(If you would like to receive Pastor Harris’ weekly sermons via e-mail, Click Here)
(If you would like to download the PowerPoint presentation for this sermon, Click Here)
Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
January 29, 2017
Signs for a Wicked Generation
Luke 11:29-36
Introduction
Please turn again into your Bibles to Luke 11. We will be examining verses 29-36 today, but the context of this section extends back to verse 14, so let me give you a quick review of what has happened so far in this chapter.
As Jesus and His disciples were traveling from Bethany where Mary and Martha had hosted them (Luke 10:38-42) back up to the region of Galilee, one of the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray as John had taught his disciples. Jesus obliged and gave them an outline for praying that was nearly the same as He had taught early in His ministry in the Sermon on the Mount. (See: Teach Us to Pray) Jesus quickly followed this up with a story about the importance of being diligent and persistent in prayer. If we keep asking, what is good will be given to us. If we keep seeking, we will find what is good. If we keep knocking, the right doors will be opened to us. If evil people know how to give what is good to their children, then how much more our good heavenly Father knows what to give to His children. (See: Perseverance in Prayer)Those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can be confident that God will give us what is good because He has promised to give the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask, and there is no better gift you can receive from God than the Holy Spirit.(See: The Gift of the Holy Spirit)
As Jesus and the disciples continue their journey toward Galilee, an incident soon occurs which Luke records that demonstrates the importance of praying properly and having the Holy Spirit. We live in a dangerous world that includes demonic forces which are greater than we are as humans, but they are not as powerful as Jesus. All humans are subjects in Satan’s kingdom unless they have been transferred to the kingdom of heaven by faith in the person and work of Jesus (Colossians 1:13-14). All true Christians are baptized into Christ’s body, the church, by the Holy Spirit at salvation (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit then indwells the believer (Romans 8:9-11) and seals him (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30) as an authentic child of God by His adoption, approved and made righteous by faith in Christ, and secure in God’s promises for the present and eternity. Since the Holy Spirit in the believer is greater than Satan and his forces that are in the world (1 John 4:4), then the demonic does not need to be feared even though Satan does prowl around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). You do need to be aware and prepared to stand firm against Satan’s schemes, as Paul explains in Ephesians 6:10-17 and other passages, but even that reduces down to the instructions in James 4:6-7. Be humble and submit to God, then resist the devil and he will flee.
Jesus cast out a demon which enabled a previously mute man to speak. The crowd that had gathered was amazed, but some opposed Jesus and accused Him of doing it by the power of Beelzebul. Jesus rebuked them and showed that their accusation was illogical, inconsistent, insurrectionary and inane (Luke 11:14-22). It was illogical because though Satan is evil, he is not an idiot and even he knows that his kingdom would crumble if he were to fight against himself. It was inconsistent because their own “sons” cast demons out, and they were not accusing them of doing it by Satan’s power. It was an insurrection against God because the miracle demonstrated Jesus was doing His work by the finger of God. Their accusation was also inane for it was stupid to think Jesus was under Satan’s authority when the very miracle was proof He had overpowered Satan and taken what was his. (See: The Finger of God)
Jesus’ rebuke was stern as was His additional warning to the people in the crowd that if they were not with Him, they were against Him, and if they were against Him, then they were in great danger by demonic forces (Luke 11:23-26). If they wanted God’s blessing, then they needed to hear the word of God and observe it (Luke 11:27-28). (See: Dealing with Devils)
The Demand for a Sign – Luke 11:16
The section that begins in verse 29 is Jesus’ response to others in the crowd that Luke 11:16 records were demanding that Jesus show them a sign from heaven as a test. They wanted Jesus to prove He was from God by a sign (shmei:on / sēmeion), an attesting miracle of some sort. Their hearts were hard and it blinded them to the miracle Jesus had just done and those He had been doing for two years. Even if they had not personally seen, they certainly would have heard about Jesus openly healing every manner of disease and sickness in accordance with the prophecies about Messiah – the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them (Luke 7:22). But those miracles were not enough for them. They wanted a sign from heaven.
