A Greater than Jonas...the Wayfarer 11/15/ 13

A Greater than Jonas
 11/15/ 13

“The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold a greater than Jonas is here.”

(Luke 11:32)

Today we take our message from the 11^th chapter of Luke. We find Jesus addressing a crowd that has gathered to hear his teachings after he has healed a dumb man and the people once again question from whom his miracles come. We shall begin at the 27^th verse, after he has addressed this question as we have covered that particular passage in another sermon.

“And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”

(Luke 11:27 &28)

Blessed are the ones who hear and adhere to the word of God as taught by our Savior! This is an important passage, in that Jesus tells us that it is not enough to merely hear the word, but that it is necessary to live by those teachings.

There are many today who will openly and publicly hear the word.

 They attend many and sundry churches.

Some will attend any meeting held, and will even look for churches that offer services to attend that their own do not.

I highly encourage the attendance at every worship service that one may possibly attend.

I do so with the admonishment that this should be done to the glory and honor of God, not so that someone sees them to go to the services and think the better of them.

Where I have contention with some of these is not that they attend services, but that they do not keep the word of God in their lives as they go about the business of living.

 I even heard a preacher, from the pulpit, state that lying to one another is not sinful.

 The commandment is not to bear false witness against one another.

He went on to say that we should attempt not to lie, and that that would be good, but is not a requirement.

 Perhaps he should read the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus instructed us to let our words be yea, yea, and nay, nay.

He did so because of the Pharisees perversion of the law and the methods they used to skirt the intent of God’s commandments.

 I would also direct him to the book of Revelation with a particular emphasis placed on the 8^th verse of the 21^st chapter which tells him exactly what liars may expect!

 A Christian, a true Christian, will embrace the laws of God, and will take them to heart every moment of every day.

 They will deal openly and honestly not only with each other, but with all.

 They will take no pleasure in having cheated or taken advantage of someone else, whether they be of their faith and church or not.

“And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say,

This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation.

 The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon; and behold a greater than Solomon is here.

The men of Nineveh shall rise up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold a greater than Jonas is here.

(Luke 11:29-32)

God used Jonah to preach repentance to the Ninevites.

 Jonah was at first an unwilling tool of God. He feared the ridicule, and anger, of the people to whom he was sent.

 He saw the evil of that people, but was unwilling to tell them to repent or face the judgment of God.

 There are many times still, and have been many times in the past when this preacher found himself to be a poor and und unwilling tool for much the same reasons as Jonah.

Like Jonah, I too find myself being stubborn and waiting for God himself to handle the problems he intends for me to help him fix through the preaching of repentance.

 When this occurs, God always wins.

All Christians should seek to live as our Savior would have them to live, repent when they fail, and let others know that forgiveness is available through repentance and the blood sacrifice of our Savior.

“No man when he hath lighted a candle putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

(Luke 11 33-36)

Having received salvation through repentance, true repentance which means change, through the absolute belief in Jesus Christ, and through his blood sacrifice that our sin be pardoned, Christians must be that light to others.

 We must steep ourselves in the scriptures and his teachings. To understand what he taught we need to know the precepts of both testaments
.

To honor his Father’s laws, we have to first know what they are.

 We need to cease looking for ways around that law, repent and trust Jesus to intercede for us. We need to lean constantly on our savior, and the word of God.

If we do these things we will find ourselves fully occupied with the dos that Jesus preached and not falling into the don’ts that are more often emphasized.

 Admonish each other as needed, in private.

 Keep the word of God in your heart at all times.

 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.

I conclude for now, with the same love continually offered by this poor sinner saved by grace through the blood of Jesus in his most precious name.


2 Timothy 1:12 ¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

AMEN and AMEN
the Wayfarer