Luke 11:27-32

Pastor Jack tells us that signs, wonders, and miracles are indicators. Like a signpost that points the way. But, unbelief will misguide us. After hearing Jesus, and His teachings it should have been reasonable to put their trust in Him, but they did not.

The dangers of unbelief. Jesus has addressed the dangers of unbelief in previous studies of previous chapters.
But this morning, we have a message entitled That very thing, the dangers of unbelief because of what unbelief does to us.
The amazing thing is this morning, the person that I want to have this message hit the strongest is a person that right now is already formulated in their mind.
I don’t want to hear this church listen carefully and to whoever you may be, let me say this before I lose you.
Unbelief is something that you’ve chosen to embrace.
It’s something that every man according to the Bible, according to God, you select to go down the path of unbelief.
It’s a horrible thing. For example, unbelief, unbelief.
If lived out in all of the aspects of your life, you could never board an airplane because of unbelief.
You could never get in a car because of unbelief.
If you follow that, thinking all the way through you think like this, I, I am not going to get in this vehicle because I don’t think it’s going to be able to get me anywhere you’d say.
Well, that’s, that’s ridiculous. I understand that you would not get in that airplane because you would be saying or thinking this cannot get off the ground.
And so I’m not gonna get in, I’m not going unbelieve. You say, well, that’s stupid. I understand that.
But on spiritual matters and on spiritual issues, Jesus Christ is who he is.
According to the Bible, the only one that the Bible, the Bible was written about to tell you that the one who will come, you’ll hear and understand him by his message, by what he says and does and that he’ll be betrayed, crucified on the cross and risen from the dead.
All of it written thousands of years before he would come.
The Bible speaks about Jesus from cover to cover, nor the book in the world speaks about their religious founder or prophet.
But the Bible does about Jesus before I lose you to your unbelief and before you turn out tune in or tune out to this, it’s your choice.
But the important thing is understanding this, if you reject the witness that God is crying out for you to receive and you enter into that world of unbelief, know this, it will pay its dividends in the end.
Everything regarding this is so vitally important.
I plead with you this morning note this if you reject or if you accept Christ, I don’t get anything for that.
Ok? We will not take your name.
You will not be signed up for something, we’re not going to tackle you.
If you raise your hand at the end of the service, we’re not gonna bother you or bug you in any way.
I may never see you again.
And if you’re listening by radio or maybe you’re listening by podcast right now or, or something along those lines, we may never meet in this life.
Do you understand something? What I’m pleading with you about this morning transcends this physical world that you would know God in the love of God, that you, you would know what it’s like to have your sins forgiven and to be filled with belief and to trust Christ, we’re not asking for anything.
This is not some sort of stick to get you to make some sort of a commitment.
We don’t want your money, we don’t want anything about you. We just want you to know God.
The danger of unbelief will keep that from happening. Noah Webster in his great dictionary.
And people always ask me, where did you get that? Noah Webster? Look, you could buy the thing online.
It’s gigantic. Buy Noah Webster’s dictionary.
It’s the only dictionary worth anything in, in my my opinion, uh His 18 28 dictionary of American uh words in English.
Noah Webster defines unbelief. Listen carefully.
Noah Webster defines unbelief as number one, withholding belief, a willful withholding of belief.
Number two to neglect or to avoid belief. Number three to disbelief.
Listen to this to disbelieve the truth of the gospel by the rejection of Christ as Savior and his teachings.
That’s Noel Webster’s dictionary. Oh, it gets better if you keep reading that definition.
He even gives verses number four to not trust God. Noah Webster said unbelief.
Jesus said, the Bible teaches us that in Mark chapter six, Jesus was doing miracles.
He came to a certain town and he’s preaching and doing miracles and it says there that in that one town, he couldn’t do many miracles because of their great unbelief.
It says Jesus marveled at the unbelief of the people.
Isn’t that sad God wants to do so much in our lives, but unbelief will rub us.
Luke chapter 11 verse 27 to 32 follow along with me.
Now it happened as he spoke these things that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him bless it is the woman who bore you and the breast which nursed you.
But he said more than that blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, he began to say this, this is an evil generation.
It seeks a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah, the prophet for as Jonah became a sign to the Nevis.
So also the son of man will be to this generation.
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.
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it for, they repented of the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Strong words. What is Jesus saying?
And why Jesus is drawing attention to the great crowd noted in your Bible.
