The Grave Danger In Great Miracles And Great Sermons — Sandeep Poonen

What I'd like to share will be just to underline what we've already heard just now. So I wanted to speak about the great danger of great miracles and the great danger of great sermons. The great danger of great miracles and the great danger of great sermons.

The Danger of Miracles Without Repentance

In Matthew chapter 7, the Sermon on the Mount, near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us a warning that we are probably familiar with, where he says in verse 22, that many will say to Jesus on the last day, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?

And Jesus says, I didn't know you. I never knew you, because you practice lawlessness. So there's a great danger in miracles, because we can be fooled by seeing miracle after a miracle. Red light turned to green.

Sickness turned to healing. Financial poverty turned to financial health. Whatever it may be, on and on, miracle after miracle, we can get into that, to where we are also performing many miracles, and God says, I don't even know you.

This is repeated again a few chapters later in Matthew chapter 11. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 20, he says, he denounces. It's a very strong word. So strongly rebukes, he almost like curses these people, these cities of Israel.

He began to denounce the cities, woe to you. Why in verse 20? Because they saw a lot of miracles, but they did not repent. What does that word repent mean? Let me give you a simple definition that I have used for whenever I see the word repent.

To turn around, to think about God correctly, to get the correct view of God. Our problem lies because we don't have a proper view of God, in his holiness, in his love, in his purity, in his goodness for us, in all of his commands.

We don't have the right view of God, and to repent is to get the right view of God, and these people were so caught up with miracle after miracle after miracle, good work of God after good work of God.

Remember by Jesus, not by some false prophet, they were seeing Jesus work miracle after miracle, and they didn't follow the dots. You children, have you seen that that thing you do as a kid called dot to dot, where you connect all the dots?

What do you think about a child who gets so obsessed with the dot? Wow, look at that dot! And you try to tell the child don't don't get stuck on the dot, connect all the dots, because there's a picture that all those dots are trying to show you.

Some of us, maybe if we look from a distance, we'll be able to see it, but the whole point is for the children to connect the dots. Something is really wrong when a child is so obsessed with a dot. That's what a miracle is.

It's just a dot, and Jesus denounced these people who got so caught up with the dot, and didn't connect the dots to complete the picture that was trying to be painted. They didn't turn their mind and change their thinking about who God is, after miracle, after miracle, after miracle, and that's what we see.

What was what was Jesus trying to say? All of these miracles are trying to show you something, and he shows us that later on in the chapter in verse 28, Come to me, and I will give you rest. That's what Jesus was trying to say.

Connect all the dots of the miracles together, so that you can see that God is a God of rest. And he sent his son Jesus to show us that we can have a life of rest, and what we think is a miracle, but it's actually a parable.

It's a story with the meaning, was Jesus was asleep on the boat, even though the boat was being flooded with water, and yes, it was a miracle, but it's also a message, a parable, saying no matter what is happening in your life, no matter what is happening in your boat being flooded with water, Jesus has come to give you a life of rest.

That's what all the miracles God has done in your life is supposed to be. What a faithful God we have. We've sung about that song. That is to connect the dots, to say God is a God of rest, and Hebrews makes that very clear if you want to quickly turn there to Hebrews chapter 3.

Israel’s Failure to Enter God’s Rest

This is what the Israelites missed. They too saw miracle after miracle after miracle with their own eyes, maybe much bigger miracles than we've ever seen. The parting of the Red Sea, food coming down from heaven, water coming out of a rock, different things like that.

But all of them were just dot to dot things for them. It was supposed to be an exercise for the Israelites to connect the dots, to see who God is. That God wanted them to have a life of rest, and in Hebrews chapter 3, we see that they missed it.

Verse 18, this is what God did not give to the Israelites. Because they did not believe in God, because they did not see what God was trying to say through the miracles. You cannot enter my rest. And then in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 11, the next chapter, just a few verses down.

He says to us now, the author of Hebrews is telling us, therefore let us now be diligent to connect the dots from all the miracles that God has done in our lives, so that we experience a God of rest. No matter what our situations are, the new covenant message is that God wants us to live a life without worry, without anxiety, without grumbling.

And if we do live a life of worry and anxiety and grumbling, God says, I'm displeased with you. And He will say, you can't enter my rest, because you're grumbling at your circumstances. You're constantly worried.

And Jesus, as we've talked about often, came to show us God who is the Father. And if you look at the Sermon on the Mount, maybe the biggest section, the biggest topic that He covers there in Matthew chapter 6, where He talks about, don't worry about your situations, because you have a Father.

And we keep underlining how important God as a Father is. The reason for that is because God is saying, I'm giving you miracle after miracle. I open, teach you all these truths, so that you can come to me and you can find a God of rest, a life of rest.

