back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 5.25.25
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for us to gather together to worship our God, 00:07:28.880 |
who is worthy, and to hear and to receive his precious word. 00:12:10.120 |
We have a few announcements, very important announcements. 00:12:13.120 |
First of all, our summer retreat that's happening 00:12:17.120 |
this coming Saturday is the last day to sign up 00:12:20.120 |
So after this Saturday, it will be regular registration, 00:12:23.120 |
meaning the cost of the retreat is going to be going up. 00:12:28.120 |
I highly encourage you to do your best to come to this. 00:12:33.120 |
but no childcare during that weekend at church. 00:12:38.120 |
And again, the deadline for early registration 00:12:46.120 |
it's gonna be open to whoever desires to come 00:12:52.120 |
It's happening on June 7th, not this coming Saturday, 00:12:55.120 |
but the Saturday afterwards at 915 at the Youth Chapel. 00:12:58.120 |
So please let them know if you're able to come. 00:13:03.120 |
This is not the same as the seminar that's happening 00:13:07.120 |
later on, I think it's in July, led by Pastor Mark, 00:13:10.120 |
but the family ministry workshop is on the subject 00:13:17.120 |
That's happening on June 7th, that's Saturday at 2 p.m. 00:13:32.120 |
especially if you're not able to come to the seminar, 00:13:36.120 |
highly encourage you to take advantage of that, 00:13:41.120 |
And then we have a very important announcement. 00:13:44.120 |
But La La Chi, those of you guys who parked over here, 00:13:57.120 |
It's okay, if you park, if you're parked there today, 00:14:06.120 |
the Kimco parking lot, and that was reserved, 00:14:08.120 |
so especially for, mostly for families who park there, 00:14:11.120 |
and then you took stroller across, that will be closed. 00:14:19.120 |
And then please be careful, there are certain spots 00:14:23.120 |
that you cannot park because of the employees there, 00:14:32.120 |
whether it's this lot, our cafe area, or the Alliant, 00:14:36.120 |
they will be strictly reserved for the families 00:14:39.120 |
with small children, so that they can go there. 00:14:41.120 |
So please, starting from next Sunday, go to that. 00:14:43.120 |
Don't go to this parking lot, but go to the Alliant. 00:14:46.120 |
And then if you cannot go there for whatever reason, 00:14:48.120 |
obviously there are other parking that's a little bit closer, 00:15:01.120 |
They're making a round to pick you up at Lot G. 00:15:04.120 |
For a few weeks, we're gonna be closing down that lot, 00:15:09.120 |
this is not gonna mean anything to you without pictures, 00:15:21.120 |
That's the parking lot that has like 200, 300 parking spots. 00:15:47.120 |
and our primary pickup is going to be on that lot, okay? 00:15:54.120 |
And if you don't know what I'm talking about, 00:16:02.120 |
So we're looking at what's going on with the parking. 00:16:05.120 |
Again, we don't have a lot of control over this 00:16:09.120 |
are basically telling us there's things going on 00:16:13.120 |
that they need to move some parking stuff around. 00:16:16.120 |
Again, this lot is closed starting from next Sunday, 00:16:19.120 |
and at Lot G will be closed for a couple weeks, 00:16:22.120 |
a minimum of a couple weeks, possibly permanently. 00:16:27.120 |
I think that's it all for the announcements, okay? 00:17:03.120 |
that your word, your spirit would continue to guide us, 00:17:09.120 |
that our gaze would be upon Christ and Christ alone. 00:17:14.120 |
may it be a reflection of our worship to you. 00:17:17.120 |
It may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. 00:26:57.660 |
Hi. This is quite intimidating. Here goes my testimony. My name is Jessie. When I was a kid, my Sunday school teacher told me to write down who Jesus was to me. 00:27:12.660 |
A week later, I was told to stand in front of the congregation and read it out loud. When I finished my three sentences about Jesus being my personal Band-Aid, someone handed me a bouquet of flowers and led me offstage. 00:27:24.680 |
I was confused because I knew that flowers were a congratulatory gesture, but I didn't know why I was being congratulated. I was later told that I had just been confirmed. I had no clue what that meant. 00:27:37.680 |
