Speaker: Rev. Mikha Sandatoding
Good evening. Let the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ always be with us.
Matthew 12: 38-42
12:38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."
12:39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nightsin the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nightsin the heart of the earth.
12:41 "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
12:42 "The queen of thke South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
The Pharisees and the scribes followed Jesus, but they asked the sign from Him. It means the Christians or believers who follow Jesus only with asking the physical signs, not the spiritual ones. The Lord does not give the physical signs, but the spiritual ones, namely the sign of the prophet Jonah.
It means the sign of death and resurrectionas Jesus who was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights and afterward He was resurrected. The prophet Jonah was also in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights, and then he was vomited as the sign of resurrection.
Why does God give the spiritual signs, not the physical ones?
The sign of life renewalor the death and resurrection signis great, strong, and cannot be imitated by Satan. Why?Because Satan does not have the sign of the death and resurrection or renewal. It happens because he has sinned from the beginning.
The facts found in having the sign of the prophet Jonah or renewalor death and resurrecton are as follows.
Romans 12: 1-2
12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodiesa living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
If God sees our life that likes to pray and worship Him or offer our body, soul, and spirit to Him, He will smell the sweet-smelling aromaand we can get the results as follows.
Genesis 8: 21
8:21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again cursethe ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroyevery living thing as I have done.
God blesses you.
Good evening. Let the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ always be with us.
Matthew 12: 38-42
12:38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."
12:39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nightsin the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nightsin the heart of the earth.
12:41 "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
12:42 "The queen of thke South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
The Pharisees and the scribes followed Jesus, but they asked the sign from Him. It means the Christians or believers who follow Jesus only with asking the physical signs, not the spiritual ones. The Lord does not give the physical signs, but the spiritual ones, namely the sign of the prophet Jonah.
It means the sign of death and resurrectionas Jesus who was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights and afterward He was resurrected. The prophet Jonah was also in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights, and then he was vomited as the sign of resurrection.
Why does God give the spiritual signs, not the physical ones?
- Because one will not be able to endureif he only receives the physical signs without the spiritual ones.
1 Peter 1: 23-25
1:23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
1:24 because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away,
1:25 But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
Moreover, he will be as the grass and its flower that have been adorned with many beautiful physical things such as riches, intelligence, and so on, but will easily fall from the faithif there is no life renewal in the sign of the death and resurrection. He will be wither or cannot endure the test and temptation, so he easily gets disappointed and hopeless until leaving the faith and perishing. - 2 Timothy 3: 1-5
3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves(1), lovers of money(2), boasters(3), proud(4), blasphemers(5), disobedient to parents(6), unthankfull(7), unholy(8),
3:3 unloving(9), unforgiving(10), slanderers(11), without self–control(12), brutal(13), despisers of good(14),
3:4 traitors(15), headstrong(16), haughty(17), lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God(18),
3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Because one will tend to keep on sinningif he only receives the physical signs without the spiritual ones. It is especially the eighteen sins or triple six as the mark of the antichrist that stamps the body, soul, and spirit. In such condition, the body, soul, and spirit are only flesh and such human is not worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven because human in blood and flesh cannot enter it. - Revelation 13: 11-15
13:11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
13:12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13:13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
13:14 And he deceivesthose who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
13:15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Because one will tend to receive false teachings and have false worshipor deceived worship to idol. Consequently, he cannot go towards New Jerusalem, but Babylon that will perish.
The false teaching only prioritizesthe physical signs, for example the healing from diseases, the poor can be made rich, and so on.
The sign of life renewalor the death and resurrection signis great, strong, and cannot be imitated by Satan. Why?Because Satan does not have the sign of the death and resurrection or renewal. It happens because he has sinned from the beginning.
The facts found in having the sign of the prophet Jonah or renewalor death and resurrecton are as follows.
- Romans 6: 3-4
6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
6:4 Therefore we were buriedwith Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raisedfrom the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
We have the life renewal done by Holy Spirit through the water baptism.
Titus 3: 5
3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
We can have the renewal only by the true water baptism. The right water baptism means that we die to sin or the sin is buried in the water baptism, and then we come out of the water to resurrect together with Jesus in order to get new life.
What is renewed through the water baptism?
1 Peter 3: 19-21
3:19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
3:20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us––baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
The conscience is renewed from the bad one that is disobedient, evil, and unclean to the good one. In the days of Noah, only eight people had the good conscience. We can be savedby God if we have the good conscience. The process is as follows.- Believing in Jesus.
- Repenting
- Being baptized of water.
28:1 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
28:2 "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
We will be blessedby god if we have the good conscience, and we can be blessingsfor others. If we prioritize the spiritual signs or the life renewal, the physical ones will follow us. - Believing in Jesus.
- 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52
15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed––
15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
The renewal done by the true Teaching Wordor the loud voice of trumpet or the true Shepherding Word and God’s love.
Zephaniah 3: 17
3:17 The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
The process is through the perseverance in doing three main services to Godas follows.- General Serviceor fellowship with Holy Spirit God.
