Before we close, I'd like to say a few things. We saw a little bit of a loss. Part of it was bad, and some of it was certainly self-made. But it's great to have the ability to communicate with the community. We're going to show you some of the other things we've heard from the state and from the community. Let's stand and turn to this number 28 in the Red Movement. After this, we have a few questions. Number 28. ♪ I'm so glad I heard my Savior taking me ♪ One way home is precious and it's really deep. It's a grand and glorious feeling as I go home. It's a grand and glorious feeling as we journey to the edge of the sky. Every day I'll tell you a story I'll read to you ♪ In my King, in my King ♪ Jesus is mine and to his hand I'm ever clinging ♪ I'm so glad I've watched thee become Prince of Peace ♪ As Prince of the Homeward Wing, my soul is singing ♪ In some random forest every day It's worth it. It's worth our I'll walk away to life eternal Jesus has saved and washed my sins with white as snow So in these days I'll reach for the wondrous stones and burn on It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling, as I know. It's a grand and glorious feeling I'm back way higher from where I started from. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you a story. Every day I'll tell you with my feet, with my feet. I think about this morning's sermon. I've chewed a little bit on it. That's an awful big bite to have to take this morning. But it had depth. It was solid. And it was also one of those, he didn't stomp on the toe, he just went for the whole foot kind of concept. But the part that made it okay was that part when he said, we're responsible, but God's gonna be there. We're not Yeah, there's a lot of things that's going to be placed upon us, but God's going to be there. God's always there. We know God's always there. Then we start trying to rely on ourselves. That made me think of this one. I hadn't done this one in a while. I've been doing new stuff, and it's had me confused. But I got to go back to the old stuff sometimes. there is a scene and me that leads the way I can While going through this world of woe, this hand still leads me as I go. His hand has led me. Pull through shadows drear And while it bleeds I have no fear I know it will lead Me to that home Where sin or sorrow's heir can come I'm trusting to the unseen hand that guides me This weary land And some sweet day I'll reach that strand Still guided by The unseen hand I long to see my Savior's face. And sing the story said by grace. And thereupon that golden strand I'll praise Him for His guiding hand. I'm trusting to the unseen hand that guides me through. This weary land And some sweet day I'll reach that strand Still guided by The unseen hand still guided by the unseen hand. Amen. It was all seen on TV, I guess, or everywhere you see it, when you see these folks that have been gone off to war, and they come home and greet their family and their brothers. I just said to them, thank you. That day, when I leave this old earth, when I go, and that's when I see in my mind that and just see my God, see Jesus, and just run and just prep. If they'll let us do it, just wrap them up and just like, I'm going, I'm home. I'm home. You know, what it is to know that you have a home waiting. I don't have to wait and hope and guess that maybe I'll get there. God done promised me today, saved me. He said, you're home. You're home. I'm coming back. Amen. Amen. If you believe the words of Jesus, that 17th chapter of John we read this morning, then it seems to me he will be as happy to see you. Or even more happy to see you than you are to see him. For that is his heart's desire. What a beautiful, beautiful thought. Someone else tonight. Something needs to be shared. But as I look at some of the markers, you know, the birth date on this side and then the death date on this side, and then the line between them. Amen. We're all on that line someplace, aren't we? We're all on that line. We don't know when that line ends, but we have this moment. Anyone else tonight? Again, I appreciate that song. I appreciate the testimony. I'm grateful for the Lord's kindness and mercy. And I don't think we can think too highly of Him. I don't think we can contemplate Him too much. I was telling the Sunday school class this morning, you know, looking at the days of creation Then ask the question, what does that teach us about God? What do we learn about Him from seeing how He created all things? Tell me what about the character of God you see here. And so we started kind of listing some different things. And, you know, we get going, we get busy. And we don't often stop to take the time we need to see all the things that God is doing and the way He cares for His creation. and what it teaches us about him. And then he tells us, and if I care for the birds, right? If I care for the lilies, you know, contemplate how much I care for you. And what a blessing. We're in Matthew's gospel, chapter 12. And we have been in this chapter, we've seen Jesus criticized for his disciples eating grain on the Sabbath day. He defends that and then heals a man on the Sabbath. And then the Pharisees plot to destroy him. And so he retreats from that area, but continues to heal, continues to teach. People come to him. He is healing. He is helping people. And then Jesus is accused of healing by the power