It is not clear exactly what they wanted and doubtful anything would have satisfied them. Christians are sometimes accused of making excuses for God in order to believe. While we do not need to make any excuses for God, I do understand why non-Christians would make such an accusation since it is easy for us to appeal to God’s omnipotence or man’s sinfulness to explain things difficult for them to believe. However, the opposite is true. Unbelievers find every excuse they can to not believe even if what they must claim is illogical, unsupported and even ludicrous by their own standards. A classic example of this is their appeal to evolution as a means to deny God as creator. They claim to be following science, but the definition of the scientific method does not even qualify evolution to be a theory since it was not observable, testable or repeatable. And even worse, it is contrary to basic scientific laws of physics, chemistry and genetics.
That is the nature of those who have hard hearts. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul describes their situation that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” That is why people will not believe unless the Holy Spirit intervenes.
It is the same today as it was then. Those present could not deny that Jesus had performed a mighty miracle, but they refused to recognize its significance. God’s hand at work today is obvious to those who will look and those willing to recognize what they see, but the unbeliever suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18), and deliberately overlooks the obvious evidence (2 Peter 3:5) as they pursue their own desires.
Casting out the demon and healing the man was enough of a miracle to prove that Jesus was from God, but they were demanding more – a sign from heaven. What could that have been? Perhaps they wanted something on a cosmic scale such as had been prophesied in Joel 2:31 that “The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” Perhaps they wanted the Lord to speak from the heavens with thunder, lightning, hail and trumpets as occurred on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16) or as described in some of the Psalms (Psalm 18; 29; 104). Jesus now rebukes them and tells them of an even greater sign He would give them, but they would not believe it. Most people still do not believe it even though the historical witness to it is as good as anything else known about the ancient world, and the cultural changes brought about by its reality are irrefutable.
Luke 11:29–36 29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 “For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 33 “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 “The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 “Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36 “If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”
The Sign of Jonah – Luke 11:29-36
It is obvious that the miracle of casting out the demon and mute man speaking coupled with the conflict between Jesus and his accusers is attracting a larger crowd. Jesus now turns His attention to those demanding a sign from heaven but widens His rebuke into a general warning. This is very similar to the rebuke Jesus gave to the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 12:38-45 when they demanded an additional sign after Jesus had cast out a demon from a man who was blind and mute so that he spoke and saw. He rebuked them specifically but also widens the warning to everyone there.
Jesus begins His rebuke by calling their generation wicked for seeking a sign. By making His charge against “this generation,” Jesus indicates that the majority of that particular generation was wicked, ponhvroV / ponēros, meaning morally corrupt and evil. This is surprising in the sense that the Jewish people at that time were marked by being very religious and concerned about keeping the law of Moses and their traditions. Rome had a constant concern about religiously inspired uprisings occurring there. Yet wicked is a fitting term to describe a generation that had already received so much from God through His revelation of Himself through Jesus but they were rejecting it. God does not perform miracles for the pleasure of those who are wicked of heart. If they refused to recognize the obvious from the miracles Jesus had already done, nothing else He might do would make any difference to them even if He had angels descend from heaven in glorious spender and praising Him or if He moved the constellations around. It was wicked of them to seek such signs. Jesus had just explained to them that true blessedness was in hearing the word of God and observing it. They did not need visible miracles to do that. They only needed to know the Scriptures and follow them, but their knowledge of God’s word was deficient due to the selective teachings of the scribes and Pharisees and the twisting of God’s word by their traditions.
It not really any different with the generations presently alive on the earth. While Jesus is not physically present performing such miracles, we have what the apostle Peter called “the prophetic word made more sure” (2 Peter 1:18). We have the completed gospel accounts of what Jesus taught and did and the epistles of the Apostles proving the reality of the risen Christ in their own lives and teaching. The problem is that most people are not interested in hearing God’s word, and most of those that do hear it will not believe and do what God says.
Jesus tells them that they would not get the sign they were seeking, but they would get a sign they were not seeking. The sign of Jonah.
