Summary: The Pharisees kept clamoring for a sign that Jesus was the Promised Messiah. Jesus, in turn, saw this request as a waste of time and effort. Nothing He would do or say would ever make them believe.

Beginning in Matthew 12:38-42, we read that the Pharisees won’t leave Jesus alone. Now they wanted to see a “sign from heaven” that would provide visual evidence of His Divinity. Consider what has happened so far in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. These same religious leaders had seen the healing of a man whose hand had been withered and another man who had been delivered from demonic control and had been mute and blind as well. Instead of giving glory to God for what they had just seen, they instead attributed the work of Jesus to demons. This is both sad and unbelievable.

Jesus’ righteous anger arose by declaring that only an evil and adulterous generation seeks signs. He was not going to put on a show with the created telling the Creator what to do. He told them that the only sign they would get was the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Jonah had run away from God’s command to preach a message of repentance to the wicked city of Nineveh, capital of the brutal Assyrian empire and a deadly enemy of Israel. Jonah had fled westward and boarded a ship heading for the city of Tarshish. During the voyage, a fierce storm arose. He saw this as a sign from God and confessed his sin to the ship’s captain. Jonah told the captain and crew to throw him overboard and then the storm would cease. A huge fish then came and swallowed the prophet whole.

For three days and nights, Jonah stayed in the belly of the great fish, which was a symbol of the darkness of a grave. After this period of time, the fish spewed Jonah onto the coast, where he then traveled to Nineveh and preached the message that God had given him earlier. Warning the people of Nineveh of impending doom, they responded by expressing deep sorrow for their sins and genuinely repented of their past evil deeds.

Jesus was pointing to His impending death on the cross and the period of time that He would be in the grave. Three days would pass before He would rise from the dead and fulfill His preordained mission of providing redemption for all people from the bondage of sin and death (Ephesians 1:4). Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were the three days. The Jews counted part of a day as an entire day, so the prophecy was literally fulfilled according to Scripture.

In his commentary on the gospel of Matthew, Dr. John Walvoord wrote that Jesus used another illustration that referred to the Queen of Sheba, who had heard and believed in the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1-28). Now, a greater than Solomon was in their presence, and yet the people of Israel refused to believe. The Queen of Sheba and the people of Nineveh would rise up on the Day of Judgment to condemn the Pharisees for their unbelief and hostility toward Jesus and the work He had done on behalf of God the Father and the Holy Spirit to offer undeserved mercy and grace to a world whose evil had turned them into enemies of God (Matthew 11:28-30: John 10:28-30, 14:6: Romans 5:6-11).

All of this serves as a warning and rebuke to anyone who declares that they would “believe in God” if He showed a “sign” for His existence. This is unmitigated nonsense as God has already revealed Himself with the evidence of creation, order, logic, rationality, purpose, and care (Genesis 1; John 1:1-4; Romans 1:18-22; Colossians 1: 16-17) and the testimony of the Scriptures (John 17:17; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3;16-17; 2 Peter 1: 19-21).

The crowing of the skeptical pinheads who spew out their winds of unbelief and mockery of the obvious is aptly described in the Scriptures (Psalm 2:1-12, 14:1-3, 51:1-3, 74:18; Proverbs 15:5; Luke 12:20; Romans 1:22).

The world is full of fools and wicked thinkers who are all too content to swim in a cesspool of misery, ignorance, rebellion, and hatred for God while those few believers who genuinely care for the welfare of their eternal souls call for them to repent and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation before it is too late (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Eternity is too long a time to regret the foolishness of rejecting the free offer of salvation in Jesus Christ. Turn to Him today. If not now, friend, then when?

donaldwhitchard@outlook.com

https://ocosbe.org/donald-whitchard/

 

 

From as far back as I can remember, clouds have always been a fascination for me. Having an active imagination, the scenes and pictures I have seen have been amazing. Animals, cartoon characters, ships, planes, castles, and just about anything else have plainly appeared to me. The one “appearance” that I am longing for will one day soon make His entrance, and He won’t be a cloud. That will be our Lord and Savior calling us up into the clouds to meet Him and be with Him forever. (ESV – all emphasis is mine)

To cover the Rapture verses from Paul once more, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last Trumpet. For the Trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

Then 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the Trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then, we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

For those who are saying they will wait until the Rapture starts before they will call out to be saved, all of the above actions will take place “in the twinkling of an eye,” as given in 1 Corinthians 15:52. In other words, it will be over before anyone can even take a breath, much less be able to call out for Salvation.