of Satan. And so Jesus addresses what they're saying. He teaches about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, the unforgivable sin, and that we're going to be judged for every word that comes out of our mouth. And so those are the last couple messages that we've preached on Sunday nights from this passage, is looking at the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. and then looking at the power of our words. And one of the things I wanted to remind you of is that Jesus was pressing really hard on the people who were on the fence about who he was, okay? Because there were some that were very decisive. that he was of Satan and there were some that were just uncertain about who he was. You can't label all the Pharisees as against him. You can't label all the Pharisees as undecided. I mean, there's a mix of people. We see even among the Jewish Sanhedrin, there were people like Joseph of Arimathea and people like Nicodemus that came to Jesus and were wondering. And so There's a broad range of types of people that Jesus is speaking to as he's preaching and as he's responding to this. But one thing Jesus is being very pressing on very hard are the people who are undecided, non-committal about him. And remember in Matthew 12, 30, he said, he that is not with me is against me. and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. So we're gonna pick up reading in verse 38. We're gonna read down through verse 45 together. Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, and this is after Jesus had said, you're gonna be judged by your words. He talks about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. So the Pharisee, one of the scribes and Pharisees responded, answered saying, master, we would see a sign from thee. Show us a sign. And he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas, this is Jonah, was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas. And behold, a greater than Jonas is here, the queen of the south. this is the Queen of Sheba, shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out, and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they shall enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. We'll end our reading there. We've taken our title for tonight from a familiar Hank Williams or covered by Patsy Cline song, Your Cheatin' Heart. And that came from what Jesus is saying to this generation. Jesus' response starting in verse 39 and at the ending in verse 45, he's talking to this generation of people who are around during his ministry. And so let's look at what they're saying and how Jesus responds and what we're gonna take from this, what we're gonna learn from it. And so the first thing they do is they say, we want to see a sign. Jesus is saying a lot of very profound things. He's doing a lot of amazing things. And they say, we want a sign. Now, as I was studying this, the first thing that came to my mind is like, what do you want to see? I mean, the guy has been healing people left and right. I mean, that's the whole reason they came. They recognized he was doing these things. They couldn't refute it. It was clear, it was public. They just said, well, it's Satan. It's not God, it's Satan that's allowing him to do this. And so this request for a sign, they wanted something on demand, right now, and they wanted something that would make it so clear that he was from God that they would have no choice but to believe, it seems, doing something else. And this was not uncommon for Jesus to experience. If you remember when Jesus was arrested and he was eventually brought before Herod, he was initially excited because he'd heard about Jesus. He'd heard about all the miracles. And he was like, oh boy, I got him here in my court. He's going to do a miracle for me. I want to see a miracle. I want to see a miracle. And what did Jesus do? Nothing. He didn't even respond. And so we have the situation where people wanted to see things, and there were some that were asking, some that they were demanding from Jesus, show us a sign, show us something that is so clear, show us something that is so powerful and amazing that we can't argue with it. But right in there, right in that, we see a problem, don't we? We see a problem. And the problem is that they wanted something somehow to take away the need for faith. taking away the need for trust. They fundamentally had a problem with what Jesus was saying and what Jesus was doing, and they found it to be insufficient. It's not enough. It's not enough. We need more from you to prove yourself to us. Show me more. Show me more. Well, how did Jesus respond? Jesus's response was that a wicked and adulterous generation is looking for a sign. And you're not gonna get any except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And we'll get there in a minute. But I wanna ask the question, why did Jesus reject their request? Because hasn't God provided signs? Hasn't he done that? I mean, yeah, there's lots of examples in scripture. Gideon. putting out the fleece, right? God gave him an answer. What about Moses when he was told to go to the Israelites? There was the whole leper's hand, right? There was the staff that could become a snake. And then there were all the other things that happened that they saw, that they got to witness. There was King Hezekiah when the Lord told him he was going to heal him. And he