And that pretty much sums up my relationship with Christ as a child. I was confused and coasted through life completely unaware of God's presence. It didn't help that I grew up in an environment that was completely hostile toward believers. 00:27:50.680 |
On the first day of 7th grade biology, my teacher handed out copies of the first page of Genesis and told us that he was going to debunk Christianity in the next year. I denied my faith and was timid in admitting how I spent my Sundays. 00:28:03.680 |
No one else around me seemed to be a churchgoer. I was ashamed and considered myself a closeted Christian. I eventually started doubting God's existence and went through a major existential life crisis at the age of 13. 00:28:16.680 |
I desperately searched for proof that he was real. I wanted him to leave me obvious and literal signs like Morgan Freeman did for Jim Carrey in the movie Bruce Almighty. It didn't happen. 00:28:26.680 |
Being the morbid kid that I was, this existential crisis resulted in me sitting in front of the fireplace at home, inching closer and closer to the fire to try to give myself a preview of what it would be like when I went to hell, because I was pretty sure that's where I was headed. 00:28:41.680 |
I feared God's judgment and wrath, and that fear motivated me to seek him. 00:28:46.680 |
Toward the end of high school, I found a glimmer of hope in Romans 1.20, which says, "His invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse." 00:29:02.680 |
This verse helped me understand that everything around me was a testament to his divine presence, and there was no room for me to be ignorant of his glory. 00:29:10.680 |
But I still struggled to fully accept God as my Lord and Savior. I lived all my life without depending on him, so I felt as if I had no reason to lay my life down at his feet. 00:29:20.680 |
Once I moved out of my small-town bubble, I found myself lost in unfamiliar territory. The tight grip that I once had over my thoughts and emotions began to loosen, and I no longer had the control that I always thought that I had. 00:29:33.680 |
Desperate to regain some semblance of that control, I stifled my feelings and became a vacant version of myself. I thought I was freeing myself, but in reality I was suffocating. 00:29:43.680 |
During my junior year of college, I knelt before God and surrounded my life to him. And relinquishing control didn't make me feel helpless like I thought it would. Rather, it made me feel secure and like I could finally breathe again. 00:29:55.680 |
The gospel that I'd heard over and over again growing up in church finally felt real. I had thought that I was essentially sinless, but God revealed to me my pride and my ignorance. 00:30:06.680 |
My misguided fear of God's wrath that only drove me away from him as a child finally turned into a type of fear that revered and delighted in him, drawing me nearer to him. 00:30:15.680 |
My understanding of the gospel now continues to grow and change as I get older, and now that I have two kids of my own, the thought of God sending his one and only son to die on the cross for our sins leaves me awestruck and trembling in a way that I never had before. 00:30:38.680 |
This is annoying because I can't see. Through Christ, I am constantly being refined, and I have peace, knowing that I don't need to fear his wrath any longer. 00:31:48.680 |
>> All right, Jesse, thank you for that wonderful testimony. I was surprised that she said she has children of their own. I was going to ask what college she's in. [laughter] 00:32:01.680 |
Luke chapter 11, we're going to be reading from verse 29 to verse 32. Luke chapter 11, verse 29 to 32. Reading out of the NASB. 00:32:17.680 |
As the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation. It seeks for 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. 00:32:31.680 |
The Ocean of the South will rise up with the men, the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment 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. 00:32:45.680 |
The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." Let's pray. 00:32:57.680 |
Father, we pray for understanding. We pray that the power of your Word that you've invested your very breath in would cause us to hear from you and you alone. 00:33:08.680 |
We entrust this time to you, asking for your Spirit's leading through these words. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:33:15.680 |
