The Heaton File

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Genesis 6:5-6)

What God Sees

Watching the news can be an exhausting and depressing way to spend the day. The headlines are filled with political wrangling, fears over pandemics, murder, tragedy, natural disasters, wars, famine, and general paranoia. It can become overwhelming to witness all the chaos going on in the world. The television screen fills with images of death and destruction. In communities across the land, immorality is rampant, with marriages breaking up over infidelities, parents abandoning their children, open perversion of sexual promiscuity, and nearly naked men and women walking around. The gods of money and wealth drive the industry of materialism and covetousness to destroy lives. Children cry out in hunger. Women are tortured and raped. Criminal enterprises fill the streets with the carnage of a drug war that seems never to end. Innocent people are gunned down or murdered. The world is a dark place to look at. Sin abounds.

From the view of the individual, the news is a limited glimpse into what is happening all over the world. The news can’t translate into reality everything that is going on in the world. The stories that fill the world are at the atomic level of knowledge for finite man to see and hear and witness. That is not the case with the Creator of the world. The omniscience of the Lord God opens up every particle of the nearly eight billion souls living on planet earth. He knows what every person is saying, thinking, doing and where they are in the vast planet 25,000 miles wide. The Lord knows everything occurring on earth and has a memory bank that is so extensive it remembers all the billions upon billions of souls that have lived since Adam. He sees it all. His knowledge is updated every second. What He can see in America, He can see in China at the same time. If a man stands on the summit of Mount Everest, God sees him. God knows the ten astronauts circling the earth. All the crew of the deepest diving submarine is seen by the eyes of God. What happens in the darkest corner of the darkest place on earth is clearly visible to the mind of the Lord God.

In the days of Noah, God looked in the heart of every man and woman and saw wickedness, and everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. Only eight souls would be saved from the wrath of God. Before the flood that killed everything with the breath of life, God saw their lives, heard their words, and witnessed their terrible deeds. The eyes of the Lord saw debased mind doing things ungodly, filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful toward others. And God sees the same thing today. Everything.

The earth is filled with violence and unrighteousness, and God sees it all. How it is possible for the wrath of God not to destroy the world today is difficult to understand. There is so much sadness, heartache, and tragedy on so many levels and the mind of God takes it all in. When Moses transcribed the story of the flood, he declared the omniscience of God to see all the evil that abounded on the earth. But Moses also wrote down what else the Lord saw. After the Lord decided to destroy all life on earth, it says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. With all the terrible things filling the earth, a righteous family stood out among the darkness. So today, the Lord sees all that He sees, but He also knows those who are righteous, and He smiles. It grieves His heart to see so much wickedness fill His creation. Jesus came to earth to bring light to a dark place. God sees the darkness, but He gazes upon the lights all over the world.

So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:38-39)

What Day Changed Your Life?

Many hallmark moments change the direction and course of life. The birth of a child, the first day of school, graduation, marriage, or a new job. Great events may mark a turning point in a person’s life, like surviving a catastrophe, becoming wealthy overnight, learning a dreaded disease is cured or in remission, or facing an uncertain future. Many factors lead to a time in life when a person can say with deep conviction that an event changed their lives for good. Getting married and bringing children into the world is at the top of the list of the most impactful decisions a person can make in life. Still, they pale compared to the single, most important, enduring, and consequential decision anyone can make. All men are created in the image of God, and no decision is of greater importance than becoming a child of God. This one decision has the greatest consequences of any decision made in life because it has to do with life after death.

If there is one day that should change the course of life, it is the day a man becomes a child of God. Realizing the hopelessness of living without God moves men to seek His will. Conversion is not an intellectual transference of a righteous soul to the glory of God. Obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ begins with the knowledge that a man is an enemy of God, a curse, a vile and sinful creature worthy of the wrath of God. The psalmist aptly calls the state of man to be that of a worm. That is the highest a soul can seek with any honor about being a created thing before the Almighty Creator of the universe. A man does not become a Christian because he is a good person or a man doing very well in his state of existence. The only thing a man can grasp for standing before the mercy seat of the Lord is to beg for mercy and kindness in the face of an angry God. Every man deserves to go to Hell, and this is without exception because every man has sinned and fallen from the grace of God.