turned the dial back on the Sundial, right? The sundial of Ahaz, he turned it back, I forget, 10 notches or something like that. There were times he provided signs to Joshua, making the sun stand still in the sky. I mean, God has provided signs before, right? So why would God be willing in certain circumstances to provide signs? And in certain circumstances, he says, it is absolutely evil and adulterous for you all to be asking for this. In fact, an evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign. Well, let's think about this for a second, because I think the answer is in Jesus' response. What's a generation? A generation is a span of time of people who are born between this and between that, right? And we recognize that. We've got generations now. You've heard of the greatest generation, all but gone, the ones who went over, was it World War II? That pretty much the greatest generation, you got your baby boomers. Right? That's some of you. There's the Gen X. And there's the Gen Y. I'm not sure what that is. And there's the Gen Z. And then you got your millennials. And we have all sorts of ways that we categorize generations. And interestingly, and we recognize this too. I mean, we call that generation in World War II the greatest generation. Why? We recognize something about their character, something about their determination, achievement, the way they invested themselves. And as we come down, it seems that every generation looks at the one that comes after it and says, Meh, right? And we see that personification upon these different generations. I could say millennials, I could say this or that, or boomers, right? And there are certain things that are thought and assumed about each generation. And that's actually, it's not a totally unbiblical thought because even though there's a mix of people like we talked about, there is a certain personality, a certain general characteristic to different generations. And so Jesus is speaking to his generation. The people that were there around his time and generally where they were as a people, where they were at. And he says, y'all are asking for a sign. You all are evil and adulterous. Okay, we get evil. We understand what evil is, right? But what is the significance of adulterous? Cheating, right? You are cheating people and you have to, it takes a commitment to commit adultery. You understand this? It takes a commitment to commit adultery. There's a difference biblically between adultery and fornication. Fornication is immoral relationships outside of the bounds of marriage. But adultery is a unique sin. You could be doing the exact same thing. The problem is you have committed yourself to somebody else. And then you go fool around. And so you got a double whammy. There's the fooling around itself that's bad, but you have committed yourself to another and you're cheating. You're cheating on them. And as Jesus is looking at this generation, he is saying, you all are evil and you've got cheating hearts. You've got cheating hearts. You appear to be faithful to God, but your hearts are very far from me. And what we see is there's kind of this, these little data points that we get is that Jesus was very willing to show himself, to reveal himself to people who had an openness to believe, who were willing to consider. who really wanted to know what was right and had a desire to do what was right if God would show them. And then there were people who, no matter what you show them, they're not gonna believe. They're gonna turn away. We see Jesus in Matthew 13. He'll go to his hometown, and it says he's not able to do many miracles there because of their unbelief. Now, he had done miracles in front of people who were unbelievers before. People in Nazareth were unbelievers. What's the difference? The difference was the disposition, the angle, the turning of their heart. They were disposed to not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They had already pretty much made up their minds. And no matter what, he ain't going to be it. And it was because of that disposition, that turning away of the heart, that Jesus was unable, unwilling to perform the miracles that He otherwise would in other places toward a people who were at least more receptive to hear and see and to believe. You see, God knows the difference between an open and a sincere heart and one that is closed down by unbelief. He knows the difference. He can see that. And I don't know how to look on the outside and tell that. But my mom always used to say growing up, one of her little sayings, and she has some sayings, and she may listen to this and I'll hear. But one of the things my mom always say, there's no point in multiplying words to a fool. She said that to me a hundred times. No point multiplying words to a fool. And I used to think it was actually literally scripture. And it's not literally scripture. It is a scriptural principle. It's Proverbs 23, 9. Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. So there's no point talking to somebody whose heart is disposed to foolishness. You're going to waste your words on them. And we see that sentiment followed by Jesus Christ, where there were a people who just were not interested in really listening to him. hearing Him, believing Him, receiving Him, and He says, you're asking, you keep wanting something more, and you're never going to be satisfied. You're never going to be satisfied. You are a generation, collectively, and the common thing that Jesus is seeing is that despite all that He's doing, it's never enough. It's never enough. You know, and there's something to be thought about there. Right. There's something to be thought about in us as we're talking, as we think about ourselves and what's my heart disposition toward the Lord. And, you know, and this is relevant to somebody who's maybe, you know, could be doubting their salvation and maybe they're doubting it because they're not saved. And maybe they're doubting it because they are saved, but they want more from God. Right. I want God to do this and I want God to do this and I want to get it this way and whatever and whatever. Will it ever be enough? Right? That's kind of one of the things you have to wrestle with in your heart about stuff like that. You know, what do you want? Do you want to neglect or say, and I say neglect's not the right word. Do you want to negate the need to have faith and trust God? I mean, do you want, I mean, is it necessary for you to follow God that you have to see him and that he has to tell you so clearly every single time before you make a move? Or can you take what he said and what he's put in front of you and trust it? I mean, the just shall live by faith, and faith means operating in places where God gives us what we need to know, but then we have to trust Him, because we're not gonna see every step. We're not gonna see how everything's gonna work out. We're gonna have to know, this is where God's calling me, this is what God's showing me, and I have to be willing to listen and take what He's saying and go with what He's saying. Because if you don't have a heart that's disposed to receive and be satisfied with what the Lord gives you, you may put yourself in a bad situation where it's never going to be enough. And it's not just about knowing for sure whether you're saved, it's about living the Christian life, right? So he tells this generation, he said, you're wanting a sign, you want a sign. He says, there's not gonna be any sign for you except one. This special sign. Now, of course, there were going to be miracles and more miracles and things like that. But they're wanting the sign from heaven. And the Lord says, OK, you're going to get one. This is what this generation is going to get. It's going to get one sign. The sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, So shall the Son of Man, and he's speaking of himself, be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And so there's a lot, we can go into a lot of different things about this passage, but I want to focus on one point here. What was the sign of Jonah? What was the sign of Jonah? The sign of Jonah was what was shown to the Ninevites. Now we know what happened with Jonah, right? He rebelled against God. He went off on the ship going to Tarshish and there the storm occurred and ultimately it was discovered that he was the cause of it. He was thrown off the ship. by the sailors at Jonah's request. He sank to the bottom. He was swallowed by a whale. And there he remained in that whale. The Bible tells us three days and three nights in there. And inside the whale's belly, he sought the Lord and he was repenting. And the whale spent him out on dry ground. And Jonah, now an obedient heart, a truly repentant, obedient heart, he headed toward Nineveh. And he went and he preached there in Nineveh. And there was one of the greatest revivals ever recorded in scripture where the entire city the capital city of Assyria, one of the enemies of Israel, the people there repented and turned to God. What was the sign of the prophet Jonah? Was it the whale? The sign of the prophet of Jonah, the sign of Jonah was Jonah. Jonah was the sign. Jonah was the one who almost could have died and he survived. And as he went there to the Ninevites, and no doubt this story was recounted, and I've heard all sorts of different things about how they knew and believed. I haven't ever studied it that much, so I don't really know for sure, but somehow what happened to Jonah was recounted to the Ninevites, and they believed it, and they saw that this preservation of his life, Jonah himself became the sign. Jonah being alive despite that became the evidence, the sign of God to heaven that God used to touch and move the hearts of the Ninevites to repent. And Jesus tells these people, you're not going to get any sign except the sign of Jonah. Well, what is that going to mean in the context of Jesus Christ? He was going to die. and be buried and be raised again. And that He Himself, the risen Christ, would be the sign. The fact that He was dead and was now alive. He would be the sign. And we know the rest of the story. What is this generation's response going to be? Largely, and we know there's several exceptions, praise God, but it's still, speaking of the whole generation, largely to ignore, deny, cover up. All right? Because why? Because nothing was enough. Because nothing was enough. And Jesus sees the hearts, even before it gets there, Jesus sees the hearts. And so he is spot on as he is characterizing this generation as evil and adulterous. He goes on to continue to speak about this generation and he gives us the lessons of Nineveh and Sheba and here Jesus Recognizes this this concept of a of a general resurrection Where you