We're going to open our Bibles and we're going to read from Luke 11, verses 14 through 23. And he was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke, and the multitude marveled. But some said, He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thought, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say, I have cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by who do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own place, palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all of his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Our Father, as we come before you this morning, Lord, we just want to thank you for your word. And Lord, we want to ask you that we would not be like the Jews of that day with hard hearts. Lord, we ask that you would open our hearts, that you would help us to understand and help us to follow you. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. We are starting a new section. We have just finished a short section in Luke 11 on prayer. We saw, first of all, the Lord's Prayer, God's priorities and our greatest needs. Then we saw the parable, the promise, the principle, and the pinnacle of prayer is God gives us motivation to pray. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened. and reminds us that God is a good Father. He gives good gifts, and they're not just external gifts. He gives the source of all gifts, the Holy Spirit, that we would have help in everything that we do, from our prayers to the strengthening of us for the life that we have. I have often thought of the Holy Spirit with this idea of abundant life. How many times do we think of the abundant life and we think of all these earthly pleasures? and it's got nothing to do with the earthly pleasures. The abundant life is the eternal life. It is a life of a different quality and quantity. It's a never-ending life. It's a life that Paul would say, though I'm crushed, I'm not defeated, though I'm persecuted, I'm not depressed, though I'm, you know, all the things that were done unto him, and we find him victoriously going through them with a power from within that would motivate and compel him and drive him forward and a joy in the midst of it. Even when he suffered physically, he would say, therefore I will rejoice that I would be strong in the Lord. And this is the life that has been given to us and we are to ask for it. Now, we are coming to a new section. And in this section, it correlates very closely with Matthew 12. It is exactly, in fact, according to Matthew 12. Many of the teaching is, the order of teaching, the subject matter, there's a couple of sentences added or changed, but it's very, very close. Both Matthew and Luke are probably giving some summaries of what happened. They're both correct. They're both full. One just has details the other one misses as they're recalling what they know and what they've learned about this account. And starting in Matthew 11, just to remind you, because we're not studying Matthew, we're studying Luke, but studying in Matthew 11, we see the rejection of Jesus. And it starts, Matthew takes us through there, and he starts, first of all, with John the Baptist, and John the Baptist is doubting if Jesus is the one, and he sends his disciples to ask. And it just, from there, it seems to go downhill, all the way to you get to this section, which is going to be in Matthew 12, 22 through 24, and it's not just a rejection of Jesus, It is now, actually I think you have a doubting, you have rejection of His Word, you have rejection of Him as the Messiah, and now you have a blaspheming of Jesus. A blaspheming of Jesus. And as this progression grows, It's interesting to see that by Matthew 13, Jesus can no longer teach them openly, but he'll teach them in parables. They have rejected the clear and open teaching of the Lord, and so God is stepping back and removing that clear teaching from their eyes. It's interesting that people will often talk about the parables of how good Jesus was at communicating and these wonderful stories for communicating and yet many of the parables were just the opposite. They were written as a judgment on the people as God withdrew And everyone who came and asked, what are the meanings of these things, got the answers. But those that were satisfied with just a surface-level teaching didn't even realize that they were missing the real understanding of what God was teaching. So this is what is going on. We are not going to get very far today. I think we're just going to talk about verses 14 and a little bit about 15 with the rejection of Jesus. And we just want to kind of give you some general ideas on the miracles before we go on. And the reason is, you might have noticed that Luke and Matthew, from this point on, there's only a couple of miracles talked about. I don't know if you've noticed that, but in the beginning of the Gospels, there are many, many miracles. And that's because Jesus was showing the miracles to prove who he was. And so even the disciples in writing about this and the authors of scripture would record these different miracles. And each one's a little bit different as they have a different twist on which miracles they're recording. to help us to understand some part of Jesus' character or some part of the ministry. And it's fascinating to study that, how it all ties together. And yet, by this point, the miracles are, you could almost say they're old hat. Jesus has been doing them for probably two, two and a half years at this point, and the people have seen everything that they need to see, they've heard everything that they need to hear, and they've actually made a decision