- Bible Study Service with Holy Communionor fellowship with the Son of God in the Teaching Word and Christ’s sacrifice.
- Prayer Service or fellowship with Father God in His love.
- The sin of the prophet Jonah.
Jonah 1: 3
1:3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
It means as follows.- Disobedience.
God commanded Jonah to go to Niniveh, but he went to Tarshish. Consequently, Jonah, in the ship, was tossed by the wind of temptation and the waves of problems.
The ship means our ministry, marriage, study, and job. There will be many decreases and disadvantages in them if there is no obedience.
Moreover, it will sink to the sea of fire in hell if there is no help from God. Therefore, the disobedience must be sanctified through the perseverance in doing the three main services to God until we can be still and calmto get success and we can be precious before Him.
The disobedience causes one to suffer and be tossed and naked as Adam and Eve who lived in sin up to the peak and curse until they were driven out of Garden Eden. One will not experience any joy, but difficulty in the following to Jesus, even sinking and perishing. - Anger
Jonah 4: 3-4, 9
4:3 "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!"
4:4 Then the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
4:9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!"
Jonah got angry because God did not codemn the inhabitants of Niniveh, but blessed them. The anger without any cause is the sin of the antichrist.
Matthew 21: 15
21:15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant
The spirit of the antichrist is not only the spirit of selling and buying, but also anger without any cause and indignant spirit. There are many times that we get angry to God because of feeling that God is not just whereas we have done all things, but He has not blessed us yet, even he blesses others. The indignant spirit or anger must be sanctified until we can be full of mercy.
The consequence of keeping the indignant spirit or anger is spiritual dryness or death.
- Disobedience.
- The sin of Niniveh.
Jonah 1: 1-2
1:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
1:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."- The sin of evil and uncleanness that have come up before God and drawn His condemnation to come.
UNCLEANNESS SIN
It means the sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage. Such sins come up before God day by day and rule over human life.
Luke 17: 26-27
17:26 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
17:27 "They ate, theydrank, theymarried wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
The facts found in the sins concerning eating drinking are as follows.- smoking =>lying when being warned =>blaming others,
- getting drunk,
- drugs abuse.
- sexuality sin with all its kinds,
- mixed marriage,
- sexual affairs,
- divorce.
The facts found in it are as follows.- Stinginess and greediness or the love of money.
1 Timothy 6: 10
6:10 For the love of moneyis a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
The love of money means looking for it until leaving the service and ministry to God or one serves and ministers to God in order to look for money, or without returning the tithes and offerings. Consequently, the more he ministers to God, the more sins come up before God.
The right one is we have to love Godearnestly by prioritizing the service and ministry more than anything. - Being blessed, one does not want to give the blessings to others. In such condition, he does not want to take part in or sacrifice for the revival of Holy Spirit at the latter rain.
Luke 12: 16-19
12:16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
12:17 "And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
12:18 "So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
12:19 ‘And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid upfor many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."‘
Consequently, the sins come up before God more and more.
- smoking =>lying when being warned =>blaming others,
- Jonah 4: 11
4:11 "And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left––and much livestock?"
The sin of Niniveh is also disability to discern between the right hand and the left one. It means they cannot discern the good and bad one, beginning from disability to discern the true teaching and the false oneor considering that all teachings are same.
The true teaching is written in the Bible, revealed through a verse that explains othere verses. It is preached purely, nor mixed with joke, philosophy, emotion, and without any purpose to get advantage. It is revealed by God Himself.
- The sin of evil and uncleanness that have come up before God and drawn His condemnation to come.
- General Serviceor fellowship with Holy Spirit God.
Romans 12: 1-2
12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodiesa living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
If God sees our life that likes to pray and worship Him or offer our body, soul, and spirit to Him, He will smell the sweet-smelling aromaand we can get the results as follows.
Genesis 8: 21
8:21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again cursethe ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroyevery living thing as I have done.
- He does not condemn us like Niniveh that was not condemned or destroyed by Him.
- He does not curse us, but pours out the rain of blessings for us.
Isaiah 44: 3
44:3 For I will pour water on himwho is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessingon your offspring;
It means the physical blessingsto make us blessings for others and especially the spiritual ones, namely Holy Spirit.
Pursuing the physical signs only, one will not get both the physical and spiritual ones.
The functions of the blessing of Holy Spirit are as follows.
John 15: 26
15:26 "But when the Helpercomes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
- Holy Spirit comfortsus, so that we are not hopeless and disappointed but we keep on testifying.
- Holy Spirit helps and accompaniesus anywhere and anytime. He also helps us in our weaknesses, so that we can have a new strength.
John 14: 16
14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide withyou forever–– - Zechariah 4: 6-7
4:6 So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.
4:7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"‘"
Holy Spirit opens the wayfor us and gives us the beautiful life right in His time. He will solve all problems in our life.
We can have the greatest blessing, namely the love of God that renews us until we are perfect or without any blemish. We are worthy of welcoming Jesus’ second coming and lifted up to enter New Jerusalem forever.
God blesses you.