have everybody standing before God and I don't know how to the timing of all these different things But there is a sense in which he's saying the people of Nineveh who repented at the preaching of Jonah will be Before God with you and they will bear witness against you saying you had a chance and you didn't believe. And there's also thrown into this the Queen of Sheba. To recall that, she heard about, this was when Solomon was king, the wisest man saved Christ who ever lived. And Solomon was king and he was flourishing greatly. The riches and wisdom were just renowned. And the Queen of Sheba heard about this. Of course, she was not Jewish, just like the Ninevites. And she heard and she came, right, to see if this was real, if all that she was hearing was true. And she found that it was even greater than she imagined. And we don't know all of what happened in her heart, but it's kind of implied here that she came to faith in the God of Israel. through this whole going and seeking to hear and learning of that, right? And that she would stand in judgment, she would be raised one day at the same time that you would have this generation of Christ raised, and she would say, you have had ample opportunity and you did not respond, you did not listen. You see, the Ninevites heard and repented. The Queen of Sheba sought and she believed. And this generation, the generation that was in the day of Jesus Christ, largely were not responding. And what is the significance that Jesus is pointing out in this passage? The Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah. But somebody greater than Jonah is here. You've got a greater person. And honestly, there had already been greater signs than even during the ministry of Jonah. And yet look at the response, the amazing, miraculous response to the preaching of Jonah. And he goes, and think about the Queen of Sheba. And she came to King Solomon based upon his wisdom, right, to that king. And Jesus said, and you've got one greater than Solomon here. The one who endowed Solomon with wisdom. You've got him here. and you're not believing. Despite the wisdom that Jesus was speaking, I mean, we think, oh man, how would it have been to hear Solomon? My friends, we have the words of Christ in front of us. Of course, we have some of Solomon's too, but we have the infinite wisdom of our God, of our Lord and Savior that's transcribed here. And as we were talking earlier, I was talking with another brother, you know, you're never gonna exhaust this no matter how long you live. We're never gonna exhaust the infinite wisdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and God's word. You've got greater than Solomon, and you're still not believing. In fact, in this same chapter, go back and look at verses 5 and 6. Jump back up with me. When Jesus is arguing with them about the Sabbath, and He's giving them the example of how the priests eat on the Sabbath day, and they work on the Sabbath day, and they're blameless even though it's a Sabbath day. Look at verses 5 and 6. Or have you not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless? But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple." So in the same chapter, and I don't think this is an accident, Jesus says, you've got one greater than the temple, you've got one greater than Jonah, you've got one greater than Solomon. You see where this is going? What's the significance of the temple? Well, it's the priesthood that he mentioned, right? This is where God is worshiped. What's the significance of Jonah? He was a prophet, right? What's the significance of Solomon? He was a king, right? Jesus says you have one here that is greater than the prophets and the priests and the kings. Right? He is all three in one, and He is greater than any that had ever come before. The prophet, the priest, the king, you have me here in the flesh. And it's not enough for you. And those who heard and responded to the Word of God with lesser witnesses will stand in judgment against you saying, what were you thinking? Because you had every chance. You had every chance. You see, these Jewish people were so blessed. I mean, the Bible tells us, Paul tells us, what advantage does the Jew have? They have every advantage chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God. God gave them His Word. God gave them His covenant. They had entered into covenant with God at Mount Sinai. That's the covenant that Jesus was accusing them of cheating on. They entered into covenant with God, right? And God gave them His presence, and His blessing, and His laws, and His truth, and all of these things. And then God Himself came down through His Son, Jesus Christ, unto the people. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. They didn't even recognize Him. It's like your spouse coming into the grocery store and standing right next to you, and you gaze over at them, and you don't even recognize them from anybody else. It's just nobody to you. In fact, you call them somebody else besides your spouse and accuse them of horrible things. That's really what was going on here with Jesus. And what is it, interestingly, in this passage, that the Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba had in common? Kind of indirectly, Jesus is saying some stuff. They're Gentiles. They're Gentiles. They're not even Jews. They're not part of the covenantal system. They weren't part of that covenant. They weren't committed to me. And they believed with lesser witnesses. You're cheating heart. has led you astray. He's trying through this to show them, again, to bring them down to their own heart, to see their own depth of need. Jesus is using Gentiles to shame these adulterous Jewish people who were given God's best but did not recognize Him. And so now we come to this interesting last part, this illustration that Jesus uses. And I want to talk about this. I thought about maybe breaking the message there, but I think that it just will fit better if I include it. Because he's still speaking to this generation. But Jesus uses this illustration of demonic possession. It's kind of fitting because Jesus was accused of doing these miracles by the hand of Satan, right? By Satan's power. And let's just read, it says, when the unclean spirit, a demon, is gone out of a man, so he's speaking a demon has been exorcised, he's been cast out. He, the demon, walks through dry places seeking rest and finds none. Then he says, I will return into my house, back into that person that I was cast out of. I will return into my house from whence I came out. And when he's come, he comes back to the man, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. And so the man is empty and it's cleaned up and all set in order. So he goes and this demon takes with himself seven other spirits, even more wicked than himself. And they enter into that man and they dwell there. And it says the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. What's going on there? I don't want to take it the direction to talk about give us all the ins and outs of demonic possession, although there's no doubt some things we could glean from that, but here I think is the point that Jesus is driving at. John the Baptist came to this generation and he preached the gospel, preached the message of repentance. Many that came and were baptized. The people recognized God was speaking in a way they hadn't heard in hundreds of years. And John, through his ministry, did immeasurable good in that generation. Well, then comes along the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. And Jesus comes, and He begins His ministry. And not just Him, but He gathers Himself disciples who are replicating His ministry, and He is His teaching was transformational. It caused people to relook and rethink about a whole lot of things. And there were several people, you can see it, amongst the people who started to follow him and started to listen to him and say, yeah, this guy's got some good things to say. This makes sense. And so he was reordering, in a lot of ways, minds, people's minds, OK? And getting them thinking. Now, of course, there was resistance, but there was a lot of good being done. And then he helped many people who were sick and suffering. I mean, a lot of people who were sick and suffering, Jesus helped them, even in a few occasions, raising the dead. And we see that Jesus was feeding the hungry. Of course, we think about the loaves and the fishes, but more than that, we kind of get the sense that they carried money with them and they used it to help different people and different needs. And so Jesus was doing a lot of societal good And then, of course, pushing back the forces of Satan. I mean, Jesus had the power to go and cast out demons and to push all those other forces away so that there was this opportunity for the gospel to come in. And so there was a sense in which the presence of Christ, the presence of John the Baptist and the ministry was pushing back the forces of Satan in a great and grand way in this generation, in this area, in this place. And despite that, we see that there were lots of people who followed Jesus even for a season. But when he started to say harder things, what did they do? They left. But there was that time, right, where they were all following. And then here he runs into people who were undecided. And they're saying, well, show me another sign. I want to see another sign. You know, I want something else. I want something more. And Jesus is saying, if all this good that's being done If it doesn't accomplish something in you, if it doesn't take you to the point of true faith, then your situation before I came is going to be better than after I'm gone. Because there can be a whole lot of good that is done and accomplished here. But if that cleaning out of the inside is not filled by the presence of the Spirit of God through salvation, a whole lot more worse things can come in and that will be the state. Even so, shall it be also unto this wicked generation. Even so, shall it be also unto this wicked generation. Reformation of our life without relationship is passing and it is perilous. Turning over a new leaf, hearing Christian teachings, believing the teachings, believing there are good things and letting it shape your life, even in some ways, turning away from bad things, apart from truly getting born again and changed and indwelt by God's spirit. It can be a dangerous thing and you can end up worse than you ever were to begin with. These Pharisees had access to the word of God and had all of that truth in their lives. And look how twisted they had become largely. I think there's some things that we can learn here. Think about this as a church, as we try to witness. We were up in Indiana a few days