and they've already split, you know, into two in recourse unreconcilable, sorry about that, camps. You can't be reconciled. You have those that are for Jesus, you have a couple that are still hanging out in the middle, and you have many that have turned against Jesus. And they're at the point now of openly, publicly blaspheming Him and accrediting His power to the power of Satan. And we're going to get into some of this next week, but let's just start from here. And I want to read you Listen, let me read you the account from Matthew chapter 12. You don't have to look at it. It's just got a couple of more words, gives us some more understanding. And then we're going to talk about why this bothered them so much. Matthew 12, 22 through 24. Then one was brought to him who was demon possessed, blind and mute. And he healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitude was amazed. and said, this is the line that we don't have in Luke, could this be the son of David? So when the Pharisees heard this, they said, this fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. Now, we have here just a very short miracle and Luke doesn't even give us all the details. And the reason is the details of the miracle have not changed. They are pretty much common to what Jesus was doing. His miracles were very visible healing. This was not an internal issue of, I've got a stomachache, I've got a bad back, I've got some gallbladder issues, I've got this. These were, he can't see, he can't hear. He's got a demon that is manifesting within him where they attributed these parts of this disease, not to some physical deformity, but to the fact that he is possessed of a demon. So there's three parts of that. There are two parts physical, the not being able to hear or to speak. And then there's a third part that's very clear that they are coming as one that is possessed by a devil. He's obviously done stuff and doing stuff. where people are saying, this is not of God. This is in fact of Satan. It's so clear. This is not just a physical problem. There's a spiritual problem here. So his miracles were done on those that were extremely public, extremely public. And it also showed an obvious power over Satan. I mean, this is the classic. When you have physical symptoms from a demon possession, you know, even our physical symptoms when we get sick and when we have eye problems and all of that, that's a cause of, it's caused by sin. You know, this is why when Jesus came, let me just go back. Stop. Alright, go back. Genesis. Man was made by God in the image of God. He was made with no physical deformities, no physical handicaps. He was made with a good body. It was not designed to die. It was not designed to get sick. But with the coming of sin, God subjected us, both in our body and in the world, to the results of what we had sown, to the result of sin, because of what we chose. we had problems, both with the women and childbearing in the marriage between the man and the woman. The man in his work would work with the sweat of his brow. It would not be joyful work. Even when everything is done right, you still find problems. It's like impossible to get it perfect. I remember doing a very high end floor where we hand planed every board and we made it look like an old historical building. And we were planing and I was out on the planing crew and we got in and we looked at the boards and there was one of them upside down. and the hand-planned side was down and you could see the saw marks of the rough-cut lumber and all of that was sticking up through the finish. And it's just like, no! And this is our life. Even the best that we do has been subjected to vanity and the results of sin. So this man is has the results of sin in his life, both in the physical side that Jesus was healing so often, showing that he could not just take away sin, but even the consequences of sin, wipe it all out. He would heal all our sicknesses and diseases. And then he also had the spiritual side of that, where there was a genuine possession by an evil spirit. And this again is very clear. And Jesus steps into it very authoritatively. He heals. We don't hear any details of the healing. It just said he healed him. And the healing was complete. He saw, he spoke, and the evil spirit was gone. It was done. It was complete. And this is just a background of the miracle. That's all it is. It's the introduction to what is going to happen, at least in Luke, in verses 16 all the way through 26. 16 all the way through 26. This is what happens that forces the Pharisees to say something because it is such a clear representation that Jesus is God that the people cry out, at least according to Matthew, could this be the son of David? Now, obviously, he was the son of David. This was the title given to the Messiah. They were waiting for the fulfillment of the promise. It had started with Adam and Eve, that there would be one who would crush the seed of the woman, who would crush the seed of the serpent. It had continued through Abraham that in your seed all the kingdoms of the earth would be blessed. It had then come down to David's line and David had been promised that out of his seed one would sit on the throne of Israel forever. And it's a single one. It's not a descendant on a line of, you know, you're not going to keep the kingdom forever, but one of yours will sit on the throne forever. And it was understood. This is all the same person it's talking about. It's going to be the Son of God. They should have kind of known that. And so here they are, and when they're talking about this in verse 23 of Matthew 12, they say, could this be the son of