The NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - They Will Not Believe Jesus Because They HATE Jesus

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00:00:27.360 Amen.

00:00:28.220 Please join me in standing for the reading of God's Word.

00:00:31.060 Our text for today is the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 12, verses 38 through 42.

00:00:36.240 Again, that's the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 12, verses 38 through 42.

00:00:40.860 I'll read our text in its entirety.

00:00:42.580 When I finish reading the text, I'm going to ask that you would respond by saying, thanks be to God.

00:00:47.480 One final time, our text is Matthew chapter 12, verses 38 through 42.

00:00:53.260 The Bible says this.

00:00:54.540 then some of the scribes and pharisees said teacher we wish to see a sign from you but he 0.87

00:01:01.740 answered them an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign but no sign will be given to it

00:01:10.420 except the sign of the prophet jonah for just as jonah was three days and three nights in the belly 0.98

00:01:16.760 of the great fish so the son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth

00:01:22.780 the men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it for they 0.70

00:01:29.660 repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold something greater than Jonah is here the queen 0.79

00:01:36.920 of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it for she came from

00:01:43.360 the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold something greater than Solomon

00:01:49.960 is here. This is the word of the Lord. All right, please be seated. Let's dive in.

00:01:56.660 Two primary principles that I want us to see from our text today.

00:02:02.140 In the first half of the text, verses 38, 39, and 40, the big idea is this. You will not believe

00:02:10.640 what you hate. If you hate something, you won't believe it. You won't believe it's real. You

00:02:17.900 won't believe it exists, and you certainly will not trust it. The Reformed tradition holds that 1.00

00:02:23.500 faith is comprised of at least three elements. One is the intellectual ascent, knowledge. That

00:02:32.380 is a component of true faith. You have to know something. You have to know it, right? So there's

00:02:38.880 an intellectual ascent, but faith, true saving faith, Christian faith, is not less than intellectual

00:02:47.300 ascent but it is in fact far more right it's not less but it is more so there's a sense of knowledge

00:02:56.980 but there's also a sense of uh in addition to knowledge um assent agreement giving your

00:03:06.020 affirmation to the thing that you know right and the third component knowledge assent and then

00:03:12.980 lastly personal implicit trust trust knowledge assent and trust to illustrate these three

00:03:22.640 components when it comes to faith you can give this example think of a heretical doctrine right

00:03:30.880 let's make the argument from something that we know as christians is not true not only is it not

00:03:36.980 true, but it's actually damnable. It's something that is poison. Well, I know the prosperity 0.98

00:03:44.780 gospel. I know it, but I do not give my assent, my affirmation, and I certainly am not placing

00:03:54.300 my personal trust in those doctrines. I'm not betting the farm on the health and wealth

00:04:02.200 prosperity gospel. I'm not going to allow my soul to hang in the balance on those precepts,

00:04:10.300 trusting in that for my eternal salvation and well-being. But I know it. I can articulate

00:04:17.280 word of faith theology better than a lot of word of faith pastors, because it seems as though a

00:04:25.520 prerequisite for being a word of faith pastor is to have below an 85 iq so i i know those doctrines

00:04:32.360 better than they do and i can probably articulate those doctrines better than they do but i don't

00:04:38.500 have faith in the prosperity gospel because faith is not merely knowledge it includes knowledge

00:04:45.980 but it's not merely knowledge faith according to the reformed tradition is knowledge assent

00:04:54.060 and trust. Now, the second component, you can have knowledge. That's an example of me having

00:05:00.400 knowledge, but not giving my affirmation. I don't agree. So I know the doctrines of the prosperity

00:05:06.340 gospel, but I do not agree with them. I believe they're false. And I certainly am not personally

00:05:12.800 trusting in them. But you can actually not only have the first component of faith while lacking

00:05:19.700 the next two but you could actually have the first and second component of faith while lacking the

00:05:26.000 third so here would be another example the demons demons know that god is triune they know that god

00:05:38.020 the eternal god the only god that is exists in three persons they know this and begrudgingly

00:05:45.740 albeit, while kicking and screaming, screeching into the void, they give their assent to that

00:05:56.260 knowledge. They know God is triune. They know that God is holy, holy, holy. They know many

00:06:03.900 attributes of God. And they not only know these things, they actually assent to these things.

00:06:10.420 they do agree they not only know it's true but they agree that it's true but they're not trusting

00:06:19.160 in jesus they don't trust god at a personal level they don't have implicit trust in the triune god

00:06:27.040 they know he exists they agree he exists and they hate him they hate him so faith is knowledge

00:06:38.980 assent, and trust. I know something. I know the details. There is an intellectual component of

00:06:46.520 knowledge. I assent to it. I don't just know about it. I know about evolution, but I don't

00:06:52.960 assent to it. There's all sorts of absurdities that we know. I know that some people out there

00:07:03.680 think that fish eventually turn into people, but I don't agree. I appreciate it. It's good to have

00:07:12.200 a good laugh every now and then, but I certainly don't agree. And I'm certainly not personally

00:07:18.860 trusting in the doctrines of macro evolution. Certainly not. So again, faith, true Christian

00:07:28.780 saving faith knowledge i know the intellectual components the tenets i agree i don't just know

00:07:37.180 about them but i agree i've given my ascent and at a personal level i'm betting the house

00:07:43.720 i'm betting the house i actually am putting my life on the line for these things that's faith

00:07:54.200 and you will not believe something that you hate you won't because you can't and when i say right

00:08:04.200 there in your notes roman numeral number one we haven't gotten very far i'll get there you will

00:08:08.800 not believe what you hate when i say the word believe there i'm talking about faith christian

00:08:14.320 faith as i've just defined it so including in that word believe i'm including all three of the

00:08:21.580 elements, including particularly that third one, personal implicit trust. You will not believe

00:08:28.160 what you hate. Or to say it more particularly, you will not personally trust Jesus if you hate

00:08:35.360 Jesus. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the religious rulers,

00:08:41.520 all these Jewish leaders in Israel at the time, hated Jesus. Absolutely hated him.