Jonah was a prophet of Israel about 760 B.C. during the reign of Jeroboam II. He was a contemporary with the prophets Amos and Hosea. God appointed Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of Israel’s enemies, the Assyrians, and warn them of God’s coming judgment if they did not repent. Jonah did not want to go. The Assyrians were a wicked and violent nation and nothing would have pleased Jonah more than to have God destroy them. So instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah went the opposite direction and got on a ship heading for Tarshish (Spain). God caused a severe storm to arise and eventually Jonah was tossed overboard and swallowed by a great fish prepared by God for the occasion. After three days and nights in the belly of this sea monster, it spit him out on land. Jonah then went to Nineveh and very reluctantly carried out the mission on which God had sent him in the first place.
How was Jonah a sign, an attesting miracle, to the Ninevites? It certainly was not in his preaching for all Jonah did was go to the center of that very large city and cried out, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” He offered them no hope and gave no explanation of how to avoid the prophesied destruction. However, the Ninevites believed him and genuinely repented with a simple belief that perhaps God might turn and relent to withdraw His burning anger so that they would not perish.
Why did they believe and respond so well to such a short and hopeless message. It is because, as Jesus specifically states in verse 30, Jonah himself was a sign to them. Without diminishing in any way the mercy of the Holy Spirit moving upon them, one major factor that caused them to hear and heed Jonah is that the Assyrians worshiped a fish god, and the story of Jonah coming out of a fish caused them to pay serious attention to what he said. The sign of Jonah is the miracle of being swallowed by and surviving in the fish for three days before being spit up on land.
The story of Jonah was well known among the Jews so it was easy for Jesus to refer to what happened to Jonah as a sign and expect them to understand. The story of Jonah is what is known as a “typical” prophecy. Jonah’s experience was a “type” of what Jesus would go through. As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and nights and then was spit out, so Jesus would be in the grave for three days and nights and then rise again. This was a prediction of Jesus’ coming death, burial, and resurrection. That would be the sign Jesus would give. Would they look for it and heed it? No. Jesus said in His story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:31 that if they would not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they would not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.
Let me quickly point out that what Jesus says here affirms the veracity of the story of Jonah being swallowed by a “great fish” or “sea monster” prepared by God for the occasion according to Jonah 1:17. Both the Hebrew and Greek words indicate something other than a whale. If you have a problem believing that the story of Jonah is true, then you also have a problem with Jesus because He confirms that it is true.
The Queen of the South – Luke 11:31
The Queen of the South is the Queen of Sheba mentioned in 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-9. She was from the country of the Sabeans located in lower Arabia some 1,200 miles southeast of Israel. At that time Sheba was considered the “ends of the earth” to those in Israel. She also responded to what little she heard.
She was very wealthy because her country was on the Mediterranean to India trade route. And because she was on that trade route, she had heard reports of the fame of King Solomon concerning the name of the Lord (1 Kings 10:1). She had no invitation, but she wanted to hear His wisdom, so she made a long journey by caravan carrying gold, jewels, and spices as gifts for Solomon.
What a contrast she is to the Israelites of that generation who did not have to make a long and difficult journey to hear the wisdom of God because Jesus, the very wisdom of God, was in their midst. She had only heard reports about Solomon, while they had seen and heard Jesus themselves. She came bearing gifts for Solomon, but they gave nothing to Jesus and plotted to take away His life. There is no report that she had an invitation to come, but she went anyway and rejoiced in Solomon’s wisdom and praised the Lord on his behalf. They had been invited and urged to come to Jesus and follow His wisdom, but they refused and some even blasphemed the Holy Spirit. What a tragedy they were.
It is significant that Jesus points out that it is with the men (ajndrw:n / andrōn), specifically the males and not mankind (a[nqrwpwn / anthrōpōn) in general of this generation that the Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment and condemn them. Israel was a male dominated society and it was not uncommon for a Jewish man in that time to thank God he was not a Gentile or a woman. How sharp Jesus’ words were to such men that a Gentile woman will stand up and condemn them.