Grace has allowed man’s feeble frame to approach God’s holy throne and beg for mercy and forgiveness. Jesus did not die because all men deserved His righteousness. The putridity of sin permeates every fiber of man, making him a loathsome and unworthy creature. Yet, God, in his rich mercy, gave His only begotten Son to die for all men. The Son of God came to earth, and His creation tortured and killed Him. Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive those at the cross, and no one deserved it. The Father gave hope to mankind when He brought Jesus from the dead. For two thousand years, the gospel of salvation has been ringing all over the world calling for believing souls to accept the mercy of God. The love of the Father for rebellious man was found in the love of the Son of God, who died for all men.

The greatest day in the history of humanity was early on the first day when Jesus rose from the dead. This would become the hallmark of remembrance for believers in Christ who gather each first day of the week to honor God in worship. For the life of the individual, the most incredible day is the day they became a Christian. The man from Ethiopia had been searching for answers, and God sent Philip to teach the story of Jesus to him. As Philip opened the scroll of Isaiah and preached Jesus to the Ethiopian, a change took place. The Ethiopian realized that Jesus had died for him and that joy and hope were found in obedience to the gospel. He demanded the chariot to stop and for Philip to baptize him for the remission of his sins. The two men went down into the water where Philip immersed the Ethiopian, washing away his sins. What happens next changed the life of the Ethiopian. He went on his way rejoicing. His life would never be the same. The Holy Spirit says nothing more about the man from Ethiopia, but what is known is that his life was changed. It marked a turning point and a change of life.

Has obedience to the gospel changed your life? Do you know the day you became a Christian? Has that day marked a significant transformation in how you think, how you talk, and how you live? When someone asks what day is your birthday, can you remember when you became a child of God? Knowing what day a person is born into the world is not that important because next to a date of birth is a date of death. Remembering the day a person is born again in Christ is the most important because living a faithful life of obedience will usher in eternal life. No day is as important as the day a man rises from the waters of baptism with his sins washed away. That is the moment of birth, and that is a day to remember.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.” (Matthew 2:13-15)

Jesus Came Out Of Egypt

The first few years of the life of Jesus were remarkable. He was conceived in the womb of a virgin living in Nazareth. Prophecies were given that Jesus would be born of the house of David in the small town of Bethlehem, near Jerusalem. Because of a decree from Caesar Augustus that all in the Roman Empire should be registered, Joseph and Mary returned to the city of their birth. It must have been a difficult journey as Mary neared the end of her pregnancy. Arriving in Bethlehem, the time for the birth of God’s Son arrived. It was not a grand palace, or a wealthy home, or a place of notable significance where Jesus would be born. There will be no dignitaries to herald His birth. Mary delivered her Firstborn Son with only Joseph as her helper. Joseph cut the umbilical cord, wrapped Jesus tightly, and presented Him to Mary. The place of Jesus’ birth was in a barn and where Mary laid the Son of God in a manger.

Shepherds from the field outside of Bethlehem came to see the baby Jesus and marveled at Joseph and Mary as Jesus slept in the manger crib. Angels had told only some shepherds of the birth of Jesus. Soon, Joseph would find a house for the family to live in, and Jesus began to grow. When eight days were completed, in accordance with the Law of Moses, Jesus was circumcised. When Jesus was 40 days old, Joseph and Mary took the infant to the Temple in Jerusalem less than five miles away. The first two years of Jesus’ life were in Bethlehem. One day some men from the East came to visit Jesus and His family, leaving gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Shortly after the men left, an angel of the Lord warned Joseph to take Mary and the child and flee to Egypt. He was not told to return to Nazareth but to go to Egypt, a two-hundred-mile journey. The gifts from the wise men enabled the travel and stay in Egypt. It is not clear how long the family remained in Egypt, but after the death of Herod, the family returned to Nazareth. Jesus would grow up to be a Nazarene

Egypt always had a place in the story of the people of God. Abraham journeyed to Egypt when there was a famine in the land. Joseph was sold into slavery at the age of eighteen and would spend the rest of his life there. After his family moved to Egypt, the generations of sons of Jacob would become a mighty people among the Egyptians. When a Pharaoh arose that did not honor Joseph, he enslaved the Hebrews out of fear. The oppression became heavy upon the children of Abraham, and they cried out to God for deliverance. There was nothing in their power that could deliver them until the Lord sent Moses and, through many mighty works, saved the people from the bondage of slavery.

