In his sermon, Jason Dohm explores Matthew 13:9-17, emphasizing Jesus' use of parables to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Dohm explains that these mysteries are understood by those who have been given the gift of spiritual discernment, a gift that is rooted in God's sovereign mercy. The sermon highlights the parable of the sower as an illustration of how identical seeds (the word of God) yield different results based on the soil (the heart) they are sown into. Dohm stresses the importance of being sowers of God's word and cautions against discouragement when immediate results are not evident. The sermon further discusses the distinction between insiders, who are granted understanding, and outsiders, who are not, relating this to the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy about spiritual blindness. Dohm concludes by urging gratitude for the gift of spiritual insight and encouraging believers to deepen their understanding and bear fruit.

Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew, chapters 13, Matthew 13. The message today will be brought to you from Matthew 13, verses 9 through 17. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, because It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, Hearing you will not hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of the people have grown dull, Their ears are hard of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts in turn, so that I should heal them.

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Heavenly Father, Open our eyes this morning. Father, unstop our ears. Lord, allow your word to penetrate our hearts.

Father, soften our hearts to receive your truth. Father, that it may pierce us to the inward parts. Father, give your Holy Spirit to Jason this morning. Father, not his words but yours, not his thoughts but yours. Father, bless this time of teaching that it may bear fruit in your body this morning.

In Christ's name, amen. So we're in Matthew 13, and we'll continue to be in Matthew 13 for the next couple of weeks. Here in Matthew 13, we have seven different parables. And we began last week with the first parable, which was the parable of the sower. And in the parable of the sower, there's four seeds.

They're identical seeds. It's the pure word of God that's being sown by the sower. But these four identical seeds are planted in four different soils. And there are four different results. Only one of those four seeds actually bears fruit.

But it bears a lot of fruit, 100-fold, 60-fold, 30-fold. And there are two of the other seeds that appear to be genuine and healthy and on track to bear fruit for a period of time. But time and circumstances actually reveal those seeds to be on a soil that cannot bear fruit. And for me, there were two things that I came away from that text with that I think are essential. The first is this, that we ought to go out and sow.

The parable is only a benefit, and it's only meaningful if we're sowers, if we're taking the pure word of God and planting it wherever we go. It is a parable for sowers. And we're being exhorted. Because Jesus gave us the parable, we're being exhorted to go out and sow. The second thing that I took from that parable that was so essential, I think, is to not become discouraged or disillusioned with what we're likely to encounter when we hear sowers going out to sow.

There are going to be things that we'll see that are discouraging. Sometimes it's going to seem like what we've sown is growing, is healthy, and that's not going to be the end of it. And rather than being discouraged or disillusioned, we should say, having been trained by the parable that Jesus gave us, we should say, God told us. We would see this sometimes. And we should continue to sow, knowing that sometimes a plant will grow up and it'll be like a tree planted by rivers of water.

And it'll send its root down deep. And it will bear fruit, exponential fruit, wonderful fruit. And we will have gained a brother or sister in Christ, with whom we'll share eternity. So this week's text is actually nestled right between the giving of the parable of the sower to the multitudes and then Jesus' explanation of that parable to the disciples. And so this is the portion that's right in the middle where Jesus' disciples come to him.

And they ask him why he's teaching in parables. So in verse 9 we have the transition. And the text begins with Jesus saying, He who has ears to hear, Let him hear. This is a phrase that occurs frequently in the Gospels. And then even beyond the Gospels, when we get to Revelation 2 and chapter 2 and chapter 3, we have the seven letters to the churches.

And each of those letters ends with Jesus saying to the churches almost exactly the same thing. He says exactly this at the end of each of those seven letters to the churches. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And so it's frequently occurring, and that means that It's easy for us just to read right over the top of it. Just as we see it all the time in the gospels, and then we see it seven consecutive times in Revelation chapter two and chapter three.