David? They're actually asking, is this the promised one? All the way from the Old Testament, all the way from Genesis through, is this the one we have so been waiting for? And they should have known it was. Jesus has been clear. John the Baptist has been clear. And we're going to look at some of these and how clear he was. So you can't really praise the children of Israel for this question. This should have been a done deal, an accepted issue. It should have been over and done with. And yet people are still acting as if this was a new thing. A new thing. And the Pharisees are unreasonably angry. Here Jesus has done something that is super good. Not only has he given sight to a blind man and speech to a mute, but he has shown his power over Satan. I mean, there's nothing negative about this. They were children of God. They were in the nation that had been dedicated to the Lord God of Israel. They were known as people of one God. They should have been rejoicing. And instead we find them angry because it's drawn away from them and it's drawing toward Jesus. It's drawing toward Jesus. And I just want to look at a couple of examples of these miracles. And I want to show you why the people were so angry, okay, or why the Pharisees were so angry. And it's got application to us. Don't think these passages don't have application. Because just as we look at the Jews, and I can't honestly say, well, good for them. They're asking the right question. I feel more like it's about time. And you know, it's actually way past time. This answer has been decided already. How can you still not know the answer? So let me just point out a couple of them. First of all, if you go to John 9, I want you to, you can open your Bible there, I don't know, we'll be back here too, but John 9, and there is the healing of the man who was born blind from birth. And I just want to, I'm going to read a couple of verses and I'm going to emphasize the section that I want you to hear. It says in verse one, now Jesus passed by. Okay, now he was being driven out of the city, driven out of the synagogue. He hasn't left the city yet, but he's driven out of the temple actually. And that says, now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. And that again is just a very simple thing, but it tells us the history of that miracle. This man was no one from birth. He was an adult who had been begging tens of years at this point. We don't know how old he was, but I would guess somewhere between the 20s and 40s at a minimum. And he's been blind from birth. Disciples, of course, ask him who sinned in three. Jesus says, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. In other words, there's a purpose for this man having been born blind. There's a purpose for the miracle. In John 8, as he has healed them already and he's gone back and they're questioning it, then the neighbors and those who had previously seen that he was blind said, is not this he who sat and begged? Okay, now the whole town is talking because those who know him, who live next to him, who have known his upbringing and his whole history and those that pass through the gate on a regular basis and who have seen this man for years sitting here are talking. Again, look at it. They knew him. They knew where he came from. Verses 18 through 20. Notice, again, the public awareness of this miracle. Everybody knows it's happened. Many people have known the man, knew where he lived, knew the history of the man. They knew his parents, they were able to get his parents. And in verse 19, they ask him, is this your son who you say was born blind? Okay, they don't want to admit. He's been there for 25, 30 years begging without eyes, and they don't want to admit he was what? Born blind. And how then does he see? His parents answered and said, we know, this is what they said, we know that this is our son, obviously, right? And we know that he was born blind. But as for how he sees, we do not know, ask him, he's of age. So this is what happens. They look at him and say, no, you know, we're not gonna get involved in this, but we do know this, he's our son. He was born blind. Again, I point this out because these miracles were done so clearly, so publicly. that even his enemies had to admit that the miracles happened. Remember after the raising of Lazarus from the dead, there were many Jews that came from Jerusalem to comfort Mary and Martha with their distress as Lazarus had been sick and then he had died and they had buried him. There's many Jews there comforting her. How many is many? I don't know, it's many. It's not a few, it's many. And when Mary goes to see the Lord, many of the Jews followed her. So again, still this group of Jews is following Mary. She's well known. They follow her. They think she's going to the tomb, overcome with grief. Instead, she goes and meets the master. The master cries and says, come and show me where he's laying. They bring him to the tomb. Lazarus, come forth. All of this. And then it says, some of them returned to Jerusalem and told the Pharisees about the miracle. Okay, so this is a public miracle that was witnessed to by everybody. Lazarus has been dead four days. Probably some smell. He had started to decompose. I don't believe that I believe it was clear that he was dead to the people who was there. No one said, well, he must have been asleep. You know, you don't hear that anywhere. That's, you know, from us after the fact, oh, they were dumb people. They didn't know if a body had been dead. No, they knew a man had been dead. They knew when he started to decompose. You know, you might mistake it in the first hour or two of death, but if you