The final act of God upon the Egyptians was the death of the firstborn. Only the Jews were saved who put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost and lintel of their homes. God passed over the house when He saw the blood. Pharaoh relented and permitted the Hebrews to leave. Trapped by the Red Sea, the Israelites were fearful of being destroyed by the approaching Egyptian army after Pharaoh had a change of heart. Again, the Lord delivered the people as the Red Sea parted and the people walked across on dry land. What saved the Hebrews also destroyed the Egyptians when they entered the sea. Salvation came by the hand of God.

Jesus journeyed to Egypt and fulfilled prophecy. God would call His Son from Egypt and become a pattern of deliverance for all men. The bondage of Egypt is the bondage of sin. Nothing in the power of man can save him apart from the grace of God. Jesus went down into Egypt as a child to show the Father’s redemption of all men. Herod wanted to kill Jesus, but the Lord would not allow it. Jesus was called from Egypt to remind the Jews of how God had saved them. The Son of God lived in a world of His ancestors to show His place in the redemptive plan of the Father. Like the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintel, the blood of Jesus will cause God to pass over sin. Only through the waters of baptism (the Red Sea) is deliverance granted to those who obey the word of the Lord and present the blood of Jesus to the Father. Jesus became the means of salvation as one called from Egypt.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5-6)

What A Difference A Covenant Makes

The Old Testament is called by Paul the Old Covenant, signifying the books of the Jews. All thirty-nine books of the Old Testament were completed in the time of Jesus and had been translated into Greek more than two hundred years before His birth. The Jewish version of the Old Testament was not divided as it appears in the modern Bible, although it contains the same books. In the time of Jesus, the old covenant was called the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. The Hebrew arrangement consisted of the Torah, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, and the Writings (Hagiographa). What is striking about the Old Testament is the abrupt ending found in the book of Malachi.

Moses records the first five books of the Old Testament with the beginning of the world, people, and nations. From the lineage of Abram, the nation of Israel rose to power by the grace of God. Delivered from the bondage of Egypt, the Hebrews became the dominant power in the world. For a brief period, the nation was united under three kings but then fell into civil war. Nearly all of the tribes were destroyed by the Assyrians, and what was left was consumed by the Babylonians. Returning from seventy years of bondage, the remnant tried to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple. The former days of glory would never be achieved again.

Prophets like Malachi came to the people exhorting them to turn to the Lord. During the days of the divided kingdom, myriads of prophets preached repentance to deaf ears. After the people returned from Babylon, the prophets continued their message of repentance. Devotion to God waned in the post years of captivity. And then the Lord did a remarkable thing. He created a famine of the word of God for four hundred years. When Malachi finished his burden of the word of the Lord to Israel, the pens of the prophets ceased for four centuries. There was no word, no revelation, and no communication from God. The final words of Malachi are sprinkled with doom and yet tinged with hope. A prophet like Elijah would come before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord and turn the hearts of the people. Malachi spoke of the day coming burning like an oven, which will devour root and branch. And then the Lord went silent.

Four hundred years will pass before John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. His message was the same as the final message of the Old Covenant: repent! The work of John would usher in the kingdom of Christ as the Son of God fulfilled His mission to bring grace to all men through His death. On Pentecost, the apostle Peter opened the doors of the kingdom to the Jews and later would open the door for the Gentiles. Churches began to grow in every part of the Roman Empire as men like Paul, Silas, Barnabas, and Peter went everywhere preaching the gospel. The New Testament consists of the four books detailing the short life of Jesus. Luke would tell Theophilus how the church began and spread throughout the world. Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John would write letters or epistles that would become the foundation of the New Covenant. John’s Revelation would close the Bible in its entirety with the fully revealed word of God.

What is striking about the ending of the Revelation is the difference from the writing of Malachi. Instead of uncertainty, fear, and looking for one to come that would turn the hearts of the people to God, John declares the mystery of the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be no four-hundred-year silence but language that says, “Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Dread has turned to eternal life. Uncertainty becomes a promised hope through the blood of Jesus. Instead of a four-hundred-year famine of the word, the abundance of God’s divine revelation is given to all men to come to the glory of the risen Christ. Jesus came in the flesh and offered salvation through His death so that everyone could be part of the kingdom of God. The Old Testament ends with uncertainty. The New Testament ends with eternal hope.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. (Romans 10:12)

Everyone Matters Before God

There is a lot of individualism in the world where distinct groups of people try to identify to one certain cause or purpose. Nations were founded upon the division of tongues, identifying them as unique cultures. Environments often determined the character of peoples who lived in harsh places or lush gardens of Eden. Diet impacted much of the characteristics of people on how long they lived and their physical development. Skin colors separated races from one another, facial features distinguished areas of the world and cultural history determined the identity for generations.

