Church Requel
Are you a spiritual seeker or a shopper? If you’re a shopper, you’ll ask for a sign from God that fits into your reality, preferences and lifestyle. If you’re a seeker, you’ll ask to fit into God's reality, to know His preferences, and to change your lifestyle. We consider Luke 11:29-32 and discover Jesus’ pique when asked for a sign. We’ll also recall 3 truths about proving the reality of Christ in our own lives.
Luke 11:29-32 NIV
Proof Positive / Luke 11:29-32 NIV
Intro - We shop for a sign from God that fits into our reality, our preferences, and our lifestyle. Same demand from Herod / Pilate. Not enough that he performed miracle after miracle - THE reason the crowds were growing. “Do it for ME!” “I won’t believe unless I SEE MYSELF.” We would also discount the story of anyone claiming a miracle unless we see it on CNN.
#1 - The sign of Jonah is the___________________.
“For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.”Luke 11:30 NIV
Jesus calls that generation (and ours?) “wicked” because it asked for a sign (v. 29). His reply is fascinating, because he doesn’t refuse to give a sign - rather he says the only sign given to it will be the “sign of Jonah.”
So why the problem now with the demand for a sign? Simply put: Jesus doesn’t respond well to “Prove it!” If you’ve ever thought or said, “If You are really there” in a demanding tone, watch out! You are joining the ranks of Herod / Pilate / crowd and the results for you will not be good.
So what is the sign of Jonah?
_______________________.
“Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,
‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’” Jonah 3:4 NIV
Jonah was a prophet. Jonah was the real deal. The sign of Jonah is that you get to hear the story of the sign but not see the sign themselves. And it’s good enough for life change. It’s good enough for belief.
So does this mean you’re not allowed to ask questions about God? NO!
#2 - The witness of the Queen of the South is seeking
______________________________.
“The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here.”Luke 11:31 NIV
Why the shift to the Queen of Sheba? 2 reasons.
(1) Another proclamation from Jesus about himself that he is greater than Solomon. What does this mean? Solomon was known as (A) the greatest King of Israel who ever lived. (B) the wisest man who ever lived Jesus says here, “Now something greater than Solomon,” meaning Himself.
(2) The other reason is that honest, hard questions are ok!
“When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.”1 Kings 10:1 NIV
When we go back to 1 Kings 10, we see that the queen was deliberate. She traveled via camel caravan a long ways. She wasn’t demanding. She really wanted to know the truth. But here is also a fascinating fact - v.7
“I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes.”
Wow! No accident Jesus quotes this reference. He understands the need for true, faithful seekers of the faith of Christianity to use their brains! So what is the testimony from the Queen of the South? If you were serious about this question and not just flippant and argumentative, Jesus would be willing to show you what you need to see to believe!
#3 - The witness of Nineveh is the ______________________.
“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.” Luke 11:32 NIV
The right response to Jesus is not to ask for yet another sign, but to repent. Repentance means to change direction. With a sorrowful heart to admit our sins, our wrongness and to admit Christ’s glory and His rightness. To repent means to stop going the direction I was going (to follow myself) and to follow Jesus as LORD, as God. To live the right way.
Here’s the connection to asking for another sign. When you know you need to change and to repent and follow Jesus, but you don’t want to, the natural, easy response is to ask Jesus to “Prove it.” It is the answer of the stubborn, hardened heart. The response of the shopper is “prove it!”
So how should we respond to our own questions about the reality of Christ? How should we respond to others when they ask questions?
Remember these 3 truths about proving the reality of Christ:
#1 - Christ never shies away from the ________________.
“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”Philippians 2:12-13 NIV
Our faith is not always about just faith… sometimes it also requires work! Continue to work out your salvation. There’s effort on your part! Continue! means don’t quit. The working out never really ever stops. That means study and asking the hard questions. Christianity stands up to the difficult questions. You’re not the first to ask and won’t be the last.
Notice the attitude: with fear and trembling. The attitude with which you address these hard questions matters. Do you have the attitude of the Queen of the South, or the attitude of the crowd / Herod / Pilate?
Notice also that the work is not all on you! “It is God who works in you.” When you come up against doubts about your faith and/or hard questions, rather than defiantly “prove it,” ask God to help you. Remember that God also has motivation to help you “to will and to act … to fulfill his good purpose.” God created you for a reason! No accidents!
Want help with difficult questions about Bible? See sermon 9/30/2012.
#2 - Christ is always willing to guide ___________________.
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Pr. 8:17 NIV
The entire theme of the Bible - not just the gospels - is about finding God. Looking for… Seeking… asking questions… God is findable! He reveals Himself specifically so you can find Him. He won’t stay hidden! But your attitude (as we’ve seen) is really important…
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
- This is why Jesus included the story of the Queen of the South. She was seeking with all of her heart. She had hard questions. But she was honest. If I find what I’m looking for (God), I’m not going to stay stubborn. I may not understand everything, but I understand enough.
- Also this is the right concept for you to have with other people with their faith. You can never talk them into Christianity. They must decide themselves to seek with all their heart. What you can promise is this: if they seek with all their heart - then they WILL FIND God. His promise!
But also know that when the seeker finds… it will ALWAYS mean change
“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46 NIV
There was no forcing the merchant to sell everything. He wanted to! Because the one fine pearl was worth more to him than everything else he owned.
This helps us to understand the correct attitude we should have about others in seeking Christ. Is it likely / possible that there are some people who we want to find Christ more than they want to find Christ? Who really is the seeker - us or them? We cannot MAKE someone see the value of Christ in their lives. (God doesn’t even do that - wouldn’t be love then.)
Here’s the bottom line about proof positive…
#3 - Ultimately our belief in Christ will require ____________.
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29 NIV
There will never be any getting around the faith element of our faith! We will never ever be able to prove everything about Christianity to the ultimate, provable nth degree. Otherwise it wouldn’t be called faith!
“Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don't see.” Heb. 11:1.
In some versions it’s called “conviction.” Others it’s called “sign.” Faith means we have to believe God. Always going to take a leap of faith. Our faith - to believe - is not just on us. Jesus says also “the work of God”- to help our faith, to help us to believe. That’s the good news.
Here’s the bad news: God usually does this work of our faith through the trials and testing that we go through. God’s not behind every trial, but the next time you’re going through a time of testing, ask yourself - is it possible that God is working on me?
“Their purpose [trials] is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure.”1 Peter 1:7 GNT
Just to make sure you don’t get the wrong idea - who is proving what to whom? It’s not God Who needs the proof, right? He already knows! So who needs to know that your faith is genuine? YOU DO! When you’re going through a tough trial, time of testing, temptation and you come out the other end and you say to yourself, “You know something? God was there for me!” You’ve proven your faith was the real deal. Peter knew from personal experience what every mature Christ-follower has discovered for themselves: we will never know for sure that our faith is real until we’ve been tested. Then we know it will endure!