So, if this message accomplishes nothing else, its purpose is to advise all who are putting off calling out to our Precious Shepherd to save them, to really consider doing so before then, and soon. All the actions taking place in the world today are as if they are being taken directly from the Bible’s last days prophecies.

Weather patterns, volcanoes, earthquakes, rumors of wars, people fainting with fear, as stated in Luke 21:26, are all here right now and not getting any better. Persecution of God’s chosen people, the Jews, is more in the open than in any other recent history.

Jesus stated in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Again, this is for all who have received and accepted Jesus as their Savior.

And, yes, we hear people saying these events have always been happening, and nothing is different than before. Sadly, that’s one of Satan’s biggest ploys. His goal is to draw as many souls away from the Savior as possible, as he knows what his eternal destiny is (Revelation 20:10).

In 2 Peter 3, we’re told about the “scoffers” who will come in the last days, trying to draw us away from the truth. They forget that time to the Lord is different than for us, as He made Earth’s time specifically for humans. God is not bound by our time, but the instant that He has prepared for the end of this era takes place, this earth will enter a time of tribulation and wrath as has never been before.

There are those who say they believe in God but not Jesus our Savior. John 3:18; John 3:36; John 14:6; 1 John 2:23; 1 John 5:10-12; Matthew 11:27, and Luke 10:22 all state that to have the Father, we must have the Son. No Son; No Father.

The thing is, God will force no one to accept Jesus. It’s an individual choice that we all must make. As Joshua said in Joshua 24:15b, “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

And, every day, I will continue to be a “cloud watcher,” as “He May Be On The Next Cloud Passing By.” This just happens to be a beautiful hymn written by Sally Knight and performed by the Gospel group the Kingsmen. Please consider the wonderful message of this hymn.

Ref) He may be on the next cloud passing by. What a day when we behold His face on high. Soon He’s coming down to claim His bride, all dressed in spotless white. And He may be on the next cloud passing by.

1.) As a child I watched the clouds reveal the faces of my dreams. Then the wind would shift and move them from my sight. But there’s one face I’m still looking for, and I won’t be surprised should I see Him on the next cloud passing by.

2.) It’s closer now than you would ever think or comprehend; even a fool should know we’re so near this life’s end. Better make your list and check it twice as the midnight hour chimes, cause He may be on the next cloud passing by.

You might see Him in a moment if you watch the Eastern sky, and He may be on the next cloud; He may be on the next cloud; He may be on the next cloud passing by.

Jesus told us we would not know the day or hour that He will come for all His true believers (Matthew 24:36) but advises us to be ready.

Will we be totally sin-free while we’re here waiting for Him? Not according to Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, and numerous other verses. However, all who have received and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-13) have a pathway to forgiveness.

In 1 John 1:8-10, we’re told, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Just a note here: I, for one, would not want to call my Heavenly Father a liar. Titus 1:2 specifically tells us God never lies.

Once we have confessed and asked forgiveness for our sins, Psalm 103:11-12 states our transgressions are removed as far as east is from west.

Our Heavenly Father provided us with all we need to be kept from entering the tribulation/wrath. All who have received and accepted the Savior have the Holy Spirit within us. When He is removed to allow the ultimate antichrist to appear, our Heavenly Father will remove all the Holy Spirit-indwelt believers to keep us from the wrath. That’s found in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, and Revelation 3:10.

Now would not be too soon to call out to our Savior and become a part of His precious flock. Tomorrow could just be too late.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmal.com