Let us be diligent to enter that rest. And He says in verse 9, Hebrews chapter 4 verse 9, there remains a rest, a permanent Sabbath rest for the people of God that's still out there for us. So dear brothers and sisters, as we go through difficult times in life, personal life, work life, family life, connect the dots as God turns miracle after miracle, all through all the miracles that God has done already in our lives.

Let us not be foolish like the Israelites. Let us not be foolish like the people of Israel in Jesus' time, who didn't connect the dots from all those miracles, to say this is a clear evidence that God is a God of rest.

And God wants me to live a life of rest and contentment. A rest, and if you think about that life that they had in the promised land, this is where they overwhelmingly conquered giant after giant after giant, the story of Joshua, as they lived, and Caleb, as they lived under God's favor.

They won victory after victory after victory. This is the rest. It's not a rest where we don't fight at all. No, it's a rest of overwhelmingly conquering. And that phrase overwhelmingly conquered, that's Romans 8 37.

We have the verse before that, I've spoken on that before. All day long, we are like people sent to die. We are like sheep led to the slaughter, but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer. So it's not that our situations are great.

Our situation is like sheep led to the slaughter. Our situation is like we are led to death all day long. That sounds like a pretty horrible life on the outside, but that's connect the dots, is that God is offering us this life, if we come to him, if we keep coming to him, of increasing and continuous rest.

All day long, all week long, all life long, and Jesus is our example. Not just sleeping on a boat when the water was filling, but all the time he lived a life of rest because he had a father. And dear brothers and sisters, that's our inheritance that we should fight for.

Finding Joy in Heaven Rather Than Miracles

Another time we see where Jesus warns us against miracles is in Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10 verse 17. Sorry, Luke chapter 10 verse 17. Again, we see that Jesus, these 70 of disciples of Jesus come back saying, even the demons, this is another an incredible miracle, demons are subject to these 70 disciples, not just the 12, even the 70.

And Jesus says in verse 20, we may know this verse, Luke chapter 10 verse 20, do not rejoice in the miracles. Beware, I'm warning you. I saw Satan fall like lightning. He may have done many miracles, but then he fell because he thought his miracles made him somebody.

No, don't rejoice, even about all these miracles. Just like Satan fell like lightning, you can fall like lightning too, from the presence of God. Because you're making your rejoicing in the works that you're doing, or in the miracles that we're doing, or in the life we're living.

But Jesus is very clear here, don't make your rejoicing in those things, make your rejoicing in that your names are recorded in heaven. And that's the hard work for us to do, because it can seem boring.

Because we already know that when we gave our hearts to Christ, our name is recorded in heaven. So we may have an interest to go into deeper truths, or more complex truths. But Jesus is very clear, the reason you don't have joy is because you've somehow messed up on your foundation.

The only source of joy for the Christian is that their names are recorded in heaven. That's my guaranteed source of joy. And my name is recorded in heaven. And it has blessed me to think, you know, it says in Revelation chapter 20, 21 somewhere, that the book of life has all the names of the people who are in heaven.

And it's that book, a physical book. I've been blessed to think about the book not being a physical book, but being the hand of God. Because Jesus, Isaiah says in Isaiah 49 verse 15 and 16, where my name is written in heaven.

Can a woman, Isaiah 49 verse 15 and 16, can a woman forget her nursing child? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have your name written on the palms of my hand. That's where my name and your name is being inscribed, carved, is that word inscribed.

And when we see one person's hands in heaven, who's God, it won't be the Father, it won't be the Holy Spirit, it'll be Jesus. And he'll have nail prints in his hands. That's the sign of my name written, was in the nail prints that was taken for me.

That's where I see the love of God. Rejoice in the fact that your name is inscribed in the book of life. Your name is recorded in heaven. Where is it recorded in heaven? On the palm of God. And so it happens when I obey God's and I receive God's promise to say that if you are in Christ, you're seated in the heavenlies, in Christ, in the Father's lap.

And you're sitting there and you see the nail prints on God's hand. What I mean by that, just that picture, is to say I need to see God's personal love for me. God's personal love for me. It's my name inscribed on Jesus' hands.

That Jesus died for me personally. Beware of miracles because I may get stuck at the miracles. I must keep going to find a God of rest and a God of joy. I must see that as my birthright, a life of rest and a life of joy.

Joy is always available to me because it's got nothing to do with circumstances. I can't think of a circumstance better than casting out demons. That's an incredible authority and Jesus says don't find any joy in that.

Beware of that joy that comes from that. Even on your best day, find your joy in the fact that your name is reported in heaven. In the fact that Jesus died for you, just for you. That's what it means.

My name is inscribed on the palm of God's hand. It's very personal and that is where I have to keep and I can find joy on that no matter what my circumstances are. I also said the massive danger of miracles.