The Men of Nineveh – Luke 11:32
I explained the story of Jonah and the Ninevites. In verse 32 Jesus warns The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The men of Nineveh repented though God gave them very little. The Jews of that generation remained hardened toward God though they received a great amount from God. Consider the differences.
Nineveh received its message from God through Jonah, a minor prophet who was sinful, rebellious, and foolish. That generation received its message from Jesus Christ who is God in Human flesh and without sin. The message to Nineveh was only that of impending doom. Jesus called people to repentance, but He also presented a hopeful message of grace, mercy, and full salvation. Jonah did no miracles or other authenticating signs. Jesus came doing many miracles and authenticating signs. Jonah was speaking to a people completely unfamiliar with the Scriptures already provided by God for mankind. Jesus was speaking to a people well versed in the Scriptures and having a godly heritage. Nineveh repented and turned to God seeking His mercy. That generation rejected God, His message, and His son. Hendriksen put it this way, “Less enlightened people obeyed less enlightened preaching, but more enlightened people refuse to obey the Light of the world.”
Let me quickly point out that the term “something” at the end of both verses 31 and 32 is neuter indicating something more than just the person of Jesus. It refers to Jesus, all that He did and taught in revealing the Father and His will, and the active working of the Holy Spirit. I must also point out that in both examples that a future indicative is used. The Queen of the South will rise up and the men of Nineveh will stand up to condemn this generation at the judgment. The Queen of the South and those men of Nineveh lived long before this generation that Jesus was warning, yet the actions of this condemnation were still future, and they are still future now. Those who lived in the generations before us have long died and their physical bodies have returned to dust as will ours if Jesus tarries long before His return, but they are not gone. Their spirits continue to live and one day they will be joined together with a recreated physical body to stand judgment before God. The resurrection is future, but it is certain for it is a promised reality by God. To deny a future resurrection and a future judgment is to call Jesus a liar.
Light and Sight – Luke 11:33-36
Jesus follows up His warning with an illustration of the danger they were in and why they cannot recognize it on their own. He uses a physical example to transition to spiritual truth.
The meaning of Luke 11:33 is simple. The purpose of lighting a lamp is to enable you to see. You do not hide it by putting it in another room or cover it for that would defeat its purpose. You put a lamp on a stand or someplace high so it can cast its light to maximum advantage for everyone. Jesus’ life was not hidden. He taught and did His miracles in public so that He could cast His light to maximum advantage to everyone that they might praise God (Matthew 5:16). The issue was not the amount of light, it was in the individual’s ability to perceive it as Jesus points out in verses 34-36
Your eyes are your only means to detect light and therefore your only source of vision. If your eyes are clear, good (NKJV), healthy (ESV) (aJplou:V / haplous – open, pure if used in an ethical sense, healthy if used in a physical sense, generous if used for giving), then you will see everything properly. You will be able to see what is around you and respond properly.
However, if the eye is bad, (ponhrovV / ponēros – evil if used in an ethical sense, useless or harmful if used in a physical sense), then there are negative consequences. If it blocks the light, then no light enters the body and it is full of darkness resulting in you stumbling around not knowing your way. If the eye is unclear so that it distorts the light, then the perception given is false. What you see will be distorted and that will lend to a worse problem of believing the distortion to be the true reality. That is a more dangerous darkness than blindness.
Jesus’ purpose here is not to give a lesson in physiology but to use the physical to give a moral lesson as demonstrated by contrasting aJplou:V / haplous (clear, good) with ponhrovV / ponēros (evil) instead of using a term that specifically means healthy (ijscuvw / isxuō ) contrasted with one that specifically means either sick (ajqenhV / asthenēs) or blind (tuflovV / tuphlos). Using the eye as a moral reference was common in Jewish writings starting with Genesis 3:7. The usage here is in that sense giving reference to the spiritual eye through which spiritual light enters and illuminates the whole person. Jesus is contrasting the person who sees things from a clear, godly perspective as opposed to the person who sees things from an evil perspective.