And that means that it's easy for us just to skim And not to consider the words, but sort of to consider it to be a structural formality, like saying amen at the end of a prayer. It just kind of punctuates what Jesus is saying. And it serves as a transition. Well, it does do that, but it's a lot more than that. Jesus meant something by saying, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

And we ought to consider it. Just because it's frequent doesn't mean that we should gloss over it. We should actually be more attuned to it because Jesus thought it was important enough to say a lot. So what does it mean when Jesus says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear? First, I would say that this phrase begs two questions.

When Jesus says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear, it just begs the first question, do you have ears to hear? Jesus is obviously making a distinction saying that some have ears to hear, some don't have ears to hear. And that should immediately make us ask, do I have ears to hear? And if we don't have ears to hear, I love what David Vangier did for us last week after the sermon time and the extended teaching time. He just assaulted us with references commanding us to seek the Lord.

And there were 10 in a row. It was just a, it was a machine, it was machine gun fire. It was a barrage of seek the Lord, Seek the Lord, seek the Lord, seek the Lord. So if you hear this, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And your response to that is, I don't think I have ears to hear.

The scripture has a command for you. And that is that you would seek the Lord. Because when you seek the Lord, you find that he's full of mercy. And to those who seek him, he will reveal himself. For those who come to that question, do I have ears to hear and say, yes, I believe that the Lord has given me ears to hear, Then the question is, are you hearing?

Jesus is speaking. Are you hearing? This is an exhortation from Jesus Christ, the head of the church, to hear him, to be attentive to what he's saying, to apply yourself to the thing that he's saying, to get wisdom because he's dispensing wisdom. That's why he's speaking. Jesus has spoken, Hebrews 1 verses 1 and 2 says this, Hebrews 1 verses 1 and 2, God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds." What the writer of Hebrews is saying is, all through the centuries, God was speaking at various times in various ways.

He was using the mouths of the prophets to say things to people. But now, in these last times, He sent His only Son, an equal member of the triune Godhead to say the mind of God to his people. What a privilege it is to know the words that came out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. And So when Jesus says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. We should be heavy.

We who believe we have ears to hear should be heavy on, let him hear. Hear what Jesus is speaking. The one through whom the worlds were made, Hebrews 1 says, is speaking. God had prophets say all sorts of things through the centuries. Wonderful.

It was a blessing. But it's nothing like the mouth of God Himself. And this is what we have in the words of Jesus Christ. Jesus was on the earth, he was taught, and he gave the gospels so we would know the things that he taught. And we could apply ourselves to those things.

And then he was killed. And then he was buried. And then he was resurrected. And then he ascended into heaven. And then he did what?

He sent the promised Holy Spirit, so that we would continue to have a teacher. We would continue to have a witness of the things that were said through the Son of God. We would actually have a tutor to come alongside us and to help us to continue to glean knowledge and wisdom from the things that the Son of God said, the one through whom the worlds were made. In verse 10, the disciples come to Jesus and they ask him why he's speaking to the multitudes in parables. Jesus has done a lot of teaching of the multitudes, but so often it's been plain spoken.

And now they want to know why is it not plain spoken now? Because we have this parable of the sower and it's hard to understand. And the rest of today's text forms Jesus' answer to that question. Why are you teaching in parables? And Jesus, in verses 11 through 17, says exactly why he is teaching in parables.

Luke 8 is one of our parallel passages that teaches the same set of circumstances, but it says a few different things that help us get our minds around exactly what's happening here. In Luke 8, the second half of verse 8 and verse 9 says this. When he had said these things, he cried, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Then his disciples asked him, saying, what does this parable mean? At least one of the reasons why the disciples are coming to Jesus to ask him why he's teaching in parables is because they don't understand.

They don't feel like they have a full grasp. That is implied in Matthew because then Jesus goes on to explain the parable. So Jesus knew they didn't understand and we don't need Luke to tell us that. But it is explicit in Luke. They come to him and they say, what does this parable mean?