The Danger of Great Sermons Without Repentance

I also talked about the massive danger of sermons because that may be a little bit closer to us. We hear a lot more sermons than we hear, we see miracles. And we may hear a lot of great sermons more than we see a lot of great miracles.

If you turn with me to Acts chapter 2, some people call this the greatest sermon on the day of Pentecost besides what Jesus spoke. It had definitely had a lot of external results where 3 ,000 people came to know Jesus and gave their lives to Jesus.

Sounds like a remarkable sermon. Let's see what it says in Acts chapter 2 verse 36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him, Jesus, both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucify.

That's how Peter ends his sermon on the day of Pentecost. And look what happens when Jesus Peter ends this sermon that was clearly filled by the Holy Spirit. A spirit-filled sermon. When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and sent to Peter and the rest of the apostles.

Brethren, what shall we do? What would I do? If I saw a group of people pierced to the heart. Pierced to the heart means they must have been weeping. They must have clearly seen the wrong that they had done.

We can listen to a lot of sermons and clearly be convicted. What do you do then? What is the man of God filled with the Holy Spirit says? Peter says, I'm not fooled. I'm not fooled by all your crying.

I'm not fooled by all your tears. I'm not fooled by all of this pierced to the heart that you have. The Holy Spirit is working in you, but I'm not fooled. You're not in the kingdom as yet. Here's what you need to do.

Verse 38. Repent. What do you mean? Don't you see I'm crying? I've repented. No, Peter is saying no. Repent is very different than crying and be pierced to the heart. Turn around. You got to do something.

You can be very convicted by a sermon. And Peter, Holy Spirit inspired Peter says, I'm not fooled by all of this pierced to the heart business. And so even if the whole church is crying. Doesn't mean that these people have been converted.

Doesn't mean that we've been converted. Even if we've been so convicted by a sermon that we hear. The message of Jesus, the message of Peter is you repent. And you take an action now. You really want to follow Jesus.

Turn around and take an action. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Take your walk seriously and do something about it. Make a public confession that I want to follow Jesus. And for those who are not baptized, that's the word of Jesus.

And if you've been baptized, it's still the same. Immerse yourself. Die to yourself and be resurrected with life. Make a commitment that you're dead to yourself. But all the crying is not fooling God.

It's not fooling the people of God. The true preachers of God. That's what I get from here. Beware of the pierced heart. Because a lot of us can get stuck in Acts 2 verse 37. And say, I'm pierced in my heart.

Sunday after Sunday. I love coming to this church because I keep getting pierced in my heart. And the Holy Spirit's still saying, repent. Turn around. Do something about it. Turn around from loving the world and being affected by your emotions and your feelings.

And being driven by anger and lust or unforgiveness. Turn around and be baptized. Make a public confession with your mouth and your body. I want to follow Jesus. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will rush into your life. Not when the pierced heart happens. But when we turn around and get baptized, immersed in the life of Jesus. In the death and the life of Jesus. Very simple. Very clear.

Dear brothers and sisters. Because we hear a lot of messages here that will pierce our hearts. It's the wonderful part of going to a church which preaches the truth. It'll convict us. It'll pierce our hearts.

Because then the Lord says, I'm not impressed. I'm not fooled. You'll still go to hell. Until you repent. And make a public confession and commitment of your life to follow Jesus. And the Holy Spirit will rush in.

It's time to receive him. And this promise is not just for us, but for our children. And those who are far off. The Holy Spirit will get to them. No problem at all. Another example of beware of the pierced heart.

The Burning Heart on the Road to Emmaus

Luke chapter 24. Both Jesus and Peter said, you see all the miracles, but you don't repent. You hear the great sermons, but if you don't repent, you're in trouble. And the other thing was, you don't have joy.

You don't see what Jesus did for you personally. And Luke chapter 24 too, we see this. These two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They're walking to Emmaus, they're pretty discouraged because Jesus has died.

And then it says in verse 27, this person comes, they don't know it is Jesus. And verse 27, beginning with Moses, with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself. He did a Bible study from Genesis to Malachi about Jesus.

Jesus did a personal Bible study for these two people. And you read what they say about it at this time in verse 32. They said to one another, were not our hearts burning with us while he was speaking to us on the road?

While he was opening up the scriptures to us? They had the burning heart. What good did it do? No good. All that burning heart, all that Bible study by Jesus, the perfect Bible teacher using the perfect resource, the word of God from Moses, Genesis, all the way to Malachi, have the perfect Bible study.

Imagine having a personal Bible study with Jesus himself for a couple of hours or however long it was. All they got was a burning heart. That sounds amazing, but it isn't. Because we know what happened afterwards.

It is only when they begged him to come into the house and stay with them, they didn't see Jesus. They didn't know Jesus. They maybe were content with the pastures. They were content with other things.

