The Gospel of Luke (52) Controversy with the Pharisees (3) 01/14/2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Acts chapter 1 is not that long, however, and so he'll lead us in reading.

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He reads from the ESV, English Standard Version, and then he'll pray for us. Acts chapter 1.

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In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the

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Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

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And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the

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Father, which he said, You heard from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the

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Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had come together, they asked him,

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Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them,

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It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the

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Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all

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Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

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And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said,

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Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

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Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a

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Sabbath day journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying.

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Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus and Simon, the zealot and Judas, the son of James.

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All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers.

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In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers. The company of persons was in all about 120 and said,

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Brothers, the scriptures had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas who became a guide to those who arrested

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Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.

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Now this man acquired a field with the rewards of his wickedness and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle of all and all his bowels gushed out.

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And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And so the field was called in their own language, a

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Kildama, that is field of blood for it is written in the book of Psalms. May his camp become desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it and let another take his office.

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So one of the men who have accompanied us during all this time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning with the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.

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And they put forward to Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justice and Matthias.

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And they prayed and said, you Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which

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Judas turned aside to go into his own place. And they cast lots for them and the lot fell to Matthias.

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And he was numbered with the 11 apostles. Let's pray.

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Lord God, we are very thankful that we are your witnesses, that you have given us the ministry of reconciliation, that we are to go out and proclaim your truth to a world that desperately needs to hear it.

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And so, Lord, we we thank you that you've empowered us for this. You've given us the spirit. You've given us your word.

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You've given us teachers and pastors to help instruct us. You've given us the body of Christ to encourage us.

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We pray, Lord, that we would be bold in our proclamation of the truth because the world needs to hear it so desperately.

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So, Lord, we pray that our proclamation would be in love, that it would be gracious, that we would be patient.

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And above all, Lord, that we would glorify you in what we say and do. And, Lord, now as we continue our worship through the preaching of the word, we just pray that you would strengthen

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Lars, give him clarity of voice, clarity of thought.

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And we pray that as we hear your words, that you would implant it deep within our hearts. We pray, Lord, that we would surrender to it and we would walk in obedience to it.

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Lord, give us wisdom in how to apply all these things in the power of your spirit. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name.

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Amen. Well, let's return to Luke 11 in our study of this gospel.

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Of course, we had that snowstorm last weekend, and so we were not able to have the

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Lord's Supper. And also as a consequence, because there were so few here, we did not take a fellowship offering.

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But I happen to know our fellowship offering is quite depleted at this point, and, yeah, we have some folks that have some needs.

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And so we'll take that fellowship offering, you know, at the end, the retiring offering. A hundred percent of it goes to people in need with a gospel witness.

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And so if you could, any of you could assist us with that, that would be simply wonderful. All right, here we are.

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We are presently addressing in Luke's gospel this rather extended section in which our

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Lord had controversy with the Pharisees and their scribes. In Luke 11, 14 through 54, we read of this controversy set before us in four stages, and we have mentioned this every week now.

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This is the third Lord's Day. We address the first two of these stages, the first two out of the four, which are set forth in verses 14 through 28.

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And today we'll give attention to the third section of this passage, which is in verses 29 through 36.

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And here in these verses, we read of Jesus's response to those who requested from him a sign from heaven in order to authenticate his person and his teaching.

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And our Lord Jesus reacted and responded to these challengers, that's what they were, telling them rather than seeking signs, they ought to be seeking to know the truth and to live according to the truth.

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Now, as we consider this episode before us today, we want to be reminded of the larger context of Luke's gospel.

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And we addressed this or touched on this last Lord's Day again, as the gospel of Luke unfolds,

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Luke has set forth the ministry of Jesus by first emphasizing his authority as the promised

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Messiah, the Son of Man. And then secondly, after having established his authority,

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Luke stressed the importance to hear the teaching of Jesus. If he has the authority as the

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Messiah, we should certainly listen carefully to understand and embrace his words as the word of God.

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But thirdly, Luke recorded episodes to show forth that one who recognizes

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Jesus's authority, who hears attentively his teaching, is to obey that teaching.

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It's not enough to hear only, but you were to heed the word of God, obey that teaching.

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And we see this emphasis in this entire passage. We saw it last week, of course, with the

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Mary worshiper, as it were, and we see that here in this passage before us as well.

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And so in these verses, verses 29 through 36, we see Jesus rebuking sign seekers.

