We often speak about the mercies of God, and it is only right to do so. He's so good to all of us. But I would like to ask you a question. What do you think is the greatest blessing or the greatest mercy God can give to a community? Now someone may say, well it'd be wonderful if the Lord would send in a large business and hire hundreds of people because we sure could use that in our community because some large businesses now are in business no longer. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he sent something where jobs would be created? But really, the greatest blessing God can give to a community, to a city, is to have the gospel of his grace consistently set forth for people to hear the truth. I'm sure we've got There's quite a few folks who are watching the live stream this morning. Many of them, they don't have a gospel preaching church anywhere nearby, which consistently, week in and week out, sets forth the glories of our Savior and of His precious sin-atoning blood. that ransomed us from the judgment of God. A lot of people don't have that. It's the greatest blessing God can give to a community, a faithful gospel ministry. What are the earmarks of a faithful gospel ministry? Well, I would say to begin with is one where God is declared in his true character. Because there is an inborn ignorance of who God is. And people speak so lightly of God and they don't exalt him because the God they hear about is not worthy to be exalted. They hear of a God who wants to do something but he can't. They hear of a God who has his will, but his will is checkmated. There's a chess reference, brother. His will is checkmated by man. They hear of a God whose purpose may or may not be fulfilled dependent upon how men and women respond to that purpose. They're ignorant that God is sovereign, God's holy, God's almighty, God's never frustrated, God has a purpose, and His purpose is coming to pass. Whether you like what He's doing or not, He doesn't owe you an account of what He is doing. He doesn't owe you any explanation for the reason He's doing the things that He's doing. The fact of the matter is the Bible teaches us all things are of God. You can fuss about it. You can get all upset about what He's doing. That's not going to change anything. May God enable us to, here's a good word, acquiesce in His will, to rejoice with satisfaction knowing that the will of God is being done. And that's not only throughout the world, that's not only throughout our nation, that's in your life and my life too. This is the God of the Bible, and people don't know about Him. A lot of people hadn't heard about Him. And of course, much of the fault lies behind the pulpits. Preachers are not telling the truth about God. And I say to those who are watching, if you listen to a preacher, Attend a church where the preacher doesn't tell you who God is. Stop going. And for goodness sakes, don't support them. You have a responsibility to pick up a Bible and read it. God has made Himself known in this book. And your ignorance cannot be solely blamed upon the man behind the pulpit. Your ignorance is your fault because you don't take the Word of God and search the Scriptures and find out who God is in His holiness, in His justice, in His sovereignty. And then another earmark of a faithful gospel ministry is one where man is set forth in his true character. We're sinners. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I'm not going to stand up here and say, well, you know, you've made some mistakes, but I know y'all mean well. Mistakes? They're sins. And God sends people to hell whose sins aren't paid for and whose son is not believed. You see, sin is a rebellion against God. It doesn't matter how little you think it is, it's still rebellion. And the wages of sin, my Bible says, and your Bible says, is death. That's the wages of sin. Well, it's just a little white lie. It's a lie. It's a non-truth. We tend to categorize sins. These are more serious and this is not as serious. Well, it is a fact that some sins bring with it a greater consequence that is as far as outward things are concerned. But sin is sin before God. And there are no little sins. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We're spiritually dead. We're cut off from God. We're alienated from God. You say, well, all I've got to do is exercise my will. Christ told the Jews of his day, and you will not come to me that you might have life. He said, you cannot come to me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw me, draw you, and then you'll come. We have a natural inability when it comes to spiritual things because we're spiritually dead. We're helpless and can't do anything about it. And then a faithful gospel ministry is one where the only hope of salvation has to be in Christ Jesus and His work of redemption. We declare who He is. A true gospel ministry brags on Christ's identity. He is God Almighty, the Son of God forever. He is the Creator of all things. And He is the man Christ Jesus who robed His deity with our flesh, joined Himself to our