LUKE 11:29-32 SEEKING A SIGN2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 11:29-32 Seeking A Sign

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

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In this morning, Luke chapter 11 verses 29 through 32, we see that Jesus is addressing those who are seeking a sign. And so we'll be looking at this idea of seeking for a sign. But this crowd is around Jesus and they are wanting proof. They are demanding a miracle. And so Jesus is responding to them and their hearts in this situation.

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Now as we consider these things, I think it's appropriate for us to remember that it's not just that crowd then at that time that was seeking for a sign, but this morning God wants to deal with us because there are many of us who are seeking for a sign.

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And some of you are seeking for a sign to believe in God and to respond to the gospel message and be born again, that you have not given your life to the Lord, repented of your sin, and turned to follow Him. And you are waiting for some kind of sign, some kind of thing that just pushes it over the edge so that finally you'll say, okay, fine, I'll believe in Jesus and I'll start to follow Him.

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But there are also those who have decided to follow Jesus, that you've believed in the Lord, you've walked with the Lord, and yet God continues to grow us. He continues to call us to progress and mature in our Christian life.

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And he calls us to go forward in steps of faith, to go forward in our knowledge of him and our relationship with him. He calls us to diligence and faithfulness in the study of the scriptures. And yet, many times as Christians, we hold back.

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And we're not fully responding to the call of God. And we're not really fully committed to him and what he's calling us to do. And we're like an unbeliever seeking a sign. We're waiting for something else that will be monumental. Something else that will push us over the edge so that we'll finally fully commit to Jesus.

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And so there are those today who are seeking a sign. And there's three things that I want to highlight for you on this idea of seeking a sign as we look at Jesus' response to this crowd who is seeking a sign. The first thing that we find is in verse 29. And here we see that you do not need another sign.

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You really don't. You don't need something else to push you over the edge, to finally be that last straw. You do not need another sign. Check out verse 29. It says, And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, he began to say, This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

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As Jesus is addressing this crowd, it says that the crowds were thickly gathered together. Now, why was there a crowd to begin with? Well, there was a crowd wherever Jesus went. And you can see that as we've been studying through the Gospel of Luke. People came to hear his teaching. People came to see his miracles, whether it be the healing of the lame or restoring sight to the blind or feeding 5,000 people with some bread and some fish.

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People came to see the miracles. People came because, well, he taught them with authority. He taught them simply. And the people, it says, heard him gladly. They were excited to hear Jesus teach. We saw in the previous verses to this, Jesus has just delivered a man from a demon. And the demon had caused the man to be mute.

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And as Jesus cast out this demon, the man spoke and the crowd is amazed. It's a great miraculous work that is going on. And so the crowd that was there for that now is added to, as it says, it was thickly gathered. That means that there's more people coming to this crowd that's already gathered. In my mind, I kind of picture those, you know, times where I've been in a crowded place, you know, maybe in line for a good ride at Magic Mountain or at...

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the Anaheim Stadium for the Harvest Crusade, you know, and they finally open the gates and everybody's just packed in there. You're shoulder to shoulder. Everybody's around you. There's nowhere else to go. That's the idea here is the crowd is thickly gathered together. Jesus is addressing them. It's a large group of people that he's addressing and he's addressing this issue of seeking for a sign. Now this goes back to Luke chapter 11 verse 16.

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When Jesus delivers that demon out of the man, it says that some people accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. And so we talked about that last week. And so that was what some people were doing. But in verse 16, it says, "...others were testing him and sought from him a sign from heaven."

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So Jesus delivers this man from a demon and people are saying, hmm, I need some proof. Prove to me that you're from God. They're watching this miracle take place and they're asking for a sign. And so Jesus responds to this here in verse 29 and he says something really interesting. He says, this is an evil generation. He goes on to say, it seeks a sign.

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This evil generation is seeking a sign, Jesus says. Now as we consider these words of Christ, I would ask this question for us to consider. Is it evil to ask for a sign? Is it wrong to ask God for a sign? Is it okay to ask God for reasons to believe? This is important to consider because sometimes we can have that attitude like, Hey, no, no, no, you can't ask questions.