Years ago, when our church was much smaller, and we just started to grow, there's a handful of people who are here at church who experienced that. I think our church was maybe about 45, and then we doubled in size in like a period of about a year. 00:33:30.680 |
And all of a sudden, for whatever the reason, Esther and I were being called out probably sometimes two, three times a week about how somebody's going to ask somebody and how they're going to start dating. 00:33:43.680 |
And again, sometimes even in the same week, Esther would go out, talk to the girls, and I would go out, talk to the guys, and we'd come back. 00:33:50.680 |
And I think maybe about eight or nine couples got together right at that time. 00:33:55.680 |
And some of you guys remember, you know, we had a, like a, I forgot what it was, an aim or something, or was it some thread, and then I put, "It must be hunting season." 00:34:04.680 |
And the response that I got from all these people, and everybody knew exactly what I was talking about because of what was going on. 00:34:09.680 |
And I remember somebody asked me at that time, "Are you happy that, you know, that all these people are getting together, we're moving on to a different stage of life?" 00:34:18.680 |
And I remember responding to them, says, "Of course I'm happy because people are happy. They're getting together." 00:34:24.680 |
But also, I am tempered in this happiness because I know what comes after. 00:34:29.680 |
You know, I've been in ministry long enough to know that some of these couples will get together, and that's great. 00:34:34.680 |
And then there's going to be some heartaches that's going to come from because of this union. 00:34:39.680 |
And then we're going to have to deal with that. 00:34:41.680 |
And then some people are going to break up, and then we're going to have to deal with that, and the drama and the heartache that comes from all of that. 00:34:47.680 |
So I've been in ministry long enough at that time to know that this, at some point, the honeymoon period is going to end. 00:34:54.680 |
And then you're going to have to deal with the reality of what it's like for, you know, for dating couples and things when it doesn't work out. 00:35:01.680 |
And even when it does work out, the struggle that they go through. 00:35:04.680 |
I say all of this because Jesus' ministry is at a point where the honeymoon period is starting to come to an end. 00:35:10.680 |
Where this euphoria of excitement of Jesus must be the Messiah and all the miracles that He's performed. 00:35:16.680 |
And it begins by telling us in verse 29 that crowds were increasing. 00:35:21.680 |
And then in chapter 12, verse 1, it says, "So many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another." 00:35:28.680 |
So this excitement of Jesus that He must be the Messiah in everything that He has done. 00:35:34.680 |
And then thousands of people were coming who ate the miraculous bread and the fish. 00:35:40.680 |
But this honeymoon period of His ministry is starting to come to an end. 00:35:45.680 |
Jesus is headed toward the cross and the people are becoming more and more hostile. 00:35:50.680 |
Not because of what Jesus has done, but because His preaching has become increasingly more confrontational. 00:35:59.680 |
Jesus called out the superficial repentance from the get-go. 00:36:03.680 |
He told the Pharisees, "Bear fruit in according to your repentance." 00:36:06.680 |
You keep saying you're repenting, but you're not repenting because there's no follow-up. 00:36:11.680 |
Feeling bad isn't repentance. Turning away from your sins is repentance. 00:36:16.680 |
So right off the bat, He calls out the superficial repentance of the Pharisees, religious leaders. 00:36:22.680 |
He calls them out and He says, "You know, you are so committed to obeying all the intricate details of the law, 00:36:29.680 |
but when it comes to the weightier law of having compassion and being merciful," 00:36:36.680 |
He said, "Why do you ignore all of that?" And then you tithe every little, you know, 00:36:41.680 |
every little mint and little things and all those things you should have done without ignoring the other. 00:36:47.680 |
And He begins to confront them and He generally tells them about their hypocrisy, 00:36:52.680 |