The reality of humanity is that all peoples come from one man and one woman. God created Adam from the dust of the ground and then formed Eve from the side of man. It was Adam who called the Woman “Eve” because she was the mother of all living. His name for his wife was a declaration that every human being born on the planet earth came from the same womb. There are many distinctions made in the human genus, but the physical DNA of every man, woman, and child lends itself to the procreation of Adam and Eve. There is no escaping the truth that all men are related to one another. After the worldwide flood that killed every human on earth except Noah and his family, the present-day population of earth is nearly eight billion souls who came from the three sons of Noah. There is no distinction of men in the world who can say they are not from the same womb as another.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to save every human being without any distinction. Everyone in the world: all that have lived, are living, and will live on earth are found under the umbrella of God’s grace for redemption. Jesus did not die for one group of people, one race of people, or one nation above another. Jesus died for everyone because everyone mattered. Paul reminded the Roman Christians that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Red and yellow, black and white; they are precious in the sight of God because Jesus died for all men regardless of the color of their skin, the features of their face, the nation to which they belong, and whether they are male or female. Paul said there is no distinction between Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) because Jesus died for all.

Any man who understands that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, can be saved. When the crowd asked Peter what to do to be saved on the Day of Pentecost, the apostle did not limit who could come to Christ. He told everyone gathered that day to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Luke records the story of men and women becoming Christians, a man from Ethiopia gladly accepting the teaching of Jesus Christ, a sorcerer converted to the truth, unlikely candidates for the gospel like the Philippian jailor, and even Christians were found in the household of Caesar. There is no distinction in salvation. The same Lord is rich toward anyone who seeks the will of the Father regardless of black or white, short and tall, rich and poor, slave or free, Republican or Democrat, young and old – for God so loved the world.

Everyone matters to God. Jesus died because everyone matters to Him. The Holy Spirit gave the word of God to the world because everyone mattered to Him. Heaven is a place where everyone can go because there is no distinction in the eyes of God. Peace will only come when men begin to look through the eyes of God without distinction. You matter regardless of who you are. Come to the grace of God. He will cleanse you and purify you. You matter.

They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. (2 Peter 2:15)

There Is A Right Way

False doctrine is as old as the earth. Satan first approached Eve challenging the word of God. The devil convinced the woman that she had the right to change the will of the Lord because she deserved so much more. How could God allow her to eat of every tree of the garden but one? This was not fair, and through the deceptive lie of human wisdom, Satan convinced Adam and Eve to choose their own way. The results were disastrous. Sin destroyed the relationship of God and man and cast the world into the darkness of rebellion. Satan continues to deceive the hearts of men by suggesting there is no such thing as false doctrine and false teachers. In a world of acceptance, declaring one group right and another group wrong is viewed as judgmental and condemning, and ironically considered wrong. To suggest there is such a thing as false doctrine is denied. And Satan continues to add minions to his cause.

Peter faces a world filled with false doctrine, not just in the Roman world of paganism, but within the body of Christ itself. In his final letter, the apostle affirms the need to give the diligence to add to faith characters of steel required to refute those who would follow a false way. He was a witness of Christ and saw the Lord transfigured on the mountain along with James and John. The word of God was not fables created by human wisdom but declared by the mouth of God through the Holy Spirit. Within the first four decades of the early church, false doctrine had crept into the church, destroying the faith of many. Peter addresses the poison of false teachers and their destructive heresies by declaring there is a right way and there is a wrong way. False teachers and their followers had forsaken the right way and followed the ways of Old Testament prophets like Balaam. The son of Beor had been dead for nearly two thousand years, but his pattern of falsehood continued to destroy the people of God.

The psalmist of old declared he hated every false way. From the beginning of time, the gospel of two has always been determined by the path of righteousness and the road to ruin. At the coronation of Saul, Samuel told the new king that he would teach him the good and right way. There is a path that is straight, and there is a right road. Righteousness is found on the straight path and the right road established by the word of God. The world listens more to the path of dishonesty, lies, deception, and unrighteousness. Jesus said it is a broad path that leads to destruction, and many follow this road. There are two ways a man can follow. Peter declared there is a right way, and those who are false teachers follow a wrong way.