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Believe this. Why? Well, don't worry about it. Just believe it because I said so. That's not the way that God approaches us. It's not the way that God deals with us. For sure, he might not deal with us and give us all of the evidence that we might want or we might wish for, but he doesn't expect us to just believe for no reason at all.

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He gives us substantial evidence. God is not unreasonable. He gives us reason to believe. You could look at Gideon there in the Old Testament when he asked God for a sign, you know, the dew on the rag and flip-flopping, you know, dew on the ground and so on and so forth. And he told Ahaz, King Ahaz,

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When he was telling him about what he was going to do, he said, ask for a sign. There are some times when God wants to, and he does, show us extra things, extra evidence.

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To help us to believe. He's not unreasonable. He gives us reason to believe. And we'll talk about that more in the next point. But as this crowd is seeking for a sign. They're looking for some miracle. Like maybe call down fire from heaven. You know do something miraculous right in front of us.

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And as they're seeking for a sign, the word seek means to search diligently, but it also means to wish for, to crave, or to demand. Demand.

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And really that's the attitude that we see in this crowd and the attitude that Jesus is addressing. That demanding of a sign. You must show us a sign or we will not believe. It's kind of like the word crave I think is a good word because well you know what a craving is like right? You have this desire for something specific and you will not be satisfied until you have it.

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In the same way this crowd is craving or demanding a sign. Is it evil to ask for a sign? I would say no. God wants to give you reasonable reasons for you to believe. But it is evil to demand that God abide by your rules. It is evil to demand that God abide by those things which you set aside.

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So you tell God, I'll believe in you if you do what I tell you to. That's wrong. I'll believe in you, God. I'll follow you. If you fix my marriage, then I'll follow you. If you do this for me, it's like we're saying, hey, if you do a good enough job, God, if you pass my test, then I'll believe that you are God. And we got to understand that really that is rooted in arrogance and pride. And we have it backwards.

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We can't tell God what he needs to do to show himself to be God. He is God. He gets to set the rules. He gets to set the parameters. We need to be submitted to him. We can't demand that God do what we want him to do so that then we could believe in him. That's the sign of an evil generation that Jesus is addressing there.

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And so Jesus says, no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. So he says, look, your hearts are evil. You're demanding a sign. You're demanding that I follow your rules. It's rooted in pride and arrogance. I'm not going to give you a sign except for the sign of Jonah the prophet. Now, the reality is, as we consider this, is that signs are not actually sufficient for making a person believe. I know we always think that.

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We always say that, you know, hey, if God would just peek through heaven, you know, and say hello, then I would believe. Or we think about our unsaved friends and family. God, you know, if you would just do something miraculous, then they would believe. But that has been proven to not be true. Take some time to consider the account of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. Pharaoh was the king of Egypt, right?

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The children of Israel, God's people, were in bondage there in Egypt for 400 years. And God sent Moses to Pharaoh to say, let my people go. They need to come out and to spend some time in worship in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, no way, I ain't having it. And so God says, okay, Pharaoh, if you're not going to let my people go, well, I'm going to bring some plagues upon you and upon this land.

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To prove to you that I am God and that you must let my people go. Pharaoh said, no, I'm not letting the people go. So God says, okay, here's a plague. It's a miraculous work. Waters turn to blood. I mean, amazing things happen. It was right in front of them. And yet...

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Throughout the ten plagues, Pharaoh would not believe. God even went so far in the plague of the frogs in Exodus chapter 8. Frogs covered the land. They were everywhere. They were in their ovens and pots and pans and beds and showers and toilets and everywhere. And Pharaoh cries out and says, okay, okay, okay. I'll let the people go. Take away the frogs. And God says, okay, so you know that I am the Lord. I'll let you set the time. You say when? When?