that all the religious things that they're learning and they're trying to apply. 00:36:56.680 |
And He said, "The prostitutes and tax collectors are going to get into the kingdom before you." 00:37:01.680 |
So they loved what He was doing, but they hated what He was saying. 00:37:07.680 |
And as a result of that, more and more people began to walk away from Him. 00:37:13.680 |
So people who just walked away, "You know what? You know, there's something going on about this guy, 00:37:17.680 |
but I don't like what he's saying." So a lot of people began to walk away. 00:37:20.680 |
Some of them, in order to justify themselves, began to say, "He must be casting out demons with demons. 00:37:29.680 |
Clearly, he's doing something supernatural, so we can't deny that. 00:37:33.680 |
But we've made up our mind he can't be from God, because a man of God would not be saying the things that he's saying. 00:37:39.680 |
I mean, they're going to the temple, making sacrifices, they're trying to obey the Sabbath, 00:37:44.680 |
and they're praying, they're giving. So why would a man of God constantly make us feel bad? 00:37:51.680 |
He must not be from God, because they expected the Messiah to come and have compassion on them, 00:37:56.680 |
to deliver them, to feed them, to bring them out, deliver them from the bondage of the pagans. 00:38:03.680 |
So that's what they thought the Messiah was going to do, but the more and more they began to realize, 00:38:07.680 |
instead of confronting the Romans and the pagans, they started confronting them. 00:38:12.680 |
"You're the ones that need to repent. You're the ones that need to come to faith." 00:38:17.680 |
So as a result, they had to justify that this man must not be from God. 00:38:22.680 |
So if he's not from God, and he's performing all these miracles, he must be from the devil. 00:38:28.680 |
Which made absolutely no sense. Why would the devil cast out the devil? 00:38:33.680 |
A kingdom that is divided cannot stand. Even just logically, it doesn't make any sense. 00:38:38.680 |
But that was their only way to justify themselves. 00:38:42.680 |
When an individual is under conviction, because of whatever condition that they're in, 00:38:50.680 |
either it will lead to repentance, which Paul calls godly sorrow. 00:38:55.680 |
"There's something in me. It's me." Just like the tax collector beating his chest. 00:39:00.680 |
"Forgive me." Or you end up changing your circumstance. 00:39:06.680 |
"This guilt is coming because of you. Because of circumstance. 00:39:10.680 |
I am the way I am because I lack this, or because I don't have the right leaders, 00:39:14.680 |
because I don't have the right sermons, I don't have the right this or that." 00:39:18.680 |
So you end up changing your circumstance or your philosophy or your theology 00:39:28.680 |
But no one stays under that guilt permanently. 00:39:32.680 |
Either it will lead you to repent and become a genuine follower of Christ, 00:39:38.680 |
or you have to condemn him. Because he's the source of this condemnation. 00:39:43.680 |
And that's exactly what Jesus was doing. He was disturbing their peace. 00:39:48.680 |
He was disturbing their peace. He didn't walk through and say, "He fed them great. 00:39:51.680 |
Everybody felt so happy." And then he went back to his father. 00:39:55.680 |
What he was doing was awesome, but what he was saying, calling us out. 00:40:01.680 |
So he only gave them two options. Either you believe him, surrender your life, 00:40:07.680 |
drop everything and follow him, or you got to get rid of him. 00:40:11.680 |
Because clearly he has power. Clearly he has influence. 00:40:15.680 |
So if you allow this to continue, then our life is going to become difficult. 00:40:21.680 |
And that's exactly what led him to the cross. 00:40:25.680 |
The existing human power at that time had to get rid of him 00:40:28.680 |
because he was constantly saying things that disturbed their peace. 00:40:32.680 |
Now it is in that context that people are coming to him in large numbers 00:40:37.680 |
and Jesus calls them out. Instead of saying, "Wow, there's a large crowd coming. 00:40:40.680 |
Look, revival is breaking out." But he sees the superficial faith that's bringing them 00:40:46.680 |
and he says, "A wicked and evil generation is seeking for a sign, 00:40:51.680 |
but only one will be given the sign of Jonah." 00:40:54.680 |