00:08:51.580 And that's why they would not believe in him.

00:08:55.760 And that's why they demand that he produce for them on the spot.

00:09:01.480 Think of the audacity, the arrogance.

00:09:06.340 You have the son of God incarnate, deity, wrapped in flesh, standing in front of you.

00:09:12.780 And you're telling him to produce parlor tricks at your authority, at your will.

00:09:20.340 that would already be absurd but couple that with the fact that jesus has been by this time

00:09:29.420 performing miracles in front of their faces day after day after day they've already seen signs

00:09:38.020 they've seen plenty they've seen the sick healed the blind see the deaf hear the lame walk they've

00:09:50.140 seen demons exercised and cast out. They've seen all these signs. They've seen food multiplied

00:09:59.680 miraculously for thousands. And yet they're still demanding a sign. But the reality is that even if

00:10:09.540 Jesus on the spot produced a sign for them, they would not believe. They would not believe in Jesus

00:10:16.560 because you cannot believe in that or who you hate.

00:10:22.020 They hate Jesus.

00:10:24.680 And if it was merely a matter of evidence,

00:10:27.860 well, then they would already be followers of Jesus.

00:10:30.800 Because by this time, plentiful evidence

00:10:34.840 has been generously and graciously provided.

00:10:39.140 In your notes, I've written this.

00:10:40.160 Once again, we see the spiritual blindness

00:10:42.440 and hostility of the Pharisees.

00:10:44.260 these religious men are so puffed up with their own righteousness that they would demand signs

00:10:50.100 from the Son of God himself. They cry out, Teacher, we wish to see a sign, as if Christ had not already

00:10:56.380 healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, and preached the gospel of the kingdom.

00:11:02.000 Their hearts were hardened, just like Pharaoh, who saw the mighty hand of God and yet still

00:11:08.180 refused to repent. Remember, Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, in the Old Testament,

00:11:15.200 Pharaoh, in his hardened heart, continues to hate the God of Israel.

00:11:22.820 Even after miraculous signs have been performed ten times. Ten times.

00:11:31.940 Right? We know this. Right? We have the Ten Commandments, but we also have the Ten Plagues.

00:11:38.180 god had performed many signs and wonders and pharaoh had personally witnessed them all

00:11:47.420 and yet he would not repent and this is key he also could not repent he could not

00:11:57.280 in fact in the new testament and commentating on pharaoh and what god performed all these

00:12:04.300 miraculous works in egypt the new testament tells us for this reason i raised you up

00:12:11.380 so that i might display my power think about this for a moment god the infinite one the omnipotent

00:12:22.180 one all power all powerful how can god ever when it comes to wanting to show his power his authority

00:12:32.660 His majesty against an opponent of his.

00:12:36.180 How can God ever really manifest or display

00:12:39.540 his power against an opponent?

00:12:42.500 If you're infinite, all your opponents are ants.

00:12:47.780 Right? I mean, how impressed would you be

00:12:49.540 if right after church I took you outside and I said,

00:12:51.840 you want to see something cool? Watch this.

00:12:54.240 And I stepped on a bug.

00:12:56.280 That's your pastor.

00:12:59.680 Pretty threatening, huh?

00:13:01.000 pretty impressive right that's you know my two-year-old son might be excited might be excited

00:13:08.920 about it but even then he'd only be excited because he knows he can do it too it's not unique

00:13:14.480 so then how does god show off his power when it comes to opposing an enemy well because he's

00:13:21.200 omnipotent because he's infinite and all his opponents by comparison are mere ants what god

00:13:27.080 has to do is to show off his left hook he has to hold up his opponent also at the same time with

00:13:32.480 his right hand he literally has to prop up his enemy just so he can display his offensive power

00:13:39.960 and that's what the scripture is saying in the new testament when it commentates on pharaoh

00:13:45.060 in the book of exodus in the 10 plagues of egypt for this reason i raised you up it's not merely

00:13:51.040 talking about the fact that providentially pharaoh was raised up to become the ruler of egypt

00:13:56.940 at that time but it's also saying that god did a supernatural work in pharaoh's heart

00:14:02.760 what was that supernatural work he supernaturally hardened his heart and produced a supernatural

00:14:12.100 rebellion in pharaoh so that after 10 plagues he would still after losing his firstborn son

00:14:21.700 The Nile has been turned to blood.

00:14:24.300 Egypt is decimated. 0.98

00:14:26.940 And the Israelites have now exited Egypt and taken all their gold. 0.92

00:14:32.460 And after all of that complete decimation, 0.80

00:14:36.480 through miraculous means,

00:14:39.020 and not random miraculous means,

00:14:40.840 but each of these ten plagues,

00:14:43.040 the God of Israel showcasing His power over each of the gods of the Egyptians. 0.78

00:14:48.720 Oh, you have the Nile God?