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You name the time, you name the day, the frogs will be gone at that point. So Pharaoh says, okay, tomorrow. And what happened? Tomorrow came, the frogs were gone. God is giving Pharaoh miraculous signs. Opportunity after opportunity. He's an unbeliever.

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But these signs that are right in front of him, that are affecting him, that even he gets to be involved with when they're removed. God is proving himself to be God over and over again. But the signs are not sufficient enough to cause him to then believe. Signs are not sufficient to cause a person to believe. That's true of unbelievers. It's also true of God's people.

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Because you can look at the other side of that. The children of Israel. They were also there in Egypt. They also saw the hand of God in the working of all the plagues. Even as God protected them, they watched the plagues happen to the midst of Egypt. To the people of the land. They watched God lead them out with a mighty hand at the 10th plague. And part the Red Sea. But when they got to the Red Sea, they freaked out.

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They're not trusting God. They're accusing Moses. They're wanting to kill Moses. I mean, they've already forgotten the great things that God has done. And then God gets them through the Red Sea miraculously. And then on the other side of the Red Sea, they're like, hey, we're starving. We're going to die out here in the desert. Moses, you brought us out here to die because there wasn't enough graves in Egypt. They're still not believing. They're seeing miracles happen right and left. And so God begins to provide manna for them.

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And every day they walk out the door and there's a whole batch of groceries for them. And every day God provides for them. They see God descend upon Mount Sinai. They're seeing these incredible works of God. And yet, as God is leading them, physically leading them with a cloud and a fire, I mean, they have signs galore.

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And so God leads them right to the edge of the promised land and they say, oh no, we're not going in there. God's not going to be with us. We can't handle that. There's giants. There's big things. We can't do it. God's not with us. It's better for us. Let's appoint a leader and go back to Egypt, they said. Even amongst God's people, signs are not enough to cause you to believe. We always think that it is. We always claim that it is. If God would just show us a sign. But it's not enough.

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It's not sufficient. Even if we see signs left and right, well, there'll be much opportunity for us to not believe and not obey God. I think a real good example of this as well is the rich man and Lazarus that Jesus talks about in Luke chapter 16. There was a rich man. He had everything nice and wealthy. I mean, he was well off. And then there was the poor man, Lazarus. He was begging at his gate.

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They both die. Lazarus goes into what's called Abraham's bosom because he was a righteous man. He trusted in God. He believed in God. And so he's in this place of peace, in this paradise. The rich man, however, he was not a follower of God. And so he goes into the place of torment. And he looks up from this place of torment and he sees Lazarus across this great chasm. And Lazarus is there with Abraham and he says...

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Abraham, send Lazarus over here. Let him bring a drop of water for my tongue because I'm in torment here. And Abraham explains, no, there's this great chasm across that we can't go from one side to the other. And so the rich man says, okay, if he can't come over here, then can you bring him back to life and send him to my family so that they don't come to this place of torment. And Abraham responds in what Jesus says in Luke 16, 31. Abraham says,

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If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead. Jesus is declaring something amazing here. They have the word of God. If they don't listen to, if they don't hear the word of God, then even if someone rose from the dead, they would not believe. They will not be persuaded. Signs are not sufficient. It's the word of God that is living and active. It's the word of God.

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That produces faith. Paul says in Romans, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so he says, look, they have God's word. That's what they need. If they're not listening to that, it doesn't matter what sign happens. They will not be persuaded. And so as you and I consider this this morning, again, you do not need another sign. Because going on what Jesus said, you have the word of God.

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And if you're here today, if you're listening to this and you have not received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, if you've not received the forgiveness that He offers, if you've not repented of your sin to follow Him, if you've not been born again, there's no more signs that you need. You have all of the evidence you need. He's given us everything. It's time to respond. You don't need another sign. If God's tugging at your heart, you don't need anything more.

