"Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining us today, whether it's your first time or you are a faithful member of our family in Christ, we're glad you are here.
In 1970, Five Man Electrical Band, a relatively unknown Canadian rock group, released a song written by the band's frontman, Les Emmerson called "Signs," who noticed all of the big signs and billboards obscuring his view while traveling from Canada to Los Angeles. The song's lyrics intended to highlight the widespread presence and pervasive nature of the signs in our world, as well as illustrating how they govern and influence our actions, often dictating specific conduct, such as those prohibiting certain appearances or styles, restricting access to certain areas, to enforce behavioral norms, which can lead to conflict, resistance, defiance, and hypocrisy.
The truth is, signs always manage to capture our attention, don't they? I remember some years ago, when my sons were much younger, I had planned to surprise them by taking to a popular amusement park, you could literally feel their anticipation building with every sign we passed, as the signs announced our close proximity to the amusement park, indicating we were getting closer and closer, they began to squirm around a bit, talking quietly amongst themselves, wondering "Do you think...maybe..." Now, to be fair, they had no idea where we were going and they knew money was very tight, so they knew that the probability was highly unlikely.
In our society today, there are signs everywhere, each with its own unique purpose and message. There are exit signs, road closure signs and speed limit signs, which if you fail to pay attention to, you will be facing the wrath of the highway patrol or police officer, vigilant in enforcing the law, whose lights will soon be flashing in your rear view mirror. Then, there's signs that warn us of impending danger, like hazardous materials to prevent a catastrophic accident, a road closed or a bridge out, that if you ignore, you could wind up in a ditch. Some claim that signs emphasize conformity over individuality. In Matthew 24:4-14, Jesus gave His disciples signs of His return and of the end of the age, saying "See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will deceive many. And because lawlessness is multiplied, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul warned about the signs of difficult days ahead, "But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, without love for good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Keep away from such men as these. "
The Bible is an absolutely amazing book. It is God's Word revealed, inspired by the Holy Spirit. I believe to seek a sign is a lack of faith and suggests a far a deeper issue, one that goes beyond mere instinctive human response: I believe it is indicative of a heart resistant to the truth already revealed. Throughout biblical history, there have been countless examples of individuals demanding miraculous signs or wonders as proof of Jesus' true identity. Despite having been written by over 40 authors from diverse backgrounds across three continents and a span of approximately 1,500 years, along with its detailed and fulfilled prophecies. Yet, it's inerrancy is unsurpassed and continues to maintain a consistent message without contradiction, throughout both the Old and New Testaments. It is powerful and transformative, possessing the unique ability to change lives and prepare the lives of those who follow it's teachings for eternal life. Even throughout the centuries, God has remarkably preserved the biblical text in its original form, as promised in Psalm 12:6-7, entirely free from error, despite the numerous attempts to destroy it, further supporting and validating its claim to be the inspired Word of God. Jesus' miracles, signs and wonders were not merely demonstrations of His power and confirmed His deity, and the authenticity of His mission, but divine invitations to come to faith and respond with trust. Jesus summed it all up in John 20:29
when He said, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed."
The Apostle Paul addressed our attitudes toward God’s Word and the sufficiency of Scripture, whether it be spoken, or written, when he said in 2 Timothy 3, that all Scripture it is profitable to completely equip a believer for every good work. A right view of Scripture is all part of growing a healthy church that is in a right relationship with Christ. That's why Scripture commands us in a very forceful statement to take Scripture very seriously, recognizing it as a gift from God. And to examine all teachings and practices against the standard of Scripture; hold fast to that which is good; and abstain from every form of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22) I want you to understand that what God has said, He has said, there are no new revelations, only illumination through the Holy Spirit, the resident teacher. If you have the speaking gift of prophecy, a gift which some Christians have bestowed upon them by the Holy Spirit, you have an obligation to use your God given gift for public proclamation of His Word for the edification of the body of Christ and to glorify God, to exalt Christ; not to elevate yourself or promote your latest book. I submit to you, beloved, that there are many Christians, possibly even most Christians, that struggle with the temptation, rooted in the human heart, of self-exaltation, self-promotion rather than edifying the body of Christ and glorifying God. A sinful practice which the Bible consistently warns against. In John 8:54-55,, Jesus Himself said, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not known Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word." The Bible never tells us to make the pursuit of personal happiness our goal. Instead, Jesus taught that true fulfillment is found in a life obedient to God, through self-denial and love, even in suffering, which produces lasting joy, rather than temporary satisfaction. God is most glorified when we live a life of love in obedience to Him. Most anyone can look at a plant and tell when it is dying, but few today can make the same determination when the uncared for, unnourished souls are spiritually starving to death under their teaching.
