Focus on the Afterlife Luke 16 Vs 19-31

The Bride of Christ and the Call to Be Ready

We have two hymns today that ask questions and that's one of the types of hymns that we have. There's some questions to ask. The first song that we're going to sing is Are You Washed? The first verse is asking are you saved?

That's really what it's asking. The second verse asks are you walking daily by the Savior's side? How's your Christian walk? And the next verse says when the bridegroom cometh and I stop for a second and say I've had several people say to me what's the deal about the bridegroom?

The scripture talks about you and I as the church we are the bride of Christ. Did you know that you are a bride of Christ? And so it talks about when the bridegroom cometh are you going to be ready? Are the things like what does a bride do before the wedding?

She makes sure that there's not a spot or wrinkle anywhere, right? And so that's what this verse is. So there's this verse, this song asks a question. So stand together with me and think of the words as we sing together.

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today's.

Scripture reading is from the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. And I saw a great white throne in him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and it was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.

This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading hearing of his holy word. Harold's gonna come and.

Help me on this song but I want to say a word first of all when we talk this next song is called the great judgment morning. It's a new song. It was written in 1884 so but it's talking about the great judgment morning.

And I wanted to say a word when I read the scriptures as I understand it there's going to be two resurrections and two judgments. The first resurrection is for the Christian Saints and the Lord says that he will judge us but it's not for salvation.

It's judging us for the works that we've done as saved individuals. And there will be it's the scripture talks about being rewards and losses for what we didn't do. But then it talks. And I believe my understanding at the end of the thousand-year reign the Lord will have what is called the great white throne judgment.

And at that what he just read this morning in the scripture was speaking of the great white throne judgment. All those that come up to be judged at that time are unbelievers whether they were morally good or not.

But they said we have no time for Jesus. That's the second resurrection. They will be resurrected but judged. And as you read in that scripture he just read cast into hell. So this hymn is a warning. Make sure you're in the first.

Resurrection. Make sure you've responded to the Lord very sobering right. So that.

Is a warning. This next him is another him with questions. Do you have any room for Jesus. So stand together with me as we sing.

The Rich Man and Lazarus: A Warning About the Afterlife

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 16. Verses 19 through 31. Luke chapter 16.

Verses 19 through 31. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried and being in torment in Hades. He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

Then he cried and said father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things.

But now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot nor can those from there pass to us.

Then he said I beg you therefore father that you would send him to my father's house for I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him they have Moses in the prophets.

Let them hear them. And he said no father Abraham but if with one goes to them from the dead they will repent. But he said to him if they do not hear Moses in the prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Gracious father we are grateful to be studying this passage. We pray that you would help us to feel the urgency of what's coming after our life and help us to understand your word.

And more importantly help us to understand the mercy of Christ that he would die for our sin so that we would not have to suffer the wrath that we deserved that we may be forgiven and adopted into your family.

Help us to see the magnificent grace that Jesus had given us through his death and resurrection. Help us to appreciate that. More importantly help us to live that in Jesus name. We pray we return back to Luke.

Now for the past two weeks we were in John for the Resurrection Sunday and Palm Sunday. So I would like to go over what just happened in Luke because we have to read Luke 16 in the context of Luke. Remember the Pharisees have rejected Jesus call to respond in faith.

They saw Jesus miracles. They dined with Jesus yet they did not want anything to do with Jesus. Not only that when Jesus taught that we have to completely devote ourselves to God rather than for example money the Pharisees mocked him they scoffed at him because they themselves were lovers of money.

Now before we delve into this text this text is not about the rich versus the poor. This text is not about communist manifesto. After all the rich men in torment believes that his brothers who are also wealthy could avoid the torment if they repent.

It's not the wealth that is the problem. It's the sin. And furthermore we will see in Luke 19 the chief tax collector Zacchaeus who is a very wealthy man. He will be saved when Jesus visits his house.

Again it is not a simplistic picture of rich men bad and poor men good. In this particular case the rich man happens to be an unrepentant sinner. And we will see how unrepentant he is. But it is not the wealth that makes someone wicked.

It is that someone who's wicked who has wealth turns out to be very not compassionate and uncaring. The text here is about the importance of responding to God's Word in faith while we have the chance.