ago. We got together with Brother Kent and Sister Sarah Welch and spent several hours with them Friday night and enjoyed that very much. And Brother Kent was telling me about a podcast that he had listened to and he was really excited about it. And for those of you who know Kent, if Kent gets excited about anything, you know it must be a big deal. That's just, he's not one who really gets But he was just like, you really got to listen to this. And it was a podcast. How many of you have ever heard of Dr. Jordan Peterson? Anybody? A few people? How about John Rich, the country singer? OK. Some more hands. Figures. All right. I'm not a country music person. But anyway, Dr. Jordan Peterson interviewed John Rich, the country singer, about a song he wrote, I'm not sure how long ago, called Revelation. And Dr. Peterson was coming at this from an angle of wanting to understand because John Richards said that God just gave him this song and he spoke about how it was just a very strong, like God gave him the lyrics and God gave him the melody all at once and it just hit him and he had to sit down and write it all. So Dr. Peterson, he's an incredibly intelligent, very intellectual guy and he is wanting to probe and he's asking all these really good insightful questions about the process of inspiration and his history with the music industry and getting out of the music industry and then how that impacted his ability to be creative, which I found just absolutely fascinating from just kind of a you know, from a musician's standpoint about how that all works. And so he's asking all these questions. And for those, and I'm not super familiar, but Josiah listens to Jordan Peterson a lot, so he's told me all these things, that he says a lot of really good things. He's looked into Christianity a whole lot, and he believes a lot of the teachings of Christ, and has some really insightful things to say. And what was so powerful as we listened to this is John Rich, just starts really strongly, really clearly evangelizing Jordan Peterson. And not just telling him the truth, but pressing it home on him. And like, you have said all of these things, and he even went to previous interviews and stuff that Dr. Peterson had said, and he's like, you have said these things about, it's like you're almost to the point of belief. It's like you almost, it's like you see so much and you understand and you appreciate all these teachings of Christ, but have you really been born again? And I mean, it was so good. I mean, I literally was about crying in the car listening to this evangelism that was going on. And it was just so beautiful. And as I was studying this message, I was thinking about this. And I don't know whether Jordan Peterson is saved or not, because it's left a little bit uncertain whether he has been or not. He said some pretty positive things about it, but who knows? God knows. But I was thinking about this that, I mean, this guy has read and studied and is so intelligent about all these things. And it certainly has affected his worldview. And there's a lot of people who listen to him and are impacted by what he says on his podcast. But if you never come to the point of salvation, even though it's been a momentary good, it will be even greater eternal weight, for you're held accountable for all that. And I think about as a church, as we show benevolence, and this church loves to show benevolence, and it is a wonderful thing, it is a good thing, it is a godly thing, it's a Jesus thing for us to do, to show benevolence. And we should not back away, we should bend into it. But the true good that we can do through benevolence, is finding ways and we have to find ways to connect it to the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that is the true and ultimate good. That is the way the benevolence comes to real fruition and we cannot be afraid of as God's Spirit would help us and allow us to press the point of you need to know Jesus. You need to know Jesus. You need to have that relationship. Because you can like us, you can think that we're nice, you can appreciate our help, but you need Jesus. And the condition of your heart is the utmost and the highest good that can ever be done to give you, not just to clean you out, but to fill you up. Right? And I can't do it, but God can. We, as believers, we need to see what Jesus is doing because he is trying, and his words sound hard, his words sound harsh, but he is trying to help these people. I mean, if he was ready to just judge them and send them to hell, he wouldn't bother wasting his breath. He is trying to wake them up to see their great need. And I think that we need to, as a church and as individuals, Recognize that this gospel, this gospel is the most precious and important thing that we have, and we cannot be ashamed of it. And the greatest good we can do people is to do for people is to hold it up and to enter in a loving way as we need to. And sometimes we have to be a little bit sharp, but to press it home. You need Jesus. You need this on the inside. Or nothing matters or nothing matters. That's the message I want to share tonight. I hope something in there has been a help or blessing to you or another challenge. It's certainly a challenge to me. Think about how I'm interacting with other people. Maybe someone have a word on your heart, testimony, song, anything at all tonight.