So this morning we want to wrestle with what is the sign of Jonah? 00:41:01.680 |
First of all, the sign of Jonah is an authentication of Jesus' identity and authority. 00:41:07.680 |
It clearly proved who he is. It doesn't say it in this text 00:41:11.680 |
because Luke has a different emphasis in his text. 00:41:14.680 |
But the parallel passage in Matthew 12, 40 says, 00:41:17.680 |
"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, 00:41:22.680 |
so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." 00:41:27.680 |
There was clear evidence that Jonah was a man of God. 00:41:31.680 |
And that even as he was swallowed up by the whale, God had a very specific thing he needed to do. 00:41:36.680 |
So he saves him from that as evidence that this is, even though he was a man running from God, 00:41:42.680 |
it was because God's hand was upon him that he was delivered from that. 00:41:47.680 |
And Jesus' whole ministry was geared toward that. 00:41:57.680 |
We can come to church because my parents went to church, my friends invited me, 00:42:00.680 |
I got involved with campus ministry, and I like this or that. 00:42:03.680 |
But the fundamental question is, who do you say Jesus is? 00:42:09.680 |
Now there's a huge difference of giving a theological answer. 00:42:12.680 |
Son of God, he's the creator of the universe. 00:42:15.680 |
But he wasn't asking simply a theological question. 00:42:19.680 |
The question that we need to ask beyond that is, who do you say he is? 00:42:24.680 |
So he's the Son of God, but what is that to you? 00:42:28.680 |
He's the Savior of the world, but what is that to you? 00:42:33.680 |
Jesus' death and resurrection clearly proved who he was and what he said. 00:42:40.680 |
Now the comparison to Jonah, some are pretty obvious and some are exactly the opposite. 00:42:44.680 |
Jonah was three days in the whale, Jesus was three days in the grave, and he was delivered from that. 00:42:51.680 |
Jonah preached repentance, but he preached it reluctantly. 00:42:57.680 |
Jesus, God had to twist his arm and almost died, and then he had to repent from that. 00:43:04.680 |
But he preached repentance, and Jesus did the same. 00:43:10.680 |
In fact, the Scripture tells us that he came deliberately to seek and to save the lost. 00:43:18.680 |
Jonah grumbled that God relented over repentance. 00:43:22.680 |
When Nineveh repented, Jonah didn't celebrate the repentance. 00:43:28.680 |
Jesus actually tells us he rejoices over repentance. 00:43:34.680 |
Jonah's ministry ended with Nineveh, and we don't hear from him again after chapter 4 of Jonah. 00:43:44.680 |
He chose the apostles to continue, established the churches, sent missionaries, 00:43:50.680 |
and to this day, he said he will return when the gospel has gone to the remotest part of the world. 00:44:01.680 |
Jonah's sign of Jonah was a proof that Jesus was the Son of God. 00:44:08.680 |
In Romans 1-4, it says, "Jesus was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. 00:44:15.680 |
According to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord." 00:44:19.680 |
Now, the first sign of Jonah, typically when we talk about sign of Jonah, that's what we refer to. 00:44:25.680 |
Jesus' identity and what he said is declared to be clear. 00:44:31.680 |
Now, the reason why this is so important is because ultimately, 00:44:36.680 |
where we come to truth is based upon the authority of the Son of God and what he has said. 00:44:43.680 |
We don't come to truth based upon how it makes me feel. 00:44:48.680 |
I hear these sermons and these Bible study, and I don't like it because it makes me feel that way. 00:44:53.680 |
That's a very dangerous way to come to a conclusion. 00:44:57.680 |
I say this and that because of the response that I get from it. 00:45:00.680 |
That's a very dangerous way to pick and choose what I preach. 00:45:04.680 |
The fundamental question is, "Is it from God?" 00:45:10.680 |
We don't come before and say, "You know what? I don't like that. I want to go to a church that does this or that." 00:45:15.680 |
We can't come to a conclusion of what is right and wrong based upon the response from the people because that's very dangerous. 00:45:21.680 |
The question that we need to ask is, "Is it biblical?" 00:45:26.680 |
That's why every letter that Apostle Paul and the Apostles write begins with the introduction, 00:45:31.680 |
