Sermon Notes: 05/18/09 Campaign Church of God of Prophecy
Sermon Series: The Ministry of Jesus:
Sermon #05: Prepare for Eternity -- Woe, Judgment, & Hell:
Scripture Ref: Luke 10: 13-16
13: ‘Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre & Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth & ashes.’ 14: ‘But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre & Sidon at the judgment, than for you.’ 15: ‘& thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.’ 16: ‘He that heareth you heareth ME; & he that despiseth you despiseth ME, & he that despiseth ME despiseth HIM that sent ME.’
Introduction:
Let’s say that you are watching somebody from a great distance. You are on the rim of a canyon, you have some very powerful binoculars, & you are looking down into the canyon. You spot a man in a little rubber raft. He’s kicked back, he’s got his sunglasses, a little floppy brimmed hat, & he is casually letting his legs hang over the edge of the raft. He is floating peacefully down the river, unaware that he is approaching a swift flow of water that will carry him to a 350 foot waterfall that drops into large & jagged boulders below. You have the advantage of seeing what’s ahead. Wouldn’t it be a terrible thing to just stand there, too far away to do anything, unable to warn the man & watch through your binoculars as he tumbles off the edge into his doom & dies? How would you cope with that? You might say, ‘Well, surely there were signs down there that the man should have paid attention to. Surely he should have heard the roaring & the thundering of the waters as he neared the waterfall?’
What if you were on the bank? What if you saw the man get into his raft & prepare to paddle out? You look at the man & say ‘Sir, Look at the sign. It says: Warning: Severe Water Hazard. 350 foot waterfall drop ahead.’
The man responds by saying: ‘Don’t bother me, I’m on vacataion. I’m here to relax, Chill out!’ & he paddles out into the raging current.
You’re still moved by the man’s uncaring attitude & you repeat your warnings by shouting, “Sir, come back! There’s a waterfall ahead of you!” You plead & you beg for him to come back to the shore. Soon several people have gathered around you & they join you in warning the man. The whole group is shouting to the top of their lungs “Sir, come in! Come in!”
Yet he is still unmoved by all of your efforts & he is waving you off with calm neglect saying, “Don’t bother me, I’m relaxing!”
You come to the realization; something is wrong with this man. You run out to your car & get a rope & run to the river bank & just as he is approaching the waterfall you throw out the line. It lands exactly in his lap but instead of grabbing hold of it he lets it slither across his body. You yell out to him, “Sir, Grab the rope, Grab the rope!” & he just lets it go. So you reel in the rope & create a noose & you lasso his feet. You begin to pull him into the side & he gets irratated & pulls off the noose, & says, “Leave me alone! I’m relaxing!”
Finally, you realize that this is a desperate situation. You’re frantic. You run to the shore & you find a tree branch & you hold it out to him & say, “Grab the branch! Grab it!” Then the raft goes over the edge & you hear the screams as it fades into the noise of the waterfall.
How would you deal with that? How would you cope with that? You might be a little bit angry, wouldn’t you? Angry that this man would not listen to you. You pointed out the sign to him. You read him the sign. Other people warned him. You threw him a lifeline. You lassoed his feet. You extended him a branch. But he would not receive it. & he perished. You might even say, “Well, he deserved exactly what he got. That’s what he asked for & that’s what he got.”
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In the verses just above the ones I’ve read this morning JESUS is preparing the 70 HE is sending out 2 by 2.
Lets read 10: 1- 12 1: ‘After those things the LORD appointed other 70 also, & sent them 2 & 2 before HIS face into every city & place, whether HE HIMSELF would come. 2: Therefore said HE unto them, The harvest truly is great but the laborers are few, pray ye therefore the LORD of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. 3: Go your ways, behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4: Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes, & salute no man by the way. 5: & into whatsoever house ye enter, 1st say, Peace be to this house. 6: & if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it, if not, it shall turn to you again.’ 7: & in the same house remain, eatting & drinking, such things as they give; for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.’ 8: & into whatsoever city ye enter, & they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9: & heal the sick that are therein, & say unto them, The kingdom of GOD is come nigh you. 10: But into whatsoever city ye enter, & they receive you not , go your ways out into the streets of the same, & say, 11: Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you; notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of GOD is come nigh unto you. 12: But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.’