wait to the end of the day, you know what happens to a body that's dead. It's very obvious. And they went back and it says this, therefore the people who were with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb, this is John 12, 17 through 19, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness. For this reason, the people also went to meet him because they heard he had done this sign. And the Pharisees therefore said among themselves, you see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the whole world is going after him. See that the miracles were so public, so well known, so well documented, so well seen, that it was hard to impossible to deny them. I have to use that word impossible. It's not even hard. You have to be willfully closing your eyes to deny the miracles. Even his enemies were losing heart because of the great miracles that he was doing. Even His enemies. Everybody could see these. And you look at this and you say, well, why did Jesus do this miracle? Well, you know, He did it first of all because He cared. And I don't want to miss that. He came because he loved us. He came to show his love for us in dying for us, taking away our sin, and reaching out. But there are also some very clear things that he tells us in his word on why he did them. First of all, Jesus said that these miracles and these works were proof that God sent him. Okay, remember the Jews, they have been waiting for prophets. They're always waiting for a prophet who comes and when the prophet comes, the refrain you see is, thus saith the Lord. He didn't come with his own message. He only preached a message from God. He only preached a message from God. Jesus would come. And because of his miracles, immediately Nicodemus, one of the teachers of the Jews, came to him at night. In John 3, 1 through 2, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Okay, here was a man who understood what the purpose of the miracle was. That it verified that Jesus was sent from God. In John 9, with that same example we looked at, the blind man outside the gate, in verses 16 and 17, even the blind man who's not a theologian will recognize this. He says, therefore, some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Forget the miracles. He doesn't keep the Sabbath. He did this on a Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? You know, it doesn't make sense. How can you do these public signs? They knew the signs were done. It was obvious to everybody. They could not deny it. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't deny it. And so even when the Pharisees tried to say, well, he's a sinner. He hasn't kept the Sabbath. He's not doing what we said he should do. He's doing his own thing. He can't be from God. And people looked at him and said, how can you do signs like this? This is not normal. This is of God. This is of God. Then they said to the blind man, what do you say about him? Because he opened your eyes. Hey, you've had a closer view of him. What do you say about him? You know, put some pressure on him. He said, he is a prophet. No, no help there. He's a prophet. This man must be from God. Look at what he did. Even Jesus himself would teach this exact thing. And this is not one or two times. Just listen to the plethora of verses that talk about Jesus being sent by God to this world. John 5, 37. And the Father himself who sent me has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form. So if you haven't heard his voice and you haven't seen his form, how did he testify? By the miracles that Jesus had done. By the miracles that Jesus had done. See, they shouldn't have been asking this question, oh, maybe this is the son of David. I mean, at this point, it's time to acknowledge this man came from God. John 6, 57, as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. And we can just forget the end of it at the moment. I only want to emphasize that first word, as the living Father sent me. Every time he's talking, he keeps coming. He says, I'm coming from the Father. I am the sent one of the Father. I come speaking the Father's word. You know what the term apostle is? The term apostle is actually a legal term for someone who was a sent one. And here's Jesus saying, I'm the sent one of the Father. John 8, 16. And yet, if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. So if I'd make a judgment, you know, when I declare my judgment, I have the authority of the Father behind me, because He sent me and I'm one of His sent ones. John 12, 49, for I have not spoken of my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command in what I should say and what I should speak. So there we have it, even the words that he's using are what? Thus saith the Lord. They're the words of the Lord. And I read all of these because I want you to know this is not an isolated teaching. This is not something that was new and surprising. This was a core message of every time. And I mean, many of these, he's talking to his, up until this point, he's talking to his adversaries. They're against him. And he's not backing down, not even one iota. He's doubling down. The father who sent me, the father who sent me, the living father who sent me, he's even told me what to say and what to speak. And then, you know, it's not just to others when he's praying in John 17, we often talk about John 17 3, this is eternal life that they might know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, but he doesn't stop there. And Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. You know, even within that very, you know, he's not even talking to anyone else. He's praying in front of the apostles. He