The Sign of the Prophet Jonah - Live with Lon!

Good morning, everybody.

Welcome to Live with Lon. And if it's morning or wherever it is with you, it doesn't matter. We're glad to have you. And we're going to be today continuing in our series in the Gospels. And we have a very important topic to talk about today. So I hope that you're ready and excited about being encouraged and taught from God's Holy Word. Before we do that, why don't we commit this time to God in prayer? Let's bow our heads together. And let's take a moment and quiet our heart before the Lord. Confess any sins that we haven't confessed already this week. And ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for his word. Dear Lord Jesus, forgive us for our sins as we confess them to you. Thank you for the promise of 1 John 1-9 that if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So do that for us, Lord. And now fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit and may he illuminate the word of God to our hearts and apply it to our hearts to stay. And we pray this in Jesus name and everybody said, Amen.

Okay, now I told you I'm going to try to think of something little at the beginning of messages to give us hope. And before we dig in today, I'd like to give us Hebrews chapter six, and we'll put that on the screen. And let me read it to you beginning in verse 19.

This hope, what hope is that? Well, up in verse 18, it says that it's impossible for God to lie. Impossible for God to tell a lie.

And this hope, the Bible says, we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. So this is what I want to say to you today that one of the places we get our hope from is the understanding that because of who God is as a holy being, it is impossible for him to lie. It's not that he doesn't lie. No, no, it's impossible for him to lie. Were he to lie, he would stop being God. And so therefore, because we know that, and we have all the wonderful promises of God here in the Bible. Whoops. In the Bible.

Hey, it's live. What can I say? Here in the Bible, this brings great hope to our lives, knowing that God must be true to his promises because he is God. So may that encourage our hearts and our souls today. All right. It's time to dig into the Bible, the whole Bible. I know you.

I surprised you. Come on. The Bible.

The what? The whole Bible and nothing but the Bible. And then apply to our hearts. We're in a study of the gospels and we're in Luke, chapter 11, filling in some things that Matthew's gospel doesn't cover as Jesus heads to Jerusalem in the cross. So let's look there without any further ado to Luke, chapter 11. And remember, Jesus has been speaking to a crowd. And last week, one of the members of the crowd said, blessed was the woman that bore you and that nursed you. And he said, no, blessed are the people who know the word of God and do it.

So this is still happening. This cut the context here is that Jesus is still speaking to this crowd. And we pick up at verse twenty nine.

And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, he began to say Jesus did. This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah, the prophet. Jesus calls this generation here in Israel an evil generation. I think he's talking mostly about their leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the lawyers who were trying to kill him. But as a whole, it was an evil generation who refused to accept him as their Messiah. And he says, I'm not showing you any more signs, no more wonders, no more miracles except the sign of Jonah, the prophet, which we'll talk about a second. Now, this might seem to be a very unkind, even mean thing that Jesus is is doing. Oh, OK. You won't believe in me. Fine. No more miracles, you know.

No, no. This is not the attitude of Jesus. Folks, as I've told you before, we only have one month of Jesus's earthly ministry recorded in the gospels out of one month out of thirty six. Can you imagine the amount of signs and miracles he did up to this point?

He's done scores, hundreds of miracles. And the reason he says I'm not showing you any more is because, folks, he had showed them enough miracles that if they really wanted to believe, they would have believed already. And when they kept coming to him and saying, show us a sign, show us a sign, this was just a red herring. This was just an excuse for them not believing.

They had seen plenty of signs in order to believe. And so Jesus said, all right, that's that's it. If you haven't believed, I'm not showing you any more except for the sign of Jonah, the prophet.

Now, look, he says in verse 30, for as Jonah was assigned to the Ninevites, so also the son of man will be to this generation. I want us now to go to Matthew, chapter 12. And here in Matthew, chapter 12, we see the Lord Jesus saying the same thing, only he expands it a little bit.

And this is helpful for us. Let's look. Matthew, chapter 12, verse 38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.

Now, remember what we just said. They had seen umpteen signs before this. But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And now Jesus tells us exactly what he means by that.

Look at verse 40. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. So will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

OK, so what sign is he talking about? Well, of course, he's talking about the resurrection, where as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. I'm three days and three nights going to be buried. And then I'm going to rise again, just like Jonah was spit out by the fish. I'm going to come back from the dead and have life. This is the last sign you're getting. And as he said back in Luke, chapter 11.

