either. You can't blame God for your sin. You can try to do like Eve did and blame something God made. It's not a good plan. Adam shifted the blame too, didn't he? Not a good plan. Wisdom is justified over children. If you're a wise child, you'll know what is wise, and if you're not, you'll know what you were wrong about. And then in verse 20, he chooses to broaden his address from the people he's got right in front of him to the cities where he had most of his mighty works were done. He began to upbraid. He's being critical. He really is being critical. They repented not. Here's the city list. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! If the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, Gentile cities, pagan worshipers, If they'd seen the mighty works that you saw, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. There's a judgment day coming, we'll get to that. And then one more city, thou Capernaum, the city that Jesus called his own city. Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, why? Because Jesus called it his own city. You are exalted, I'm here, shall be brought down to hell. If the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment. than for thee. Let's unpack that just a little bit as they say. Did those cities see mighty works? Yes, they did. Do we see mighty works? I think we do. Do we give God thanks? I hope we do. These mighty works which were done among these cities were testifying to the observers that the promised one was indeed among them, as he had just explained in full to John's disciples. The rebuke, the upbraiding, is because they repented not. Verse 20 says plainly, they repented not. They needed. They needed to repent, as do we all, a change in mind. about who he was and about the way of salvation. I know I've been over this a few times lately, but I want to go over it again. People need to change, that's not it. People need to change their mind. What did I just do? Oh yes, five. As Peter said in Acts chapter two in the first message after the Holy Spirit came to them, He says at the end of his message, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Some of them, when they heard this, they're pricked in their heart. I think they already accepted the message. I think they believed. Said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? So now Peter's got a mixed crowd in front of him. He's got a multitude that haven't believed and some that have. So Peter said to them, to the whole crowd, Change ye your minds about this person, Jesus. And then he says in the singular, this is plural, in the singular, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ with reference to the remission of sins. And you'll receive, you guys that are baptized, you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. There's a promise for you. It's a wonderful promise. But they needed to change their mind about this one they had just crucified. They needed to change their mind about who Jesus was. In Acts chapter 17, the Apostle Paul, Acts chapter 17, the Apostle Paul is preaching to philosophers who don't know beans about the Jewish Bible. But he says in verse 29, we're the offspring of God. We shouldn't think that God, the Godhead is like gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device. When he says the offspring of God, we're created in his image. In verse 30, he says, at the times of this ignorance, all these ignorant times where you didn't have the word of God, God winked at. But now, what's different? Jesus came. Now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because God has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man, Jesus, whom he has ordained. And to that, he's given assurance to all men. He raised him from the dead. And these philosophers who didn't know beans about the God of the Bibles heard of the resurrection of the dead. Some of them mocked, yeah, raised the dead. Others said, we'd like to hear you some other day about this. But at the end of it, it says, certain men clave unto him and believed. Among them was Dionysius the Areopagite. One of those philosophers was a believer now. And a woman named Damaris and others with him. They needed to repent that God is like gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device. God says, you've got to quit that. I'm not like that. I don't need a house to live in. I don't need food or money. I don't need anything from you. I give you everything. You need to change your mind. And one more. what they need to repent about. Paul preached to the elders of the church in Ephesus. He says, I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, showed you publicly and taught you publicly and from house to house both, testifying to the Jews and also to the Gentiles, a change of mind toward God, just like he said in Athens, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever it was you thought you had to do to be saved before you were saved, you had to change your mind and believe in Jesus. And he rebuked the cities. He rebuked the cities because they repented not. They didn't change their mind. They didn't change their mind when they saw the mighty works that prove he was the promised one, the same promise. Now he talks about Tyre and Sidon and Sodom. Tyre What's the word of God about Tyre? Isaiah 23 in verse one, howl you ships of Tarshish, it is laid waste so that there is no house, no entering in from the land of Kittim, it is revealed to them. And he goes on for the whole chapter talking about the destruction of Tyre, it's coming. And in Amos chapter one in verse nine, For three transgressions of Tyre and four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." And Sidon in Ezekiel 28 ran out of bookmarks. In Ezekiel 28, and verse 21, he's not real happy with Sidon either. Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon. I will be glorified in the midst of thee, and they shall know that I am the Lord when I shall have executed judgments in her and shall be sanctified in her. I will send in her pestilence and blood into her streets, and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side, and they shall know that I am the Lord. What about Sodom? Well, that's way back in Genesis. In Genesis chapter three, I don't think it's chapter three. I don't know why that says that. That's a mistake. I don't know why that's there. In Genesis chapter 18 and verse 20, That's 16, 18. Genesis 18 and verse 20. God and two angels has visited with Abram and Sarah, and they made a supper for him. And God looked at Sarah and said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of wife, and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door that was behind him, and Abram and Sarah were old and well stricken at age. It ceased to be with Sarah after the man of woman, therefore Sarah laughed. Am I, after I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also? And the Lord said to Sarah, why'd you laugh? Is anything, look at this, is anything too hard for the Lord? What a good verse to answer people. They ask you, can God do anything? You say, well, nothing too hard for him. She said, I didn't laugh. You laughed. Well, the two angels, here called men, got up from thence and looked over towards Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on their way. And they went on, and the Lord stayed to chat with Abraham about destroying Sodom. The Lord said this cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great because their sin is very grievous, very grievous sin. In chapter 19, we have the story of its destruction. But Ezekiel 16, 49 gives you some insight into the sin of Sodom that you might not have known. Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49. And this would be something that the people around Jesus would have been familiar with as well. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the hands of the poor and needy. That seems descriptive of a culture that I'm really closely familiar with. Pride, we won, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her. How much screen time do you have? Abundance of idleness, that's something he had against Sodom. What about these cities now, these cities? in Matthew described as the ones where the works were done. Chorazin on the last page of the notes. Matthew tells us most of his mighty works were done in this place. It's nowhere else mentioned in the Bible, just here. Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, Philip and Nathanael. From every crowd, including Bethsaida, where Jesus is rebuking right now, some were saved. Don't neglect opportunities. Don't say, that looks like a bad crowd. I don't think I'll witness to them. Capernaum. Jesus' own city, the name means city of comfort, village of comfort. Because he lived there, it was exalted unto heaven and be brought down to hell. Capernaum, it says in the notes, it was reduced to a very low condition, destroyed and laid waste as a city in the times of the emperor Vespasian, 69 or 70 AD. And he says to them in verse 24, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. And you know, that's an idea we don't always think about, but even among the condemned, there are degrees of, shall I say, torment. even the ones in the eternal lake of fire, there are degrees of torment, I think. Lamentations, right after Jeremiah, there's a little book of Lamentations, chapter four and verse six. It says, for the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom that was overthrown as in a moment no hands stayed on her. There are degrees of punishment in that last book of the Bible, in the book of Revelation in chapter 20. It says that the dead who are not already resurrected, when the thousand years are over with and there's the casting of the devil into the lake of fire, and then verse 11, I saw a great white throne. And him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, there was no place for him. And he saw the dead. All the saved are already with Jesus. We're there with the Lord. Which means if you see somebody there that day that you could have witnessed to and didn't, you might not be the happiest of campers. It is after this that all tears are wiped away. But the dead are there, the unsaved, and the books are opened, and they're not in the book of life, but the dead are judged out of those things written in the books according to their works. If they're judged according to their works, some of them worse, some of them better. And they were judged every man according to their works, and then they all go into the lake of fire. And that's all there is to that. Degrees of torment for the lost. We started with the end. We started with Jesus' gracious invitation, come unto me. all you that labor under heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You don't need to be judged by your works. If you will just believe when Jesus did the work for sin on the cross, he did it for you, and believe his promise. Whosoever believeth in him and not perish, but have everlasting life, he'll give you rest. You just quit trying to do works and believe in Jesus, and you'll go to heaven eternally to be with him. Father in heaven, thank you for your word and this good study, and we pray that we'll be hearing and remembering the important things and skipping over the things that don't need to be remembered. In Jesus' name, amen.