JESUS gives these 70 the principles of evangelism & the last principle was this:
If nothing else works --- if the miracles don’t work ---if preaching & teaching of the Gospel does’t work --- then THREATEN JUDGMENT. For those cities that REJECT you, & your MIRACLES, & the GOSPEL that you preach,” JESUS says, “It will be more tolerable in the day of SODOM’S JUDGMENT than for them.’
& that is what leads us to our TEXT this morning in Verse #12:
JESUS tells them the JUDGMENT to PRONOUNCE upon those who REJECTED them:
“If they do REJECT YOU they will be JUDGED.”
Then in Verse #13-16 JESUS tells us WHAT will happen to those CITIES that REJECT the GOSPEL. That’s what I want us to LOOK AT this morning.
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During the days of the JUDGMENT upon the cities of SODOM & GOMORRAH they didn’t have anybody to come & preach the GOSPEL unto them or to perform MIRACLES in their sight.
GOD just JUDGED then utterly & completely without any warning.
& that is WHY those who have HEARD the GOSPEL & have WITNESSED the POWER & the GRACE of GOD & have REJECTED it will receive a GREATER CONDEMNATION.
Follow along in your Bibles as we read Luke 10: 13-16:
‘Woe unto you Chorazin, Woe unto you Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre & Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth & ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre & Sidon at the judgment, than for you. & thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell.’
Here JESUS gives a PROMISE of JUDGMENT upon those who REJECT the WORD of GOD & the REASON WHY they are JUDGED so SEVERELY.
We are BLESSED to see GOD’S GRACE & GOD’S POWER & to hear GOD’S WORD but when it is REJECTED & REFUSED & SCORNED then --it turns upon us & becomes the very act of DESTRUCTION upon those who did not reach out & embrace it & live by it.
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Point #1: WOE to those who REJECT the WORD of GOD & HIS GRACE:
Look at Verse #13: ‘Woe to Chorazin, woe unto you Bethsaida…’
The word “WOE” as used here in this context means: “Judgement, Diaster, Damnation.”
In the psalms there are some ocassions where the writier prays down ‘the judgment of GOD upon Israel’s enemies. He prayed, “GOD judge them. GOD destroy them.”
Here in Luke 10:13 JESUS is pronouncing judgment & damnation against the city of Chorazin. “Woe unto you, Chorazin!” – HE’S going to explain what HE means in Verse #15:
Chorazin was one of the cities located north of the Sea of Galilee. It was one of the few cities where JESUS performed the majority of HIS miracles. {Chorazin, Capernaum, Bethsaida, }
Look in the middle of Verse #13: The same pronouncement is made against another city, Bethsaida. “Woe unto you Bethsaida!”
Bethsaida was also located north of the Sea of Galilee. It was the home of Andrew & Peter & Philip. It was the place where JESUS fed the 5,000 plus the women & the children with just 5 small loaves of bread & 2 fish. It was also the place where JESUS healed a blind man.
& look down at Verse #15: ‘& you Capernaum will not be exalted to heaven, but will be thrust down to hell.’
Their punishment, their woe, their destruction: Thou shall be thrust down to HELL.
The city of Capernaum was also located north of the Sea of Galilee.
It was the headquarters of JESUS’ ministry. JESUS ministered there. HE blessed the people there. HE healed the sick there. & for 3 &1/2 years JESUS kept returning to Capernaum, so they had many exposures to HIM.
In the parallel text to Luke 10 is Matthew 11. Let’s look at Matthew 11:20
‘Then JESUS began to upbraid (denounce) the cities wherein most of HIS mighty works were done, because they repented not.’
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Suppose that you were in one of those 3 cities & JESUS comes into town. The people ar about their usual daily business & JESUS cries out to them, “Bring me your sick. All who are ill, diseased, maimed, blind, come to ME!”
People start coming out & asking, “Who is that?”
Pretty soon the people began to gather about HIM. There is a man with a twisted foot & he asks JESUS, “Can YOU heal me?”