In a world of acceptance, it is hard to convince people there is a right way. Religion has become so desensitized to error no one is wrong. In the past five hundred years, multiple faiths have begun because of false doctrine propagated by the ultimate apostasy, the Roman Catholic Church. The Holy Spirit gave the Bible to the world to show all men the right way. There is one church, one Lord, one faith, one God, one Spirit, one hope, and one baptism. If there is one church, why are there so many churches? If the Methodist church is not found in the Bible, is it the right way or the wrong way? What about the Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Nazarene, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, or Presbyterian? Are they the right way or the wrong way? If a man teaches a doctrine of salvation not found in the word of God, is it the right way or the wrong way? Even among those of the body of Christ, acceptance of other churches is becoming more prevalent. God only has one way.

A sign on the outside of a building does not make a group the right way. A pattern of New Testament discipleship is what determines whether someone is right or wrong. Jesus only died for one church, and there is only one covenant God has with those who have followed the right pattern of obedience. Jesus told the multitudes that being religious did not qualify a man as saved. Doing the will of the Father is the only way a man can find the right path. There is a way that seems right, but the end is a disaster. Following the right way takes a right heart to do the right things in accordance with the right message. The question must be asked: are you right?

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11:9-13)

Ask, Seek, Knock, And Receive

The greatest joy of being a child of God is the blessings received from the hand of the divine Father. Some great fathers have exemplified noble characters of love, courage, wisdom, and protection but all fathers are failed men. They try to be the best fathers and yet fail from time to time. Jesus tells His disciples the heavenly Father gives immense blessings without partiality. Three principles mark the need of the child, and three principles declare the glory of the Father. The child of God must ask, seek, and knock to receive the blessings of the Father. In turn, the Father will answer, will deliver, and will open His storehouse of blessings upon His child. What is remarkable about the heavenly Father is He knows what the child needs, but the child must first ask, seek, and knock. There is a need for the child to learn dependence on the Father to receive the blessings.

Asking for the blessings of God can only come through the knowledge of the word of God. Someone said that prayer is pleading the promises of God and that no prayer can be answered if God did not promise it. Praying to the Father comes from knowing what to ask and how to ask for His divine blessings. The more a man spends in the word of God, the more he will seek the divine will. Asking requires knowledge. It creates in the heart a daily desire to seek the favor of God in every part of life. Nothing is left to chance or circumstance. The prayerful life of a child of God is filled with asking. When God hears the pleas of His children, He will give the child what they need. His blessings will not come if the child does not ask. God is faithful to answer every prayer of His children. No prayers are left unanswered.

Seeking God through prayer is an active part of a spiritual life. When a person is seeking something, they actively pursue with vigor what they desire. What they desire is not hidden in a place that cannot be found but rather, it is in an area that requires diligence with faith. Seeking the will of God is the pattern of a praying life as a man asks for the blessings of God. The Lord promised to feed the sparrow, but He did not promise to bring it to the nest. The child of God must live a seeking life to find those blessings promised by God. When a child strives for the promises of the Divine, he will find more than he could have imagined. Seeking the blessings of God will be rewarded with the open arms of the Father granting the desires of His child.

Knocking on a door suggests a need to enter. When Jesus knocks on the door, the handle is always on the inside. He can stand at the door and knock, but it needs the faithful heart of God’s child to open it from the inside. In the teaching of Jesus, the door will not be open unless the child of God knocks on the door. All the eternal blessings of God await inside the door of the heavenly storehouse abounding with the eternal measures of divine love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. None of these will have any value unless the child knocks on the door. The joy of living for the Lord is to know that when He hears a knock at the door, He will open the door. He knows the names of His children, and He willingly opens wide the door of His grace to let His children come in. Knock, and the door opens.

Jesus concludes His teaching by comparing what earthly fathers will do for their children and how the heavenly Father will bless His children. If an earthly father seeks the betterment and good of his children, how much more will the Father in heaven? God will not answer prayers with stones, serpents, or scorpions. Even an earthly father would not do such a thing for his children. The heavenly Father gives His children bread, fish, and an egg to sustain them and fill them. Jesus is teaching that God will bless His children with everything they need in abundance. God answers every prayer in the manner He sees fit, and it is the right and just thing that is offered.