It is a huge crowd we would use today in our modern day language that they packed around Jesus like sardines.
The word here. It looks kind of redundant, doesn’t? It?
It says that they, that they came and this crowd was thick and it gathered and they were together.
They had all huddled around a great vast amount of people to watch and to listen to what was going on.
And we know from our last study that Jesus had just done a great miracle that no doubt added to the crowd.
Remember what Jesus did remember the man who couldn’t speak Jesus cast out a demon that was holding that man’s ability from being able to speak Jesus uh cast that demon out of the man.
The man spoke clearly or plainly after that. And what happened?
No doubt, some people marveled as this woman in what she says, she must have been rejoicing.
But in the crowd came a voice from the leadership, the religious leadership of Israel. What did they say?
We know how you do this, we know what you’re doing.
Jesus, you’re in league with Satan, you’re working for Bill.
And last time in our study, Jesus gave a stern warning about that thinking and doctrine and that to believe like that and to die like that is none other than the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says about that sin believing that Jesus Christ is not of God and that Jesus Christ was working under the allegiance of Satan and to reject his offer of love and forgiveness.
The Bible says that is a great and the greatest of sin.
Well, that’s the crowd that Jesus was experiencing before him. And he says something interesting.
And in verses 27 28 there’s the voice that cries out blessed is the womb that bore you reference to Mary and the breast that nursed you and Jesus rather than him taking that any further on than that Jesus counters and simply says this, that all of us ought to get excited about Jesus turns and says, what’s more important than that?
And he always goes to the eternal, doesn’t he?
What’s more important than that is those who hear the word of God and obey it or keep it doesn’t matter what you think, it’s what you think and what you do with what you know, concerned in the word of God.
Notice that Jesus puts right back.
Here’s this beautiful statement and Jesus says, hey, know the word of God and keep it. That’s better than anything.
What a strong word. That is why he is setting up a parameter, a context for which he’s going to speak to that generation that are seeking a sign.
Remember they had said earlier, we want you to uh we want you to do something for us.
I want you to bring a miracle down from heaven. Show us a sign in the heavens.
Jesus implying then we’ll believe in you, but unbelief doesn’t work that way.
But the validity and the power of God’s word. Will you note this?
Will you jot this down this morning before we go any further?
Jesus says more than that blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
Psalm 1 38 verse two. How important is the Bible? God’s word? Number one.
Psalm 1 38 verse two says for you have magnified your word above your own name. That’s important.
Isaiah 55 11. So shall my word go forth from my mouth?
Says God, it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please and it shall prosper in the thing which I have sent it God’s word.
And then John chapter one verse one and 14 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth.
And then finally, right here, verse or revelation 1913. Imagine this verse revelation 1913.
It’s current as it were right now in heaven.
In other words, what I’m going to read you, Jesus is there now as we are here.
But this verse in the future is just preceding the second coming of Christ to earth.
In revelation 1913, it says, and his name is called the word of God. That’s awesome. That’s Jesus.
How important is the word of God when Jesus says better to obey the word and to hear it and do it.
He is the very word of God. Three points in our study this morning.
Point number one, jot it down the dangers of unbelief.
It’s this unbelief rejects faith, unbelief, rejects faith and watch this faith in what is reasonable faith in what is reasonable.
Verse 29 says. And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, he began to say, this is an evil generation.
You say, well, Jack, what’s, what’s he, what’s he doing?
How does he expect the church to grow when he’s talking like that?
When you look at what Jesus did when someone came running after him or a great crowd was gathered.
It seems as though he employed every bit of negative church growth tactics that you can employ.
You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series. Just go to Jack Hibbs dot com.
That’s Jack Hibbs dot com. And for now let’s get back to our teaching once again.
Here’s pastor Jack, don’t you think if there’s a huge crowd, what would man have done?
Huge crowd? My, my first of all, I would have stroked the ego. Oh, what a big crowd. Oh boy.
Hey, watch out big crowds mean big problems, big crowds are big needs and in a big crowd, there’s a mixed multitude.
You don’t know who’s a believer who and who’s not a believer. Crowds are difficult.
Jesus is not stroked by that. His ego is not tempted by that.
He simply clearly responds in a fact. He says this is an evil generation.
What does he mean by evil?
The word evil that he used the word in the Greek used here is that in the heart, there is a, there’s a possessiveness of the heart to do harm that in the human heart is this thing bent on evil or hurtfulness.