What the text shows us that there is a time in which after our life in which repentance is not an option. In fact those who are in torment do not actually show any evidence that they do want to repent.

We went over this with Bible study on prayer. Oftentimes people think of God as this angry person in heaven who's telling those in hell. No no no you can't come up here as if he's some stingy man who's so vigorously guarding the gates of heaven.

However that's not the picture at all. All throughout the Bible those who end up in hell do not even think about repenting. It's not that they are begging on their knees oh oh how I wish I had repented in my lifetime.

But rather they're unrepentant. And what's important here is that the rich men didn't end up in the place of torment because of his wealth. It's because how he spent his wealth in Israel. In the Old Testament those who have were commanded to care for those who don't.

And the reason is not for the sake of equity. What what this culture says it's so that the people of God would reflect the merciful and gracious character of God by caring for those who can't. And that was actually the fruit the evidence that they actually belong to God.

People who belong to God are generous like God. And after all when you help those who cannot pay you back and of course you're not proclaiming about it and publishing how great you are. But when you help those who cannot pay back you're actually doing this motivated by your genuine faith in God rather than this expectation that you'd be paid back with interest because after all the poor the lame and the orphans the widows they cannot pay back.

So in this regard it's not self-motivated but rather it's selfless. It's God motivated and that's what the rich man was supposed to do if he had believed in God. In the end how we treat the least of God's people reveals our true priorities in our hearts and this text teaches us we need to urgently respond to the call of God to believe and to live in that faith.

The main point of this text is that we must selflessly live according to God's revelation looking forward to the afterlife we must selfless selflessly live according to God's revelation looking forward to the afterlife first how we live on earth determines whether we are blessed or tormented for all eternity.

How we live on earth determines whether we are blessed or tormented for all eternity. The first three verses introduce the characters of Jesus' story. This story is very unique because in many parables, it starts with the narrator telling us that Jesus spoke in a parable.

This one doesn't. Second, in all the parables we've seen so far, none of the characters are named. This one has a character who is named. It's the poor man, Lazarus. Because of that, people have been debating whether this is a parable, or is this a real story regarding Lazarus?

And with that in mind, we read this story. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. Although the rich man is the main character of this story, we do not learn of his name.

This story is a negative example. This is what you do not want to be. The rich man is not what you want to be. His identity is only marked by his wealth. And maybe perhaps that's one way of saying that's all he cared about.

That's where he found his identity. That's who he was. He was just a rich man. Now, we get to see his lavish lifestyle. First, by what he wore. And then, what he ate. The purple clothes were extremely expensive.

And as some of you know, if you've been here for Exodus, where we did go over purple and blue coloring for the building of the tabernacle, we know that purple color dye required thousands of sea snails.

Literal snails, and their liquid dyed the fabric purple. To dye one garment purple, you needed thousands. And that is an expensive venture. So to be wearing purple clothes back then, it meant status. Purple was Prada of the ancient world.

Not only is his outer garment fancy, his inner garment is fine linen. While some people could barely get themselves dressed in any clothing, this rich man's undergarments were even extravagant. Now, the rich man's body was not only covered by the fancy things, but also was filled with fancy feasts.

He feasted sumptuously. Think filet mignon and ribeye steaks. From outside to inside, his life exemplified luxury. The next two verses describe the other character, also in the same order of the outside and inside.

But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate. If this is a parable, this is the only parable in which a character is given a name. Hence, some people believe Lazarus was a real person.

And Jesus is able to tell this story because he is from heaven. He knows what afterlife is like. In fact, Jesus talks about hell and heaven more so than any other character in the Bible. And that's because he is God.

While the rich man was covered in extravagance, Lazarus was covered in sores. Think ulcers or abscess. Painful and popping. Not only that, he was laid at the rich man's gate. By the fact that the rich man has a gate shows that he lived in a mansion.

In the Bible, the temple has a gate, right? The temple has gates. Palaces have gates. Well, apparently, this rich man has a gate too. While the rich man lived in his mansion, some people had to lay Lazarus by the gate.

Remember, the passive verb here, he was laid there, which means Lazarus himself did not even place himself there. Someone else did it out of pity. Oh, maybe if I just put him near the rich man, maybe, maybe he will see Lazarus and the rich man might give him something to eat.