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We read in Luke 11, 29 and following that Jesus taught the gathered crowds, they were not to seek after signs, miracles, but rather they were to seek the truth of God that he taught them in order to conform their thinking and living to that truth.

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And so here's the passage we want to address. And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, he began to say, this is an evil generation.

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It seeks a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah, the prophet.

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For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the son of man will be to this generation.

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Future tense, will be. 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 and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

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The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

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No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand that those who come in may see the light.

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The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.

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But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. And therefore, take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.

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If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.

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By considering this passage before us, we discover a very important matter that our

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Lord Jesus was pressing upon his hearers, the importance of seeking truth and the importance of acting upon that truth.

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If you're not right on this matter, you will not be right in any area of your spiritual life.

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If you are not pursuing truth, seeking to understand God and his ways in the world and in your life, and if you're not acting upon that knowledge, then you're setting yourself up for a great fall.

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It will not go well for you. On the day of judgment, there will be those whose lives will testify against your neglect and failure to seek the truth of the word of God and to order your life according to that knowledge you acquire.

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There will be witnesses for the prosecution on the day of judgment. And so let's again be mindful of our context.

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The Lord Jesus had been traveling with his disciples on his way to Jerusalem where he would be betrayed, arrested, suffer and die on his cross and then be raised from the dead on the third day.

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On one recent occasion, as recorded in Luke 11, 14 and following, he had driven a demon out of a boy, actually a man

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I believe, a demon that had afflicted this man by causing him to be mute.

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All who were present were amazed at the miracle they had witnessed, but some arose and sought to discredit our

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Lord who attributed his miraculous work to the power of the devil. He only did this through the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons.

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But there were others, although they had seen clearly that God had done a great work through Jesus, were unconvinced of his identity and authority.

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They wanted something more from him before they would believe in him. The Lord Jesus had not satisfied them and so they asked for a sign, a sign from heaven.

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And so in the passage under consideration today, Jesus addressed his crowd of sign seekers.

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People are always looking for some miracle, thinking that that is going to enable them to believe.

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And so in these verses, the first portion of this passage, verses 29 through 32, we have a rebuke to sign seekers.

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And so Jesus first begins by giving the crowd a very stinging rebuke.

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We read Jesus pronounced to these sign seekers, declaring to them that they were an evil generation.

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That's the direct approach. Verse 29a, and while the crowds were thickly gathered together, he began to say, this is an evil generation.

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Now the immediate issue which our Lord would address was the evil of those who were seeking a sign from him.

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But this stated assessment of verse 29 was not limited to them only, but Jesus spoke of all those who were gathered together before him.

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This was a universal charge. And so the criticism leveled by Jesus was a general charge of the entire crowd before him.

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He did not single out one group from the others, declared its wickedness. The entire generation that was gathered together was evil.

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While the crowds were thickly gathered together, he began to say, this is an evil generation.

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Our Lord had used this word evil on an earlier occasion to describe even the character of his own disciples.

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When he was speaking to them of the willingness of God the Father to answer their prayers. And so we read in Luke 11, 13, these words of Jesus to his disciples, if you then being evil, he was talking about Peter, James, John, and the other apostles.

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If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the

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Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And here Jesus spoke of all who were present before him saying, this is an evil generation.

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Of course, this generation standing before the Lord Jesus was evil as are all other generations of human beings in this world are evil.

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The Holy Scriptures speak of the entire human race as fallen, wicked, immoral, corrupt, perverse, and sinful.

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That's not popularly received in the world today. It's not the thing to build up self -image, but it's reality, spiritual reality as far as God's word is concerned.

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We are evil in God's evaluation. The Holy Scriptures direct us to the source and cause of our sinfulness to Adam's first sin in the

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Garden of Eden. Adam's one sin resulted in all of us being sinners.

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Paul wrote of this in Romans 5, 19, for as by one man disobedient, one man's disobedience, many were made sinners.

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And that many is the entire human race apart from the Lord Jesus. Adam was our federal head who stood on behalf of all the human race that he would father.

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And because of his sin, all his posterity, all the human race has been born into this world evil, that is sinful.

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God regards us as evil because we are independent from and defiant of God who made us.

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Arthur Pink described the nature of sin and its effects when Adam sinned.

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No sooner had Adam revolted from his gracious maker and benefactor than the evil effects became apparent.

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His understanding, Adam's understanding, originally enlightened with heavenly wisdom became darkened and overcast with crass ignorance.