00:14:50.780 i'm stronger than him oh you have a god of frogs a god of flies i'm stronger than them 0.97

00:14:58.380 so god has not just decimated egypt by this point he has humiliated egypt 0.84

00:15:05.260 he's humiliated all of their false gods all of their false worship all of their idolatry 0.88

00:15:13.260 all of their paganism all their perversion has been decimated destroyed and shamed 0.98

00:15:20.780 humiliated how in the world after all of that your kingdom lying in ruins and your 0.92

00:15:30.380 son dead but his body still warm how would you muster the will to say after 0.99

00:15:39.440 all of that let's still go and chase down the Israelites maybe we could still 0.95

00:15:45.080 win that's not just being delusional right that's not just like like the incurable gambler is like

00:15:54.240 maybe i can win my money back after he's lost all of his money no this is something supernatural

00:16:02.180 it's far more how not just why i think that's the wrong question it doesn't really get at the

00:16:10.320 principle the truth that we need to know it's not just why was pharaoh so rebellious how how had

00:16:16.800 pharaoh attained such a degree of rebellion and the answer is god because the old testament tells

00:16:25.600 us in the book of exodus plainly that two things occurred pharaoh hardened his heart human agency

00:16:32.800 is inescapable it is real it is a biblical principle and therefore because pharaoh chose

00:16:40.300 to harden his heart he is morally culpable for every ounce of god's judgment he did it he earned

00:16:47.620 it he deserves it also other side of the coin completely true simultaneously pharaoh hardened

00:16:57.760 his heart and god hardened his home supernaturally hardened his heart to the degree that after being

00:17:07.760 shamed decimated and losing a child he would still think maybe i can win 0.95

00:17:17.840 and so too it is with the jewish rulers here in israel at the time of christ they had seen 0.84

00:17:26.320 jesus perform miracle after miracle after miracle it's not merely that they will not believe 0.56

00:17:34.640 brothers and sisters we must know that they cannot believe because repentance is a gift

00:17:42.180 it is not a work conjured by man it is not merely something that you can dig deep down

00:17:50.280 The gospel is not sola bootstrapia.

00:17:53.000 It's not something you can accomplish in your own strength.

00:17:57.240 Repentance is a gift.

00:17:58.760 And it must be granted sovereignly by God as an act of His mercy.

00:18:04.460 And if He does not grant us repentance, we will not repent.

00:18:09.060 Not merely because we will not, but because we cannot.

00:18:12.160 Because repentance cannot be found.

00:18:15.180 We see this elsewhere in the scriptures.

00:18:17.420 speaking of esau hebrews chapter 12 verse 15 through 17 says see to it that no one fails to

00:18:26.160 obtain the grace of god and that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and by

00:18:31.960 it many become defiled that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like esau who sold his birth

00:18:38.800 right for a single meal verse 17 now for you know that afterward when he desired to inherit

00:18:46.740 the blessing, the blessing of God that would be transpired through his father, Isaac. He was

00:18:54.360 rejected, not merely rejected by his father, but his father standing in as representative of God.

00:19:01.400 God rejected him. When he sought this blessing, he was rejected for he found no chance to repent.

00:19:10.740 the scripture doesn't just say for he was unwilling to repent or he didn't want to i don't

00:19:18.660 want to no he couldn't find a chance to repent there was not the opportunity to repent there

00:19:26.700 was not the capability to repent he would not because he could not though he sought it with

00:19:36.040 tears there's a whole sermon in that last phrase which i don't have time to preach today but beware

00:19:43.400 of tears i'll say that at least i have seen many tears but absent of repentance

00:19:54.760 we have lived in this country for decades now with our highest virtue being this

00:20:01.740 When she cries, she of both sexes.

00:20:05.700 When she cries, she's right. 0.99

00:20:09.860 And she gets what she wants. 0.66

00:20:13.920 And following that roadmap, we have achieved Drag Queen Story Hour. 0.86

00:20:19.220 The mutilation of children. 0.64

00:20:22.080 The murder of 70 million babies, that's a low number, in their mother's womb in the last 50 years. 0.51

00:20:30.760 A full-scale invasion at our southern border.

00:20:34.720 Our jobs stolen away

00:20:37.160 from a country that allegedly has the most geniuses in the world. 1.00

00:20:45.000 Yes, I'm talking about India.

00:20:49.020 Now, if they have to start paying $100,000, 0.99

00:20:52.700 mark my words, I predict that all of a sudden

00:20:55.720 our tech lords will discover that actually Americans are really bright.

00:21:00.760 oh you know what it turns out that americans aren't so lazy after all and and they're not 0.87

00:21:06.940 so dumb after all and turns out that we have a lot of great americans and we're not racist 0.96

00:21:12.560 we're just we're hiring americans because we have to win the tech race on the global map 0.98

00:21:17.880 and beat china and we're hiring americans because they're actually the hardest working 0.98

00:21:23.080 and the smartest so but you told us we were dumb and lazy and we couldn't win unless we 0.98

00:21:27.600 imported from the rest of the world 0.97

00:21:30.620 people to code 1.00

00:21:32.540 because no American would code 1.00

00:21:34.380 or could code. 0.97

00:21:36.160 What changed?

00:21:37.700 Your pocketbook.

00:21:39.140 That's what changed.

00:21:43.040 And yet this is the country

00:21:44.480 we now live in.

00:21:46.760 Full scale invasion.

00:21:49.520 The erasure 0.99

00:21:50.460 of heritage Americans. 0.99

00:21:54.860 Taking away an opportunity 1.00

00:21:56.740 to own a home to provide for a family mass perversion with the lgbt lmnop mafia 0.54

00:22:06.340 political assassinations of moderates by the way they killed the nice guy

00:22:15.100 they're going to regret it we'll see who comes next when people say what happened

00:22:23.360 who radicalized you.

00:22:26.500 You did.