Here's one thing we learn about parables. They make for fantastic instruction if you've got a tutor to help you explain. The word pictures, These narratives, these stories that teach us a principle are the most unforgettable kind of teaching as long as you know what the story means. And if you have a tutor alongside you who can tell you exactly what the parable means, then you'll never forget it. It'll be in your mind more than the most plain spoken teaching that you've ever heard.

And so Jesus is this to his disciples. He's the tutor to be alongside them to explain exactly what this parable means. And of course, these disciples are thankful for that, but they don't understand because they know that the multitudes at large don't have the benefit of Jesus as the tutor. So they're wondering why He wouldn't be more plain spoken. Verse 11.

Jesus answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them, it has not been given. It has been given to you, it has not been given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. So the basic answer that Jesus gives them for why He's teaching in parables is that they've been given a gift that the others have not been given. A distinction has been made.

I will give this to you, I will not give this to them. Mark 4, our other parallel text, Mark 4 verse 11. And he said to them, to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those who are outside, all things come in parables. So in the account in Mark 4, Jesus actually further makes the distinction and says to those who are outside all things are given in parables.

And so there is a distinction made not just between those who have been given the gift versus those who have not been given the gift. But there's a further distinction made in Mark 4 that there are those who are inside and those who are outside. If you've been given the gift, you're inside the kingdom of God. If you haven't been given the gift, you're outside the kingdom of God. And the parables will be very different things to these two groups.

To those who are inside, they have a tutor, they have a teacher alongside to explain and make it the most memorable, powerful teaching that they could ever experience. And to those who have not been given the gift, to those who are outside the kingdom of God, right over the head, no understanding of what's being said. Now understand, this is completely consistent with what Jesus has been teaching in the book of Matthew. It just follows right along with all the things that we've been seeing through the chapters leading up to this point. Consider Matthew 12.30.

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad. This is right along the line of insiders and outsiders. There are those who are with Jesus, And then there are those who are not with Jesus. And Jesus is the great dividing line. We learned that in chapter 12.

Consider Matthew 11, verses 25 and 26. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in your sight. So in Matthew 12 we saw a distinction between those who are with Jesus and those who are against Him. In Matthew 11 we see a distinction between those who have it hidden from and those who it is revealed to.

And in Matthew 11, it actually goes on to say it is completely based on the good pleasure of God. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in your sight. The distinction is based on the sovereign grace of God and only on the sovereign grace of God. In Matthew 7, going back a little further to the last chapter in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching about dealing with your brother about his sin. And it's talking about the log in your eye and the speck in his.

This is that text. But then it says, do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine. And so Jesus, even back as far as the Sermon on the Mount, has been making a distinction between outsiders and insiders, between those who have it hidden and those who have it revealed to them. And he says that there is a difference and that these groups ought to be treated differently. So the disciples have been given a gift that has not been broadcast to the multitude at large.

They've been given a gift. What is the nature of that gift? I want you to turn your Bibles to Ephesians 2. In Ephesians 2, Paul teaches us the nature of the gift that Jesus is speaking of when Jesus says, to you it has been given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. We're going to read a big chunk here.

Ephesians 2, we're going to start in verse 1 and read through 10. Ephesians 2 verse 1. And you, He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So the nature of the gift that has been given, that Paul speaks of here, and that is the gift that Jesus has already given to his disciples, is one of resurrection from the dead. Being raised from the dead. That's the nature of the gift. They were dead in their trespasses and sins, and they were made alive. And all this flows only, always, from the mercy of God.

This is Ephesians 2, verse 4. But God who is rich in mercy. This is the source of the gift that has been given. And it flows from the mercy of God and it is the resurrection from the dead. Verse 8 says it is the gift of God.

And this is what faith is. You want to know what faith is? Faith is a gift. It's not a work. Any time We're thinking in a way that makes faith a work.

We have to reset our minds. Faith is not a work. Faith is the gift of God. It flows from the mercy of God. You believe not because you figured it out.