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His heart, formerly fired with holy veneration toward his creator, warm with love to him, now became alienated and filled with enmity against God.

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His will, which had been in subjection to his rightful governor, had cast off the yoke of obedience.

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His whole moral constitution was wrecked, had become unhinged, perverse. In a word, the life of God had departed from his soul.

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He spiritually died in the day he ate of that forbidden tree. His aversion for the supremely excellent one appeared in his flight from him as soon as he heard his approach.

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He fled from God. His crass ignorance and stupidity were evinced by his vain attempt to conceal himself from the eyes of omniscience, as though you could hide from God.

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And his pride was displayed in refusing to acknowledge his guilt, his ingratitude, when he indirectly upbraided

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God for giving him a life. He blamed God for his sin. And so from the beginning, mankind is set forth in the word of God as evil.

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In advance of God's judgment upon the world in the flood, God made this assessment and declaration.

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Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

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Is it any wonder our world has problems? Even after the flood, God pronounced the promise that he would never again destroy the world by means of a worldwide flood.

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But even when he did so, he stated the perverseness of the human race. And so God declared after the flood,

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I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

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The flood didn't cleanse the heart, did it? And then here,

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Jesus declared that this generation that stood before him was evil. So the only remedy to our evil condition before God is to see and recognize the authority of Jesus as Lord and Savior of sinful mankind, to learn from him and submit to his teaching and to order our lives in faith and obedience to him as his disciples.

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Jesus Christ is Lord. Well, after our

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Lord gave forth this stinging rebuke, he gave the crowd a very stern refusal to their desire and request.

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He would not give them a sign except for one. He would give them one sign. And so after our

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Lord's stinging rebuke, we read Jesus gave the crowd a stern refusal. Chapter 11, verse 29b,

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Jesus said, 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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And so although the Lord did many miracles, which were signs authenticating his identity before the world, as John's gospel relates to us, nevertheless,

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Jesus refused to authenticate himself through performing miracles to convince obstinate people.

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Our Lord gave this rebuke to the Judaism of his day. Specifically, they saw themselves as God's people highly favored among the people of the earth.

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They had the scriptures. They believe God, or so they claim. They dedicated themselves and everything they owned to God.

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They attended their church, synagogue three times a week, went to prayer meetings, gave to the poor.

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They viewed themselves as the objects of God's loving favor. They were the apple of his eye.

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Jesus, however, calls them evil. They were seekers after miracles.

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And God's answer to them, and for that matter, for all who run about looking for some kind of miracle, stop looking for miracles and start listening to the word of God, believing it and obeying it.

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That's the short answer of what we have here. God had already in numerous ways authenticated the person of Jesus as his promised son.

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They were to hear him and order their lives according to his words. And what they were really saying about themselves and asking for a sign, what were they saying?

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They were saying that the word of Jesus was not sufficient for them. They would not believe what

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Jesus said to them. They wanted something more. They wanted divine authentication.

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And so they're seeking a sign revealed their sinful unbelief, their refusal to hear and obey the word of God.

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It must be the greatest of insults to God that people refuse to believe God when he tells them something.

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John Calvin explained why the Lord Jesus reacted to their request for a sign when

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God did not respond in every instance of the scriptures when someone requested a sign from him. He didn't always rebuke them when they asked for a sign.

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So Calvin remarks on the phrase seeks a sign. This leads to the inquiry.

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Does Christ address them with such harshness of language because they wish to have a sign given to them? For on another occasion, for on other occasions,

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God manifests that he is not so much displeased on this account. Gideon asked for a sign.

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Remember the fleece, Gideon's fleece? And God is not angry but grants his request.

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And though Gideon becomes importunate and asks another sign, yet God condescends to his weakness.

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Hezekiah does not ask a sign and it's offered to him, though unsolicited. About the shadow of the sundial turning back.

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Ahaz is severely blamed for refusing to ask a sign as the prophet had enjoined him to do.

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Isaiah 711. It is not solely therefore because they ask a sign that Christ makes this attack upon the scribes, but because they are ungrateful to God.

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Wickedly despise so many of his wonderful works and try to find a subterfuge for not obeying his word.

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What a display was this. I do not say of indifference, but of malice. In other words, of malice, they were asking for a sign and shutting their eyes against so many signs.