00:22:28.560 You tried to brainwash our children. 0.98

00:22:32.840 You tried to replace our culture. 0.96

00:22:36.060 You took our jobs. 0.99

00:22:37.940 You took our country.

00:22:39.380 You killed our heroes.

00:22:42.120 You did.

00:22:45.100 For two weeks now,

00:22:46.580 I've been getting emails.

00:22:48.440 About half of them are, 1.00

00:22:49.780 I hate you, I'm going to try to kill you. 0.99

00:22:52.280 Thus, why we're moving around right now, 0.99

00:22:55.380 the Webbin family.

00:22:56.260 The other half are,

00:22:57.660 I stopped listening to you six months ago.

00:22:59.580 I'm sorry.

00:23:00.320 I was a lib.

00:23:01.060 You were right.

00:23:04.500 Doesn't seem so radical anymore, does it?

00:23:08.940 Husbands. 0.77

00:23:10.760 Husbands, lead your family.

00:23:14.780 Joel's too radical.

00:23:16.080 You know, if you're going to say that,

00:23:18.300 why don't you just put your wife on the phone? 0.99

00:23:19.940 I'd like to talk to the decision maker of the household. 1.00

00:23:24.560 Right?

00:23:25.000 Let's just stop playing games.

00:23:27.380 Let me talk to the man of the house. 1.00

00:23:28.660 Could you put your wife on?

00:23:33.920 No, it's not too radical.

00:23:36.720 One of my constant convictions that I'm wrestling with the Lord actively on a daily basis, and I mean this, is, Lord, am I compromised?

00:23:46.340 Lord, am I cowardly?

00:23:49.940 Lord, if there be any sin in my heart, any weakness, any cowardice, reveal it.

00:23:55.560 Convict me by your Holy Spirit.

00:23:57.500 Help me, God.

00:23:59.440 After careful and prayerful consideration, help me, Lord, to become worse.

00:24:04.760 For your glory and the good of your people.

00:24:08.880 Make me half the enemy, half the monster that your enemies think I am.

00:24:15.880 save the church and save the country lord i want my kids to at least have a semblance

00:24:27.360 in their childhood and their adulthood and as they

00:24:31.300 desperately seek one day to start families of their own a semblance of the country that i got

00:24:36.580 to grow up in.

00:24:39.920 But here we are.

00:24:42.900 Here we are.

00:24:45.380 And part of the reason we're here

00:24:47.200 is because we have chosen

00:24:49.540 to succumb to tears

00:24:51.360 without repentance.

00:24:54.900 Esau cried.

00:24:58.180 Oh, please, I'm so sorry.

00:25:00.540 I'm so sorry.

00:25:01.820 Please, please,

00:25:02.520 but you don't understand.

00:25:03.380 he cried

00:25:06.780 but he never repented

00:25:09.100 he was unwilling

00:25:11.700 he was unable

00:25:13.240 he could not repent

00:25:15.200 oh but please please

00:25:18.580 it's just a four year old little girl 1.00

00:25:20.500 families can be deported together 0.69

00:25:23.080 praise God 1.00

00:25:24.060 they all have to go back 0.96

00:25:27.860 because you're allowed to have a country

00:25:30.520 it's not racist

00:25:32.580 It's not sin. It's not wicked. It's not mean. It's not arrogant.

00:25:36.660 Every single country in the world is allowed to have their people and their home, except for the West. 0.88

00:25:45.800 That's wicked. It's wicked. It's sin. And I will speak against it. 0.90

00:25:54.600 Repentance is key. The Pharisees could not repent because you cannot believe in that which you hate.

00:26:02.580 Esau could not repent because you cannot believe that which you hate.

00:26:07.840 And Esau had tears, but he had no true godly sorrow, no true remorse.

00:26:15.300 That has to be the standard for us as the people of God.

00:26:19.640 We have to stop being manipulated by tears, by shows.

00:26:27.540 And we have to be willing to say, no, it must be true repentance.

00:26:31.860 America has apostatized.

00:26:35.260 We have a Christian history, a Christian origin.

00:26:38.220 We were a Christian country,

00:26:39.880 and we have apostatized against the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:26:42.600 And anyone who's not truly repenting

00:26:46.260 gets no say in the matter.

00:26:50.460 You'll be deported.

00:26:52.180 You'll be removed from office.

00:26:54.160 But you get no say in the matter.

00:26:56.520 I don't care how sad you are. 1.00

00:26:59.380 We've been led by women in this country feigning sadness for 50 years. 0.98

00:27:06.620 And the tears of women have directly fueled the blood of babies. 0.96

00:27:12.340 And we're not having it anymore. 0.99

00:27:14.880 We're not doing it anymore.

00:27:18.100 When did you become so heartless?

00:27:20.680 When babies were murdered.

00:27:25.460 When throats were slit on subways.

00:27:28.600 that's when

00:27:31.660 and God forgive me

00:27:34.840 for being radicalized

00:27:35.880 far too late

00:27:36.760 the Pharisees hated Jesus

00:27:41.600 and the Pharisees today

00:27:43.780 still hate Jesus

00:27:44.980 you need to know

00:27:46.220 they will not repent

00:27:48.340 because they cannot repent

00:27:49.760 repentance is not a work of man

00:27:51.640 it is a gift of God

00:27:52.640 it must be sovereignly granted

00:27:54.100 and if it be not granted

00:27:55.900 by God in his mercy

00:27:57.820 then that person will never change they might cry they might wail they might say all the right

00:28:06.060 things but their heart will remain hardened they will hate jesus and on account of christ they will

00:28:13.700 hate you they will hate your wives they will hate your children they will hate your grandchildren

00:28:18.120 children, and you must be innocent as doves, but as wise as vipers. We cannot afford to be naive

00:28:30.000 any longer. Evangelicals cannot afford to be naive. You will not and indeed cannot believe

00:28:42.040 in that which you hate.