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You have the Word of God. You have His work in your life. You have Him speaking to your heart. You don't need another sign. Don't be like this crowd demanding, well God, if you do this and you do that and you do that, well then I'll believe. Don't deceive yourself. Signs are not sufficient for that. Respond to the Word of God. Respond to what Jesus has declared. For those of you today who are believers,

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You've responded before. You've turned over your life to the Lord. Yet you said, yes, I'm going to follow Jesus. This is for us as well, guys. Because again, we have a tendency as believers to kind of kick back and become complacent, to be lukewarm in our lives, in our relationship with God.

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That's our natural tendency. But what God constantly desires is for us to grow. He constantly calls us to progress. He calls us to take steps of faith, to trust Him, to obey Him. He's constantly leading us forward. And many times as believers, we are holding back. We're holding back our obedience. We're not stepping out in faith. We're not really fully committed to Him.

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Oh sure, we like the salvation part. We like the eternity in heaven part. But we haven't surrendered our whole life. We're not giving it all to Him. We're not living each day with Him as the focus. We're holding back. And in the back of our minds we're thinking, well if God would show me. If God would do this. If God would have this happen. If God would make this come together. Then I'll be obedient. Hey, if God's tugging at your heart.

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You don't need any more signs. You don't need anything else. You need to respond as God is speaking to you. As He's calling you forward, you need to go forward. As He's directing you to take steps of faith, you need to take those steps of faith. As He's calling you to turn off those obstacles,

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devices in your life, if He's calling you to get rid of those things in your life, if He's calling you to change those habits, to remove those patterns, whatever He's speaking to your heart, don't continue to wait. Well, God, if this happens, then I'll know. No, respond to what God's speaking to you. Respond. Don't harden your heart.

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That's what the author of Hebrews describes the children of Israel doing when they got to the border of the land and they said, oh no, no, we're not going to enter in. It's hardening your heart, refusing to obey, demanding. God, you got to do something else. You got to show me another sign. The reality is you do not need another sign. And you know why? Well, verse 30 tells us, point number two, Jesus is the sign.

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You don't need another sign because Jesus is the sign. He is already everything that you need to believe, to obey, to follow, to step out in faith. He is the sign. He is the fullness of what we need. Verse 30 says, For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

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So Jesus says, look, Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites in the same way the son of man, that's a way that he would refer to himself. So he says, Jesus will be a sign to this generation. So how was Jonah a sign? Well, first of all, Jonah was a sign by just being there. He showed up in the city. It was a city that he hated. In fact, he wanted God to judge them and he was upset when God did not. But Jonah

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Finally, out of obedience, he goes to Nineveh and he begins to preach. He announces that God will bring judgment upon the city in 40 days. And so being there in the city, walking through the city, announcing this, Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He was bringing forth the message from God. In addition to this, Jonah was a sign to

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Well, Matthew chapter 12 verse 40, there in Matthew 12, we have the same recording of this account that we're looking at here in Luke chapter 11. There Jesus explains a little bit more. He says, So Jonah was assigned just being there and preaching the message.

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Announcing the word of God to them. But he was also assigned because he was in the belly of a great fish for three days. And then he lived to tell about it. And he went to Nineveh to preach this message. Scholars and commentators they kind of speculate about what Jonah might have looked like. As a result of being three days in the belly of the fish. What would the acids and things have done? They don't.

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They believe that he probably was completely hairless. That all of the hair was removed because of the acids of the belly. But also, in addition to that, that he would have been bleached white. So, a very strange looking guy now is walking into Nineveh. He's a sign to Nineveh. He's a sign to the people. And Jesus says, in the same way that he is a sign to his generation...

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And I would extend that on to this generation. Now as Jonah went through Nineveh and announced this message of judgment, all of Nineveh repented. The people heard the message. It says that they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth.

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And so all of Nineveh responded to Jonah's message. Responded to the sign of Jonah. And Jesus says, So also the Son of Man will be a sign.

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Like Jonah, Jesus was there with a simple message. Jonah's message was, in 40 days judgment is coming. Jesus' message, we can see in Matthew 4, 17, says that Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's a simple message from God. Both of them have a message from God. Like Jonah, Jesus, well, he was...