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There was therefore no proper ground for this annoyance. They had no other object in view than to appear to have a good reason for rejecting

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Christ. Paul condemns their posterity for the same crime when he says that the

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Jews require a sign. In Matthew's account, a parallel account of this event, contains a very clear rebuke of the sin of unbelief that characterizes those who seek signs from Jesus.

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And there are a lot of people that do. People who claim they're Christian. They got to have a sign and they seek after it.

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Matthew 12, 38 and following, we read of a more full account of our Lord's encounter with these sign seekers.

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Some of the scribes and Pharisees answered saying, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

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And no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Sign seekers reveal their sin of unbelief.

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God doesn't have to prove himself to us. I mean, there's ample evidence for anybody to see.

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Let's consider briefly this egregious sin of unbelief. The failure or refusal to believe

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God is a great sin. Perhaps the greatest of sins. Unbelief is rebuked everywhere and condemned in the

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Holy Spirit. In the Holy Scriptures by the Holy Spirit.

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Here are the words of Charles Spurgeon. I'm taught in the scriptures that this is the condemnation that light is coming to the light.

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And when I read he that believes not is condemned already because he believes not on the son of God, I affirm and the word declares it.

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Unbelief is a sin. If you don't believe God's word, if you don't believe

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Christ, you're sinning against God in unbelief. Surely with rational and unprejudiced persons, it cannot require any reasoning to prove it.

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Is it not a sin for a creature to doubt the word of its maker? Is it not a crime and an insult to the divinity for me and Adam, a particle of dust to dare to deny his words?

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Is it not the very summit of arrogance and extremity of pride for a son of Adam to say even in his heart,

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God, I doubt your grace. God, I doubt your love. God, I doubt your power.

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Oh, sirs, believe me. Could you roll all sins into one mass?

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Could you take murder, blasphemy, lust, adultery, fornication, everything that is vile and unite them all into one vast globe of black corruption?

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They would not equal even then the sin of unbelief. This is the monarch sin, the quintessence of guilt, the mixture of the venom of all crimes, the dregs of the wine of Gomorrah.

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It is the A1 sin, the masterpiece of Satan, the chief work of the devil.

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Unbelief, a refusal or failure to believe, to have faith in God and his word, in Jesus Christ, his son, is great sin, and it's a damnable sin.

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And so Spurgeon went on to stress this after dealing with the nature and extent of sin of unbelief.

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Now, to close this point, for I've already been too long, let me remark that you will observe the heinous nature of unbelief in this, that it is a damned sin.

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There is one sin for which Christ never died. It is a sin against the Holy Spirit.

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There is one other sin for which Christ never made atonement. Mention every crime in the calendar of evil, and I will show you persons who have found forgiveness for it.

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But ask me whether the man who died in unbelief can be saved, and I'll reply there's no atonement for that man.

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There is an atonement made for the unbelief of a Christian because it is temporary. But the final unbelief, the unbelief with which men die, never was atoned for.

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You may turn over this whole book, the Bible, and you will find that there's no atonement for the man who died in unbelief.

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There's no mercy for him. Had he been guilty of every other sin but had believed, he would have been pardoned.

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But this is the damning exception. He had no faith. He is faithless and unbelieving, and such are the tenants for whom hell was built.

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It is their portion, their prison. They are the chief prisoners. The fetters are marked with their names forever.

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Shall they know that he that believes not shall be damned. Do we see unbelief as a great sin?

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That it is. But then after our Lord's stinging rebuke and stern refusal, we see thirdly, graciously, and mercifully,

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Jesus promised the crowd one sign. So in Luke's account,

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Jesus made the application of Jonah's ministry to his own.

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Verse 30 reads, for Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

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Jesus declared that one sign would be given. It would be the sign of Jonah. Jonah, you will recall, was the

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Old Testament prophet who had at first refused to preach a message of judgment to the

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Gentile city of Nineveh. God had prepared a great fish to deliver his prophet to the shore near Nineveh, and apparently all

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Nineveh knew that Jonah had been sent there by God through his unique deliverance as one who came forth from the dead.

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That's how they regarded Jonah. He had some authority. They believed his word, and they repented of their sin.

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And here Jesus says the only sign which will be given to authenticate his teaching would be his resurrection from the dead.

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That's the point. The sign that will be provided this generation will be given.