wants them to remember he's the sent one of the Father. He's the sent one. So why did God send his son? Well, one, to reveal the Father, to do away with sin, to be in atonement for sin, three, to destroy the works of the devil, and four, to show us an example of how to live. But he is clearly the sent one. That has been testified to by Jesus all along. The second proof, that was the first proof. That's the first reason why miracles are done. It was to prove that Jesus was the sent one who came from the Father. But that alone would have been significant, but what was even more significant is that Jesus spoke for the Father. He spoke for the Father. John 7, 16. Only one of these verses is a repeat. There's going to be one that's a repeat, so I'll warn you of that. But the rest are all different verses. Not only did He come from the Father as a sent one of the Father, that's a special category, not just coming from the Father, but He was sent to do the Father's will. But he also spoke for the Father, just like the apostle would have the authority to speak, Jesus would speak for the Father. John 7, 16, Jesus answered and said to them, my doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me. My teachings. Doctrine is another word for teaching. My teaching. When, you know, we would talk about angels, life after death, heaven and hell, divorce and remarriage, salvation, following Jesus, committing your life. He says, it's not my doctrine. But whose? The Father who sent me. The Father who sent me. John 8, 26. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true. Again, I didn't even copy these to the other side, but you see how they interrelate so often. He who sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I heard from him. In other words, all the words that I give to the world are what? Things I have heard from my Father. John 12, 49, I have not spoken on mine own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command of what I should say and what I should speak. That's the repeat. John 14, 10-11, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on mine own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father else, or else believe me for the very works' sake themselves. And see again, you have that testimony he points to, he says, see those works, those miracles, they're testifying that the Father sent me and that the words I am speaking come from Him. So you're accountable, you're accountable, you cannot ignore it. See, this is what the Pharisees didn't want. Oh, they could argue between themselves, but when they argued, their arguments, if you read in the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, They recognized that the disciples did not teach the same way Jesus taught. They taught as one who had authority. One who had authority. When the Pharisees would teach, they would say, Rabbi so-and-so said this, and Rabbi so-and-so said that, and Rabbi so-and-so said this. So we know that somewhere between this range, and it was always these Rabbi, rabbi, rabbi, and you know, these different opinions of men. You got to Christ and he would say, you have heard it said of old that he who looks after a woman to lust after her, he that you shall not commit adultery. But I say unto you, he that looks after a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. Now, you look at what he did. He said, you knew of old the commandments or some saying that they had, but I say to you, in other words, I give you a command, a teaching, a precept that you cannot violate. There's no wiggle room. He who looks after a woman to lust after is already committed adultery in his heart. And he would just, doom, it's there. Why? Because he spoke from the Father. He spoke, and the works that he did testify to this. In John 14, 24, he who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. And again, you see it. There he's gone to the other side. He said, if you're not keeping my words, if you're not following my doctrine, it's because you don't love me and you don't love the Father, because the words that I'm speaking to you aren't mine, they're the Father's. The New Testament writers of Hebrews would also say that. In Hebrews 1 and 2, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. By His Son. And that is just beautiful. Beautiful, as he said. He's spoken to us by son. Lastly, third one. These miracles were proof that Jesus not only was sent by the Father, not only spoke the words of the Father, but that he was God. That he was God. You know, this is where the rubber met the road, all of it. I mean, it really got down to it here. Because the Pharisees, they were willing for someone to disagree with them as long as they left a lot of leeway. We're just another one of the teachers, but Jesus refused to do that. John 8, 58 and 59, Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. He had existed prior to the birth of Abraham. And he would tell them, Abraham saw my day. He was alive. He saw my day. He rejoiced and was glad. Then they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself. They understood what he was saying. He was saying, I am God. John 10, he would say, I and my father are one, in verse 30. Then in verse 33, the Jews answered him saying, for good works we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you being a man have made yourself God. So they understood what he was saying when he says, I and my father are one. He's saying that he is God. He is one with the father in nature. They're both God. In verse 36, right after that, he says, do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world? Again, you have that same thought again. Do you say of