Let's go back there for a minute. Luke, chapter 11. For as Jonah, verse 30, was assigned to the Ninevites, so also the son of man will be assigned to this generation. The resurrection will be the confirming truth of my Messiah ship, just like Jonah was assigned to the Ninevites.

Now you say, what does that mean? Well, I believe that the reason the Ninevites believe Jonah coming out of nowhere as a prophet and the reason they repented is because Jonah himself was assigned to them. He was in the belly with the digestive juices of that great fish for three days and three nights. And I think as the Bible says, the fish vomited him up back onto the shore. Now, he didn't look like a normal, ordinary human being.

I don't know exactly how he looked, but I think it was bizarre and just unusual. And when he showed up in town and said, I've been in the belly of a fish, the way he looked was assigned to them that he was telling the truth. And so Jesus said, in that same way, when I rise from the dead, I, the living Christ risen from the dead, will be assigned to you that I'm telling you the truth. Now, let's finish out the passage Luke Chapter 11. For the queen of the south will rise up in 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. And 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. Who's he talking about? Well, of course, he's talking about himself.

And this is the whole point. Now, we're going to come back to these couple of verses that talk about the queen of the south and King Solomon in a moment. But right now, let me just say that this is exactly what the Bible says, that the resurrection was meant to be proof of his Messiah ship and his be his deity. I want you to look at with me at Romans Chapter one, Romans Chapter one. Let me read the first several verses. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, which he promised the gospel beforehand by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

The gospel first three concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh. Now watch verse four and was declared to be the son of God, deity with power. Look by the resurrection from the dead. This is my point is that the resurrection was meant to be a proof positive that Jesus was deity, that he was the son of God, that he was the Messiah. And this is what Jesus is saying in Luke Chapter 11 to this generation. This is what the resurrection is going to be for you. And whether you believe it or not, it's up to you. But I'm going to demonstrate to you, I'm going to prove to you that I'm who I say I am by the sign of the prophet Jonah, meaning the resurrection.

As Romans Chapter one, verse four says, declared to be the son of God by the resurrection. OK, now that's as far as we want to go in our passage because we want to ask our most important question. And you know what this is. So are you ready? Come on. Here we go.

One, two, three. So what? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And what do we say now? Come on, come on.

Ready? How sweet it is. Yeah, you bet. Now, what's the so what here? What difference does this make to me? Well, of course, it makes the difference that you've not followed cleverly devised fables, as Peter says. But the resurrection proves that we are following the one true way to eternal life and to heaven. No other leader of any other ism or ology has ever risen from the dead or even claim to accept the Lord Jesus Christ. Not Buddha, not Confucius, not Mohammed, not Joseph Smith, not L. Ron Hubbard. None of them. Not no rabbi, nobody. OK, now that's, of course, very important.

But there's another so what here that I want us to focus on. And that is that Jesus obviously believed that Jonah really lived, that he was a real person. And Jesus, obviously, from what he said here in Luke 11 and Matthew 12, believed that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish.

He was really swallowed. And Jesus obviously believed that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. And Jesus believed that Jonah was spit back up on the land by the fish. And Jesus believed that he then Jonah went to the city of Nineveh in the kingdom of Assyria, preached and a great revival.

Repentance occurred. Jesus believed all of that. And that because that's what he says. Now, this brings us to the issue at hand, which is the Bible. Is the Bible reliable? Is the Bible correct in all that it says?

And you know what? The problem is many of us, many professing Christians will say, well, I believe the Bible. I believe the Ten Commandments.

I believe, you know, the golden rule. This I maybe even believe Jesus rose from the dead. But do I believe in all these phantasmagorical things in the Bible, in the Old Testament, like Jonah being swallowed by a fish or Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed with fire and brimstone or Noah's flood? Do I believe in all these things?

Probably not. But it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter because I do believe in Jesus and I believe he rose from the dead. I'm sorry, friend.

That is not one of the above selections. Now, you either believe it all or you or all of it is not believable. But there's no middle ground here because here's one of the reasons why our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, believed in it all. This is the whole point that I want to make as we close out today. Jesus believed in all these phantasmagorical things in the Old Testament that most of us struggle and say, well, maybe that didn't really happen the way you know, but it doesn't matter.

I'm sorry. You can't say that unless you're willing to say Jesus was mistaken about all of these things. OK, let me show you that Jesus believed all these Old Testament stories. OK, first of all, we just talked about it, the sign of Jonah.