A child of God should never doubt the power of their prayers. When they ask, seek, and knock, the Father will answer, give, and open – without exception. If anything is lacking, it will only come from the heart of little faith. Jesus extols the virtues of the heavenly Father is immeasurable. Let no day go by when the heart is not asking, seeking, and knocking, and the blessings will flow like a mountain stream from the throne of God. How much more will the heavenly Father give than the incredible blessings from His holy hand. Thank God for His blessings.

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11)

Seeking The Best Seats

Benjamin Franklin said of pride, “To be proud of virtue is to poison yourself with the antidote.” One of the hardest lessons for men to learn is they are created out of dust and exalting self-opinion, and worth above all others is finding nothing more than sanctified dust. The creation of the world should remind man the mosquito was created before him. Pride is an insidious disease that fills the heart of man with seeds of self-destruction. The angels are amused that man seeks to exalt himself above his station. Reinhold Niebuhr remarked, “Man falls into pride when he seeks to raise his contingent existence to unconditional significance.” Jesus warned against a prideful heart and taught His disciples a timely parable when He observed how men sought the best seats.

It is an honorable thing to be invited to a wedding feast. The festivities surrounding the bride and groom and the happiness of their union is enjoyed by so many. All the preparations are made for a great feast, and invitations are sent. People arrive to enjoy the marriage occasion, but pride fills the heart when men seek the best seats in the house without being asked. Immediately arriving at the feast, men would go up the best seats in the house with a proud and arrogant stride. Then, a man of great honor arrives, and the host comes and asks the man sitting in the best seat to step down and give his seat to the other man. Shame fills the heart of the presumptuous guest, and his disgrace humbles him. Pride has a way of exalting shame in the heart and actions of those induced by its charm.

Jesus warns against pride. He said it would be better to arrive at the feast and seek the lower seats so that the host may come and ask the man to sit at a higher place in time. Instead of pride bringing shame at the man’s arrogance, glory is shown for the one seeking the lower place first and then exalted before others. Pride begins with presumption. Humility starts with servitude. Seeking to elevate self above others will end in shame. Having a humble heart will be rewarded with glory. Pride seeks the exaltation of self. Humility begins with a lowly spirit and remains until called. The heart of a servant knows his place before all men and does not try to exalt above measure his worth.

There is no one greater than God, so what value is there for a man to fill himself with pride? Nothing that a man will accomplish will compare to the universe of God’s power. When humanity sought to build a tower to the heavens in the plain of the land of Shinar, the Lord confused the languages and forever established the habitation of man. Nations rise and fall at the will of the Lord. History is filled with the bones of tyrants and despots who sought to rule the world and lost everything. Wealth did not keep men from dying. The pride of human wisdom is an exercise in futility. Humility is the greatest attribute a man can possess, for he knows he is nothing more than an unprofitable servant. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled Himself in obedience to the Father.

And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. (Luke 11:29-32)

A Greater Than Jonah Is Here

Michael Packard has a whale of a story to tell about the day he was swallowed by a humpback whale while lobster diving off the coast of Cape Cod. Without warning, the whale engulfed Packard but then forced him out of his mouth about forty seconds later. He survived with minor injuries and a great story to tell his grandchildren. In 1891, James Bartley was swallowed by a sperm whale after the whale attacked their boat during a whaling expedition off the Falkland Islands. A few days later, he was found inside the whale, still clinging to life when the whale was killed. None of these stories match what happened to a preacher from Gath Hepher named Jonah, the son of Amittai. The Old Testament book of Jonah tells the amazing story of the preacher sent to the heathen city of Nineveh to preach, who tried to run away from God. Punished for his disobedience, Jonah was swallowed by a huge fish (the type of fish is unknown) and kept three days fully conscious of where he was. While in the belly of the big fish, Jonah prayed, and the Lord delivered him after three days.

Some doubt the story of Jonah, but to do so means that Jesus is a liar. The Son of God told the story of Jonah as an object lesson for the validity of holy writ and concerning what would happen in the life of Jesus Himself. Matthew and Luke record the words of Jesus, paralleling the three days Jonah spent in the fish’s belly to the Lord’s own entombment in the grave. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus from the cross and put Him in a new tomb hewn out of rock. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. As Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so the Son of Man remained three days in the tomb. He rose on the third day so that He would not see corruption fulfilling the prophecy of David. As the Lord delivered Jonah from the watery grave of the sea, so the Father delivered His only Begotten Son from the tomb of Hades.