nature. and came down here in order to suffer, bleed, and die for poor sinners like us. That's who He is. He's the God to man. And He came down here to die on the cross in order to satisfy the just claims of God and to save sinners from their sins. If you can save yourself by doing good, obeying the law, then what was the use in Christ coming? Tell me. Why did He have to come? We were in such bad shape that the only way we could get out of our awful dilemma was for God to come down here, for God to lay down His life, for God to humble Himself, become a servant before God. and then die in our stead. That's how bad off we are. And a faithful ministry sets forth Christ as the only refuge for sinners. Here in this passage of script, Christ said, come unto me. He didn't say, go to the law. He said, come unto me. He didn't say, go to the baptistry. He said, come unto me. He didn't say, go talk to the preacher. He said, come unto me. I don't know how words could be any clearer. Come unto me. Why should we go to Christ? Because He has life. He has salvation. It's His to give. He's our only hope. That's why we preach Him crucified, buried, risen and exalted. I say to you, come to Christ. Don't move a muscle. I'm not asking you to come down here at the front. Preachers say you need to come to the altar. Well, there is an element of truth in that if you understand our altar is in heaven and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to him. Come to him. He said, you come to me and I'll give you rest. The law's not going to give you rest. trying to pray through or read so many chapters. Praying is wonderful and reading many chapters of the Bible, that's wonderful too, but that's not the way of life. The way of life, the way of salvation is somebody and what somebody has already accomplished, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then a faithful gospel ministry is one which sets forth the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit. You listen to some preachers out there, and why? It's like there's no need for the Holy Spirit. All you got to do, all you got to do is answer yes to three or four questions, and all you got to do is repeat after me. I've seen that on television. All you've got to do is repeat after me. Now, will you repeat after me? As I say it, you repeat after me. I'll tell you what, when Simon Peter was sinking beneath the waves, the Savior didn't say, now repeat after me. You say these words. I'll tell you what, if God the Spirit gets you in bad shape and you see the guilt of your sin, You find out, you hear from a gospel preacher that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody's gonna have to put words in your mouth and say, repeat after me, Lord, save me. That's what Peter said. Nobody told him to say it. How'd he know to say that? Because he knew that the only one who could help him was the Son of God. Lord, save me. And there's never been a sinner who made that cry but what the Lord didn't save him. Actually, he's already saved. He's already doing the work of grace. I tell you, the greatest blessing, the greatest mercy God can give to a community, and God gave this church to this community nearly 70 years ago, not far from it. And this church has consistently set forth the gospel of God's grace down through the years. I don't know how much longer it'll last. But it's lasting now, I know that. It's lasting now. And you can find out about God, you can find out about man, you can find out about Christ Jesus, you can find out about the work of the Holy Spirit. In this context that I read to you, our Lord is speaking to people who they weren't satisfied when they did hear the gospel. If I had read earlier verses, our Savior talked about John the Baptist. He was a very stern man, dressed funny, had an unusual diet, If you wanted to hear him preach, you didn't go to the first church down in the city. You went out in the wilderness to hear him. Oh, he was rough. But he told the truth. He didn't go to weddings, and that aggravated him. Well, he's not a very friendly preacher. We want a friendly preacher. Well, John the Baptist is not the man for you then, because he don't go to the weddings. He don't go to the feasts like other people do. Where does he preach? What's the name of his church? The name of his church is the Church in the Wilderness. He's got no building. He don't even have a building. Well, where can I go hear him? He's preaching outdoors. Why should I go hear him? Because he's got God's message, that's why. He's a forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. And people said, we're not gonna listen to him. He's the most hardest preacher I've ever heard. He seemed so cantankerous. I don't know why he don't come around. He don't sit down and talk with anybody. He preaches and it's like he goes back in his cave or something. But he had the truth. See, that was a gospel minister right there. And then our Lord Jesus comes along, and He was very outgoing. He went to the weddings. He went to the feasts. No matter who invited Him to come home