00:28:44.240 It is not a matter

00:28:45.360 of merely providing

00:28:49.020 the sufficient evidence.

00:28:52.680 The Pharisees had evidence.

00:28:55.360 They saw sign after sign after sign.

00:28:58.620 The audacity is unbelievable

00:29:01.100 of these guys.

00:29:02.900 Show us a sign.

00:29:05.140 Are you kidding?

00:29:05.620 I literally just got done

00:29:06.700 healing a guy.

00:29:09.160 Are you kidding?

00:29:09.900 I just got done exercising demons.

00:29:12.040 are you kidding me i i just i just did this i just did that what do you mean show me a sign

00:29:17.340 you were right there you were right there what do you mean show me a sign oh well we just don't

00:29:23.760 believe we're we're just simply objective spectators no you're not you're deceitful 0.99

00:29:30.760 maniacal manipulative leaders who are trying to lead the people of israel to hell 0.91

00:29:35.260 you're the elite leaders in a country that has taken that responsibility that should be an honor 0.96

00:29:45.180 and a privilege and you've perverted it you put heavy burdens that you yourselves will not lift

00:29:51.140 with a single finger defund the police meanwhile you're in a gated community with private security

00:29:59.780 Yes, there are many parallels to the Pharisees in the country that we currently live in. 0.53

00:30:07.380 Show us a sign. We're objective. We're reasonable. 0.97

00:30:12.440 If you provide the evidence, we'll come along.

00:30:16.400 The evidence had already been provided and they refused

00:30:19.860 because the problem was not merely intellectual assent.

00:30:23.460 It was not merely evidence. It was moral.

00:30:26.600 The problem is always moral.

00:30:29.780 It is a matter of the heart.

00:30:32.320 Why do people not believe in Jesus?

00:30:34.740 Because in their minds, they're lacking reason.

00:30:37.220 They're lacking evidence.

00:30:38.360 No.

00:30:39.640 In their hearts, they hate him.

00:30:42.600 They hate him.

00:30:45.160 We had a guy in America

00:30:46.720 who was willing to sit down with people and say,

00:30:50.140 well, maybe you're just lacking reasons.

00:30:53.060 And so I'll have respectable discourse.

00:30:56.880 And I will talk to literally anyone

00:30:58.880 and make myself available

00:31:00.380 day after day after day

00:31:01.880 in the public square.

00:31:04.080 Anyone can come up to the microphone.

00:31:06.360 They can make their objection

00:31:07.440 and I'll give a response.

00:31:09.560 They can ask their question

00:31:10.640 and I'll give a reason. 0.77

00:31:14.480 And they shot him in the throat

00:31:16.120 in front of his wife and kids.

00:31:19.320 No, it's not intellectual.

00:31:21.880 It's moral.

00:31:24.260 People don't believe in Christ

00:31:25.620 because they hate Christ.

00:31:27.040 and we the church need to know that in our bones and live accordingly no more mr nice guy 0.98

00:31:35.640 kindness is a fruit of the spirit niceness damn it to hell niceness is one of the greatest lies

00:31:43.580 the enemy ever persuaded the american church to believe no more mr nice guy love yes kindness yes

00:31:51.000 niceness no romans 8 chapter 7 and verse 8 to illustrate this point even further the mind

00:32:02.820 that is set on the flesh is hostile towards god not merely indifferent not simply neutral

00:32:09.180 but at enmity with god if a person's mind be set on the flesh if they are an unbeliever 0.75

00:32:16.020 unregenerate the mind of the sinner the unbeliever the non-christian it's set on

00:32:24.360 the flesh and therefore not merely neutral and objective and if I just have 0.98

00:32:28.200 the evidence then I'll believe nope hostile to God for it does not submit

00:32:34.780 to God's law nor can it indeed it cannot those who are in the flesh cannot not

00:32:42.960 merely will not cannot please god we have to believe the scripture believe what's being said

00:32:51.680 in our text today in matthew chapter 12 in regards to the pharisees believe what was said in hebrews

00:32:56.800 12 verse 15 16 and 17 about esau and believe romans chapter 8 verse 7 and 8 what's being said

00:33:03.360 about the unregenerate man whose mind is set on the flesh in all three instances one in the

00:33:08.640 the scripture would be enough to make the point in all three of these instances and there are more

00:33:13.080 the principle is clear the unregenerate man will not submit to christ for he cannot submit to

00:33:21.620 christ because he hates christ get it in your bones second point for today and the final

00:33:29.580 the adultery of the jews and the salvation of the gentiles the adultery of the jews and the 0.95

00:33:36.840 salvation of the Gentiles. In your notes, I've written the following, and so our Lord, focusing 0.64

00:33:44.280 our attention now in verses 41 and 42, and so our Lord answers them, these religious rulers in Israel,

00:33:52.520 not with flattery, but with the truth. He says, an evil, an adulterous generation seeks a sign. 0.98

00:34:00.700 adulterous because they have forsaken their true husband the Lord and gone 0.99

00:34:07.420 whoring after their own righteousness and their perverse traditions of men but 1.00

00:34:14.140 the Lord gives him a sign in his mercy and kindness nonetheless the sign is

00:34:21.440 this it is the sign of Jonah just as Jonah was three days in the belly of the

00:34:27.520 fish so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of

00:34:32.560 the earth and here is the gospel hidden even in judgment Christ crucified

00:34:40.000 buried and risen the true and final sign which no man can overturn or deny just

00:34:47.920 as Jonah emerged alive out of the fish to preach repentance to Nineveh so to

00:34:54.700 who Christ rose from the dead

00:34:57.060 to proclaim forgiveness

00:34:58.640 to the ends of the earth.