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That is, it was future from Jesus speaking of it on this occasion. We must understand this sign that would be shown to this evil generation would be the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

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Just as the Ninevites were struck with the legitimacy of Jonah and his preaching repentance because they knew he'd been delivered from death, from the belly of the great fish, so Jesus will be delivered from the heart of the earth.

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As one commentator of the Greek text IH Marshall wrote, the reference must be to the outstanding feature in the story of Jonah, which would at once spring to the mind of every reader, namely his miraculous deliverance from death.

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The fact that we have no record that Jonah never spoke about this to the Ninevites is not a serious objection.

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It's the picture of Jonah in the mind of Jesus's contemporaries, which is significant, and to them, he was the person who preached in Nineveh after a miraculous intervention by God.

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The corresponding feature in the mission of Jesus will be his future vindication by God as the son of man.

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It's true that in the case of Jesus, this follows the preaching with Jonah preceded rather than precedes it as in the case of Jonah.

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But this is not a serious difficulty, especially if Luke is thinking of the preaching authorized by Jesus, which followed his resurrection.

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And then he cites some passages that would substantiate that.

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Once again, Charles Spurgeon attempted to draw several parallels between Jonah and our Lord Jesus.

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The great sign of our Lord's mission is his resurrection and is preparing the gospel of salvation for the heathen, that would be

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Gentiles. His life story is well symbolized by that of Jonah. They cast our

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Lord overboard. As they cast Jonah over the ship, they cast our

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Lord overboard, even as the sailors did the man of God. The sacrifice of Jonah calmed the sea for the mariners.

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Our Lord's death made peace for us. Our Lord was a while in the heart of the earth as Jonah in the depth of the sea, but he rose again and his ministry was full of the power of his resurrection.

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And as Jonah's ministry was certified by his restoration from the sea, so is our

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Lord's ministry attested by his rising from the dead. The man who had come back from death and barrel in the sea commanded the attention of all

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Nineveh. And so does the risen Savior demand and deserve the obedient faith of all to whom his message comes.

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You can't get past the resurrection of Christ. It's proven. All the evidence pointed to it.

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Otherwise, the claims of the early Christians could have been easily dismissed and disregarded.

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But Jesus was risen from the dead and he's still risen. He is the Lord. And so, although the

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Lord had performed many miracles, which were signs authenticating his identity before the world, as John's gospel relates.

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Nevertheless, he refused to substantiate himself through performing miracles on their demand in order to convince an obstinate people.

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Here, Jesus says the only sign which will be given to authenticate his teaching would be his resurrection from the dead.

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And through his resurrection, God has indicated that everything that Jesus taught had divine endorsement.

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And so if you don't believe it, great sin lies upon your soul.

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Well, Jesus warned the crowd of their certain judgment in verses 31 and 32.

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Jesus said to the gathered crowd, the queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them.

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For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And indeed, a greater than Solomon is here.

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And the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it. For they repented of the preaching of Jonah.

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And indeed, a greater than Jonah is here. And so two witnesses for the prosecution will be summoned on judgment day to condemn this generation and all other generations for that matter, who refuse to hear and refuse to obey

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God's word in their lives. First, we have the queen of the

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South. We read our Lord called upon the story of the queen of Sheba, who had traveled a great distance at great expense to learn the wisdom of Solomon, the king of Israel.

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Here's the Old Testament account in 1 Kings 10. Now, when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the

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Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue with camels that bore spices, very much gold, precious stones.

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And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her questions.

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There's nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the

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Lord, there was no more spirit in her. And then she said to the king, it was a true report, which

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I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However, I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes and indeed hath was not told me.

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Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men. Happy are these, your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.

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Blessed be the Lord, your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel, because the

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Lord has loved Israel forever. And therefore, he made you king to do justice and righteousness.

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This woman loved to hear about God, and the foremost man of the day was

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Solomon. And the Lord indicated the queen of Sheba will be an accuser of all those who refuse to hear the word of God on the day of judgment.

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Because although she was less advantaged and although she lived a great distance, she sought to hear and learn of the wisdom that God had given to King Solomon.

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She did more to hear of God than did the generation that was standing before Jesus on this occasion.

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And three things are suggested by our Lord about this woman, which will result in her condemning others. First, she will be an accuser of all those who refuse to hear the word of God because she went to such a great distance to hear from Solomon.

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Secondly, this woman will be an accuser of all those who refuse to hear the word of God because she went such a great distance, if only to hear from Solomon.