The word is also translated mischievousness. It’s translated a disease in the hearts. Jesus said in human generations.
It’s not just that generation of that day in all human generations.
Jesus said, there’s an evilness in man’s heart and it’s got to be dealt with faith in what is reasonable is to trust God is to believe in God.
But my friend listen, unbelief rejects faith. Our rights unbelief says, no unbelief says things like this.
Faith is for Wimps, faith is for weak people.
And yet even if you are a atheist this morning, you exercise great faith. Watch this.
It’s what you’ve chosen to put your faith in. According to the Bible.
If you are trusted in something or someone outside of God, then that is a life of unbelief.
You can have great faith in the evolutionary process that does not exist, but you have great faith in it.
You’ll argue it, you’ll defend it.
And quite frankly, let’s be honest, just you and I, you have to argue it and defend it because you’re terrified of the alternative.
You’re afraid that God might really exist. You say, I don’t appreciate that.
Well, listen, it’s either belief or unbelief based upon God’s definition, not what man has to say.
It doesn’t matter what I say, it’s what God says.
And the truth of the matter is unbelief, rejects faith outright in the things that matter.
So we want to be very careful about that in the sense that it’s reasonable to believe in God makes sense.
And I know if you’re young and you’re all full of yourself, you’re all, you’re healthy and, and you got all your opinions.
I understand that us who are older than you. We remember those days in us.
But there comes a time, trust me there comes a time when life will throw you a curveball and Darwin will not be able to help you.
And when, when your child looks into your eyes and your, your kid says, daddy, why am I so sick?
You’re gonna go one way or the other in your personal life.
You are either gonna cling onto the feet of God and cry out to him for mercy or you’re gonna look into those big brown eyes of your child and say kid, suck it up.
This is what this is the accident that life has dealt you.
This is it, it happens to, you know, all kinds of people. There’s no hope.
There’s no nothing just suck it up and endure it. I wanna beg you this morning.
Consider Christ, consider the God who loves you.
Secondly, faith is rejected by unbelief because faith in what is miraculous is, is absolutely rejected by unbelief.
Unbelief says, no, no, I can’t believe in the miraculous yet. Jesus has done the miraculous.
The Bible is the record book of miracles, but unbelief rejects it.
Jesus said verse 29 no sign will be given to this generation to it except the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
Oh my goodness. It’s not getting better for the audience. He not only says you guys are an evil generation.
You have evil in your heart to disbelieve and to run away from God like the little gingerbread man story gets up, runs off the dish and runs all around town running away from its creator.
That’s what unbelief does. You run away from God? But Jesus pours fuel on the fire.
They’re already struggling with unbelief. So what does he say?
He brings up the account of Jonah, isn’t Jonah the most mocked, made fun of event in the Bible?
Or you always believe that God made a great whale or fish to swallow.
Jonah, let me ask you, this is God. God.
If he’s God can, can he do anything he wants to do? He can do anything he wants to do.
Can he make a fish swallow? Jonah. Yes. You know, 18 hundreds you can read about.
It’s in the Encyclopedia Britannica. It’s gotta be true if it’s in there and it’s on the internet that proves it.
There’s a guy who was actually using a circus because the guy was swallowed by a whale and he was spit up 24 hours later, the guy’s hair was all eaten off by the bile.
His skin turned bleach white. The guy was some sort of a circus freak for real.
They, they build them as the modern day Jonah.
Hey, apparently there are fish big enough to swallow a human being uh outside of a shark which swallows you in pieces, whatever it is that ate him up.
I think personally that God prepared a special fish.
This was a, this was a fish that God made for Jonah to be swallowed by him and then it burped him up on the shores.
It just burped him up. And the, can you imagine being a fisherman that day in the, can you imagine a bored fisherman?
And all of a sudden the wave looks a little odd up comes this giant fish and this guy comes tumbling out seaweed around him.
His skin is bleached white. The guy gets up no hair because the acid would have eaten the hair off of him.
He gets up and he starts walking with determination because God told him, go.
Can you imagine that guy is watching the same fish?
The guy comes out and Jo Jonah starts walking and he walked hundreds of miles by the way to Nineveh.
You know ninevah today.
In fact, the Mosque of Jonah is in Nineveh today was in a mosque originally, but they call it now the Mosque of Jonah, it’s in Mosul Iraq.