00:35:01.100 This is the sign.

00:35:02.940 It was a sign for them

00:35:04.400 and it's the sign for you.

00:35:09.060 And to demand anything more

00:35:11.460 is arrogance and rebellion

00:35:13.320 and you will be judged

00:35:14.900 on account of it.

00:35:16.300 You have been given a sign.

00:35:18.960 Jesus Christ,

00:35:20.920 wrapped in flesh,

00:35:22.020 the God-man,

00:35:22.780 he lived a sinless life

00:35:26.540 not only avoiding all sin

00:35:28.540 but in his act of obedience

00:35:29.980 fulfilling all righteousness

00:35:31.460 he died a sinner's death 0.98

00:35:34.200 a criminal's death 1.00

00:35:35.480 that you deserve not him

00:35:37.160 and the Lord bodily rose him

00:35:41.440 from the dead on the third day

00:35:43.280 he presented himself

00:35:44.740 to over 500 witnesses

00:35:46.700 at one time

00:35:48.360 so that means the number is far higher

00:35:51.220 and he ascended in majesty and in glory

00:35:57.660 to the right hand of God the Father Almighty

00:36:00.540 where he is now seated in honor.

00:36:04.200 And one day he will return to judge

00:36:06.540 both the living and the dead.

00:36:09.000 And if you reject that sign,

00:36:11.980 he will return and he will say to you, 0.99

00:36:15.840 depart from me, you workers of iniquity 0.99

00:36:18.660 and cast you into the lake of fire. 0.98

00:36:21.220 And there will be no more chances.

00:36:23.880 Jesus is not like a DEI hired judge in America.

00:36:30.160 Jesus doesn't give 14 chances.

00:36:36.540 No, on that final day, all the chances are gone.

00:36:41.020 And those who rejected him and were ashamed of him,

00:36:44.640 he will be ashamed of them before his father.

00:36:47.320 And he will say, depart from me, I never knew you.

00:36:51.220 but for all who believe the sign of Jonah

00:36:54.480 as it relates to Christ

00:36:56.480 that he died, was buried and rose again

00:36:59.580 that he is the Son of God

00:37:00.860 that he died for your sin

00:37:02.340 the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world

00:37:05.340 to you there will be honor

00:37:07.480 there will be glory

00:37:09.340 there will be forever eternal communion

00:37:12.760 with the triune God

00:37:14.040 you will be blessed

00:37:15.660 to you has been given eternal life

00:37:18.280 and that judgment

00:37:19.980 for the living and the dead,

00:37:21.980 whether it be reward for those who are in Christ

00:37:24.500 or judgment for the wicked,

00:37:27.360 it is coming.

00:37:28.720 Christ will one day return.

00:37:30.720 And if he tarries,

00:37:32.900 that judgment is still coming

00:37:34.740 because either he will come to you

00:37:37.040 or you will go to him

00:37:38.200 one way or the other.

00:37:40.820 Time is running short.

00:37:44.200 Trust in Jesus.

00:37:46.240 Believe in Jesus.

00:37:47.700 And know that if you're not a Christian

00:37:49.560 and you're here today, 0.62

00:37:50.560 your only hang-up is not a lack of evidence.

00:37:53.000 Your hang-up is not intellectual.

00:37:55.180 It is moral.

00:37:56.180 You hate Him.

00:37:57.560 And the only thing that can change

00:37:59.080 is God supernaturally changing your heart.

00:38:02.520 To believe in Jesus, you have to love Jesus.

00:38:06.180 And to love Jesus, you need a new heart.

00:38:10.040 That's the gospel.

00:38:12.380 1 John 4, 19, we love because He first loved us.

00:38:15.420 is not that we simply weigh all the evidence

00:38:22.360 in some unbiased, objective way

00:38:24.560 and then choose to love God

00:38:27.380 and then God who's sitting in heaven

00:38:28.980 chooses to respond after we first initiate

00:38:32.580 and says, well, because you've worked so diligently

00:38:35.580 and you've chosen to love me,

00:38:37.420 then as a response, tit for tat, I will love you.

00:38:41.800 No, we love because He first loved us.

00:38:45.420 Those who do not love God are those who have not been awakened by the Spirit of God to see His love for them.

00:38:52.360 They are spiritually blinded, just like the Pharisees.

00:38:55.280 Spiritually deaf, they cannot hear.

00:38:57.860 Their hearts are hardened.

00:39:00.140 And the heart of stone must be replaced with a heart of flesh that is softened and malleable and receptive to the things of God.

00:39:08.180 You need a new nature.

00:39:10.060 It's not just that you have to turn over a new leaf or make a new set of choices.

00:39:13.840 You must be born again.

00:39:16.160 You need a new nature.

00:39:17.700 You must become a new creature in Christ Jesus.

00:39:21.740 And if that doesn't happen,

00:39:24.260 then you are an enemy of God

00:39:26.820 and an enemy of His people. 0.77

00:39:30.160 And so we need to do two things in our country. 0.72

00:39:33.440 The church must preach

00:39:36.040 and administer word and sacrament.