This shows that Lazarus either was extremely impoverished, that he couldn't get to the gate himself, or he was crippled. He couldn't get there himself. He was someone who couldn't help himself. He was completely helpless.

Now, verse 21 further unfolds Lazarus' sorry state. Desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. The crumbs were pieces of bread that were often given to the animals of the house because they no longer really needed those crumbs.

While the rich man feasted every day, there would have been many, many crumbs. And Lazarus just wanted to be treated like one of his animals. Lazarus did not need an invitation to the feast. He just wanted some scraps.

Not only that, the wild dogs licked Lazarus. This is not that the dogs felt sorry for him. After all, the dogs, dogs are not really portrayed favorably in the Bible. And this is because dogs are the only domesticated animals that will eat human flesh in the Bible.

They were unclean. In fact, in 1 Kings chapter 21, the judgment against the wicked queen Jezebel is that the dogs would consume her. What this means is that the wild dogs were ritualistically unclean.

As in, if they lick your sores, you were made unclean. Here we see that Lazarus is at the very bottom. It couldn't get any worse in his life. He's not only impoverished, but he's just made unclean in his attempt to get fed.

And there's no evidence that he was ever fed by this rich man. Now, at this point, if you ask the audience, who is more blessed? They would have had no problem saying the rich man. Obviously, the rich man got all the good stuff from God.

And the poor man, Lazarus, man, he must have done something really bad to anger God. And oftentimes, we think like that, don't we? If something bad happens to us, we assume God is going against me. This parable actually goes against that notion.

If something bad happens to you, it may not be even God who did that. And for Christians, it's even more important to know that God does not punish you because God has poured out all His wrath on His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.

There is no more leftover wrath for Christians. Now, God does discipline His children, but that is not punishment. The discipline is so that we become more like Jesus Christ. Punishment is for the sin and guilt that we carry, but we don't have that anymore if you believe in Jesus Christ.

Now, the plot twist comes in verse 22. So, it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abram's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. Two drastically different lives, yet they both die.

Two drastically different lives and two drastically different afterlives. Lazarus is taken by the angels to Abram's bosom. Now, Abram is actually the main patriarch of the Old Testament. He is the father of Israel, right?

He's the father of the Jews. Abraham epitomizes faith. He, after all, was counted righteous by God for his faith. It's not that Abraham lived a sinless life and God said, yes, I count you righteous. No, he trusted in God and he was counted righteous, right?

He was justified by God for his faith and he's the father of the faith. And what this shows is that Lazarus is counted among the blessed. Lazarus is actually truly blessed because where he ended up, with whom he belongs.

Ironically, Lazarus, who suffered outside as a social reject, is received by none other than Abraham, the hero of the faith. That's the ironic plot twist here. Abram's bosom means Abraham's side and it really, it's kind of like a way that we say Peter's pearly gates, right?

Traditionally, Jews believed that there were two parts of the underworld and the underworld's called Sheol. The first place is where the righteous dwell and that's where Abraham and all the other Old Testament saints ended up.

And the second place is for the wicked. This is the only place in the Bible that mentions Abraham's bosom as a phrase. So we cannot know much more about this place. It is believed that this is part of the underworld where the Old Testament saints ended up before the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And after Jesus died for their sin, because he died for their sin just as much as our sin, those who believed him were taken to heaven with him. Now, some believe that Abram's bosom is just another word for heaven.

Either way, it is clear that there are two different places for the righteous and the unrighteous. It is clear that there is an afterlife in which you receive what you've earned. For those who are righteous, who are counted righteous because of belief in God and his promises, in a place of comfort.

To those who did not believe, in a place of torment. And I don't use the word hell here because hell is actually a place after the judgment day, the lake of fire. These people are in the waiting room right now.

But it's still tormenting. It's terrible. But they will end up in the place of ultimate judgment in hell after Jesus comes back and judges the unrighteous. Now, just as Lazarus' life reversed completely, so does the rich man's life.

And being in torment in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. The rich man ended up in the place of torment. The word for torment is used in other Jewish texts for the type of torture that's inflicted on slaves to obtain confessions.