JESUS says to him “Be healed” & instantly his foot is cured. He begins to weep & to rejoice & to try out his newly restored foot.
Then comes a blind man & asks “Can YOU heal me?”
JESUS says “BE healed” & instantly he is able to see, his sight is restored.
The man begins to rejoice & cry out “I can see. I’ve been healed!”
Pretty soon people begin fetching grandma & grandpa, & brother & sister & neighbor & anybody who had an illness & JESUS healed them ALL!
Then JESUS introduces HIMSELF to them. “I am the Son of GOD, the promised Messiah. I am the Promised One of David who is to come & to save HIS PEOPLE from their sins. REPENT & BELIEVE upon ME.”
Out of all the multitudes that were healed & that stood by & witnessed the healings there were but a very FEW that REPENTED & BELIEVED. Others mocked HIM & were OFFENDED by HIM.
JESUS taught them with such profound simplicity that they marveled at HIS WISDOM.. The trouble with most of them was the same problem with so many today;
THEY SAW NO NEED TO REPENT!
They’re JEWS, the CHOSEN ONES of GOD. They have the PROPHETS & the PROMISES of GOD. Why they’re SAVED on their way to heaven. They’re NOT INTERESTED in CHANGING or in REPENTING. They want MORE MIRACLES & MORE SIGNS!
JESUS leaves Capernaum & goes into other cities. But after a while HE returns to Capernaum HE PREACHES MORE. HE HEALS MORE. & again HE is REJECTED MORE. HE leaves Capernaum again & goes into other cities. But after a while HE RETURNS to Capernaum.
This happens not once – not twice but perhaps 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 20, who knows the numerous times they watched JESUS come into their city & watched as HE HEALED ALL that came to HIM. HE kept coming back there & coming back there & coming back there & they kept rejecting & rejecting & rejecting. & that is WHY JESUS’ MESSAGE unto them was “WOE, JUDGMENT & HELL!”
All 3 of these cities GOD tried to LASSO them by HIS GRACE & they untied the rope from their feet & they PUSHED HIM AWAY. The BRANCH of the GOSPEL was EXTENDED to them & they refused to GRAB HOLD. So JESUS’ only message to them is “WOE!”
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Point #2: Woe to those who REJECT such a GREAT WITNESS:
Look at Verse #14: ‘But it shall be mre tolerable for Tyre & Sidon at the judgment than for you.’
Tyre was a city located off the coast of Israel. They had this terrible & mighty navy that was unsurpassed of its day. Tyre was an extremely wealthy city. Tyre was the one who sold to King David & to King Solomon all the wood that was used in building the TEMPLE in the OT. {II Chronicles 2:3} They owned all these hills in Lebanon that had all these great trees such as the cedars of Lebanon & they grew rich from these great forests.
They also discovered something like a sea clam that could make purple dye from. They sold this very expensive purple dye & purple fabric.
They had an incredible weaving industry. They also a great glass industry & were famous for their building skills. It was a very rich city. Tyre was one of the greatest commercial ports of the entire ancient world.
& they built these great fortress walls around their city for protection. & with these walls as a fortress & with their great wealth they thought they were safe! They were very proud & arrogant & trusted only in themselves. They needed no one.
They also were increased in every kind of immorality & ungodliness & vice & wickedness & idolatry.
They became the TARGET of GOD’S MIGHTY WRATH:
In fact, when you read the O T the strongest pronunciations of GOD’S WRATH & JUDGMENT & the MOST FREQUENT were against Tyre.
Read one to you found in Ezekiel 26: 17-21: Chapters 26, 27, & 28 are all about Tyre’s destruction.
‘They will take up a lamentation over you & say to you, “How you have perished, O inhabited one, From the seas, O renowned city, Which was mighty on the sea, She & her inhabitants, Who imposed her on all her inhabitants! Now the coastlands will tremble on the day of fall, Yes the coastlands which are by the sea will terrified at your passing. For thus says the LORD GOD, “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you & the great waters cover you, then I will bring you down, with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, & I will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory in the land of the living. I will bring terrors on you & you will be no more; though you will be sought, you will never be found again,” declares the LORD GOD.’