or at least most of it introduces itself by saying, "Apostle of God, a servant of God, a bondservant of God." 00:45:37.680 |
Because anyone who's reading that letter needs to know that this is not their words, that it was God's. 00:45:44.680 |
And that's why Jesus' identity needed to be authenticated in order to authenticate what he was saying. 00:45:51.680 |
That what he was saying was not simply his opinion, this was God. 00:45:54.680 |
God was examining them and saying, "This is where you are." 00:46:00.680 |
"You say you're here, they say you're here, but this is where God says you are." 00:46:07.680 |
"If you want to come to God," he said, "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 00:46:14.680 |
But there's a second part of this sign that we typically don't talk about. 00:46:17.680 |
And if you read this passage, you probably may have asked the same question. 00:46:24.680 |
The second sign of Jonah was a justification against the judgment of this generation. 00:46:33.680 |
"For just as Jonah became a sign to the Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be the sign of this generation." 00:46:38.680 |
"The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them." 00:46:45.680 |
"Because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon," 00:46:48.680 |
"and behold, something greater than Solomon is here." 00:46:51.680 |
"And then the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it," 00:46:55.680 |
"because they repented at the preaching of Jonah," 00:46:57.680 |
"and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." 00:47:00.680 |
So the first sign we talk about often, the sign of Jonah, his death and resurrection. 00:47:06.680 |
But he says the sign of Nineveh will serve as a sign against this wicked generation. 00:47:15.680 |
Meaning that this wicked nation with a reluctant prophet repented, 00:47:23.680 |
and yet you have the Son of God standing before you who's greater than Jonah, 00:47:29.680 |
greater than the Queen of South, and you refuse to believe. 00:47:34.680 |
He begins, what he says here is that you wicked generation, wicked. 00:47:57.680 |
Was there sex change of our children going on? 00:47:59.680 |
It's like all kinds of crazy things that are going on in our culture. 00:48:04.680 |
They had that in the pagan, but he's not talking to the pagans right now. 00:48:11.680 |
Now you have to understand that that particular time the Jews were not known for wickedness. 00:48:17.680 |
They were very faithful Jews according to their eyes. 00:48:20.680 |
They memorized scripture, they prayed two, three times a day, 00:48:24.680 |
they made a pilgrimage to the temple, they were actively involved in the synagogue. 00:48:31.680 |
They were, by human tradition, very upright people, very righteous people. 00:48:38.680 |
But he doesn't explain what their wickedness is. 00:48:40.680 |
The only thing that he gives is this wicked generation asks for a sign. 00:48:48.680 |
Now, what does that have to do with wickedness? 00:48:51.680 |
I hope that I can show you why asking for a sign, 00:48:55.680 |
why God and Jesus is looking at this as wickedness. 00:49:01.680 |
Jesus' whole ministry, he was laying out signs. 00:49:06.680 |
In John 2.11, turning the water into wine, it says this, 00:49:12.680 |
"This beginning of his signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, 00:49:16.680 |
manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him." 00:49:21.680 |
First miracle that Jesus performs in John chapter 2, it says, 00:49:27.680 |
So for three years, his whole ministry, every miracle that he performed, 00:49:33.680 |
feeding of the 5,000, the 4,000, walking on the water, calming the storm, 00:49:38.680 |
even raising Lazarus from the dead, all of it was a sign. 00:49:44.680 |
So when they said this wicked evil generation is asking for a sign, 00:49:53.680 |
In Acts chapter 2.22, it says, "Men of Israel, listen to these words. 00:49:56.680 |
Jesus, Nazarene, amen, attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, 00:50:03.680 |
which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know." 00:50:08.680 |
Peter is preaching to the very people, some of them, who crucified Jesus. 00:50:19.680 |
Let me show you all the pictures and video evidences 00:50:21.680 |