That's not good. That is torturous. Ironically, only when the rich man is tormented, he looks up and sees Lazarus. All his life, the rich man wanted nothing to do with Lazarus. Yet when the situation is reversed, Lazarus is suddenly noticeable.

Oh, it's that man who was outside my gate. This story is an important reminder for our culture because we're so focused on living the best life now. We feel entitled to the best clothes. We feel entitled to the best foods.

We feel entitled to the best jobs. This is not to say that it's a wicked thing to desire good food, desire good clothes, or desire good jobs. It's when these good things become the ultimate things. When these good things become the very reason why you live, then it becomes idolatry.

You start to worship these things or this status rather than God. It is the thought that you deserve the best now. It's driven by a sense of entitlement, and our culture is all too familiar with that.

I'm entitled to this. Someone else better pay for it. The fact of the matter is, most people will not reach their best. Not only that, more tragically, even if they do reach their best, what they imagine to be their best life, they will be utterly unsatisfied.

Look at the Hollywood actors and actresses. Look at the politicians. Look at the CEOs. I don't know about you. Satisfaction is not a word I would describe with their lives. What's more important is that the most devastating effect comes after your life.

Your best life now does not guarantee your best afterlife. Whether you become a millionaire or you reach your dream life, nothing you can accomplish on earth will place you in heaven. But what about this musician?

His music was so good. God doesn't need him. There are better musicians up there. What about this genius inventor? You can say he went to hell. God doesn't need that invention either. He has better things up there.

The only guarantee of having the best afterlife is living your current life by trusting in Jesus Christ. And this starts with trusting that only Jesus' death on the cross rescued you from your sin, and that he rose from the dead.

There was nothing in your life that was good enough that you could offer to bribe God to get into heaven. Not only that, after you place your faith in Jesus, you start to live for him. Your life is no longer yours to live, but it belongs to Christ.

This does not mean we all get into vocational ministry, drop what you're doing. It means living faithfully according to Scripture where God has placed you. If you are a mother, disciple your kids in Christ daily.

If you are a father, you better be praying for your family, providing for your family, loving your wife sacrificially, and making sure you lead them in the way of Christ. If you're children, you obey your parents because Christ placed your parents above you, and so on.

Faithful life does not mean vocational ministry. Faithful life means being good stewards of where God has placed you. And oftentimes people think, well, if I'm not chasing my best life now, I'm gonna be missing out.

That's not what the world has to offer. However, it's the opposite. If you live for the best afterlife with Christ, if that's your focus, I want to see Christ, I want to be with Christ, Christ is my treasure.

Christ died for me. I have no other desire but to love Christ. You will live the best life now. Ironically, if you chase after the best life now, you won't get it, and you'll get the worst life in afterlife.

But if you chase after the best afterlife now, you'll have the best life now. In the end, your life in Christ is the best possible life that God has to offer. Christ is the best treasure that heaven has ever seen.

In fact, Christians are too easily satisfied with just the things of the world. Well, you know, I'll just trust Jesus just enough to get by. I'll just serve others just enough to be noticed. I'll be generous enough just enough to be comfortable.

And I guarantee you, if you ask any of the older saints here who have lived for Christ all their lives, or missionaries who visit, who may have given up their family, better jobs, influence, or more expensive lifestyle, a place they want to call home, if you ask them, do you regret what you gave up, the faithful will say, no, because I've gained so much.

Ultimately, I've gained Christ. Ultimately, I got to spend these decades with Christ, living in His will, living for His joy, looking forward to that commendation. Good work, my good and faithful servant.

Job well done. For you have been faithful over a little. Now, how can we faithfully respond? God's revelation is sufficient for all to respond in repentance. God's revelation is sufficient for all to respond in repentance.

After seeing Lazarus on the same side as Abraham, the rich man makes his pleas. The first plea is shown in 24, which Abraham replies from 25 through 26. Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.

The first request by the rich man is that he himself may feel some temporary relief from the torment of Hades. What's really odd about this request is that he asks Lazarus to come down to his level. Have Lazarus provide that relief.

It really shows that the rich man really was aware of Lazarus in the life prior. It's not like Lazarus was starving outside the gate because the rich man was unaware of it. The rich man knew of Lazarus.

