From the desk of Pastor Ben

Gentile Faith Versus Jewish Unbelief

“The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it.”    (Matthew 12:41-42a)

The residents of Nineveh were not only Gentiles who lived outside of God’s covenant and law, they were especially brutal pagans. But even apart from a previous knowledge of the true God and His will, they, by faith, repented of sin and embraced God, which gave them spiritual salvation and spared them physical destruction (Jonah 3:5-6). Jonah grudgingly preached a terse message of judgment to Nineveh (3:4) and did no miracles and made no promises of deliverance. Yet, God could use that to cause the people to humbly grasp His mercy and receive salvation.
By sharp contrast, God’s own people rejected the gospel, even when His Son preached to them, performed many miracles and signs, and graciously offered them eternal life.
    “The Queen of the South” (from the prosperous country of the Sabeans) brought massive treasure to Solomon in gratitude and honor for his divinely wise teachings. Jesus again makes an interesting comparison: A Gentile woman came on her own initiative to learn God’s truth from Solomon. But the Jews, hearing Christ’s offers of blessing and salvation, rejected Him and forfeited forgiveness and redemption. So one day, the pagan queen, like the Ninevites, “will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it.” What a tragic conclusion when One much greater than Jonah or Solomon willingly taught not only wisdom but salvation, only to have it largely rejected by His own people.

Ask Yourself:
Think of the present-day factors that could lead people to repentance: unstable economic conditions, personal crises, health concerns, deteriorating relationships. How is God continuing to reach out to a fallen world, and how could He use you to help others see their need for Him?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Jesus and Jonah – Part 2

“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.         (Matthew 12:40)

Jesus’ resurrection after three days in the grave — compared to Jonah’s emergence from the great fish — was not the sort of sign from Him that the religious leaders had in mind. However, it was infinitely more significant and miraculous than anything God did through the prophet. The resurrection was Jesus’ final sign given directly to the world to authenticate His Messianic credentials and saving power.
After He rose from the dead, He appeared in His glorified body to His disciples on various occasions (1 Corinthians 15:4-7) and then spectacularly ascended into heaven as the eleven watched. After that, God performed other signs and miracles through the apostles to prove their unique authority to minister on behalf of the Son. Jesus told the skeptical Jewish leaders that His resurrection would be the only heavenly sign aimed directly at them.
Sadly, however, most of the Jews, whether leaders or people, did not accept the miracle of the resurrection — “If they did not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31; Matthew 28:11-15).
What any person does with the facts of Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry and the powerful truths of His atoning death and glorious resurrection determines that person’s eternal destiny. To spurn those most convincing and gracious of divine signs is, like the scribes and Pharisees, to reveal yourself as the worst of sinners, no matter how outwardly moral and religious you might be.

Ask Yourself:
We can hardly go wrong by focusing on the cross,the site of our forgiven sin. But we should be equally focused on the empty tomb, by which we are not only released from our guilt but are freed to live with all the glorious repercussions, now and forever. How are you experiencing that?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Jesus and Jonah – Part 1

“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”         (Matthew 12:40)

There was one sign Jesus was willing to give the Jewish leaders — the sign of Jonah. The prophet Jonah disobeyed the divine call to preach to Nineveh and headed for Tarshish on a ship. God sent a storm and had Jonah thrown into the sea to save the sailors on board. God then “appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah” (Jonah 1:7), and he remained in its stomach for three days and nights.
Based on Jesus’ own words, the account of Jonah is a prophecy that typifies or foreshadows the person and work of Messiah. Rather than using specific words of prediction about Christ, Jonah pictures what would happen to Him. Jonah was buried in the sea; Jesus was buried in the earth. Jonah came out of the fish after three days; Jesus rose from the tomb after three days.
By comparing Jonah’s experiences to Himself, Jesus verified the history and accuracy of the book of Jonah. The savior trusted the biblical account. If Jonah had not been actually swallowed up and then delivered from harm, those occurrences could not have typified Christ’s actual burial and resurrection. This demonstrates for us that our Lord looked to the Old Testament as a totally reliable divine record that pointed ahead to His earthly ministry and redemptive work.