and all the people who we've gathered together as an evidence against you." 00:50:25.680 |
He doesn't say that. He said, "You know he performed signs." 00:50:30.680 |
He's talking to people who are eyewitnesses of his miracles. 00:50:34.680 |
Many of them saw the resurrected Lazarus walking around. 00:50:38.680 |
So when Peter says this as an indictment against them, you know. 00:50:49.680 |
In fact, not only does Peter present him this way, 00:50:52.680 |
the Bible tells us that all the apostles came with signs and wonders. 00:50:57.680 |
As an evidence that they were speaking for God. 00:51:05.680 |
When the whole ministry was about laying out signs, 00:51:10.680 |
I think John chapter 6 gives us a clear picture 00:51:14.680 |
of what's going on in their mind, in their spirit. 00:51:17.680 |
If you remember, if you can turn your Bibles to John chapter 6. 00:51:19.680 |
I know we have the verses up here, but I think it would be helpful 00:51:22.680 |
if you just opened up your Bible or your phones to John chapter 6. 00:51:27.680 |
And I'm going to just read a bunch of verses. 00:51:29.680 |
It will be up here also if you don't have a Bible. 00:51:31.680 |
But I think it will be helpful, especially if you have the written Bible. 00:51:36.680 |
If you look at John chapter 6, that's where Jesus feeds the 5,000. 00:51:43.680 |
A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs 00:51:47.680 |
which he was performing on those who were sick. 00:51:50.680 |
He said the reason why the crowds were gathering 00:51:54.680 |
and they forgot about bringing food for themselves and for their children 00:51:58.680 |
is because they were so excited about the signs that Jesus was performing. 00:52:05.680 |
At the end of feeding them, it says they wanted to forcefully make him king 00:52:12.680 |
Everybody was full with this miraculous bread and fish. 00:52:17.680 |
So Jesus, knowing their intention, there wasn't time yet, 00:52:24.680 |
And then when they realize that Jesus is there, 00:52:26.680 |
they pack up all their bags and they continue to follow him to the other side. 00:52:29.680 |
When Jesus meets them, this is what he says in John 6, 26. 00:52:33.680 |
"Jesus answered and said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, 00:52:36.680 |
you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.'" 00:52:42.680 |
They were coming to him because they saw many signs. 00:52:46.680 |
And then Jesus says, instead of saying to them, 00:52:48.680 |
"Wow, fantastic that you're willing to pack up your bags and go wherever I go." 00:52:58.680 |
In other words, you're not coming to me for me. 00:53:01.680 |
You're coming to me because what you think you'll get if you come to me. 00:53:07.680 |
You're not coming to me because you saw signs and I am the Messiah. 00:53:12.680 |
He said, "You're coming to me because you saw what I can do for you 00:53:18.680 |
And then he tells them, "Don't work for the temporary things 00:53:22.680 |
because if you eat of this bread, you're going to go hungry again. 00:53:31.680 |
And then look at their response, John 6:30-31. 00:53:34.680 |
"So they said to him, 'What then do you do for a sign?'" 00:53:41.680 |
"If you are the Messiah and you're rebuking us for coming to you 00:53:47.680 |
for what we can get from you and not you, then give us some more signs." 00:53:59.680 |
"So that we may see and believe you, what work do you perform?" 00:54:13.680 |
Jesus says, "You're coming to me for the wrong reason. 00:54:22.680 |
"Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. 00:54:30.680 |
Jesus rebukes them for coming to him for the wrong reason. 00:54:38.680 |
And then they said, "Well, then give me some bread." 00:54:44.680 |
Like they want the benefit of following Jesus. 00:54:55.680 |
is basically back to what they wanted from the beginning. 00:55:12.680 |
based upon how God makes me happy or not happy, 00:55:19.680 |
Who God is changes based upon what I get from him. 00:55:36.680 |
"But though he had performed so many signs before them, 00:55:54.680 |
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven 00:56:03.680 |
Because that which is known about God is evident within them, 00:56:11.680 |
He's not saying, "I'm not going to give you any sign 00:56:15.680 |
He said, "I've given you everything that you know." 00:56:37.680 |
you would have known that there must be a God 00:56:42.680 |