He knows the name. Abraham didn't need to introduce him. After all, in the underworld, there's no guarantee you're omniscient. Actually, you're not going to be omniscient when you die. You're not God.

Lazarus did not suffer outside the gate because the rich man was unaware. Rather, Lazarus hungered and suffered outside the gate despite the rich man knowing about his sorry state. Moreover, the rich man has a troubling mindset.

Just as he did not care for Lazarus in his lifetime, he still has no regard for Lazarus. To this rich man, Lazarus is still the insignificant man who was lying down at his gate. I just send him over here.

He was fine living by my gate all his life. He can stop by in the place of torment. No regard for the well-being of Lazarus. What we do need to consider is that the request is very minimal. Just dip the tip of your finger in water to cool my tongue.

A couple of significant points here about the afterlife and torment. First, the torment for the unrighteous will be so unbearable that they would long for even the slightest temporary relief. It's so unendurable that even the littlest relief would be good enough.

Just give me that little bit. Just give me that little drop of water. And this is troubling because think about the next time when people or shows joke about hell. It's a seriously, seriously tormenting place.

It's not a place you want anyone to go to. Second, the rich man is not repentant. The words that come out of his mouth is not a confession of his sins. He's not confessing his calloused heart that disregarded the languishing Lazarus outside the gate while he feasted sumptuously.

No, rather, the request is, could you have Lazarus serve me again? Could you send him down here? This is the picture of hell. There is no one who is trying to repent. There's no remorse for their sin.

In one sense, yes, God sent them there. And in another sense, they're keeping themselves there. They're not repenting. They can't. They weren't wrong in their eyes. Three, ironically, the rich man asked for a little bit of relief from Lazarus, which he himself did not offer Lazarus when they both were alive.

The rich man could have easily given up scraps from under his table. There's no evidence that he did that. Now, all of a sudden, the rich man, now the roles are reversed, wants Lazarus to do something just little.

It's just a little favor. Come on. The rich man desires what he did not offer. All throughout this interaction, Lazarus does not speak. You'll not hear Lazarus speak. It's not because he's mute. Instead, Abraham speaks on his behalf.

And this is because Lazarus has no need to defend or justify himself. He is already comforted and has entered into his master's joy, and he does not feel any need to defend himself. For all of us who are in heaven, whoever believe in Jesus Christ, you have one defender and one justifier, and that is Jesus Christ.

You do not have to defend yourself. You do not have to justify yourself. Now or in heaven, if someone falsely accuses you, you have one defender, and he will defend you. You don't have to justify yourself.

Now, Abraham defends him. Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus' evil things, but now he's comforted and you are tormented. The first reason why Lazarus will not go down to comfort the rich man is because he already received the good things, and he chose to indulge himself rather than to show compassion on Lazarus.

What the rich man wants now, he never provided Lazarus in the first place. In one sense, there is no mercy for those who did not show mercy. The second reason is this, and besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.

There's a great chasm. There's a great distance between Lazarus and the rich man, between the righteous and the unrighteous. And this is even beyond Abraham's pay grade, right? The passive verb fixed means that God did it.

It's been fixed. By whom? Well, God. In the afterlife, there is no chance to reverse the course. There is no salvation after death. And that's what we're really saying about. There is no salvation after death.

You cannot repent after death. There's no record of that possibility. And this is what makes our plea to repent and believe in Jesus Christ so urgent. You may not have a tomorrow. You might be able to talk to the Arnettes.

They shared a couple Sundays ago during prayer about how there have been people who responded to Jesus, and they were young people, kids, teenagers. And after they believed, they died shortly after. We just don't know.

But what we do know is this. There is an expiration date in which you can repent. This idea that I'm going to live my best life now and repent when I'm good and old and retired there's no guarantee of that.

And in fact, it's permanent after death. Wherever you're headed, that's where you'll be. Now, knowing the rich man cannot find even temporary relief for himself, he pleads on behalf of his five brothers, right?

I beg you, therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house. For I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment. The rich man is not completely self-absorbed.

Here he does care about his family. He knows just like him, his family, they're self-absorbed. They have hardened hearts. They're self-indulgent. At this rate, where they're headed, they're going to be joining him right where he is, unless there's an intervention.