Ask Yourself:
Many would claim that the story of Jonah is merely that — a story, a fish tale. But what are the real, underlying reasons behind such attempts to question the reliability of the Bible? In what ways have you found yourself resisting His authority and questioning His ways?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Jesus Answers the Jews

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it.”     (Matthew 12:39a)

The very request the Jewish leaders placed before Jesus, represented the wicked expectation of most of the nation of Israel: “An evil and adulterous generation” that had strayed far from fellowship with God and from trust in His Word in favor of a superficial, self-righteous religion. This unbelieving generation was spiritually adulterous because it had violated its vows of their unique covenant relationship to God, so often described in Scripture in marriage terms (Psalm 73:27; Jeremiah 3:6-10; Hosea 9:1).
Believing Jews who served the Father faithfully under the Mosaic covenant would accept His Son and the Messiah because anyone obedient to the Father would by faith recognize and embrace the Son — as did Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25-38), John the Baptist (Matthew 3:14), and the apostles, except Judas Iscariot; (Luke 5:27-28; John 1:41, 49). Because those godly people knew the Father, they did not need a sign to verify the Son’s identity and believe in Him.
Because of their unbelief, Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees “no sign would be given” to them. He could not possibly perform the kind of miracle they wanted — not because He was powerless to do so, but because such a sign would be completely contrary to His moral nature and sovereign plan. God did not then and does not now bend Himself to please the whims of evil people who don’t know Him.

Ask Yourself:
How well do you deal with the silences of God; those times when in His wise Fatherhood, He forces you to exercise your spiritual muscles of faith and perseverance? If you’ve been going through one of these seasons, be encouraged today that your unseen God is ever-present.

From the desk of Pastor Ben
Demanding A Sign

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”     (Matthew 12:38)

The scribes’ and Pharisees’ demand of Jesus — “We want to see a sign from You” — was really just an official insistence that He prove Himself to be the Messiah. Their use of “Teacher” was actually sarcastic because they considered Him a heretic and wanted to expose Him as a false teacher. It was also hypocritical because they wanted to put Jesus off guard by flattering Him in front of the crowd.
Matthew 16:1, a parallel verse, tells us, “The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.” Such a sign would be a large and spectacular one, which would be both from heaven and visible across the heavens, such as some unprecedented celestial occurrence or spectacular movement across the skies.
Although most of the Old Testament prophets did not perform miracles or signs but simply confirmed their divine messages by the messages’ truthful content, the Jews had come to expect signs accompanying every man of God, especially Messiah (1 Corinthians 1:22). Perhaps the Jewish leaders here thought Christ would fulfill Joel’s prophecy of turning the moon into blood (Joel 2:31), or painting the heavens some other colors by a mere wave of His hand.
Actually, the Jews did not think Jesus would perform any sort of miracle because their purpose was to discredit Him before the crowd, unmasking Him as one who could not do what they demanded. Such an arrogant demand really only disobeys Deuteronomy 6:16 by putting God to the test and revealing one’s unbelief.

Ask Yourself:
As usual, the Pharisees’ sarcasm and hypocrisy kept them from enjoying a blessed reality — the fact that God loves to reveal Himself and make His ways known to His people. How has He shown Himself strong, capable, and compassionate in your life lately?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
Consequences For Our Words – Part 2

“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”     (Matthew 12:36-37)

Jesus’ words in this passage apply to both the saved and the unsaved, but primarily to the unsaved, as illustrated in the extreme by the blaspheming Pharisees. Even the seemingly good words of unbelievers, although sincere, helpful, and comforting, are ultimately devoid of spiritual value because they come from an un-redeemed heart. After all, Jesus has just noted that no good thing can come from a heart that is spiritually evil.
The ultimate “day of judgment” for unbelievers takes place at the great white throne judgment, when God will condemn them because of their sins (Revelation 20:12, 15). Christ’s blood at Calvary, however, has already washed away believers’ sins. Not that any believer after salvation has not sinned occasionally by his words; but God has forgiven those and all other sins through Jesus’ atoning work. Unbelievers’ evil words and sinful deeds, by contrast, will remain as evidence against them on judgment day (Luke 19:22).
Sound waves, according to scientists, never completely dissipate but simply fade beyond detection. With the right instruments, every word mankind has ever uttered could theoretically be retrieved. We can all be sure that an omnipotent, omniscient God can perfectly preserve every human word and deed, ready for complete retrieval for use as evidence on judgment day.

Ask Yourself:
People are so sure that their good deeds, when weighed against the bad, will be enough to gain them entrance into heaven. In case the enormity of your salvation has been lost on you lately, just imagine the size of the heap of sins that could so easily be used as evidence against you, and then thank God for His grace.