00:39:40.460 And we must pray that God in His mercy

00:39:43.020 might send revival to actually give people new hearts and also i know this is tough

00:39:52.620 really really really hard for evangelical christians in 2025 but i like to believe

00:39:59.020 that by the grace of god and the spirit of god that we could walk and chew gum as christians

00:40:03.580 at the same time i know it's tough christians are insufferable in our country over spiritualizing

00:40:10.780 everything truncating everything but we must begin to think clearly and think in categories

00:40:18.420 as it pertains to the church we need revival you want the land to be saved you need more

00:40:24.220 regenerate hearts they hate you because they hate god and they will never do anything else unless

00:40:28.620 god gives them a new nature so as a church lord send revival and we doing the work of an evangelist

00:40:35.740 preaching the gospel praying that many might be saved now as private citizens it's not just

00:40:41.960 another area another group of people it's you wearing two hats as a christian as a member of

00:40:48.800 the universal church do the work of an evangelist seek for new converts to be made and pray that

00:40:55.780 god might grant them grace but then you also as a part of the civil magistrate because we still

00:41:03.020 live in a republic i know it's a bit of a joke at this point but technically well then you also

00:41:09.280 must enforce justice not as a vigilante but through whatever civil political power you have

00:41:16.620 because here's the deal contrary to the belief of pietists of which the reformed church has

00:41:26.960 many contrary to that belief you can have a country that's safe for your children temporally 0.80

00:41:34.740 physically safe where the majority of that country is actually still unregenerate and goes to hell

00:41:39.920 did you know that wait a second no that's not possible no you you literally can

00:41:44.680 japan is two percent christian guys two percent christian high trust society

00:41:53.880 huh how how is that possible they've rejected the lord jesus christ how do they have such a low crime

00:42:02.140 rate well they didn't invite the whole world to live there and they actually have some laws

00:42:09.160 and there's some homogeneity you trust your neighbor because you share in

00:42:14.620 common things with your neighbor you come from the same people the same

00:42:20.080 ancestors the same heritage the same history the same customs and so even an

00:42:27.820 unbeliever with another unbeliever can say this is my kin this is my brother he

00:42:34.820 can have a box in his front yard with fresh farm eggs it says please only take

00:42:38.860 one and you don't have to worry about one of the neighbors coming with his u-haul truck to take them

00:42:43.820 all we don't have that in america because we brought the whole world here that's why

00:42:56.060 so it's both things and this is what people will misinterpret and they'll slander

00:43:01.100 but hear my words it's not one thing it's both things why are things as dire in our nation as

00:43:09.340 they are today number one we the people rejected christ it is spiritual number two in our rejection

00:43:20.560 of christ we rejected law we rejected order we rejected heritage americans and imported the third 0.93

00:43:28.500 world. We exalted women into places of civil leadership. It's all of it. It's the whole 0.99

00:43:38.880 enchilada. And you're called to do both, Christian. As a Christian, preach, evangelize, pray. We need

00:43:49.580 revival. We need hearts to be changed because if they're not changed, it's moral, not merely

00:43:54.360 intellectual if the heart is not changed then people will go on hating jesus but also not just

00:44:01.100 as a christian but as a citizen in your civil duty work towards political and civil reform

00:44:08.960 because here's the deal there are plenty throughout all of human history there have

00:44:14.000 been plenty of cases millions of examples could be told of people who did not have a new heart

00:44:20.440 and therefore hated Jesus and yet never committed murder.

00:44:23.920 Why?

00:44:25.220 Because Romans 13, the civil magistrate is a terror.

00:44:29.760 God's avenger.

00:44:31.940 God's deacon, his servant, to carry out vengeance on the wrongdoer. 0.78

00:44:37.140 It is possible for someone to not be a Christian,

00:44:41.140 therefore hate Jesus,

00:44:43.020 therefore in their heart of hearts hate you as a follower of Jesus

00:44:46.100 and still be afraid to throw 0.99

00:44:48.840 a piece of trash out of their window. 1.00

00:44:53.500 Ask El Salvador. 1.00

00:44:56.260 It can be done. 0.98

00:44:58.040 It requires the will.

00:45:00.940 Oh, we just don't know what to do.

00:45:02.040 We know exactly what to do.

00:45:04.280 We need hearts for revival.

00:45:05.860 You also need stomachs for revival.

00:45:09.540 You have to have the grit.

00:45:13.140 And really, it's just a question.

00:45:14.540 It's going to happen.

00:45:15.620 It's not if.

00:45:16.340 It's just when. 1.00

00:45:17.580 And a lot of this is up to the women.

00:45:19.360 I want you to hear me. 0.81

00:45:20.060 It's up to you.

00:45:21.280 It shouldn't be.

00:45:22.400 It shouldn't be.

00:45:23.280 But because our nation is wicked and has given you political power equal to your husband

00:45:27.200 to divide the household, then yes, it is very much up to you.

00:45:31.360 When the country changes is up to you.

00:45:34.340 And this is literally what it comes down to. 0.94

00:45:36.580 It comes down to when the women of these United States of America finally decide that their

00:45:44.440 fear of being mugged

00:45:46.680 and killed and their children

00:45:48.480 slaughtered in public outweighs 0.93

00:45:50.520 their fear of being called a racist.

00:45:53.860 That's it.

00:45:55.200 As soon as that happens,

00:45:56.220 the nation changes.

00:45:58.740 And you're safe again.

00:46:00.220 And your kids have a future again. That's all it takes.

00:46:02.620 It just takes the women in America 1.00

00:46:03.860 to stop being slaves to the 1.00

00:46:06.320 approval of men.

00:46:08.340 That's all it is.

00:46:12.480 We'll see.

