The sign of Jonah

From: September 19-25, 2006 Study: # 462

TOPIC: “The sign of Jonah” Mathew 16:1-4 We are living among wolves, but here is where we will demonstrate who God is and if He is with us. We converted to Christ and we are not victims for this reason, the God who we serve is a great God that watches over us and our petitions and He knows everything about us and still when we feel loaded with some consequences for not doing things the right way, He doesn't walk away from us. We have arrived to Jesus, we must not live as if we were sick all the time, Jesus came to our lives and He carried on the cross all our illnesses. Mathew 8:17 We have come before God’s sovereign hand so that He will do in our lives, because we need it. He continues being God and demands from us our praise and adoration. That generation was asking for signs (Mathew 16:4), but the sign Jesus had for them was the sign of Jonah which was that He was to die and be in the Earth’s stomach for three days and he was to resuscitate just as the fish vomited Jonah to Earth. We must understand what Jesus' conquered for us; He became poor so that we would become rich in Him. 2 Corinthians 8:9 We must bring our request each day before Him and He will give us according to our needs. What we need is in a High place, that’s where the Father is. We must learn to see what ever we must see, only then we will have abundance in our homes. Worldly men like to see signs. They wanted to see spectacles, but Jesus came to perform signs here among them, and among us. They want to feed their eyes with spectacles, but not to commit their selves. Many times we prefer to come to the Lord with our old lives filled with carnality and sin, but our lives need to be transformed. We want the Lord to do on the outside, but not inside our hearts. His death works inside of us, not outside. It is inside where He wants to transform us into meek, humble, loving men, forgiving, pacifiers that work for good. It is so complicated for human beings to understand God because they are full of their own thoughts, but God wants to fill us with what He wants and not of what we want. Jesus will not impose. He wanted to be in them, but they were an evil and adulteress generation. Vs.4 Human beings don't like commitments but what has no profundity because they don't want to make an effort and obtain what comes from God, all that is lightly and has no depth. A church works, struggles, is undertaking, and makes an effort to commit to God’s will. A church is a fighter, as Jesus, the church doesn't come to entertain but to fight vigorously for its mission. To be disciples it is necessary for us to love Jonah’s sign. Jesus was to die and resuscitate for us. If Jesus didn’t die we wouldn’t have anything. They took Jesus and crucified him, hanged him to the cross and He resuscitated on the third day. He came to this world and fought the battle he had to fight. He achieved it all for us, for our well-being. His death filled him in everything; His blood removed our evilness, it is necessary for us to love Jonah’s sign. Jesus gave clear instructions. He didn't speak in darkness. God built the Church so that it would continue doing all that is necessary; preach to the world about Jonah’s sign. As the church we must work. We must not live lightly. What Jesus does in our hearts is for eternal life. What is done with signs is just for a moment and we the church must live and understand in what depths it is necessary for us to be. We must be careful because as the church we like the signs. Some get sick and tired because they only want signs. In His death, in His name

there is power. We must adore God in the midst of our best and worse situations. God sent us to fight the good battle. God sent 12 disciples first and then 70 more; in 2006 he is sending us in the same way. We will be demanded with more than what He demanded from Paul because he was in jails and we’re not. A true believer listens, loves Jonah’s sign and understands that Jesus has arrived to transform the man's interior life. In order for the living Word to work inside of us it is necessary for us to allow God to come into our lives. We cannot solve the lives of others with our own human strength; we have to provoke Jesus to arrive to their lives. The instructions and the solution we have for this world is to go and preach the Gospel. The Holy Spirit is who retorts, speaks and does. It guides us and takes us to whatever we have to do, to what needs to be changed, it directs us and reveals what is necessary. When we want to fix the lives of others, the Gospel becomes difficult, but what we need to do is to take Jesus to them, what we need to do is to preach the Gospel to them; the rest is in Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s hands. If we preach the Word we will bring light. We must tell the people: "The Kingdom of God is near." We sometimes close our mouths because of the problems, but we must live our circumstances and come before God with clamor and cry out to God. When we do well to others He begins to do well in our homes. The excess of comfort has harmed not only us the believers but also our families. Power has been given to the church, credentials, which are not given in jails, or by the government, etc. but by God. Those who have believed in Jonah’s sign have received credentials from God. It is not given by councils or any man of this earth. God has sent us to go and preach the Gospel, to do what He wants us to do. We must reach what is necessary for us to reach because God is who will open the road for us. We must not use human astuteness. We must leave peace wherever we enter. We must not charge for the miracles performed. Let us perform miracles in the lives because we are sent to preach, we must preach the Word because the power is in the Word, not in us. Let us always depend on God’s providence and not on others. We sometimes toil for this life. To those who preach the Gospel Jehovah will become his shepherd in everything and as a man and a servant of God he will not have losses. If we are faithful to God we will try to do the best we can and God will do the rest. He made a commitment with us; there is no reason to fear. Jehovah will provide us where ever we go. When we preach we take blessings to other homes. Let us do well to others, let us move our hearts. The Kingdom is for all of those who willingly open the door. The church will go and do what ever is needed to be done, we must not keep ourselves locked up to keep growing spiritually, there are others that need to hear our voice, our miracles, our works. Amen.