You believe because God poured out His grace on you. Faith is not a work. Faith is a gift. Matthew 16. We're coming there sort of rapidly.

In Matthew 16, Peter is going to declare that Jesus is the Christ. And in Matthew 16, 17, we read, Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. In John 6, 65, Jesus says, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. This is what is being taught in Matthew 12. This is what is being taught by Paul in Ephesians 2.

This is what Jesus will teach again in Matthew 6 when he speaks of Peter, acknowledging that he is the Christ. This is what Jesus teaches in John 6, when he says that no one can come to him unless it's been granted by the Father. This is the teaching, persistent teaching, consistent teaching, pervasive teaching of the New Testament, that faith is a gift. We only have eyes to see if God gives you eyes to see. And that's the thrust of our text today.

It is a gift. It's been given to you to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But to them, it has not been given. It's the gift of God. It flows from the mercy of God.

And he can give it to whomever he wants to give it and withhold it from whoever He wants to withhold it. In verse 11, back to Matthew. In Matthew 13 verse 11, Jesus says, it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. This is important that we note this, that it's the mysteries of the kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus' call to repentance and faith are not veiled.

Jesus has been very plain spoken all throughout about his call to repentance and to believe in him. And in no way are those basic tenets of the gospel being hidden from the multitudes here. When Jesus preaches on these parables, it's for those who are inside, it's about the mysteries of the kingdom of God. So we shouldn't say God is hiding the gospel from these people. Now, the gospel is broad.

It's not just these essential tenets. But it's more than that. But these essential tenets of the gospel will continue to be, in the gospel of Matthew, so plain spoken by Jesus. A plain spoken call to repentance. Jesus isn't veiling that.

A plain spoken call to trust in him, to believe in him, Jesus is not veiling those. It's the mysteries of the kingdom. And what are the mysteries of the kingdom? Well, we're going to embark on seven parables that talk about various parts of the mysteries of the kingdom. And I would say, that doesn't even wrap it all up.

There are many, many mysteries of the kingdom. And if you look in the New Testament for mystery and see what is tagged to mystery in those passages, you find that it is broad. It is deep. There are many, many mysteries to the kingdom of heaven. But these are things that are for his people.

So it's not a hiding or availing of the gospel and a call to repentance and belief that is being spoken of here. Repentance and belief are the gateway into the kingdom. But the mysteries of the kingdom are only for those who are inside and that's the distinction that is being made in today's text. And so the mysteries of the kingdom are not for the multitudes at large. They're not for the enemies of God.

Because Jesus has said that there are only two kinds of people. There are kinds that are for him. There are kinds that are against him. So it's either his adopted children and those who are not his adopted children are his enemies, and the mysteries of the kingdom are not for his enemies. One last point on verse 11 before we move on.

It's called the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in Matthew. In Mark and Luke, and both of those other parallel texts, it's called not kingdom of heaven, but kingdom of God. Now why do I say that? I say that because there are groups that make a nuanced distinction between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God and they build large portions of their doctrine on the nuances, rubbish. These are used interchangeably.

The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is the kingdom of heaven. And if you are subscribing to a framework that has built a lot around nuances between the two, this is a good excuse to go re-look at that, because they are used interchangeably. The inspired authors of the Gospel saw them as interchangeable. Matthew 13, verse 12, for whoever has to him more will be given and he will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

This is a continuation on the thought that Jesus opens up in verse 11. That there's a distinction between the haves, verse 11, it has been given to you and the have-nots, verse 11, to them it has not been given. And so verse 12 is a continuation on talking about the haves and the have-nots. And the haves, to them more will be given And they'll have an abundance. They'll have, and then they'll have more, and they'll have more, and they'll have more.

Because they've been given, that's why they're the haves. Verse 11 made that plain. And so they've been given, and they're going to be given more. God's not done. So for the haves, they've been given something that brings them into the kingdom.

And that's not the end of God's giving to them. He's going to keep giving and keep giving and they're going to have an abundance. Matthew Henry says this, God's favors are earnests of further favors. Where he lays the foundation he will build upon it. Right on.