He leads me besides still waters. But they didn't know Jesus as yet. They didn't see Jesus. So they were ready to still keep going towards the house. But thankfully, they said, Jesus, don't leave this person.

You man of God, don't leave us. Because we're not done yet. We've got the burning heart, but we're not satisfied with that. We want more. When they took him in, Jesus broke the bread and blessed it. Again, a symbol of Jesus' personal sacrifice for them.

That's when their eyes were opened and they saw Jesus and they got up. Is it wrong to have a pierced heart? Is it wrong to have a burning heart? Absolutely not. It's a wonderful thing. It's used by the Holy Spirit, but it is not the answer.

All our tears, all our pierced and burning hearts is not the final step. It's the validation that we're on the right step. But let's not stop there, because I'll tell you myself, I've been fooled many times by the pierced and the burning heart.

Wow, I was really convicted. Things are going to be different. No, it won't be different if I don't repent. It won't be different if I don't take a strong commitment to confess my hope and to say I'm with Jesus, to tell my family, to tell the people of God I'm with Him.

And this is what these people did too. They got up in verse 35, 33. They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and said, I got to tell somebody I've seen Jesus. They had to open their mouth.

They have to talk about it. They have to say it. That's where it comes in. As I close the massive entrance to life, one encouragement thing from both Luke chapter 10 and Matthew chapter 11. I talked about two kinds of stories in the life of Jesus.

The Simple Entrance Into True Life

The people who didn't repent, even though they saw the miracles and the disciples. In both those instances, I don't have the time to look it up, but I'll just go to Matthew chapter 11. In verse 25, Matthew 11, 25.

In these two times, Jesus rejoices and says, I thank you, Father, that the entrance to this life, the entrance to the true life is not for the sophisticated and the know-it-alls. That's what the message Bible says.

He has spelt it out to ordinary people, to the simple-minded people who will just take Him at His word. For the children, for those who are not trying to complicate the gospel, who will say, I've got the pierced heart, what must I do?

I must turn around and seek to embrace Jesus fully and make a public confession of my faith over and over again. I don't want to be ashamed of Jesus anymore. The simple, simple acts that we do, the Holy Spirit rushes in and Jesus says He rejoiced.

He was so excited. The message Bible says abruptly Jesus broke into prayer. In Luke chapter 10, again, He says the same thing. When He says, don't find your joy in casting out demons, but find your joy in the fact that your name is recorded in heaven.

The very next verse, it says in the message, at that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant, so excited in the Holy Spirit, saying, I thank you, Father, that you've hidden this way. Most of the sophisticated people want miracles, want great sermons, want casting out demons.

That's what they want. Lord, I thank you that you've hidden these things from the sophisticated intellectuals. You've given it, relieved, you've revealed it. You've shown it to those who are just simple-minded children, infants, those who don't complicate the message.

So when the Holy Spirit says to Peter, repent, turn around, change your thinking about God. God is a God of rest. You can look in your own intellectual arguments and say, well, I haven't had a rest. I tried this, I tried that.

So God can't be true. And we come up with complicated arguments to show why God's word can't be true for our lives. But God's still calling over and over again till we die, and we don't know if it'll be today or tomorrow or years from now.

When God's constantly saying, the message remains the same. Come to me and I can give you rest as you take my yoke upon me and you learn that my life is not the happy life, it's the humble and the gentle life.

And I had a life of suffering. I was well acquainted with pains and sickness and grief. I had that kind of life. But I also had the life of joy. Let me give you one verse in closing Psalm 16, 8 through 11.

Psalm 16 and the Unshakable Life of Joy

I have set, Psalm 16, verse 8, I have set the Lord continually before me. That is the way to joy. Because he's at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Take Jesus's hand in your right hand. That is the secret to not being shaken and have fullness of joy, is to take his nail pierced hand and say, Lord Jesus, did you die personally for me?

Did you really, you created the universe? Did you come and live a suffering life for me and did you die for me? I want to take your hand in my right hand. I will not be shaken. I'm going to set you before me.

Not my circumstances, not my trials, not my troubles, not my failings. I'm going to set you, the life you lived, the price you paid before me. I'm going to take it into my right hand. And as I meditate on your life, I will find the unshakable life in your presence is fullness of joy.

God can do this for us. The life of joy, the life of rest. It's our heritage. Let us not be fooled by great messages or great miracles or whatever it may be. Let's press on to connect the dots to a life of rest and joy, where we repent, turn around from our sins, be baptized, immersed in the life of Jesus, the death and life of Jesus.

Exchange our life for his. Afresh, dear brothers and sisters, let's do it afresh today. We've never done it before. And the Holy Spirit will be given in full measure to us. May God help us.