00:46:14.440 one year two years five years ten years we'll see 1.00

00:46:17.860 so an adulterous generation god's not going to give them a sign 0.99

00:46:24.620 the only sign left is the sign of jonah that jesus christ would be

00:46:29.660 crucified buried and raised on the third day and this

00:46:34.260 is the gospel even tucked away in judgment

00:46:37.280 in god's kindness yet christ goes further the final thing in our text

00:46:42.280 And he begins not only to indict, to correct, and to rebuke,

00:46:47.880 but he shames these religious rulers. 0.94

00:46:50.520 And he shames them with the faith of Gentiles. 0.63

00:46:54.160 Notice what he says. 0.58

00:46:55.840 He says, you're going to be under judgment.

00:46:58.440 You hate me.

00:46:59.480 You've rejected me. 0.97

00:47:01.120 And you've lied and manipulated all those under your care.

00:47:04.960 But the men of Nineveh, pagans, they repented.

00:47:10.100 The queen of Sheba, 0.65

00:47:11.720 she came from a long way off

00:47:14.400 just to sit and hear the wisdom of Solomon. 0.98

00:47:18.340 And yet the Jews with the true Jonah 1.00

00:47:22.200 and the true Solomon now standing before them 0.97

00:47:25.420 still do not believe.

00:47:28.960 What God has done these last 2,000 years

00:47:31.340 with the great commission

00:47:32.220 and the spread of the gospel

00:47:33.520 to all the four corners of the earth

00:47:36.080 has been an indictment on Israel. 0.86

00:47:39.700 For 2,000 years, more and more nations have heard and witnessed the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and come to repentance. 0.69

00:47:52.820 And yet for 2,000 years, Israel has remained hardened. 0.86

00:48:01.760 now that said 0.61

00:48:06.580 you're not merely a tool

00:48:09.780 and you need to hear this

00:48:12.000 God is not merely saving Gentiles 0.95

00:48:14.960 to stick it to the Jews 0.90

00:48:16.320 God is saving Gentiles

00:48:19.240 because he loves them

00:48:20.160 he loves you

00:48:21.940 and this was always his plan

00:48:24.020 from the very beginning

00:48:24.840 through you Abraham 0.54

00:48:26.800 all the nations of the world

00:48:29.000 will be blessed

00:48:29.840 the original covenant the covenant of redemption included the nations it was never just about

00:48:38.260 israel but through abraham many nations would eventually be blessed and flock to mount zion

00:48:48.300 and find salvation in jesus christ so god is saving nations and he's saving them because he 0.76

00:48:56.840 loves them first and foremost but he's also saving them as an indictment and a shame to Israel

00:49:04.720 and that's what Jesus tells the Pharisees here and the scribes and these Jewish religious rulers 0.90

00:49:12.200 of that day he says not only are you demanding a sign when you've received many and I'll call

00:49:19.680 your bluff I'll actually give you one more sign the sign of Jonah but you did not believe the

00:49:25.180 signs I've already produced, you will not believe that sign either. And it's not because of some

00:49:31.140 kind of lack of evidence or intellectual hang up. It is a moral issue. It's because you hate me.

00:49:37.500 And your hatred for me is unique. Because there are many others, many pagans, many Gentiles who 1.00

00:49:46.300 have not had your response. And they never saw the miracles that you have seen. There are many 1.00

00:49:52.920 Gentiles who have never had the distinct pleasure of the son of God in the flesh walking down their

00:50:00.120 streets performing signs and miracles and wonders and yet they believe just as Jesus told his 0.53

00:50:06.180 disciple Thomas better for those who do not see and yet still believe and that's the promise for

00:50:12.260 you that's the promise for me that by the grace of God he has given us new hearts awakened us

00:50:19.740 given us spiritual eyes to see and we believe. The leaders in Christ's day, they had far more

00:50:28.420 evidence, but their hearts were hardened. And for you, if you have any love for Christ at all,

00:50:34.700 any faith in Christ at all, it is because God has worked a miracle. God has changed your heart. And

00:50:41.720 for that, you should be eternally grateful and thankful and vigilant, knowing that this change

00:50:49.340 of heart, this softness of heart, this new nature was not your own doing. And it's not a switch that

00:50:55.720 you can control at your will, but it was a sovereign, merciful work of God. And to take it

00:51:02.020 for granted that the Lord softened your heart and gave you affection for him and to neglect

00:51:08.580 spiritual duties and disciplines, saying, well, I can control it. I can control at my convenience,

00:51:17.480 my affection for Christ, my faith in Christ,

00:51:21.460 my submission and obedience to Christ.

00:51:24.720 That is an arrogant thought.

00:51:27.060 Repent of it.

00:51:29.000 The response today should be gratitude.

00:51:31.620 Like the men of Nineveh, like the queen of Sheba,

00:51:35.600 the response should be, 0.97

00:51:37.460 thank you God for choosing me a wretched sinner. 0.98

00:51:41.020 Having mercy on me, a wretched sinner.

00:51:44.080 But for the grace of God,

00:51:45.660 my heart would be just as hard

00:51:47.700 and I would be rejecting all your kindness and goodness.

00:51:52.400 So keep me.

00:51:53.640 The same grace that saved you

00:51:55.180 is the only hope to keep you.

00:51:57.760 Keep me, Christ.

00:52:00.480 Soften me even more, Christ.

00:52:03.060 Convict me even further, Christ.

00:52:05.480 And use me for your glory

00:52:07.440 and the good of your people.

00:52:09.480 Let's pray.

00:52:10.040 Father, thank you for your word.

00:52:11.760 Bless it to your people

00:52:12.720 and bring about for yourself great glory.

00:52:15.660 We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The NXR Podcast - September 22, 2025

THE SERMON - They Will Not Believe Jesus Because They HATE Jesus

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