From the desk of Pastor Ben
Consequences For Our Words – Part 1

“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”     (Matthew 12:36-37)

Scriptures consistently teach that the only way of salvation is by God’s grace received through man’s faith in Christ. Jesus’ point here is not that our words bring salvation or condemnation, but that they indicate the presence of salvation. Pure, wholesome, praising speech that honors God, reliably reveals a person’s new heart.
So, we are not saved BY good works, the apostle Paul says we are saved FOR “good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). In the same way, God saves all who believe so they may utter good words. “With the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:10), which then leads to “obedience . . .by word and deed” (Romans 15:18). Because our words are so vitally linked to our salvation, there is a sense in which they have essential consequences, either for redemption or condemnation.
God will eternally condemn the unrepentant for their words. Such speech is not limited to profanities, obscenities, or blasphemies, but includes “every careless word” for which they will “have to give an accounting for” in the last day.
Believers, on the other hand, use words that reflect God’s transforming work in their hearts. But because of their remaining sinful tendencies, they need to be diligent about what they say, as the psalmist prayed, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).

Ask Yourself:
The careless use of our words can become one of Satan’s most effective inroads into our hearts, causing us to feel condemned by our sinful speech habits and (of course) causing pain to others. What situations or environments put you most at risk to be unwise with your words? Text

From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Principle of the True Heart – Part 2

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”     (Matthew 12:34b-35)

James understood Jesus’ true heart principle, and his letter contains some powerful warnings about the tongue:

“If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)

“No one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”
                                    (James 3:8)

The mouth is the ultimate expression of mankind’s depraved heart (Romans 3:13-14; Proverbs 23:7).
The heart is the vast and varied reservoir the mouth draws its expressions from. With that figure of speech Jesus again emphasizes the fact that good produces good and bad produces bad (James 3:11).
One of the earliest acronyms from the computer world is GIGO; “garbage in, garbage out.” If a programmer, or even an average user, inserts bad data or inaccurate information while running a certain computer application, that will affect the outcome negatively. In the same way, the good or bad content of one’s heart determines what a person says, defining in a major way the principle of the true heart.

Ask Yourself:
How would you measure the quality of what you are taking into your heart on a regular basis? If you’re not convinced that it’s the best kind of content to be dwelling on, what changes could you make to your “diet”?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Principle of the True Heart – Part 1

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.” (Matthew 12:34b-35)

In this passage, the Lord gives us one of the most basic principles concerning mankind: what a person is internally, his or her mouth will sooner or later reveal externally. In his letter, James takes this so far as to say that one who did not sin with his mouth would be “a perfect man” (James 3:2). The Pharisees often spoke evil because their hearts contained much evil. By their own words they condemned themselves, ironically even as they tried to condemn Jesus.
In the Bible, “the heart” signifies the basis of human thought and will — it represents the character of a person. Therefore, when the mouth speaks, it simply reproduces what is already in the heart and reveals what the person is really like. Using this same symbol of the human heart, Jesus later explained that “the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, slanders” (Matthew 15:18-19).
A person who has animosity toward another will eventually express those feelings. Someone who constantly entertains lustful thoughts will someday express them by crude or suggestive remarks. The person who has an ongoing attitude of anger or hate will ultimately transfer those feelings into words. In the same way, the faithful believer who is truly loving, considerate, and gracious will express those heart attitudes in words and deeds.

Ask Yourself:
Life generally leads us to become more gentle and gracious, or to become increasingly harsh and hard to live with. Knowing that these are largely the result of how we live our lives and the mind-sets we adopt along the way, which direction would you say you are headed?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

One’s True Heart: Jesus Personalizes the Reality

“You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?”
                        (Matthew 12:34a)

Jesus did not hesitate to personally condemn people, especially when, like the Pharisees, their sins were cruel, self-righteous, hypocritical, or blasphemous. He came to save sinners, not to confirm them in their evil ways or minimize their guilt. Christ was not engaged in a popularity contest or a campaign to win votes. He was concerned only to please His Father, not sinful people.
Calling the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” was a severe reprimand the people of Jesus’ day would understand. Because those poisonous snakes blend into surrounding rocks and wood debris, that can attack their victim’s with complete surprise, as one did Paul on Malta (Acts 28:3, 6). The Pharisees’ unscriptural traditions poisoned the minds of other Jews to the purity of God’s Word, and their arrogant hypocrisy also drew others to that evil attitude.
Jesus knew that the Pharisees, “being evil,” couldn’t possibly “speak what is good.” So, He exposed the personal evil in their hearts which couldn’t produce anything but ungodliness and blasphemy. Evil is the general legacy of fallen mankind, due to Adam’s sin. As Paul expresses it, “Both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. . . . There is none righteous, not even one. . . . There is none who does good, there is not even one . . . . For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:9-10, 12, 23; Ephesians 2:1).
There is no escaping the real existence of man’s evil heart — “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 51:5) —and the gospel is the only remedy.

Ask Yourself:
How does a deep awareness of our sin and inadequacy benefit us as we seek to follow Christ? What kind of traps are avoided when we know that nothing good can originate from our own initiative? How can Satan twist this truth to continue defeating us?