That is just a sample & the cities of Chorazin & Bethsaida & Capernaum will have a judgment greater than Tyre.
In the year 322 BC, Alexander the Great & his armies came in & broke down the city walls & slaughtered every person in the city & burned it to the ground. It was never rebuilt again.
That was the end of Tyre.
& then JESUS speaks of the city of Sidon. It is 25 miles up the coast from Tyre in what is now Lebanon. Sidon was just as wicked & perverse as Tyre was. Filled with SEXUAL IMMORALITY It too was burned to the ground & destroyed by the Pursians & was never rebuilt again.
JESUS gave these 2 cities that were once strong & mighty but were JUDGED by GOD & were overthrown as EXAMPLES.
They NEVER had a MESSAGE preached to them. They NEVER had a MIRACLE done before their eyes. They NEVER knew the GRACE of GOD.
Look at Luke 10:13 ‘ For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre & Sidon, which had been done in you, they would a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth & ashes.’
Tyre & Sidon never had a prophet preach a sermon. They never saw a miracle.
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Point #3: What does that speak to us of today?
We haven’t had JESUS to actually walk physically in our midst but IF HE HAD it wouldn’t make any difference. If people won’t hear the preachers of today they wouldn’t listen if JESUS were to walk in here today in the FLESH. They would NOT BELIEVE.
There is a JUDGMENT of GOD upon THIS unto GENERATION!
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What do we LEARN from this?
#1: As time continues the hearts of men & women grow colder & harder!
I wonder WHAT will it TAKE to MOVE & to STIR some people today. Despite all they will die & BE LOST! & that breaks my heart! People who have been RAISED around the POWER & the GLORY of GOD & know WHAT the WORD of GOD says to do.
They ALLOW SOMETHING to HOLD them BACK!
People ----Things---- Possessions------Unbelief
They KNOW the WAY! It’s NOT IGNORANCE that is THEIR PROBLEM!
{Hell enlarges itself daily!} Does that ever get on your mind & bother you!
HELL is a REALITY this morning. It’s not a myth or a fairy tale or something used to scare people. I wish I could scare people of HELL.
There is little FEAR of ETERNITY today.
30% of the United States believe according to a recent poll.
Many of the people in churches don’t even ACT as if they BELIEVE in HELL or else they think the JUDGMENT of GOD is NOTHING! As IF GOD was this BIG SOFT PUSH OVER!
IF time continues WHAT WILL the NEXT GENERATION be like?
How much longer will CHURCH DOORS like ours be open?
In the last days there will be a FAMINE of HEARING the WORD of GOD.
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#2: Those who have had the GRACE & the MERCY of GOD preached to them time after time. Those who have had MIRACLES & BLESSINGS & DIVINE DELIVERANCES granted to them. Those who have had the GOSPEL & its TRUTH preached to them. Those who have add ADVANTAGES that many others never had. Raised in a CHRISTIAN HOME. Brought to CHURCH.
& YET all of these STILL DO NOT WALK in the LIGHT & DO NOT OBEY the GOSPEL
HOW SEVERE their PUNISHMENT will be on the day of their JUDGMENT.
This is NOT an ORDINARY TIME today. JESUS is about to RETURN!
GREAT SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT is being shown. TRUTH is being REVEALED.
Oh the ADVANTAGES we have today & STILL look at those who are so lukewarm & cold spiritually not being obedient to what they know to do.
A GREAT FALLING AWAY! That’s what is taking place here in the Unites States TODAY!
That SPIRIT of APATHY & UNCONCERN!
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Luke 12:47-48 parrable ‘& that servant which knew his lord’s will, & prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, & did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required. & to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.’
What could they say on the day of judgment?
Those who KNOW to DO GOOD & DO IT NOT IT is a SIN!
What are the GREATEST SINS?
To have been BLESSED to KNOW the TRUTH & THEN NOT LIVE BY IT!
What will be your EXCUSE?
The longer a person neglects to do what he knows to do
1: Becomes hardhearted
2: Insensitive to the Spirit – no conviction
3: Blind to their own condition
Just like the cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida, & Chorazin
I would appreciate any thoughts or comments on this sermon. I pray this message will be a blessing to you.