And therefore, he says, "You are without excuse." 00:56:44.680 |
But in John 3, 19-20, he makes that even clearer. 00:57:20.680 |
If he was from God, he would answer my prayers. 00:57:26.680 |
Why does he keep saying that we need to repent? 00:57:32.680 |
that the pagans are the ones that need to be judged. 00:57:40.680 |
If he was from God, he would have rebuked them, 00:57:47.680 |
If you're actually from God, show me something, 00:58:09.680 |
when he has fully determined in his own heart 00:58:19.680 |
because we want to remain the center of our life. 00:58:26.680 |
because revival means that God's going to draw near, 00:58:30.680 |
and when God draws near, he exposes everything, 00:58:32.680 |
not simply the things that we're presenting in the church, 00:58:44.680 |
all these things that we keep hidden in our own hearts. 00:58:59.680 |
And so we want to be just close enough to Jesus 00:59:09.680 |
where he's going to shed light on the inner things 00:59:23.680 |
because he began to point out where it hurts, 00:59:34.680 |
and so little energy in looking at themselves. 00:59:56.680 |
and I've already mentioned this several times. 00:59:58.680 |
Jonah went to preach before the fall of Jerusalem. 01:00:04.680 |
but they already had a really bad reputation. 01:00:07.680 |
They would castrate the soldiers and prominent men, 01:00:17.680 |
and then force their children and their mothers 01:00:23.680 |
So everywhere they went, the conquered soldiers, 01:00:26.680 |
the conquered prominent men would be crucified 01:00:29.680 |
and limbs cut off and embarrassed on purpose, 01:00:33.680 |
and that's just one of many things that they did. 01:00:35.680 |
So we can understand why Jonah didn't want to go. 01:01:02.680 |
"Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk, 01:01:06.680 |
"'Yet 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown.'" 01:01:40.680 |
saying, "How can I reach the most people here?" 01:01:44.680 |
so he probably walked around reluctantly saying, 01:02:15.680 |
You're no longer looking to advance the cross. 01:02:51.680 |
Can you imagine somebody who hates a particular race 01:02:56.680 |
They're like--they would celebrate the condemnation. 01:03:07.680 |
But the second reason behind why it says one day 01:03:14.680 |
He didn't have to go do a thorough preaching. 01:03:17.680 |
He just went, and as soon as they heard the message, 01:03:27.680 |
When the word reached the king of the Ninevites, 01:03:30.680 |
he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, 01:03:33.680 |
covered him with sackcloth, and sat on ashes. 01:03:42.680 |
It required three days just to even walk through, 01:03:51.680 |
Man, Jonah must have been one dynamic preacher, right? 01:04:27.680 |
when they heard a messenger of God, they repented. 01:04:35.680 |
hears this Solomon, king, who's anointed by God, 01:04:58.680 |
who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel, 01:05:31.680 |
that God's judgment is going to be righteous judgment. 01:05:40.680 |
"I am the way I am because I lack this or I lack that," 01:05:49.680 |
Queen of Sheba is going to stand in judgment against you. 01:06:11.680 |
I remember Esther and I moved closer to Biola 01:06:15.680 |
because I needed the library to prepare my sermons. 01:06:25.680 |
Okay, some of you guys, I know the Jubilee people know. 01:06:29.680 |
If you go to the library and you want to look something up, 01:06:35.680 |
and then it tells you where it is in the library. 01:06:39.680 |
Depending on how big the library is, you would go. 01:06:42.680 |
And usually at Biola, all the reference books 01:06:47.680 |
and then you have to go through all the system, 01:06:52.680 |
And oftentimes you go there, and it was checked out. 01:07:13.680 |
and hog up half the table, spread it all out, 01:07:25.680 |
and then find it and read through all the stuff, 01:07:36.680 |
I've got to go back to the Dewey Decimal System. 01:07:38.680 |
So it took me about two and a half, three days 01:07:57.680 |
I was doing that for maybe about five, six months, 01:08:26.680 |
it's like, "Oh, I wonder what Martin Lloyd-Jones 01:12:44.680 |
a necessary thing in order for me to worship God. 01:13:14.680 |
it's like all of those things are distractions. 01:14:48.680 |
"who called us by His own glory and excellence." 01:20:22.680 |
The love of my life is still more than enough.