Saturday Feb 24 Now TV for Youtube William Bell The Adulterous Generation

Good evening and welcome to the All Things Fulfilled broadcast right here on the NOW Network. We are here every Saturday from 6.30 until 7 p.m. Central Time, 7.30 to 8 p.m. Eastern Time for a broadcast being brought to you by the Ranger World Church of Christ. We are also delighted that you have tuned in with us. We encourage you to do that on a regular basis. If for some reason you miss the broadcast, you can always go to our YouTube channel for recordings of the broadcasts that we do here. The YouTube channel is AllThingsFulfilled.com as well as we encourage you to visit our website at AllThingsFulfilled.com. Now we have a newsletter that if you would like to subscribe to that you can get short messages where we send you articles as well as videos and maybe sometimes audios as well. That website is AllThingsFulfilled.com forward slash subscribe. Again that's AllThingsFulfilled.com forward slash subscribe and you'll get probably a message once a week and that will help you in your growth and your understanding and so we encourage you to take advantage of that. Now today we're going to address some feedback that we have received relative to some of the things that we have taught and these things are focused on whether or not the view that Christ has returned is true and some of the objections that have arisen in order to say that the viewpoint of Christ's return in the first century is invalid and so let's look at some of the points that we're going to talk about. Now this is going to be just sort of a salad bowl of objections. We're not going to stay on one particular topic necessarily. We're going to look at several points along the way as we deal with some of these objections. Now the first objection that we are going to talk about is the sign of the prophet Jonah. In other words, we have those who tell us that the reason the view of Christ's return in 70 AD cannot be accurate is because the scriptures say that God would only give one sign of his coming and so if we are speaking about signs then they cannot be related to the coming of Christ in 70 AD. So let's see if that objection will hold. In Matthew chapter 12 beginning at verse 39 Jesus talked about the Jews, the evil and adulterous generation who sought a sign and he said no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Well when we look at that you know and people say well you know he only promised one sign and if there are more signs they cannot be related to the destruction of Jerusalem and so the coming of Christ has no signs. Well let's as we said talk about that. Now in that text in Matthew chapter 12 beginning at verse 39 he's saying that this was for the people of Nineveh or at least they say this is for the people of Nineveh and so he says an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. Now when we look at that objection and we examine this passage first thing that we need to keep in mind is this was written or spoken to the adulterous and sinful generation. It wasn't spoken to everyone but a specific class of people within the first century generation. Now you have a parallel text in Matthew chapter 16 that also speaks about it and once again it will identify that this is the adulterous or the wicked and sinful generation. Notice he says in verse one then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and testing him asked if he would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them when it is evening you say it will be fair weather well the sky is red and in the morning it will be foul weather for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites you know how to discern the face of the sky but you cannot discern the signs of the time. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah and he left and departed. Now what specifically is this text teaching? It's teaching that this sign of the prophet Jonah and the preaching that went to them that caused them to repent was given to the wicked and adulterous generation to those in Israel within the first century that he styled as the wicked and adulterous generation. In other words he didn't say that to everyone he was speaking specifically to them. Let me give you another example of how he speaks specifically of that generation and what he says to them. In the third chapter of the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter three, the verse is seven and of course this context is where John the Baptist had gone out through the wilderness of Judea saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So he's teaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and the bible says that as he was preparing the way for Christ then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan confessing their sins. Now there was no problem with these Jews coming from Jerusalem the region around about Jordan etc confessing their sins. That means that they are repenting. It means that they are willing to humble themselves and obey, submit themselves to the teaching of John the Baptist. And so notice there's a contrast however in verse seven when it says but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism he said brood of vipers who have warned you to flee the coming wrath the wrath that was about to come therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance and do not think to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Now look at what else he says about them and now even or even now the axe is laid to the root of trees therefore every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but he who is coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire his winnowing fan that's a harvesting fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Now it's clear to see that there are two groups that John is referring to in this chapter. He's referring to number one those who come out who hear his preaching and then they repent and they confess their sins and are baptized by him in the Jordan. Those would be the ones categorized as the good fruit in Israel the good trees. On the other hand the Pharisees and the Sadducees were those that he styled as the wicked and the adulterous generation