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Jesus said of himself in contrast to Solomon, one greater than Solomon is here. But there's a third reason she'll be an accuser, a witness for the prosecution against them on the day of judgment.

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This is perhaps subtle to us, but it must have been quite apparent to those listening to Jesus say these words.

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The queen of Sheba was a Gentile. And yet she went all this distance at such great expense and time and effort to hear from Solomon.

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She did far more than any of those Jewish people standing before Jesus, and she was but a

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Gentile woman. Matthew Henry wrote, the queen of Sheba would rise up in judgment against them and condemn their unbelief.

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She was a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, a Gentile, yet so readily gave credit to the report she heard of the glories of the king of Israel, that notwithstanding the prejudices we're apt to conceive against foreigners, she came from the outermost parts of the earth to hear his wisdom, and not only to satisfy her curiosity, but to inform her mind, especially in the knowledge of the true

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God and his worship, which is upon record to her honor. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here, and he throws out a

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Latin phrase, more than a Solomon is here. That is, says Dr. Hammond, more of wisdom, more heavily divine doctrine than ever was in all

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Solomon's words or writings, and yet these wretched Jews will give no manner of regard to what Christ says to them, though he be in the midst of them.

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Show us a sign before we believe on you. Authenticate yourself. The fact is, this was a marvelous woman.

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She wanted to know God and about his ways, and she traveled a great distance, perhaps central Africa, and sought to meet

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Solomon to hear from him what he knew. If only you and I had the earnest desire to know and understand

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God and his ways to the degree this woman desired to hear from Solomon, she's a rebuke probably to many of us.

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She would have been an avid student of her Bible if she had one available to her in that day. But then

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Jesus calls forth a second witness who would stand forward on the day of judgment to condemn those who have no desire to hear and obey the word of God.

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The second witness, or rather group of witnesses, will be the men of Nineveh. Jesus declared, the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

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Let's read the account in Jonah 3. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.

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He refused the first time, not the second. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.

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So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. And now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three -day journey in extent, and Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk.

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And then he cried out and said, yet 40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. And so the people of Nineveh believed

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God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, and from the greatest to the least of them.

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And then word came to the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

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And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast, herd or flock, taste anything.

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Do not let them eat or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God.

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Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the wickedness that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent and turn away from his fierce anger so that we may not perish?

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And then God saw their works that they turned from their evil way, and God relented from the disaster that he said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

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Well, the Lord Jesus declared, these men will be accusers on the day of judgment of all those who refuse to obey the word of God.

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The queen of Sheba will condemn all those who refuse to hear the word of God. The men of Nineveh will condemn all those who refuse to obey the word of God.

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Because although they were less advantaged, they did more to obey God's word than did this generation or any generation.

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Now, again, three things are suggested by our Lord about these men, which will result in their condemning others.

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First, the Ninevites will be accusers of all those who refuse to obey the word of God, because they did obey.

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They repented of their sin. They had obeyed the word of God that they heard.

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And secondly, the Ninevites will be accusers of all those who refuse to obey the word of God, because they repented of their sin after only hearing from Jonah.

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They didn't hear it from Jesus. Just as the queen of south, these men were less privileged than the

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Jews of Jesus's day, the Ninevites had heard a prophet, but a greater than Jonah was declaring the word of God to them.

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And then the third reason these men will condemn others on the day of judgment.

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These Ninevites will be accusers of all those who refuse to obey the word of God, because they repented of their sin after only hearing from Jonah.

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And they were Gentiles, just as the queen of Sheba. Matthew Henry wrote the

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Ninevites would rise up in judgment against them and condemn their impenitency or refusal to repent the generation.

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They repented at the preaching of Jonas. And here is preaching, which far exceeds that of Jonah is more powerful in awakening and threatens a much sorer ruin than that of Nineveh.

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And yet none are startled by it to turn from their evil way as the Ninevites did. And so here again, we see this theme that we have pointed out repeatedly.

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Jesus has authority, therefore, you should hear him, but not just hear him. You need to obey him.

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And the wrath of God is all on those who refuse to recognize and acknowledge and submit to his authority,

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King Jesus, to refuse or fail to listen to his word.

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It's the word of God. And having heard it and understand it, you refuse to obey it.

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You're damned. And there will be those on the day of judgment that will stand forward who had far less privilege than you, far less opportunity than you, who did much more than you as you live and die in unbelief.

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And so before we pass on to the following verses that we'll have to abbreviate, perhaps, let's bring the matter home to ourselves.