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for three days, three nights, and then he resurrected. His three dates and three nights in the grave parallels Jonah's three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. And so he returned after those three days as a sign, as evidence, as proof that God had sent him. Now, unlike Jonah, Jesus, as he's going about and he's preaching his message, he's also working miracles for

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to authenticate his message. He's backing up his words with the evidence of the people who were blind and now they see, the people who were lame but now they walk. And there's these great miraculous things going on. Jesus in talking to the Jews around him in John chapter 10 verse 37 it says, if I do not do the works of my father do not believe me.

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But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him. Jesus says, look, if I'm doing the work of God, then believe me. If you don't believe my words, then at least verify, believe the works that I'm doing are the works of God. And so his miracles were authentication that his message really was from God.

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And so Jesus is the sign. He brought forth the message from God. He brought forth the signs, the works, the miraculous works to authenticate that he really was from God, that this message was from God. And so what Jesus is saying to this crowd, he's also saying to you and I today, and that is you already have everything you need to believe. Jesus being there, Jesus just existing and living in that day is a sign, right?

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And it's evidence. If you were to take the time to look through the Old Testament, you would see that there are hundreds of prophecies regarding the Messiah. And Jesus, as He came, He fulfilled all of those prophecies that relate to the first coming of the Messiah. The second coming of the Messiah, those are unfulfilled because Jesus has not returned yet. But Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies

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Just by existing. Just by walking and working the miracles and teaching the message. Prophecies regarding the timing of His coming. And He fulfilled that. Daniel chapter 9 gives us the exact timing of when the Messiah would be revealed to the nation. And Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds were cheering and putting down palm trees.

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This was the fulfillment of that prophecy. And it was at that very specific time that Jesus rode in to reveal himself as the Messiah that he fulfilled, Daniel chapter 9. The fact that he rode in on a donkey, that's also foretold. That was the prophecy that was given. The place that he would be born was declared in the scriptures hundreds of years before he lived.

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The kind of ministry he would have, the kind of message he would bring. On and on, 300 prophecies are fulfilled. Jesus just being there is a sign. The fact that Jesus lived is enough to know that he is the Messiah, the Savior that is from God. But on top of that, he also gave his own prophecies. He said, the Son of Man is going to be turned over. He's going to be put to death.

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And on the third day, he is going to rise again. He prophesied of his own resurrection. He prophesied of his death. He prophesied of his resurrection. And you know what happened? Jesus was turned over to the Romans. He was crucified. He was put in the tomb. And on the third day, he rose again. Once and for all, proving that Jesus is who he claimed to be. Jesus is the sign.

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You do not need another sign. The evidence of his life, the evidence of his resurrection is everything you need to know that he is the Savior, that he is Lord. I always love the testimony of Lee Strobel. He's an author. Maybe you've heard of some of his books. He has The Case for Christ, The Case for a Creator, all of those books. His testimony is that he started out as an atheist.

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He was a journalist for the Chicago Tribune with great credentials. He got his journalism degree from the University of Missouri. He got a Master of Studies in Law from the Yale Law School. And he was a journalist for 14 years for the Chicago Tribune. Really good credentials. Good journalist. Knew how to investigate. Knew how to write the story. Well, his wife gets saved.

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And he's frustrated by this. How could she believe this nonsense? And so he sets out. He decides, you know what I could do? I could use the tools that I have. I'll investigate this like I would any other story. I'll uncover all of the falsities and all of the crazy weirdness and show this is all false. So he sets out to disprove the resurrection of Jesus.

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And so he studies, he interviews, he researches. And in the process of doing so, he realizes the evidence is irrefutable. He can't deny it anymore. The fact is, Jesus resurrected from the dead. Jesus really is who he claimed to be. Lee Strobel, he's in our generation. But before him, in the previous generation, there was a man named Frank Morrison.

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His real name was Albert Henry Ross, but he wrote under the name Frank Morrison. And he wrote the book, Who Moved the Stone? He also had an impressive background. He was from a well-respected school, college. He was a scholar. And he was determined to write a book about how the resurrection was false. And so he began to do his research. He began to investigate.