He believed that Jonah had been swallowed by a fish and three days later, three nights later, was spit back up on land. But let's go back a little farther. Let's go all the way back to the creation. A lot of people will say, well, I kind of believe in evolution or theistic evolution. I don't really believe the Bible's account of creation. Well, that's a problem because Jesus did.

Let me show you that. Let's look at Mark Chapter 10. Look what Jesus said. But from the beginning of the look at this creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, he's quoting the Book of Genesis, Genesis 226. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

So then they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, when God is joined together, let not man divide. Jesus believed in the creation account in the Book of Genesis, Chapter one. He talks about from the beginning, not from the beginning of evolution. He didn't say that from the beginning of creation. And he believed that God created Adam and Eve, man and woman, male and female, and then blesses the marriage between a male and a female. OK, now, next thing.

How about next in line? Let's talk about Noah. Hey, Jesus believed the story of Noah. Let's look at Matthew, chapter 24, verse 38. Four, it says, as in the days before the flood.

Look at this. Jesus believed in the flood. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. And next verse, verse thirty nine. And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away.

So also will be the coming of the son of man. Jesus believed in the flood. Jesus believed in the ark. Jesus believed that the whole world, except for Noah, was destroyed. And he believed that Noah existed and built the ark.

OK, let's move on. How about Abraham? A lot of people today say Abraham never really existed, that he's just a mythical character that was made up to justify the ages, the beginning, the emergence of the Jewish people, and that the guy never really even existed. Well, Jesus believed he existed. Look at John Chapter eight.

Jesus is arguing here with the religious leaders of Israel as to whose children they are. He says, Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. Now, of course, this happened in heaven, but obviously Jesus believed that Abraham was real.

And not just that. Look what he says, if you would, in Matthew Chapter eight. He says in verse 11, and I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down, look with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus believed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all existed. Just the way the Bible says. Let's move on to Moses.

Huh? Matthew Chapter eight. Look at verse four. Jesus healed a leper and he says, See that you tell no one, but go your way. Show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them. This is in the Old Testament, in the first five books of the Bible.

The Bible commands if you are healed, you go show yourself to the priest. And Jesus said Moses was the one who wrote that. Many scholars today say, of course, the Moses, if he existed at all, didn't write the first five books of the Bible.

No way. Jesus believed he did. Jesus believed he did. Look, let's go on with Moses for a minute. Let's look at Luke 20. Luke Chapter 20, verse 37. Jesus speaking, he says, Now even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised when he called the Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Jesus believed not just that Moses existed, but he believed in the burning bush of the way the Bible tells us that occurred. And in Mark Chapter seven, let me show you this.

Jesus believed that the Ten Commandments came from the pen of Moses exactly the way the Bible says. Mark Chapter seven, verse 10. Jesus said, For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother.

Where does that come from? Well, that's one of the Ten Commandments. Of course, Exodus Chapter 20.

And he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. This is Moses writing the Pentateuch exactly the way the Bible says. Let's go on very quickly. How about David? Mark Chapter 12.

Let me show you that. Mark Chapter 12, verse 36. Look what Jesus says. He says, For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, and this is quoting Psalm 110, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. If David therefore calls him Lord, how is he then his son?

We'll get to this passage when we get there in our study. But David wrote by the power of the Holy Spirit. He believed Jesus did that David existed. There's a great theological polemic going on today among Arab scholars that David never existed and that Solomon never existed and that the temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem never existed because this takes away the claim of the Israelites that that's their land. David, obviously, the Lord Jesus existed and we read it right in Luke Chapter 11.

Let's just remind ourselves of what Jesus said in Luke Chapter 11. He said, The queen of the south, the queen of Sheba, will rise up in 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. Indeed, a greater Solomon is here. Friends, he believes Solomon existed as well as David and that he had the wealth and all of the wisdom that the Bible says he has. And you know, the queen of Sheba, the Ethiopians have an epic, I guess if you call it an epic poem that is very central to the history of their society.

It's called the Kebra Nagast, the Kebra Nagast. And in this, they say that their queen came and got pregnant by King Solomon, came back and she had a son named Melanik, Melanik the first, and he became king and had the Solomonic, they call it the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia. And they can trace it all the way down to Haile Selassie, who last ruled in 1974. And so Jesus believed that the queen of Sheba really came to see a real guy called Solomon. All right. Now, a couple of others. How about real quick Lot's wife, Luke 17. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Jesus believed in the story of Lot.

He believed in the story of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah from heaven, from the fire and brimstone of heaven. And then verse 30, even so, it'll be in the day where the Son of Man is revealed. And then he says in verse 31, whoever is saved, let him not look back. Verse 32, remember Lot's wife.