Again, the rich man has no problem ordering Lazarus where to go. He is still unable to show compassion to Lazarus. Lazarus, who finally found comfort and blessing, which he never experienced in his life, the rich man says, oh, well, you know, he can go.

Let him leave that. Make him leave that. Do my bidding. And Abraham concisely cancels his request. They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. Moses and the prophets are the whole of the Old Testament.

And this makes sense with the audience of the Pharisees who believed in the whole of the Old Testament, right? Not just the first five books, Torah. What Jesus is saying and what Abraham is saying really here is that this is because all throughout the Old Testament, God commands Israel to show mercy and compassion to the weak as God does.

It's everywhere. They don't need extra help. Just have them to listen to God. Have them open up that Scripture and follow. Desperately, the rich man counters, no, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead,.

They will repent.

This sounds logical until we pack its premises. The rich man is telling Abraham that God's Word is not enough to lead his brothers to repentance. According to the rich man, God's revelation is insufficient to save unless it is paired with a spectacular miracle that is tailored for his brothers.

My brothers deserve a little more than what others get. What a scary thought. Again, Abraham rejects the claim. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.

If they reject Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead. Abraham firmly holds to the sufficiency of Scripture. If they reject God's revelation, they will not repent even if someone rises from the dead.

And this is proven true in Scripture. Over and over again, God intervenes with miracles that could not have happened unless God did it. Yet Israel's heart, after a certain time, sometimes short, sometimes decades, turn away from God and start worshiping other gods.

In Scripture, over and over again, we see that it's not the miracles that lead people to God. Rather, changed hearts lead people to God. They need to first believe in God's Word in order to repent. And ultimately, Abraham's response alludes to Christ's forthcoming death on the cross and resurrection.

After all, Jesus will rise from the dead, and he will show up to many in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Yet, the religious establishment, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, will still reject him and persecute the church.

They will not be persuaded though Jesus rose from the dead because in the end, they have hardened their hearts against God. Consider the Pharisees. They saw many miracles even when Jesus was alive. Jesus cleansed lepers.

He healed the lame. Jesus gave sight to the blind. Jesus raised people from the dead. Yet, they always found various ways to justify their rejection of Jesus Christ. Well, he has demons in him. He's doing that by the power of Satan.

They didn't reject Jesus because they did not see miracles and signs. They rejected Jesus despite seeing the signs because of their hardened hearts, calloused hearts. They have already closed their minds about Jesus, and no number of miracles would have penetrated their thick skulls.

And this is important because faith comes from hearing of God's word, not seeing miracles. I'm not saying miracles don't happen. I'm sure all of us, we've seen some miracles in our lives. The fact that God provides the funding for the roof, that's a miracle.

I'm saying our faith does not depend on the supernatural spectacles, but Scripture supernaturally working in our hearts. Our faith is dependent on what God has said and has done rather than what our eyes personally witness.

In the end, we believe in Jesus that Scripture tells us, not because we got to meet Him face to face, but because God's word said so. There is nothing else you need to do but trust Him. We trust the crucified King who suffered for our sin and rose from the dead.

And we get to hear it. You don't have to get your life together before approaching this King. You don't have to be perfect to be saved. You're saved by God's grace alone. Salvation is a free gift in Christ, and you get to hear it from His word.

And you're responding to His word. What this means is Scripture is sufficient to lead us to genuine faith. And this is why the church's focus must be on the word of God, not spectacles. It's not about entertainment.

It is not about whatever miracle services they have. It's about God's word. We don't gather to attempt miracles. We gather to hear God's word, and thereby we experience His loving presence. It is not the miracles or spectacles that lead people to salvation, but God's very word preached and proclaimed, which the Holy Spirit uses in our hearts to regenerate us.

You will meet people in the world who reject Christ, and they will demand signs. If you talk to atheists, nonbelievers, any other pagan religions, they'll say, well, if Jesus is real, then show me. Do something.

And they will try to poke holes in Scripture. Yet we must hold fast to God's wisdom in Scripture. This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians, "'For since in the wisdom of God "'the world did not know God through wisdom, "'it pleased God through the folly of what we preach "'to save those who believe.'.