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As he dug in, as he dug in, for seven years he's studying. In the end, he writes the book, but not the book that he thought he was going to write. It's called, Who Moved the Stone? Because throughout his study, he realized the evidence is irrefutable. Jesus really did resurrect from the dead. Lee Strobel, he's from our generation. Frank Morrison, he's from the previous generation. If you were to go back another generation, I bet you there's another guy who wanted to disprove

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And so he checked into it and researched it and found out it's irrefutable. The evidence is overwhelming. Jesus really did live. He really did die upon the cross. And on the third day, he really did resurrect from the dead. Jesus is the sign. He's all that you need. You don't need another sign. And so it's time.

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If the Lord is tugging on your heart, if He's stirring up with you, calling you to Him, it's time to respond, to turn your life over to Jesus. It's time to repent of your sin and follow Him. It's time to be forgiven and be born again and have the promise of eternal life. God is tugging at your heart. You don't need any more signs. You just need to believe. You just need to respond to His call. And for us as believers,

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You know, God's tugging at your heart. He's giving you some instruction. He's calling you to obedience. He's calling you to step out in faith. He's calling you to be fully committed and not be wishy-washy in your faith. He's tugging at your heart. You don't need another sign. Jesus is the sign. He's the sign. First of all, He died upon the cross, which is the ultimate act of love. In fact, Paul tells us that

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This is the demonstration of God's love. In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He proved His love. He loves you so much He died on the cross for your sin. He took your place and my place there upon the cross. He loves you. He wants what's best for you. And yet we wrestle with Him. Oh God, I don't think I want to do that. I don't know if that's what's best. He's calling on us. He's tugging on our hearts and we're arguing with Him.

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Maybe if you show me, God. Maybe if you give me another reason to believe. Listen, you don't need another sign. Jesus is a sign. He loves you. Respond. Turn to Him. Commit to Him. Take the step that He's called you to take. Why are you waiting anymore? It's not helping. You're just hardening your heart. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. He's tugging at you. You don't need another sign. It's time to respond. Jesus is the sign.

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Well, the third point we find now as we finish up in verse 31 and 32, and that is that there is judgment for those who reject the sign. You have the sign that you need. It's Jesus. You don't need another sign. You don't need anything more. But if you reject Jesus, if you don't respond as He's tugging upon your heart, well, what we learn here is that there is judgment for you. Jesus uses two examples here.

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Here in verse 31 and 32. To show how people who had lesser signs responded to God. As an example for us. Hey, people with lesser signs believed and responded. So, well, you need to respond. Or else you will be held accountable to a higher degree. Because you had less.

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greater signs. Verse 31 says, the queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Indeed, a greater than Solomon is here. Here Jesus brings up as an example, the queen of the south. We often refer to her as the queen of Sheba. She's

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Mentioned in 1 Kings chapter 10. If you're reading through the Bible in three years with us, we're going to read through that portion this week. Also mentioned in 2 Chronicles chapter 9. She is the queen of a place called Sheba. Now, the exact location is not really known, but it's believed to be in the southern part of Saudi Arabia today. And so she's a great distance away is the point. And she hears about Solomon.

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Solomon's in Jerusalem, hundreds of miles away in, you know, a technology era that they didn't have vehicles, they didn't have internet, they didn't have phone calls. So by word of mouth, she hears about Solomon and his wisdom. And she's, well, she's moved enough by these stories of Solomon and his wisdom that she packs up her bags, she gets on her camel, and she crosses the desert and

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To go and hear Solomon for herself. And she goes with a bunch of questions to test his wisdom. To see how wise are you. She just hears the stories and she responds. And Jesus says she came from the ends of the earth. She came from a great distance away. She heard of him. She packed up and she went. Well Jesus says here's the point. She will rise up in the judgment place.

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Along with the men of this generation. And she will condemn them. Here's what Jesus is talking about. The final judgment. In Revelation chapter 20 verse 12 it says, I saw the dead small and great standing before God and the books were opened. And another book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. That final judgment when all unbelievers stand before God.