him whom the father sent, you are blaspheming because I say I am the son of God? If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him." Notice that it isn't just that he is God, but that he is one with the Father. He is completely united in all attributes, all the glory, all the authority, everything with the Father. He will say this many times throughout His ministry, that He is in the Father, the Father is in Him. Even in John 17, our sign here behind me, it says that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. This again is high priestly prayer. And even there, as he's just among the disciples talking to his father, he's praying and he's revealing these truths that he's taught over and over and over again. He says, as you are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us. that the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I mean, isn't that amazing? That they may be one in God, just as the Father and the Son are one. I in them, verse 23, I in them, you in me, that they may be perfect and complete in oneness, that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me." You know, this whole bringing them all together, one with God as you, Father, are with me. And then again, in verse 23, I in them, you in me, Jesus as the bridge, as the way between us all, connecting us all. The Father is in Him, and He seeks to please the Father. And Jesus came in the flesh to save us. He then gives us the Spirit, and we, the Spirit then forms Jesus in us, and we seek to please Jesus, and seek to please the Father. We become that exact thing that Jesus was, and we are sent out also to draw others in, also to be one with us, also to have Jesus formed in them, also to please the Father, to be one together, one body. You know, you think of the analogy, and we use that word analogy, and yet it's almost inaccurate. You know, I mean, I understand that we don't have a physical body to look at, but we have a spiritual body. And it is a literal spiritual body as we are fed and nourished by the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have the Father who directs, and Jesus is our head, who's given us directions and we follow. All of this just continues on. I'm just gonna, I think we'll stop there. But these were the proofs and the reasons for the miracles, that they would believe that Jesus had been sent by the Father, that he spoke the words of the Father, and that he himself was actually one with the Father, that he was God. I thought about this, and I thought about this in studying simply because of this. You go, well, you know, what's the importance of this miracle? Well, the obvious importance of this miracle is this is what motivated all of the discussion that's gonna come after this. And it's all of the angst, and it's all of the frustration of the Pharisees is they can't deny. They cannot deny the miracles, and so they're gonna attribute it to Satan. They're gonna blaspheme the Holy Spirit. So it's pretty important. It's not just a point that goes by. But I think too often that we have also read through these miracles, and you know what? Our hearts are hard. They don't awe us. They don't make us think, who is Jesus Christ? Instead, you know, many people teach on the miracles and they say, well, you know, that couldn't have really happened. Oh, that was in the old days when no one understood what true death was. You know, they were probably just in a coma. You know, he was still breathing a little bit, but they put him in the grave. No, he was dead. He was dead. The body had started to rot. So I ask you, how about us when we read these and do we understand that Jesus is God? That He really came from the Father, that He was the sent one of the Father. That He came to this earth to speak the words of God, to teach the doctrines of God. That if we don't listen to Him, there's salvation. There's no salvation outside of Him. Jesus would tell the Pharisees, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. There's no other forgiveness of sins. See, we read right through these miracles, and even if we acknowledge that they're true, which most of us, I believe, in this church do, I assume all of us, actually, but just to give some room there, I don't know your heart, but we believe them to be true, but do they really confront us with the authority of what they were meant to portray? That He came from God to speak the words of God. He was God, and we will be accountable to Him as God. You know, all of this comes, my dad would often talk to you, come to learn, or do you come to debate? When we come to God's Word, we must come humbly coming to learn, coming to learn. Jesus came from God to bring the message from God to us as God. He's worthy of our respect, not our debate. Let's close, let's stand as we close in a word of prayer. Our Father, we come before you this morning and we say thank you even for the miracles. Lord, we read through this miracle and it's just such a quick snapshot of something that happened, but obviously it sparked a huge debate. It was done publicly. It was visible. It was a man who was known to be possessed. It was a clear deliverance. Father, nothing needs to be said about it as only the arguments afterwards tell us all we need to know about the miracle. Lord, let us not miss the importance of this miracle that you are God. And Father, I ask, we live 2,000 years after the fact. We don't need more miracles, but Lord, we need to also have your spirit impress on our hearts the importance of listening and obeying. Father, would you please draw us closer to your side? Help us to hear and to understand. We ask this in Jesus' name we pray, amen.