or the brood of vipers in this case and so for the good trees he says they're going to be gathered into the barn but for the chaff that which was unusable and worthless it was going to be scattered to the wind and he would gather it and burn it with unquenchable fire. So two different groups and they receive two different outcomes. So it is incorrect for us to read Matthew chapter 12 39 through 41 and say that that sign applied to the entire nation of Israel. It did not. That sign only applied to those who refused to repent and by the way notice how many times in this particular chapter he talked about repentance. In verse 8 he says therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. Now he's talking to the Sadducees and the Pharisees the ones that he styled as a brood of vipers. Those are very venomous snakes by the way and again he says that in the latter verse I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. Well that's what he was doing. He was baptizing with the baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins and many in Israel came out to John the Baptist to be baptized of him and they repented and confessed their sins but the Pharisees he detected in them an unwillingness to do so and so he called them a brood of vipers categorizing them totally different from the rest of Israel. Now let's what Jesus said about the same group of Pharisees later on during the close of his ministry and we can find that in the 23rd chapter of the book of Matthew. In Matthew 23 Jesus speaks to them and let's just make note of the fact where in verse 1 it says then Jesus spoke to the multitude and to his disciples saying the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe that observe and do but do not according to their works what they say and do not. So here he's pointing out what the shortcomings what the flaws what the problems were with those Pharisees and scribes. He says for they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers but all their works they do to be seen of men. Now as he goes on to speak about them and we encourage you to read the entirety of the chapter if you'd like to know more about them but in verse 29 he is continuing his conversation with them and he says woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous and say if we had lived in the days of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. So Jesus is charging them with being murderers. John said they were a brood of vipers and Christ tells them then verse 32 fill up then the measure of your father's guilt serpents brood of vipers. So he characterizes them in the same manner that John does in Matthew chapter 3 by speaking of them as serpents as a brood of vipers and he asked how can you escape the condemnation of Gehenna. Therefore indeed I will send you prophets wise men and scribes and some of them you will kill and crucify and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. Now notice they had already killed John the Baptist by this time they had already put him to death at least Herod had him put to death but nevertheless Jesus is saying I'm going to send to you scribes and Pharisees wise men I'm going to send to you prophets and I'm going to send these men who are faithful to the word of God who are teaching the word of God and you're going to do to them the people in ancient times the Jews of old according to 1st Kings 19 and 15 I believe it is I'm going to do to you or you're going to do to them the same thing that your fathers did by murdering the prophets and shedding their blood and hence he calls them murderers the sons of those who killed the prophets that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berechiah whom you murdered between the temple and the altar assuredly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation now look at those that he spoke about in this context he's not saying this to all of Israel any more than John directed his message concerning the brood of vipers to all of Israel he wasn't saying that everyone in Israel was a viper was a serpent was a snake but only those scribes and Pharisees only those Pharisees and Sadducees those who rejected the Messiah who refused to submit to his baptism and so he says in verse 37 oh Jerusalem Jerusalem the one who kills the prophets he's talking about the ones who kill the prophets and stones those who are sent to her how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you were not willing they were unwilling to submit themselves to the counsel of God and either be baptized by Christ or by John the Baptist they refused to do so and so he says see your house is left to you desolate for I say to you you shall see me no more till you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord and that conversation is continued through Matthew chapter 24 now when we go back to the 21st chapter of Matthew Matthew brings up or in his writings the question about John the Baptist and why his message was rejected starting in verse 23 of the chapter it says now when he came into the temple the chief priest and the elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching and said by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority but Jesus answered and said to them I will also ask you one thing if you tell me I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things the baptism of John you know what we were discussing in Matthew chapter 3 the baptism of John where was it from from heaven or from men and they reasoned among themselves saying if we say from heaven he will say to us why then did you not believe him do you see that these are unbelievers in Israel do you see that these are the infidels if you please that rejected the Messiah do you see that they are among those that Jesus categorized later as the murderers who were about to murder him and who had like their fathers were going to murder those he would send to them after they murdered him so they said but if we say from men we fear the multitude for all count John as a prophet so they answered Jesus and said we don't know and he said to them neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things so they rejected the baptism of John because they were unwilling to