He goes there, he’s walking there.
Jesus is no sign is gonna be given to this generation except that of the prophet Jonah.
So everyone else in the audience 2000 years ago had to scratch their head and say, man, this, this Jesus not only does miracles and, and declares that He’s the Son of God, but he’s telling us that Jonah’s event was a real event.
He was really swallowed by a great fish.
Look, my God is big enough to make a fish big enough to do anything.
He wants to do with that fish. I’ve read Genesis 11.
After that, everything is possible in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth outside of that, your God is huge, you can do anything he wants.
And Jesus, here’s the amazing thing, Jesus, the Son of God is announcing to the world. It really happened.
Jesus endorses what happened regarding Jonahs life miraculous. Thirdly under this point.
Faith in what is practical, unbelief rejects faith, unbelief rejects what’s practical for as Jonah verse 30 became a sign to the Nina Vites.
So also the son of man will be to this generation. Jesus is speaking of himself.
So watch this as Jonah was vomited up on the shore and he goes to Nineveh and he declares his message which when you read the book of Jonah, it was an eight word sermon.
And you guys, when you read the book of Jonah, you real says, right?
Jonah does not want these guys to come to know God. He wants them to fry in hell forever.
He hates them. How funny is that God sends this man go preach to them.
All right, you got it. Ok?
He shows up, hey, no yet, 40 days and none of us overthrown walks around town 40 days and none of us overthrown.
In other words translated today, fry. You suck us fry. No hope. There’s no hope in his message.
There’s no while they play the organ come down from the bleachers, the buses will wait. None of that.
He just gives a hopeless message who would respond to a hopeless message.
Jonah gives this message Jesus said of his life of his ministry. That is Jonahs to the Nina Vites.
He used the word here, Jonah became a sign church. This is awesome.
If you know anything, if you’ve studied or if you’ve gone with us through the book of Jonah, we studied in depth.
Um What is the Babylonian worship system which Nineveh held to? They had a chief God.
That’s the one that, that you’ll hear about here in a second, this chief God in the life of the Nina Vites uh was D A G O N and he was the chief God of all fish.
Their priest wore long green flowing robes embroidered like uh scales of a fish.
The roe look like fish scales.
So, have you ever seen those Chinese New Year dragon things where the guys are running, banging the drum and you see the dragon head, don’t I look just like one right there?
They’re going like this and the banging the drum and it’s got the scales of the dragon.
The priest had these long green robes and they had a hat that looked like a, a fish’s mouth open at the top and they were the priest of day in Babylonian worship.
Why am I bringing this up to you?
Because when Jonah came to Nineveh, what had happened to him, he’d gotten swallowed by a fish.
He comes to town. He’s a Jew coming to a bunch of Babylonians. Why is that important?
Because the Babylonians would make marauding journeys down into Israel and take people captive and, and the Israelis hated them and they hated the Israelis.
So God says, Joan, I want you to preach to them. What did Jonah do?
Jonah said, forget you God. And he got a boat and he tried to head off for Europe. Remember Tarsus?
He headed for Spain. That’s the story. God said, go Jonah said, no, he took off.
God said, I’ll show you I’ll, you’re gonna fulfill my plan. I’ll make a fish gonna come swallow you.
The fish swallows him, takes them out, spits them up on the shore.
And now if you look at a map, Joan had to walk a long way.
He had to walk hundreds of miles. He gets up there.
This is a guy with an attitude, he hates the people.
He’s going to be talking to, shows up looking pretty freaky looking, probably some residual seaweed around his head and he comes up and he says, you’re all gonna fry.
They must have perceived this man having come from a fish and great fear came upon them, which led in a practical way to their great recovery as a culture and as a people, pastor and bible teacher, Jack Hibbs here on real life radio with his message called the dangers of unbelief.
And you know, this message today is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Gospel of Luke.
It’s a series on the book of Luke and the unveiling of Jesus Christ to this world.
And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack.
Let me ask you a question about, uh about years ago when, when you and I were a lot younger, Josh mcdowell came out with evidence that demands a verdict.
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Get it. You’ll be absolutely impressed. Please evidence that demands a verdict.
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It’s yours for a gift of any amount and it’s available at our website Jack Hibbs dot com.
One more time, Jack Hibbs dot com.
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Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio.
Wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in his word, we’ll see you next time here on real life radio.