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for Your precious Word. Father we ask that You would confirm these Truths to our hearts, so that we might live them before a watching world without compromise. Lord, cause us to discerning people, that we might examine everything, hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil that Christ might be exalted and You would be glorified in and through our transformed lives. Father, in accordance to Your will that none would perish, but all to come to faith in Christ, we pray that You would work in the hearts of those who have yet to confess Christ as Lord, even today. We ask and pray these things in Christ's name.
Amen.
Today's Message: Give Me A Sign
We're just a few months from the cross, the nation of Israel, led by the apostate religious leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, has already rejected Him and will soon be shouting, demanding His crucifixion. There's no doubt there is no one like Him, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, and their final conclusion that He was doing what He did by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons and spread their venomous lie which the people believed as recorded in Matthew 12:22-29, which occurred in Galilee and now its happening again months later here in Judea, and He confronted His accusers in the same way. I will resist the temptation go through all of that again, since it's almost an identical situation. Although He occasionally He speaks of salvation to the people, from this point on, His words are primarily judgmental, concentrating the majority of His time and energy on His disciples, preparing them for ministry after His death and resurrection.
Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke chapter 11, where we will again be looking at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ through our beloved Luke, the physician and historian. I hasten to say, it is the most authenticated, indisputably the one of the greatest of the four Gospels. I trust that you will be following along with me as I read to help us grasp this very compelling portion of Scripture. Luke 11:29-32.
"Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here."
Let's look at verse 29, "Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah." Luke begins verse 29 with "Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say." The crowds were becoming huge, more massive as the days went on, they were always searching for and coming to Him, they were astonished by what He was doing and saying, they had never heard teaching like this before. Notice, His words are very similar to the statement that He made in Galilee, characterizing them as, "An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet." He wasn't necessarily calling a few people wicked in a particular group, He is talking about an entire generation, saying that the majority of people were wicked. We could certainly make that claim today about our nation, couldn't we? Where the majority of the people are wicked, and having seared their consciences, they are literally flaunting their wretched sinfulness, parading it through the streets, and sadly, celebrating it in the churches, embracing the falsehoods of Satan deceptive lies for themselves, despite what Scripture clearly teaches. It is amazing to me that anyone who calls themselves a Christian would prioritize anything, much less earthly desires and worldly things over Kingdom of God, when the Bible clearly teaches us that believers should "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness," aligning their lives with God's will.
Yet, Jesus says a wicked, unbelieving generation pursues unrighteousness, seeks a sign. Then, He says yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. He is of course referencing Jonah's three days and nights in the belly of the great fish, which would foreshadow His own death and resurrection. He uses the Greek word, "ponéros" emphasizing the inevitable, exhausting, pain-staking labor that always go with evil. A word widely used of Satan himself, the wicked one who disguises himself as an angel of light. This is His final indictment on an wicked, unbelieving generation. It's worth noting that Jesus was not talking about godless pagans or idol worshiping Gentiles, He was talking of the most religious, the most moral superior and the most godly people alive at that time. But internally, they were spiritually wicked. The morally religious feel they are good enough, therefore, are often more dangerous than those who are openly immoral, and are more likely to respond to the Gospel. Much like the religious hypocrites today, they hated Jesus for exposing their true condition, in Luke 4:17-19, calling them poor, captives, blind, and oppressed. They were asking Jesus for a sign to prove to them that He was not operating by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, because they didn't believe that He was from God. If you were to say this generation was wicked and perverse, it probably wouldn't be due to their quest for a sign, but rather, you'd likely cite a whole host of other reasons. To reject Jesus Christ because of your own wretchedness is the most dangerous posture you can take
Verse 29 ends with relentless grace, "And yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah." There's going to be a sign, but not on their terms but on His, and it's not the sign they were demanding. There will be one final sign, a sign pointing to His Deity, not because they demanded it, but because God graciously ordained it. It is the sign of Jonah, who was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster.