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That's what Jesus is referring to. He says, the queen of Sheba will be called as a witness. As the men of this generation stand before God, she'll be called up and she'll give a testimony and she will condemn them. The word condemn means to judge worthy of punishment. Because she responded to these words

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to these reports of Solomon's wisdom. And Jesus said, a greater than Solomon is here. She came from a great distance to hear Solomon's wisdom. In contrast, Jesus is right there in the midst of this crowd. And they would not hear him. They would not receive his message. They would not believe. And so Jesus says, she'll be called as a witness. And you'll be more accountable because you had greater signs. And she responded,

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Even though Solomon was not as great as Jesus. He gives another example in verse 32. He says, So now he's talking about the men of Nineveh.

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The people who responded to Jonah's message. Now, we don't know exactly how many we're talking about here, but God in talking about the city in Jonah chapter 4 verse 11 refers to the 120,000 in the city who could not discern between their right hand and their left hand. Talking about small children. So within the city there was 120,000 small children.

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We could do some guesses, you know, well how many adults does that mean? We don't know for sure. But the point is, it's not like a little town or a little village. This was a massive revival. The people of Nineveh, the men of Nineveh, there was a great number of them and they were exceedingly wicked. They were wicked enough that God had determined to destroy the city. And so you could compare it to

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mankind before the flood and the great wickedness that was there or the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah before God brought the judgment upon those cities Nineveh would be in a similar condition where God has said you are fully wicked and deserving of judgment and yet they repented at the preaching of Jonah

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In Jonah chapter 3 verse 4 it says, Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk and he cried out and said, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. That was his message. He begins his journey through the city. It's a three day walk all the way through. The first day he's crying out, 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown and the whole city repents. The message is traveling faster than Jonah's traveling.

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Because the people are hearing and they're telling their friends and neighbors. And they're telling their friends and neighbors. And word gets to the king. And they hear the message and they repent. They turn from their sin. So Jesus says, they're going to rise up in the judgment. On that day when this generation stands before God. The men of Nineveh will be called as witnesses. Because they responded to the message of Jonah. They repented at his message.

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There was no invitation. There were no miracles to substantiate his message. But they repented. They responded to this message of God. And Jesus says a greater than Jonah is here. And so the greater than Jonah is there right in front of them. He's working miracles along with his message. And yet the people would not repent. So they will testify at the judgment day for this crowd as they stand before God.

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I know some might be thinking, well, you know, that crowd had Jesus there physically right there in front of them. And so, you know, maybe if I was in that crowd, then I would be able to respond. But, you know, that was a long time ago and Jesus isn't physically here with us now. And we like to explain why we are not as accountable as other people. But the reality is, guys, we're not less accountable. We're more accountable.

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You and I are more accountable than that crowd that was there with Jesus watching this miracle and hearing him speak. We're not less accountable. Oh sure, time has passed. Sure, Jesus isn't physically here with us. But we have the records of it. Not only do we have the records of it, but we have the full picture of the life of Jesus. This was before his death and his resurrection. We're alive afterwards. We have the full picture.

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He ultimately proved he is who he claimed to be. Not only that, but we have the records of this and the rest of the work of God through the church in the book of Acts and the epistles. Not only that, but we have all of these resources, the word of God, right at our fingertips. We forget how privileged we are. For the majority of history, the people of God have not been able to have their own copy of the word of God.

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It was too expensive. It was forbidden. A variety of reasons. But you and I live in a time where we have not just one copy, but we have copies galore. We have multiple Bibles in our home. We have, well, online resources. We have the Bible on our phones, on our tablets. We have the Bible everywhere we go. Right at our fingertips, we have these incredible resources and access to the Word of God.

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In addition to that, we have the pouring out of the Holy Spirit as Jesus ascended into heaven. He said, I'll send the helper. We have amazing resources. In addition to these things, we have access to commentators and scholars who've studied the scriptures for their whole lives. We have so many resources, we could never get through them all even if we wanted to. We are more accountable now.