and eat with them, He said, yeah, I'll be at your house. Just tell me what time. He's very outgoing. You know what this said about Him? He's a wine-bibber. He's a gluttonous man. Our Lord would say to them, you can't be satisfied no matter what kind of ministry God sends you. And then beginning at the 20th verse, look at it. He began to upbraid the people of these cities where most of his mighty works were done. They proved that he was the Messiah. The works that he did proved that he was the savior of sinners, that he's the one promised in the Old Testament. Every sacrifice offered in the Old Testament pointed to this one. And he upbraided, he rebuked them, he condemned them because they repented not. They wouldn't give up their works religion. They wouldn't give up this idea of keeping the law. It wouldn't give that up. So he said in verse 21, Woe unto thee, woe unto thee, judgment unto thee, condemnation unto thee. Chorazin, woe unto thee Bethsaida. These were towns in Galilee where he performed so many miracles and yet they paid no attention. He says, for if the mighty works, the almighty works, which were done in your towns had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago and sacked cloth and ashes. You know, let me tell you something about Tyre and Sidon. These were Phoenician cities on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. And this is where sailors came in. These were a bunch of Gentiles in cities that were ungodly. All these seafarers, these sailors would come in, having been on ships for a long time, much longer, Ken, than yous on your ship. I mean, they'd be out there a year, never even come back home. And they come in, it was a city full of adultery and fornication and drunkenness. And this was the pit of the worship of Baal. And our Lord says to these Jews, He said, Woe unto you, Chorazin! And Bethsaida, if the mighty works which were done in you had been done entirely in Sidon, those Gentile cities full of adultery, full of fornication, full of prostitution, if that had been done there, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. In other words, here's what he's saying, I sent the gospel to you and didn't send it to them. There's God's sovereignty right there. I sent my preachers and I went myself. He says to Chorazin and Bethsaida. Our Lord lived in Galilee. He said if the same message had been preached, if the same miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they'd have repented a long time ago. He says in the 22nd verse, but I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, excuse me, than for you. What this teaches is there's degrees of hell. That's what this teaches. Listen to me. All of you and those of you who are watching, you're responsible for the gospel that you hear. and you're responsible if you don't come and you could have heard it. You're responsible. You're gonna answer to God for it now. Because there are people who are watching and they could, and I hear from by letter, by email, by text, and many of them will say, we don't have a gospel preaching ministry anywhere within driving distance. But you do. We do. And I tell you what, we better believe this. Oh, God help us to believe him, because he's going to get justice. That's the truth. Woe unto you. Woe unto you for not believing that which you hear, and for not coming to hear, coming to listen to what you could have heard, what you could learn. Be more tolerable for tiring sight at the judgment. Boy, I bet you that cranked them up. They already thought the Gentiles as dogs. They went around like that. Pharisee and Luke said, you know, thank God I'm not like other men are. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not like those Phoenician people. No, you're not. You're worse than them. You're worse than them. What are you talking about? I'm a very moral person. But you're ungodly in your heart. That's the problem. The heart's the problem. And then he says in verse 23, and thou Capernaum, you're exalted unto heaven. How are they exalted unto heaven? Because Christ had visited there so often and performed miracles and preached there. He said, you're exalted unto heaven. Oh, how blessed you've been. But you're gonna be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in Sodom. Sodom, woo, that's the worst place on earth. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, full of Sodomites, full of homosexuality. So how is it such an ungodly place? You know what's more ungodly? Is to hear the gospel and not bow to it. That's a serious offense to God. No question about homosexuality, that's perversion, that's sin. But those folks, those folks there in Sodom, unless they came across a man by the name of Lot, who was a righteous man, whose soul was vexed by the things that he saw, unless they heard him, Ain't know anything about God. But our Lord, the speaker is our savior now. Don't forget that. Don't lose sight of that. So I thought Jesus was kind and sweet and gracious. Well, he is. He is to those who see by the grace of God, they're sinners and need a savior. To them, he says, come unto me. But to those who are defiant, defiant in their rebellion and unbelief against Him, who has clearly manifested the fact that He is God, He did all of these works. Even Nicodemus said there in John chapter 3, No man can do the miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. And these people in Capernaum, they wouldn't even believe. Our Savior said, If those people in Sodom had seen the things that you've seen, that city would still be in existence. Now what do you think about that? And it goes on to say in verse 24, but I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. Hear these self-righteous people that think they're doing good and God's smiling on them. He's happy with them. He's pleased with them. And then hear these sodomites over here. Oh, they're so terrible. And God says, well, both of you are terrible, but you folks are the worst. Because I sent my gospel to you. My son preached to you the truth. John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Behold the Lamb of God, but would you behold me? No. No, you wouldn't. So in the judgment, all Sodom, people of Sodom, they're gonna get, there's a judgment coming their way. In fact, they're in hell now, but so are these people. I know there are no degrees of heaven, but there are degrees of hell. And then, having said that, at that time, Jesus answered and said, now he's talking to the Father now. And he says to the Father, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and hath revealed them unto babes, even so, father, but so it seemed good in my sight." Get the scene. These defiant people, boy, they're just, I'm not gonna believe it. I don't care how many miracles he does. He does them by the power of Beelzebub anyway, that's what they said. I'm not gonna believe you. And Christ begins to pray, and you know what he prays? In essence, he's saying this. Father, I thank thee that though these rebels won't believe, there's a group of people who will believe. And sovereign grace has set them aside. And you've hidden these things from these people who think they're wise and smart. We're educated people. Well, we ain't fools. Yeah, you are. You are fools. He don't believe this gospel. You know what the Lord did? Watch it now. He hid the truth from these people. I tell you what, if he hides the truth from somebody, nobody's gonna find it. You say, well, I just stumbled across the truth. You never stumbled across the truth. God set forth the truth of His salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, the bloody death of the Savior, righteousness in Him, forgiveness in Him, life in Him. That didn't come to you by accident. You didn't stumble across it. God sent it to you, and if you believe that truth, He sent it in power, because that's what's gotta happen. Revelation revealed it unto babes. I know we live in the day of make your decision for Jesus. That's not what the Lord Jesus said. I believe it's quite all right to say things like he said them, don't you? He never said, make your decision for me. He said, I've heard this from some and I'm revealing it to others. Salvation, my friend, is not by your decision. I don't care what preacher down some church says. These mega churches, that's what they say. They're not being truthful with people. Salvation is by revelation. Don't you think it's time we start talking about not what the sinner's got to do for God. Make your decision for God. Let's stop talking about what man's gotta do for God. Start talking about it and praying to the Lord to do something for us. We're the helpless ones. We're the dead ones. Well, why does God hide it from some, reveal it to others? Verse 26. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. That's God's good pleasure. He can do what he wants to with his own, and he owns everybody. And then, now watch this. Right after he says this, the necessity of revealing grace, he says, all things are delivered or have been delivered unto me and my father. He says, No man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. And right on the heels of that, He then says, To those to whom the truth has been revealed, come unto Me. Who's going to come to Him? Those that the truth has been revealed to. Don't take it out of context. A lot of preachers preach on these last three verses, These last three verses, it's the word of God. There's no question about that. But don't take it out of context and be careful now. He said, these to whom the spirit of God opens their eyes and their ears to see and believe the gospel. He reveals the truth and then he says, come unto me. Who's going to come? I can honestly say to you, anybody who wants to can come. Do you believe that? I believe that. Anybody who wants to. Well, who wants to? I do. Don't you? I do. Who wants to come? Those to whom the truth has been revealed. And I guarantee you, when you come, he'll receive you. All right, let's get songbook. And let's turn to 214. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Verily, verily. Hymn number 214. 214. Just the first verse.