Verse 30, "For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation." In Matthew 12:41, He added "The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. As we've discussed many times before, any part of a 24-hour period is considered to be a day or a night. We all know how the story of Jonah went, God called him to go to preach to Nineveh, he didn't want to because he feared that they might repent and he didn't want them to receive salvation. So, he found a ship and went out into the Mediterranean in the opposite direction. God created a great storm, and when the sailors became fearful, and every man cried to his god, Jonah said to throw him overboard and it would stop. So they lifted Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stood still. And, as he was sinking into the deep, he was swallowed by a great fish, probably some kind of a whale, or something created by God specific for that time, and while he was in the inside of it, he prayed a prayer of repentance and God heard his prayer and the sea monster spit him out on the shore of Nineveh, right where God wanted him, ready to do exactly what God commanded him to do, preach to Nineveh. And preach he did until, according to Jonah 3:5-10, all the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. And, when the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. And he cried out and said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, animal, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water.
But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God with their strength that each may turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and turn away from His burning anger so that we will not perish." Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, so God relented concerning the evil which He had spoken He would bring upon them. And He did not bring it upon them. Why did the believe Jonah? They didn't personally even see the miracle, but they believed Jonah, who by his own confession was wicked. Unlike, those in Galilee and Judah, who demanded a sign.
Verse 31, "The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater than Solomon is here." The Queen of the South, a powerful figure, introduce to us in 1 Kings, chapter 10, we know her as the Queen of Sheba, modern day Yemen, she was seeking truth, she had heard about this God who gave Solomon wisdom in her own land. So, she traveled from the ends of the earth to Jerusalem to hear about this God Who could give so much wisdom. Solomon answered all her questions, even the difficult ones, there was nothing that he did not declare to her, holding nothing back. He told her the Truth about his God, she saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the disposition of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, so that there was no more spirit in her. She believed him and said, "Blessed be Yahweh your God who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel; because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness." She was saved from her sin by her belief in the One True Living God.
Jesus uses the story of the Queen of the South who traveled for weeks, from the ends of the earth, just to hear the wisdom of Solomon to highlight that something even greater than Solomon is here. She was a pagan, a Gentile woman, and yet, she responded with praise and gratitude. And, the Jews had in their midst, something far greater than Solomon, the Son of God and all the truths that pertains to His glorious kingdom. And they rejected it all. Beloved, it is so dangerous to hear the Truth of God, to hear all warnings, all the righteous pleas to repent and remain indifferent, rejecting it in unbelief. On the day of judgment, at the Great White Throne Judgment, which occurs after the Millennium, when the final verdicts are decreed and declared by Jesus Christ, the Righteous Judge Who sits on the Great White Throne, where justice is finally and fully served on the ungodly from all of human history, when their glorified bodies will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, to suffer forever for their disbelief, their rejection of the Truth in Jesus Christ, the Queen of Sheba, a woman who had no knowledge of the true God, will rise up, metaphorically speaking, in judgment to symbolically condemn them, because she had an excuse, she had no exposure to the Truth, yet, she came from the ends of the earth to hear the Truth, and she believed. The self-righteous Jews could never claim any excuse, they heard Him proclaim the Gospel, they witnessed the miracles; demons cast out, the eyes of the blind given sight, the ears of the deaf made to hear, the mute made to speak, the sick and the lame healed, the dead raised to life, and they rejected it all.
That brings us to verse 32, "The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here." Once again, Jesus is making a comparison of opportunity and response. The Ninevites had one prophet, one miraculous experience and hundreds of thousands of people repented and believed, and God's judgment was prevented for three generations. The Jews rejected the Truth, they rejected Christ, the One True Living God in their midst, one would have imagined that they would have fallen to the knees and praised God, but they didn't,
they rejected Him, and the outcome was that wicked generation was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans, unmistakably proving that greater privilege doesn't necessarily produce greater results. They were worse off than a pagan, Gentile woman, worse off than the uncircumcised Ninevites, because they were nothing more than white washed tombs, self-righteous hypocrites. Your circumstances do not determine your destiny, in the end, the only thing that matters, is what you do with Christ. Are you with Him? I pray the evidence provided here today is enough to convince any open heart.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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