Sunday, September 6, 2009

Signs, Signs, and More Signs

Memorize: Acts 1:8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The signs were all over town. There were little signs on every corner to let people know about the new pizza place. Each one said, “Free Pizza from Pop Go Pizza! Call 555-3456 for delivery.” When Chet saw the sign, he noticed that the phone number was really close to his friend’s phone number. He tried one sign with his black marker. He was surprised how easy it was to change the three to an eight. Just like that the sign said, “Free Pizza from Pop Go Pizza! Call 555-8456 for delivery.” Chuck’s number looked so good on the sign that he couldn’t stop at just one. In just 20 minutes, 42 signs had the wrong number. Some of the signs were a little bit sloppy but the calls started rolling in. And Chet’s friend Chuck had to tell 123 people that he was not going to bring them a pizza.

The signs in Grantville were perfect, but Girty’s eye’s weren’t as good as they used to be. She was supposed to pick up her grandson at the base of the Hiking Trail, but Lance Hilton got caught selling foam fish for school lunches. The sign that said, “Hilton Trial” looked just like Hiking Trail to Gerty. So her grandson had to walk home after his 20 mile hike, and Gerty drove the get away car for Lance’s escape.

Signs matter. They have to say the right thing and people have to be able to read them.

Our world is full of signs. We have so many that we stop reading them. But people didn’t invent signs. God did. God put signs on the earth and in the Word of God.

The biggest Bible signs are in the Book of Revelation. That book has a bunch of weird, amazing signs including a red dragon with seven heads and a woman standing on the moon wearing a sun dress. It’s not a sun dress to wear in the sun, but a sun dress made out of the sun. Those signs will be hard to ignore, but they are not the signs you should focus on now. A bunch of other signs in the Bible matter more than a dragon and a huge woman.

God put the rainbow on the earth to show that He wouldn’t flood the whole world ever again. Nice sign. God’s people put blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over their homes. Nice to have that sign. Exodus 13:16 says that killing the lamb was a sign that God “brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” Good sign for the people, bad sign for the lamb. Moses wrote that sickness and lack will be a sign that the people are not serving God and that the Sabbath is a sign from God that says, “I am the Lord who makes you holy.” All of those signs are important, but I went through them too fast because I am looking for the most important sign.

The sign that matters most could be you. I have written before about the example you should be to everyone who sees you. You are a sign to show Christ to the world. You are a sign of the Kingdom of God getting bigger because that Kingdom is ruling in you. That is important, and Jesus said some things like that to His followers, but He also talked about the sign of Jonah.

The guys who were against Jesus asked Him for a sign. That happened a bunch of times even though there were signs all over Jesus. Jesus told those guys that they were wicked even for asking and the only sign they get is the sign of Jonah. Jonah was in the fish for three days, but he came out. Just like Jesus was dead for three days, but he came back to life. That makes Jonah a pretty good sign, and Jesus said more about it. After Jonah cleaned off the vomit, he preached in Nineveh, and Jesus said, “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

Those people from Nineveh get to stick it to the people that heard Jesus. They heard good words, they heard a message about God from Jonah and they listen. They heard the words and they did it. They obeyed. Jonah was a prophet, but he was a wimp next to Jesus. Jesus was right in front of those guys, and they did nothing. They did worse than nothing. They fought against Jesus and finally killed Him.

Jesus showed he was greater than Jonah with a myriad of signs and soft hearts could see them. Honest hearts could read His signs. John the Baptist was in prison, but he wanted to know more about Jesus. John heard that Jesus healed the blind, lame, and deaf. He raised the dead and preached the good news. Those were sings to John the Baptist and they should be signs to us.

The people of Nineveh are looking at us too. They are watching us because One greater than Jonah is here with us. They are waiting. They are ready to judge our response, your response. You have Jesus. You have more of Jesus than John the Baptist had. He heard a little bit of what Jesus did, but you can see the whole life of Jesus. You can see the end of His life, you can see Him rise from the dead, and you can see Him go up to heaven. You know all of that. You have all of that. But you also have Jesus now. Jesus in the Holy Spirit is ready to give you His life, His power every day. You have the best sign, the biggest sign, the most powerful, most amazing, most clear, easiest to read. You have Jesus. What will the people of Nineveh say about you? Did you do better than them? Did you do more than them? They heard about God from Jonah and changed everything to live for God. You have Jesus. What did you change? What did you do? What did you give?

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What would it look like if the people at church wanted to be there and wanted God? What if God’s people had nothing better to do? It might look like this. http://www.worldrevivalchurch.com

You can find more of Nathan’s writing on lulu and helium.

1 comment:

  1. Wow, if I were a sign.. what would it read? And Where would people turn? I love you Nathan.

    ReplyDelete