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Than that crowd that was standing there with Jesus. Not less. And so the Queen of Sheba. If we're standing before God. On that judgment day. She could rise up to testify against us. Because she responded with much less. The men of Nineveh. If we're standing before God on that judgment day. They could testify against us. Because they responded with much less. I know those are kind of older comparisons. So let's kind of bring it forward.

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Just to be a little bit silly too. Friday. You know what Friday was? It was the iPhone 5 launch. The whole earth shook. The reports were that 83, the lines were 83% longer than last year. Listen, if you're standing before God at the judgment day, he could call the people in line for the iPhone 5 as a witness against you because something greater than the iPhone 5 is here.

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He could call Dodger fans against you because they were committed to something that was far less than what Jesus has to offer. He offers the angels. No, I'm just kidding. Think about this though. I'm being a little bit silly, but let's make it serious. People go to great lengths for worthless things. We invest ourselves greatly to support our team. We go from the ends of the earth to

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To watch a game. But we don't respond when God tugs at our hearts. You don't need another sign. Jesus is the sign. What's it going to take for you to respond? He's eliminating all of our excuses here. You have what you need. It comes down not to some sign. It comes down to your choice. Your decision. My decision. Will we respond as God tugs on our heart? And if you will not respond...

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Well, you and I, we live in an era with great, great privilege and honor having access to the Word of God like never before. We will be held very accountable. So do not harden your hearts. Today, if you need to get right with God, if you're in an unrepentant condition, you need to be forgiven, don't wait. Don't resist.

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Don't make demands that God must do these things and then you'll believe, you'll give your life to Him. God is gracious and sometimes He does give us extra signs. But it's not for us to demand, to require. That is arrogance. He's God. He's already proven once and for all how much He loves you at the cross. Where He died on the cross for your sin. His blood was shed, His body was broken.

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That you could believe in Him and receive forgiveness. And have the promise of new life, abundant life, being born again. And have the hope of eternity. What are you waiting for? It's not another sign. It's time to choose. It's time to decide to follow Jesus. To repent of your sin to follow Him. It's time to be born again. Some of you have been saved. You have turned your life to the Lord. But you've been holding back in obedience.

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You're not in outright sin necessarily, but you know you're not where God wants you to be. You've been holding back. You're not fully committed. He's calling you to step out and you're resisting. He's calling you to let go of things and you're refusing. What are you waiting for? What's it going to take? You don't need another sign. Jesus is the sign. He's enough reason for you to give yourself fully and completely to Him. And so my challenge to you this day is to do that. Give your life to Jesus.

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Turn from sin. Turn from disobedience. And live your life each day for His glory. Let's pray. Lord, I do pray that You would help us to respond to Your amazing work on our behalf. Lord, how arrogant for us to demand that You do something else. How disrespectful. Forgive us, God. And Lord, I know that You're tugging on hearts this morning.

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I thank you that you love us so much that you don't just give up on us and walk away and leave us to our own devices. But Lord, that you're still here. You're still calling out, giving us the opportunity to respond. And so God, I pray for each one as you're speaking to them, would help them to turn to you. I pray, God, that you would remove the blinders and distractions that the enemy has placed in those lives and hearts, that they would be able to see clearly how much you love them

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The amazing work that you've done on our behalf. That they might believe in you. That they might turn and follow you. Fully and completely holding nothing back. Lord, I pray that you would help us all to do that. Because you've shown us the ultimate sign. You've shown us your love. You've proven that you are God. That you are the Savior. And so Jesus, we turn to you. In faith, we trust you. We ask that you would forgive us of our sins.

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Forgive us for holding back, for doubting, for manipulating, for demanding. Forgive us, God. And Jesus, we ask you to help us to fully surrender. Work in our hearts that those things, that those people in our lives that have such a grip would be loosened and removed, that we could be fully, wholly committed to you. Help us to live for your glory.

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to enjoy the abundant life that you promise to those who follow you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.