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Although we've been implying it, let's state it forthrightly. Do not think it will go any better for us if we refuse to hear and refuse to obey

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God's word. It won't. Let us be diligent in our search to hear and understand the word of God.

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Let us hear God's word, search God's word, study God's word, so that we may know him fully and what he commands us.

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And I know the nature of all of us. We can grow indifferent. The word of God can become dry to us.

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We lose the desire, perhaps, the motivation, and we begin to lay it off, lay it to the side.

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And before long, that indifference becomes true neglect and abuse of the privilege that we have before us.

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The end is not good. Let us be diligent to hear and study the word of God.

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But let's not stop with mere acquiring knowledge of the word. We are to seek his grace that we might obey completely what we have heard.

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Otherwise, on the day of judgment, the Lord will call forth others who will rise up whose life will be a stinging rebuke to us.

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For there are others, again, with far less privilege and advantage than we have had, having had far less opportunity than we, but who had responded to the limited measure of light they received when we have not done so, to the great light that has been shown to us.

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They who perhaps never had a Bible, they could call their own, nevertheless heard it taught, acted upon it, whereas we have

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Bibles in our possession and we let them gather dust through the week. How can that be?

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They who never had anyone to teach them, instruct them in these matters, nevertheless, in their limited understanding, they acted upon it.

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In contrast, we have so many resources and opportunities to hear and learn, but we are terse and shallow in our pursuit of the truth of God, or we're impatient, perhaps for the preacher to get done so we can go on to other things.

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There's something very perverse about us, and there will be many on the day whose life and witness will be a rebuke to us.

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May God help us be diligent in these matters. May the Lord restore us, revive our souls.

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The Lord is the great restorer. My restorer, David said,

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Psalm 23. Well, we have to close with this encouragement for truth seekers.

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This is not an easy read, so let me just take a few moments to explain. Jesus said, no one, when he's lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, those who come in may see the light.

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The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

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And therefore, take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light as when the bright shining of a lamp gives light.

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What does he say? First, as we seek to understand our Lord's words, we need to identify the meaning and the context of a lamp or the word light.

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Now, elsewhere in the scriptures, light is used to describe a man's good works, which are done in the name of God.

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Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said, let your light so shine among men that they might see your good works and glorify your father who's in heaven.

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But here in Luke 11, light is not an allusion to your good works.

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Here, the light is actually the truth about Jesus Christ, his identity and the truth of what he teaches.

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Darkness in this context is either ignorance of that light or error with respect to the light that is in Jesus Christ.

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And so what he's saying in verse 33 is basically the truth of Christ cannot be hidden.

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It's there. The problem is not with him. Jesus said, no one, when he's lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand that those who come in may see the light.

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The one who lights a lamp so that the light's available for everyone that enters the room should be understood as Jesus Christ himself, who reveals the light that is, that is the knowledge of God and his ways.

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As one wrote, Jesus, or the message of his kingdom, is like a light which illuminates those who enter a house.

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There's nothing hidden about this light. Any lack of illumination is due to the recipient. Our world is bathed in the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

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The problem with understanding God, his son, Jesus Christ, what his will is, is not obscure or hidden.

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Rather, God has surrounded us with his truth, just as a person is fully illuminated when he walks into a lit room.

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It's there. And if you can't see it, it's not the problem with the light, it's the problem with you who can't see the light.

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The problem of understanding God and the things of God is not with God. He's made things clear. The apostle

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John expressed it this way. There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John, John the Baptist.

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He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not that light.

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He came only as a witness to that light, the true light that gives light to every man who's coming into the world.

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You are illuminated by the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ, immersed in it.

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And the fact that people do not see and understand Christ and his teaching is not because God hadn't made it clear. The problem is not with God, but with them who cannot see.

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And so secondly, spiritual truth must be perceived by the individual. Verse 34, the

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Lord said, the lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body is also full of darkness.

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So here is the problem. Individual ability or inability to pursue, perceive the truth.

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The eye is the lamp of the body. It's the door through which light comes into the mind. And so the individual is responsible for hearing, seeing, receiving the truth of God's word.

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And so each of us has to be focused on this matter. Each of us must give attention to these things if we're to apprehend the truth.

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You got to focus upon it. Who is the one who has bad eyes and cannot receive the truth?

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They are ones who have no interest or concern for the truth of God. It doesn't matter to them.