Right on. The gift that causes these disciples to have ears to hear is an earnest. It's a down payment on the will of God, the purpose of God, the intention of God to give them more until they have an abundance. And this is what is taught in the surrounding parable. We're in this part of scripture that's bracketed between the parable of the sower and the explanation of the parable of the sower.

And that's just what the parable of the sower teaches, that when seed is on good soil, that it is like the tree planted by rivers of water. It sends its roots down deep. It has access to all these resources, and so it bears much fruit. And so this is what Jesus is saying here. And then he's speaking of the have-nots.

The have-nots, it says, even what he has will be taken away from him. He say, wait a minute, if you don't have, How can that be taken away? I thought you couldn't have less than nothing. If we have nothing, how is that going to be taken away? Well, again, our parallel passage in Luke 8, verse 18.

Luke 8, 18 helps us. Here's what Jesus says in 8, 18. For whoever has to him more will be given. And whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him. That's the accountant Luke 8.

Even what he seems to have, even what he appears to have, will be taken from him. It's more like being stripped of the illusion of having. This is what Jesus is teaching here. That if you have, more will be given, you'll have an abundance. But if you don't have, even the illusion of having will be stripped away from you And this is also like the surrounding parable isn't it is just like the parable of the sower For two out of the four seeds, time and circumstances strip away this illusion of having had something.

In one case, there was no root. So the sun comes up, it scorches it, and it's withered. In another case, it comes up. But the cares of this life and the desire for riches chokes it out. These thorns choke it out.

And so there was an appearance in two out of the four soils of having. It sprang up. We said, look, it's a plant. It's a healthy plant, but not so. And the time and circumstances strip away this illusion of having had something.

This is just what Jesus is teaching here in verse 12. At this point, there's a growing distinction between the haves and the have nots. So it started out as you have and you don't have but even the gap is growing Because the haves are just given more. And it's piling up. And they have an abundance.

And the have-nots, even the illusion of having had something is being stripped away from them. So the gap is growing between the haves and the have-nots. And it's 100% at the discretion of God. Why are there haves and have nots? God.

Why is there a growing gap between the haves and the have nots? God. God is the difference. Now at this point, we've all got, that's not fair, rising up in us. That's not fair.

And we're ready to spend our compassion on the have-nots at this point, after verse 12. All honest souls have to say we're sort of thinking that's not fair and we're ready to have compassion on the have-nots. So I want to say this, hold that thought. Hold that thought. We're going to come back to that question.

But I've been thinking this this week as I've studied this text, that's not fair. And having so much compassion on the have-nots. All right, verses 13 through 15. 13 through 15. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears. Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.

This section begins with the word therefore. In other words, what Jesus is saying in this section is predicated on what Jesus has just said about the haves and the have nots. And especially that the haves are the haves because God has given them something. It's the gift of God. It has been given to you.

And then speaking of the have nots, Jesus says, seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And then he says, this is a fulfillment of what the prophet said. Isaiah said it would be this way. God, through Isaiah, said it would be this way. And these people, what you see before your eyes, they're being haves and have nots, is just a fulfillment of the prophecy.

And God did say, through Isaiah, hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth that it would be this way. And Jesus is quoting Isaiah 6 verses 9 and 10. And the unbelieving multitude is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Isaiah 6, 9 through 10. Now, in Isaiah 6, 10, there's an imperative. There's a command.

God is commanding something of Isaiah. Listen, it says, make the heart of this people dull. So in Isaiah 6 10, the prophecy that Jesus is quoting, it's the imperative. It's a command to the prophet to make the heart of the people dull. And what does Jesus says?

The hearts of this people have grown dull. It's been fulfilled. The prophecy has been fulfilled. There was an imperative to Isaiah, and Jesus says, the hearts of this people have grown dull. Mission accomplished.