humble themselves they were proud and they rejected the message of God they rejected the message of heaven and because of that they rejected the counsel of God against themselves Jesus was simply showing them and exposing them for who they really were so when we look at Matthew chapter 12 where the scripture says they sought after a sign but no sign will be given to this wicked and adulterous generation except the sign of the prophet Jonah he wasn't saying that that was the only sign that would be given to Israel or to all the Jews he says that's the sign that's going to be given to those who would not repent and that's the very sign that they needed they needed a sign that would encourage them and teach them the need to repent but they rejected it and hence Jesus said that's the only one you're getting why try to teach and convince people who were unwilling that he told the apostles shake the dust off your feet and move on to the next town so not to force them if they were unwilling to heed the word of God and when we consider that we find that it was their refusal their unwillingness to respond and that is the reason why that sign was given to them now on the other hand what about the believing Jews Jesus never told the believing Jews that he was only going to give them one sign and he didn't tell them that he was going to give them the sign of the prophet Jonah to the believing Jews he gave signs of when he would come he gave signs to help them from being destroyed in the destruction that would come upon the unbelievers in Israel so when you read Matthew 24 for example the scripture says then Jesus went out verse 1 departed from the temple and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple and Jesus said to them do you not see all these things assuredly I say to you see he has a different audience here not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down what is he doing by speaking to him about these things he's giving them signs now who are they this is Peter James John and Andrew and you can see that when you look in the parallel accounts of the Olivet discourse of this chapter take Mark chapter 13 I'll read the text again then as he went out of the temple one of his disciples said to him teacher see what manner of stones and what buildings are here and Jesus answered and said to him do you not see these great buildings not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down now as he sat on the mount of olives opposite the temple Peter James John and Andrew asked him privately see these are disciples these are those who have been baptized by John these are those who submitted themselves humbly to the word and the work of God and so what was their question their question is tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled notice that's different than saying okay the only sign you're going to get is the sign of the prophet Jonah he never said that to them that was for the wicked and the adulterous generation the sinful and the adulterous group among them they were the only ones who would receive the sign of the prophet Jonah but here he's giving them signs of when the temple would fall so that they would know when to escape when not to be in the city or when to flee the city so they could escape and save their own lives and so he says um when they question him tell us Matthew 24 and 3 when will these things be what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age now watch what Jesus starts to do he starts to give them the signs Jesus answered and said to them take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many you see they're not going to be deceived he's giving them signs when you see people claiming to be the Christ don't go after them do not heed them but others will be deceived how about those who were called a brood of vipers that he only gave one sign and that was the sign to repent and then he tells them and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not troubled well all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet he's giving them signs then he says when nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and earthquakes pestilences pestilences and earthquakes in various places all these are the beginning of sorrows so Jesus is letting them know these are signs and they're going to deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake and then many will be offended and will betray one another and will hate one another then many false prophets will rise up and deceive me look at all these signs that he's giving to believers but he only gave the unbelievers one sign now when you look in Acts chapter 2 after Peter preaches the gospel to Jews who had come from every nation under heaven and when he concluded that lesson he tells them when they cried out men and brethren what shall we do he says repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit now he also told them you know the promise was to you and to your children and to all those who are far off even as many as the Lord our God shall call and then he said save yourselves from this wicked and perverse generation this crooked and perverse generation you see of the believers what kind of generation were they in Philippians 2 and verse 15 he called them a chosen generation in first Peter 2 and verse 9 he said that they were a royal priesthood a chosen generation his own peculiar people so you can't categorize all of the Jews as a wicked and adulterous generation they would receive the one sign of repentance those who were the humble obedient children of God among Israel received signs that prevented their destruction during the time of the overthrow of the temple so that's the message that we wanted to share with you today I hope that you got some helpful benefits from it we encourage you to go to our website check out one of our books called All Bible Prophecy Fulfilled I'll put the link in the bottom of the video where in the comments where you are able to just click on it and you can go there and pick up a copy I will also give you another bonus offer as well so with that we want to say have a very good evening we'll see you at next week's broadcast may God bless you all and thank you for watching