We find a similar analogy to this in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 when Paul says that the gospel is “veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. “ The person does not understand because they cannot see moral truth. Some who are spiritually blind revel in that darkness and give themselves over to the pursuit of evil. They are easy to recognize, but there is little hope for them until they recognize their own evil. Others who are spiritually blind recognize they have a problem and would like to see. They have hope because Jesus Christ is the great physician and will cure the spiritual blindness of those that seek Him and call on Him.
But what about Jesus warning in verse 35 to make sure that “the light in you is not darkness”? This would be a reference to the Scribes and Pharisees. Worse than someone who is blind and knows it are those who are blind but insist that they see clearly. They claim to know the truth be righteous but in fact are the opposite. They follow lies and unrighteousness. Jesus said of the Pharisees in Matthew 15:14, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” They claimed to know God and show the way to Him, but they were in fact leading the people away from God, and because of their distorted view of reality, they refused to listen to the truth. Such people cannot be helped until they acknowledge their sinfulness and seek truth.
Jesus concludes with the opposite truth. “If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.” How can you make sure you are full of light? That goes back to what Jesus told the woman in verse 28, “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” The word of God is to be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psalm 119:105). The scriptures testify of Jesus Christ (John 5:39), and faith in Him results in Him transferring you from the kingdom of darkness into His kingdom of light, and the Holy Spirit enables you to walk with the Lord as a child of light (Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 5:8). To walk in the light, get to know God according to His revelation of Himself in the Scriptures, learn to trust Him and follow His instructions. Those who walk in the light do not need to see a miracle to believe. They are the anomaly in a wicked generation.
Conclusions
By the time I was in seventh grade, my eyesight had deteriorated significantly, but I did not know I had a problem until a math teacher kept me after class to ask me why I was copying from my neighbor’s paper. I said I couldn’t read the blackboard from my seat – which was in the front row. He told me I needed to have my vision checked and called my parents to let them know. It was not until I had a vision test that I recognized that I had a vision problem and that it could be corrected. It was not until I actually got my first pair of glasses and walked outside I realized what I had been missing because the world suddenly went from dull and fuzzy to bright and in sharp focus. Glasses corrected my vision. The same is true spiritually. People may think they are doing great even though their morals are all twisted. They have to be told the truth by someone who does see properly and will challenge them to test their lives by the Scriptures. However, until they do that they will not recognize their problem or that it can be corrected by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, and they will not know how distorted their moral vision was until it is corrected by the corrective lens of Scripture.
How well do you see? Do you value the things of God, or are you still blinded by sin, self and Satan? Do you see clearly through the corrective lenses of Scripture, or do you pursue your own will in your own way for your own benefit? Jesus’ warning is serious for the eternal consequences are serious. You are either with Him in His kingdom or you are against Him and in Satan’s kingdom. If you are walking with the Lord by the light of His word, then praise Him and help others do the same. If you recognize that you are in darkness, then it is time to get help so that you can see the light. Do it today!