Prophecy fulfilled. In Isaiah 6, 10, There's an imperative. Shut their eyes. This is God's command to the prophet Isaiah. Shut their eyes.

And Jesus says, their eyes they have closed. Prophecy fulfilled. It's a command in Isaiah. It's been fulfilled, which is exactly what Jesus is saying. This is the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah.

Mission accomplished. Make the heart of these people dull. Their hearts are dull. Shut their eyes. Their eyes they have shut.

Now, Paul teaches us how to view this in Romans 1. So please turn to Romans 1. Turn to Romans 1. In Romans 1, Paul gives us such a helpful lens through which to view this prophecy and what is actually happening. Romans 1 beginning in verse 16.

Paul writes this, Romans 1 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith." Now I'll comment while I'm reading.

Don't forget Ephesians 2. That makes faith a gift from God and not a work. So Paul here is speaking again of faith and let's let Paul interpret Paul and say, faith is the gift of God and we're seeing it that way in Romans 1 as well. Verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful. That became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.

Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. So in verse 21 we see that Paul is talking about the enemies of God. So it's a long passage, hard to track with all of it. But I'm getting to the portion that relates back to Matthew 13.

And it's this. Paul is speaking about the enemies of God and what happens to the enemies of God. They know God. All this is in verse 21. They know God because they can look around and see things have been created.

There's a God who has this kind of power to bring to bear, to bring the world into existence. So they know God. But they refuse to glorify Him as God. And they're not thankful. So either they don't acknowledge their blessings, or they actually attribute their blessings to themselves.

They're not thankful. They're not glorifying to God, and they're not thankful. And as a result of that, their foolish hearts are darkened. Now, you see how this fits back into Matthew 13, When we're talking about having eyes but not seeing, having ears but not hearing. These are people who have thrown off the knowledge of God on purpose.

They've suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. They don't want to know God. They don't want to glorify God. They don't want to be thankful to God, because they love their sin. And so they've thrown off the knowledge of God.

And the result of that is that their foolish hearts are dark. And they get exact, you don't want to know God? Then you won't know God. Your foolish heart will be darkened. Listen to verse 24.

God gave them up to uncleanness. Verse 26, God gave them up to vile passions. Verse 28, God gave them over to a debased mind. Not glorifying God as God, not being thankful has caused God to just give them over, to give them up to uncleanness, to give them up to vile passions, to give them over to a debased mind. Now remember these are people who kicked off this cycle by suppressing the truth in unrighteousness And God has brought judgment on that by giving them over to a debased mind.

And this is what we see across scripture. This is what we see in John 3, 19 and 20. And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. Jesus has already spoken of this same condition in Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, in the portion that we recited today, Matthew 6, 22 and 23.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If, therefore, your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. If you have, you'll be given an abundance. Your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If therefore that light that is in you is darkness. How great is that darkness. Romans 1 and John 3 and Matthew 6 and Matthew 13 are all teaching the same thing. So that those who love their sin will bring judgment on themselves and God will give them over to a depraved mind. And the Light within them will be darkness.

If your eye is good, then your whole body will be filled with light. If you have been given, then more will be given to you and you'll have an abundance. But the converse is also true. Now, from Romans 1, who are these enemies of God? Not conceptually.

We've been dealing conceptually. Not theoretically. Not hypothetically. But personally. Who are these people?

What are their names? Jason Dome, Jim Santles, Olga Ruiz, Adam Hagen, Savannah McMurray, these are their names, Timothy Job Lundquist. That's who these enemies of God are. He's not 24 hours old. But he's on this track.

Like every other person born into this world, he's on this track. To love sin, to throw off the knowledge of God and the government of God. Paul says this in Romans 1. And then in Romans 2 and 3, he sets about proving that all men are under the righteous condemnation of God. Jews, under the righteous condemnation of God.

Gentiles, under the righteous condemnation of God. Whether you knew the law or didn't know the law, you're righteously condemned by a holy God. And this is exactly what we saw in Ephesians 2, isn't it? That we're all by nature objects of wrath. Ephesians 2 said that we're children of wrath by nature.