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They are ones who have an agenda so as to what they want to see. And they don't want to see the light that's in Jesus Christ.

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We must be committed to be open to whatever God wants to teach us, not merely to what we want to hear from him.

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Open your eyes wide and receive whatever he has laid out before us. The ones with bad eyes are those who want to justify their actions, who refuse to change their behavior.

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They will distort the word to their own destruction, as Peter said, is commonly done.

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And again, Matthew Henry, I think it was, wrote, having the light their concern was to have the sight or else to what purpose had they the light?

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Be the object ever so clear if the organ be not right, we are never the better. The light of the body is the eye which receives the light of the candle when it's brought into the room.

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And so the light of the soul is the understanding and judgment and its power of discerning between good and evil, truth and falsehood.

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And now according as this is, so the light of divine revelation is to us and our benefit by it, it is a saver of life unto life or death unto death.

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Nevertheless, verse 35, truth must be constantly confirmed to us.

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We read in verse 35, therefore, take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.

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May the Lord enable each of us to take this to heart. We should constantly and always be scrutinizing ourselves as to whether our understanding of things is right and true in the light of scripture.

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For the danger is always present. What we assume to be light is in reality, darkness.

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And if there is ever a word on my tombstone, it'll probably be the word. It's harder to unlearn than it is to learn.

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I have found that in my life. When I become convinced that something's the word of God, it took more than an act of Congress.

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It took divine light to reveal to me it was error and what was true. It's hard to unlearn how careful, how cautious, how focused, how diligent we ought to be with respect to the things of God.

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We should always be asking ourself, is my understanding in accord with the scriptures? Lord, is the light

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I perceive truly light, truth, or is it error? If it's error, show me it so and show me the truth that I might dispel the darkness of my understanding.

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All of us have a measure of darkness, never of us fully arrive. And then lastly, truth perceived and applied will bring great benefit.

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This is section of the passage ends with verse 36. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.

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This may be the most difficult verse in the passage to understand. It means one of two possibilities. When your whole being is filled with Christ and his teaching, you will know how to walk before him.

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Or secondly, if you're truly illuminated according to the truth of God, you will be the one to receive full illumination one day when you stand before God.

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And so these matters speak of our heart condition. These people were seeking signs, not seeking truth.

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Because they were a wicked and evil generation, even though they thought themselves to be the holy people of God.

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We should take heed to ourselves and pursue truth. We should seek to discover those areas of our thinking about God and ourselves, which are not in accord with God's word.

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In short, we should seek to hear from God so that we might live rightly before God. We're not only to hear his word, but we are also to heed his word for a man who does one and not the others, but deceiving himself.

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And so there's a great need for self -examination. Let's take it to heart. If we're not hearing the word of God, seeking to understand what

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God has to say about matters, and if we're not seeking to put that into practice in our daily life, we should not presume that God sees us any differently than he viewed this generation.

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Blessed are they who hear the word of God and obey it, is what Jesus says.

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Let's take to heart the admonition of Paul, closing out the epistle to the church at Rome. And do this knowing the time that now it's high time to awake out of sleep.

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For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the days at hand.

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Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness. Let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry or drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, but not in strife and envy, but put on the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. And then these words of J .C.

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Ryle in conclusion. Happy is that man who possesses a Bible. Happier still is he who reads it.

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Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it. And makes it the rule of his faith and practice.

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Amen. And so we have this unfolding message of Luke's gospel.

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That he was affirming to Theophilus and the Holy Spirit to each of us. Let's not be content with just knowing

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Jesus as Lord. Let's hear what he has to say. And hear about him.

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And not just to hear and learn and fancy our reasoning and our understanding.

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But so that we might live holy lives before him. Because that's the end of the commandment.

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That we might live for God and before God through Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, our

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Father, for your word. And the clarity of your words,

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Lord Jesus, that you have said before us. Help us, our God, to be responsible people before you.

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To desire fervently, our God, knowledge of you and your ways that you've set forth in your word.

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And be merciful to us, our God. Give us the Holy Spirit to enable us to be truly and fully obedient to your word.

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Forgive us, our God, of the measure of unbelief that may characterize our souls.

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And give us a fresh gift of repentance, our God. To turn from our ignorance and error and turn to you.

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Enable us, our God, to walk not only in faith, but in faithfulness to you, our

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God. For we see that there's great blessing to those who do so. For we pray these things,