The people surrounding Jesus were not convinced He was the Son of God. They sought visible evidence to clear their clouded minds. Jesus tells them the sign of Jonah will prove His divinity as the prophet preached to a rebellious and wicked generation, so will the Son of God preach to a rebellious Israel and perverse generation. After Jonah went to the city of Nineveh, the people repented in sackcloth and ashes. One hundred and twenty thousand persons turned to God at the preaching of Jonah. A greater than Jonah came among the people of God, and they refused to listen. Jonah was displeased the Lord did not destroy Nineveh, but the people did not have hatred toward the prophet. Jesus did not come to destroy but to save, and yet the people killed Him. A greater than Jonah had come to earth, and His mission was the salvation of all humanity.

Jonah was a story of grace, mercy, truth, sacrifice, and repentance. The story of Jesus is the same. God delivered Jonah from the darkness of the deep, and He delivered His Son from the depths of Hades to show all men the greatest story is found in Jesus. Charles Bartley and Michael Packard have a remarkable story to tell. Their story pales compared to when a man obeys the gospel of Jesus Christ and is baptized into Christ for the remission of sins. Rising out of the waters of baptism is the greatest story. Sins are washed away. A covenant of grace is given between God and an obedient heart. Nothing can match the wonder of that story.

And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:27-28)

Hear The Word And Obey The Word

It takes the heart of a mother to know the value of a faithful son. Throughout the wisdom literature, young men are admonished to honor their mothers, not forsake the law of their mothers, never despise their mother, and never bring grief to the heart of the one who bore them into the world. The death penalty was imposed upon those who cursed their mothers. A mother’s heart sees the beauty of a good son who honors God and honors the family. As Jesus was defending Himself against the charges of the scribes and Pharisees accusing Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, a woman in the crowd was struck by the demeanor of Mary’s son with His clarity and boldness against His accusers. It was not her place to speak, but her heart was overwhelmed with respect for a mother’s son as she listened to Jesus. She cried out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came and the breasts that nursed you!”

Jesus loved His mother very much and owed such a debt of gratitude to her. There existed between the two a special bond that no one could understand. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit into the womb of a virgin, and Mary carried Jesus for nine months as a normal pregnancy. On that night in Bethlehem, she gave birth to the Son of God, and the angels broke forth in heavenly wonder and praise. There were many things that Mary kept in her heart as she watched her little boy grow to manhood. Simeon had warned the mother of Jesus that a sword would pierce through her soul. Jesus was obedient to His mother and grew in stature, increasing in wisdom and favor of God and men. Other children were born to Mary, and Jesus had half-brothers and sisters. When Jesus began His ministry, Mary was there. At the cross where Jesus was treated so contemptuously as a common criminal, the mother of the Son of God stood by without uttering a word. With the eternal weight of sin bearing down upon Jesus, He takes a moment to tell His mother He loves her and begs John to care for her. Jesus loved His mother.

The woman in the crowd was right to seek blessings on the woman who bore Jesus into the world. Jesus was not insensitive to her remark and was not disrespecting His mother. What Jesus wanted the woman and others to understand was the greatest blessings were found in those who would hear the word of God and keep it. The Jewish leaders had charged Jesus with casting out demons by Beelzebub. This blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was unforgivable. There was a time and place to honor mothers who bore faithful sons, but a crisis filled the land with hypocrisy, hatred, and envy from the scribes and Pharisees seeking to kill Jesus. What the multitudes needed to understand was God demanded obedience to His word above all things. It was important to honor mothers, but the man who hears the word of God and obeys it was the true blessing. Salvation comes from hearing the word of God and keeping the commands of the Lord.

Hearing the word of God is not enough. Keeping the word requires obedience. Salvation cannot be found in faith alone or hearing the word alone. Believing Jesus is the Son of God is a part of salvation, but this belief alone will not save a man. The will of the Father must be kept, obeyed, and followed according to the word of God. It is easy to say one believes in Jesus and never follows His word. The woman from the crowd was good to say nice things about the mother of Jesus but being a good mother or having a good son is not where salvation can be found. Truth must be heard and obeyed. The greatest blessing a man can possess is the salvation of his soul. Hear it and keep it.