By nature. That's why we can point to Timothy Job Lundquist and say, you're on the same track because you're by nature a child of wrath. You're by nature an object of God's wrath. Paul says it this way in Romans 9.29, unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom and we would have been made like Gomorrah. It is only the merciful action of Almighty God that has kept the world, all the people of the world, from becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah.

If God were to apply his justice according to what every man deserves, we'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah. No one would be left. So yes, God is unfair as humans often misdefine it. He's unfair that way. But that unfairness doesn't lie in God condemning the wicked.

It lies in his showing mercy to the wicked. When we misdefine it, we act as if God is condemning the innocent. May it never be. God would never condemn the innocent. Only no one's innocent.

We are by nature objects of wrath. Objects of wrath. And his showing mercy to the wicked is not unfair Because he never sacrificed justice to do it. He upheld justice. How can this be?

How can God justify the wicked and not sacrifice justice? Well, it's by sacrificing his son in our place. That's how. That's how justice can be upheld and yet mercy can be shown is to take upon himself the righteous wrath of God. That's how.

That's where the unfairness That's where the unfairness, as we mis-define it, comes from. So back to an earlier question. Should we spend our compassion on the unbelieving multitudes? When we say, that's unfair, that's what we want to do, right? We want to spend our compassion on the unbelieving multitudes.

Should we do that? Yes. Yes, we should. But not because God is condemning the innocent when he makes their eyes blind and their ears deaf. He's actually judging the guilty when he makes their eyes blind and their ears deaf.

He's punishing the guilty, not condemning the innocent. So they're not worthy of our compassion because they're innocent and they're being condemned by God. And it's not fair. That's not why we should spend our compassion on them. We should spend our compassion on them because the only thing, the only single thing without exception that separates us from them is the sovereign electing grace of God.

That's it. There's nothing different between you and the unbelieving multitude except the sovereign grace, electing grace of God. That's it. And so they are worthy of our compassion because you're just like them, because God had mercy on you. And this is exactly where Jesus takes this in verse 16.

He says, but blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. He attributes their seeing eyes to something. He attributes their hearing ears to something, And that's that they've been blessed. We're right back to where he started in verse 11. It's been given to you.

It's a gift. You've been blessed if you have eyes that see. You've been blessed if you have ears that hear. There's so many spheres of life where we're in love with the idea of a meritocracy. You do well And then you're rewarded for doing well.

Isn't that how we want our workplace? We don't want the poor performers to get rewarded in the workplace, do we? Or we don't want the most disobedient children in our homes to be rewarded. We want the ones who do well to be rewarded in kind. And there's nothing wrong with that.

But in this sphere, We must rely 100% on Jesus doing well and standing in our place. This is one sphere of life where we do not want a meritocracy, where every man gets what he deserves. If every man gets what he deserves, according to Paul in Romans 9, Sodom and Gomorrah. Blessed are your eyes for they see. Blessed are your ears for they hear.

Think of the mercy of God in this verse. Given eyes to see. It's not a work. God didn't foresee something in you that would cause him to respond to you and to give it to you. It was his good pleasure.

It seemed good to him. That's why. If you have eyes to see, it's only because it seemed good to God. You'll never be able to explain it. You certainly have never merited it, but it's according to the electing grace of God.

Fair is we all get what we deserve. We do not want fair. Then in verse 17, Jesus expands on this blessing. He says that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what the disciples saw and desired to hear what the disciples were hearing, but they did not. And admittedly, the disciples have an advantage on us here.

How many times since March, whenever we started in Matthew, how many times have you thought, oh, to be sure, on the shoreline, listening to this? To just be able to look Jesus in the eye and hear the explanation of the parable of the Sower. I felt that way last week. Just they do have an advantage. They did see things that we didn't see.