Remember, the Bible says Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Jesus believed that. Remember her, Jesus said. So we can talk more about this and about Elijah and about Isaiah and about Daniel, all of whom Jesus believed in.

But I think the point is clear, my friends. Jesus believed the Bible, the whole Bible and everything in the Bible in the Old Testament. Even the most, as I said, fantastical things that happened that you and I might go, well, I don't know. Maybe not. Jesus believed them all. And so the question is, if we say we're followers of Christ, I mean, we're going to say we know more than Jesus knew. You say, well, maybe he was mistaken. I don't think so. No, no. Jesus is not mistaken. Let me read you a quote from Ed Hinson. We'll put it on the screen for you.

Here it is. It says no one defended the inerrancy of the scriptures more than Jesus. He quoted biblical passages in responding to his disciples. Matthew 16, his critics, Matthew 22 and the devil himself. Matthew Chapter four.

He referred, look at this, to almost every controversial story in the Old Testament, including Noah, Jonah, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Daniel. And then he concludes, we are ultimately left with one of two choices, poor, dumb Jesus or poor, dumb scholars. I'll stick with Jesus every time.

End of quote. Friends, poor, dumb Jesus, are you serious? The living son of God.

He wasn't poor, dumb Jesus. He was God in the flesh. And he validated everyone, as Ed Hinson said, every one of these phantasmagorical stories that we tend sometimes hedge on.

No, no. The Bible is telling us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And I want to encourage your faith. My friends, Jonah really got swallowed by a fish. Noah really did build an ark and there really was a flood. Adam and Eve really were created, male and female, by the direct hand of Almighty God. Abraham existed. Isaac existed. Jacob existed. David existed. Solomon existed. The Queen of Sheba existed. Moses existed. The burning bush really did happen.

All of this that we read about in the Bible, Jesus sanctions. Jesus approves and says, yes, those things are true. I believe them.

And so I just want to encourage your faith, my friends. Don't be afraid to believe these things. You don't have to understand how they happen.

I don't understand how they happen. But what difference does that make with a God who's as omnipotent as the Bible says our God is? My answer is very simple.

It happened because God wanted it to happen and because the power of God made it happen. And that's the end of the story, period. And that's good enough for me. And you know what? That was good enough for Jesus. And therefore it ought to be good enough for you.

If you say you follow Jesus. Let me close with a quote by Harold Linzel. Wonderful book. If you haven't read it, you need to read this book. It's called Battle for the Bible. The Battle for the Bible. It was written back in the 70s. And when you read it, you'll see that so many of the things he was predicting were going to happen when we departed from the Bible have happened. Mr. Lindell is with the Lord now, a former editor of Christianity Today, but an amazing book. You have to read that book, The Battle for the Bible.

You can get it on Amazon. But here's what he said. And I quote, Once the infallibility of the Bible is abandoned, it always and ever opens the door to further departures from the faith, embracing the doctrine of a scripture with errors will always lead to disaster down the road.

End of quote. And this has happened to the evangelical church in America. It's tragic what has happened in the last 50 years since he wrote this and how many churches have abandoned inerrancy and the infallibility of the scriptures, even in its most fantastical parts and the disaster that has come theologically and practically. Friends, Jesus knew the truth. Jesus affirmed the truth in the Bible to us of all these events in the Old Testament. And you and I need to believe them, too, if we say we follow him.

Inerrancy. It's the linchpin upon which all of our faith is built. We abandon it and the faith is going to go out the door with it. All right, let's stand firm. We may not understand how these things happen, but we believe them because our savior believed. And that's good enough for us.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for an inerrant scripture. Thank you for a scripture that Jesus has verified in what he said when he was here on Earth.

And as the the second person of the Godhead in the flesh. Lord, help us not to believe that we know more than he does. For goodness sake, help us to believe what he believed and affirm what he affirmed and stand on what he stood for, knowing Lord Jesus, that heaven and earth will pass away. But as Jesus said, my word will never pass away. And if our lives are built on his word, we won't pass away either, but we'll join him in heaven at the end of our earthly life. Lord Jesus, thank you for an inerrant scripture and help us to believe it and to base our life upon it. And we pray this in Jesus name and everybody said, Amen. Now that was preaching. You betcha. That was preaching. And if you like that kind of preaching, you join us next week and I'll try, Lord willing, to give you some more. God bless you and base your life on the Bible this week, my friends. It's trustworthy.