Sermon Notes – 1/29/2017
Signs for a Wicked Generation – Luke 11:29-36
Introduction
Jesus taught His disciples to pray with ______________for God is good and His best gift is the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the believer’s protection in a _____________and evil world
Jesus cast out a demon sparking ______________with His opponents whom He sternly rebuked
Jesus warned the people to be with Him – ____________comes from hearing word of God and observing it
The Demand for a Sign – Luke 11:16
Jesus’ multiple ____________were not enough for His opponents who demand a sign from heaven
Unbelievers have always looked for every ________________not to believe even the obvious
2 Corinthians 4:4, Romans 1:18f, 2 Peter 3:5 – Blinded minds, suppressing the truth, willingly ignorant
Luke 11:29–36
The Sign of Jonah – Luke 11:29-36
The crowd is increasing and Jesus widens His rebuke into a ______________warning
“This generation” indicates a _______________of the people were wicked – morally corrupt and evil
It was wicked for them to seek signs – they only ______________to hear the word of God and observe it
2 Peter 1:18 – we have the completed word of God. The Scriptures are ___________________
Jonah was a reluctant _____________who got swallowed by a fish & spit up before obeying God
Jonah’s message was short, blunt and _______________or explanation – but the Ninevites repented anyway
Jonah himself was the _______- being swallowed & spit up by the fish. The Assyrians worshiped a fish god
Jonah is a “________” of Christ – the three days & nights in the fish a type of Christ’s death and resurrection
Jesus affirms the _______________of the story of Jonah and the great fish prepared for the occasion
The Queen of the South – Luke 11:31
The Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10) from lower Arabia ~ ______________ miles southeast of Israel
She heard about Solomon’s wisdom and made a long journey bearing gifts to hear him & ____________
They had Jesus nearby but made little effort to hear Him teach, brought Him nothing and ___________Him
Jesus’ rebuke is even more pointed that a Gentile ______would condemn these Jewish men in the judgment
The Men of Nineveh – Luke 11:32
The men of Nineveh _____________though they had received very little information from Jonah
That generation ______________repent though Jesus presented a message of grace, mercy and full salvation
The “something” in verses 31 & 32 indicate that it is Jesus ________all His work and that of the Holy Spirit
The Queen of Sheba and men of Ninevah will condemn in the future – though dead, they will be _________
Light and Sight – Luke 11:33-36
A lamp is not hidden because its very purpose is to _______________its light to help people see
Jesus’ life and teaching were not hidden but done ________________so all could see
Good eyes enable you to see light and bad eyes ___________the light
Jesus speaks metaphorically of eyes and light as awareness of _____________ truth
2 Cor. 4:4 – some who are _________revel in their evil while others recognize the problem and want to see
Those whose light is darkness are the religious ____________________ – Matthew 15:14
The ability to see spiritual light comes from the blessing of hearing ____________________and observing it
Those who walk in the light do not need a ________to believe – they are an anomaly in a wicked generation
Conclusions
People with distorted vision can think they see __________- they have to be told the truth and then be tested
The word of God and the Holy Spirit _____________spiritual sight
Jesus’ warning is serious because the consequences are ___________- if you lack sight, get help today
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Count how many times the words “sign” and “sight” are mentioned. 2) Discuss with your parents why hearing God’s word and observing it is a blessing that gives sight.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. What is the context of Luke 11:29-36? How does this passage tie in with those that precede it? According to Jesus, what brings about blessed state? What is a “sign” and why would people in the crowd demand such a sign “from heaven” from Jesus after He had just cast out a demon and healed a mute man? Why does Jesus call that generation wicked instead of just those opposing Him? How were they wicked for requesting a sign? Briefly recount the story of Jonah. Why did Jonah get a ship heading to Tarshish? What was Jonah’s message to Ninevah and how did he deliver it? What did Jonah want to have happen to Ninevah? Jesus said Jonah himself was a sign (Luke 11:30). How was Jonah a sign to Ninevah? How would Jesus be a sign to that generation? Who is the Queen of the South? Where did she come from and why did she want to hear Solomon? Why would she condemn that generation? What is the significance of Jesus pointing out specifically that she would stand up against the men of that generation (vs. 31)? Why would the men of Ninevah stand up against that generation to condemn it? What is the “something” that is greater than Solomon and Jonah? How do verses 31 & 32 confirm the future resurrection? What is the purpose of lighting a lamp? What I the relationship of that with Jesus’ life and ministry? How is Jesus relating the analogy of the physical eye and being able to see or being blind to spiritual illumination? How do the particular words used indicate that verses 34-36 is a spiritual lesson and not a physiological one? What is the condition of the unsaved according to 2 Corinthians 4:4? Who was Jesus referring to in verse 35 that the light in them was darkness? How does God provide spiritual light to people? What enables them to see it? How well do you see spiritually? How can your eyesight be improved? What is your plan to make those improvements? What are the consequences to those who remain spiritually blind?
(If you would like to receive Pastor Harris’ weekly sermons via e-mail, Click Here)
Grace Bible Church Home Page || Sermon Archives
For comments, please e-mail Church office