They did hear things that we didn't hear. And even so, though, We're brought to where we've been brought many times over the last week to consider the advantages that we've been given simply by living in this point in time where the gospels have been written and distributed. And we know things that the prophets were, they were on their tippy toes wanting to see further, to see what we see. And they wanted to hear the things that we hear. For thousands of years, it was types and shadows.

Glimpses. Really hard to understand glimpses of what would come but we have the substance. They saw by candlelight and here we are in the noonday sun. The gospel has come. We have the words of Jesus.

A few concluding remarks, really four of them, four concluding remarks. No encounter with the person of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, the works of Jesus leaves you the same. This thought that we can just take it or leave it and it will have no impact on us, is a fantasy world that does not exist. We learn that from this text. Either you have and more will be given to you until you have an abundance or the illusion of you having will be stripped away from you.

There are no other options on the table. This fantasy world that we can come and just stand as judge over the Word of God and decide what we think about it, act on it if we want to, not act on it, and will not have an impact on us is a lie. It's a fantasy world that does not exist. When you come to the words of Jesus Christ and He declares what is true, If you have ears to hear, then you'll receive it and you'll be given more and more and you'll be a plant bearing a hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold. If not, the illusion of you having something will be stripped away from you.

Number two, for true disciples the result of This text should just be profound thankfulness. It is all the gift of God. You haven't figured anything out. You are not to Credit with the things that God has given to you. If you have eyes to see, it is the electing grace of God.

If you have ears to hear, it is only the electing grace of God. We should read this and just be, oh, God, Thank you. Thank you for giving me what I could never give myself. For doing what I could never do for myself. If any fuzziness has crept into our thoughts about who the wicked really are and who the righteous in Christ are.

This text should just sweep that away. The wicked is everyone and the righteous are just the ex-wicked who have been given something by God. The wicked are simply those who are left to themselves, and they're left to destroy themselves, because everyone by Nature is an object of wrath. If God just lets things take their course without a special intervention of His grace, that's what you'll do. You'll destroy yourself.

More than five billion people in this world, not a righteous one. Out of five billion, not one righteous person. If God leaves you to yourself, you will destroy yourself. Our only hope is for a special intervention and an outpouring of His grace. Number three, if you have ears to hear, Hear.

Hear. That is the exhortation. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Let him attend to the words of God. Let him Apply himself to the words of God.

As Proverbs 4 says, in all you're getting get understanding. In all you're getting get wisdom. Go for a hundred fold fruitfulness. Send your roots down deep to the rivers of water and take all that access to the nourishment that is in Jesus Christ and bear fruit a hundred fold. Number four, this is my favorite one, number four.

Matthew Henry says this. And he's speaking of all the prophets and righteous men who desired to see what we see. And Matthew Henry says this. There was then, as there still is, a glory to be revealed. In one way we have a leg up on all the righteous men and prophets who were under tippy toes straining to see the things that are just at our fingertips for 15 bucks from Sam's Club.

In another sense, we're all on equal ground and there's a glory to come to be revealed. We're in the same spot they were in. We're on our tippy toes trying to see what it would be like. It's futile. You cannot do it.

Eye has not seen the things that God has prepared for those who love him. Let's pray. Father, thank you, thank you, thank you, that you give eyes to see and ears to hear. What man or woman or child can now come before you and say, I deserve to see, I deserve to hear? I deserve to hear.

God, your word is true. There is no one righteous. No, not one. And if you had not left a remnant, we'd be just like Sodom and Gomorrah. But you are a God who is full of mercy, willing to uphold justice and show mercy by pouring out your righteous wrath on your son and crushing him.

We thank you for the mercy of God represented in this text. Oh God, for so much of the week I thought of this as a harsh text. This is a text of your mercy, oh, God. That you would show mercy to Anyone is what we should marvel at. God, I thank you for your word.

Your word helps us in 1, 000 ways. I thank you that you've given to us. I pray, God, that as you've given us ears to hear that we would hear and apply ourselves to your word. That we would be good stewards of it. In Jesus' name, amen.