Sign Seekers & Stubborn Students
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning Church. We find ourselves this morning continuing on in the Book of Matthew. Today, we will be flipping the page over to Chapter 16 in Matthew’s gospel and looking at a message I have entitled “Sign Seekers & Stubborn Students.”
Wherever you may find yourself in relation to the Kingdom of God this morning, there is something in this message for you!
If you are here and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, guess what, the first part is for you!
If you are here this morning and you’ve trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior then Part 2 is for you.
And my prayer is that if there is someone here this morning who is lost and undone in their sins; someone who needs to experience the amazing grace of salvation provided through the life giving sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that person, whomever it may be, will submit to God’s call upon their life here today and be gloriously saved!
And I also pray for all those in attendance who may be saved, that you will see the spiritual significance of the second part of our story here this morning and that hopefully you will understand, it’s the spiritual things of this life that are of most importance and not the physical.
With no further ado, if you have your Bible’s turned to Matthew 16 with me, would you say, Amen.
The Sign Seekers — (Vs. 1-4)
The Sign Seekers — (Vs. 1-4)
The Contradictory Clique — (Vs. 1)
The first thing I want us to look at this morning is The Contradictory Clique that had formed.
The Bible tells us here that the Pharisees and Sadducees had come together to “tempt” Jesus by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
The word tempt here literally means to test, to try, to prove.
First and foremost, the thing I want you to see is that this is a very unlikely and unorthodox group that has come together to test Jesus.
As you all may remember from a few weeks back, these two factions are polar opposites from each other.
The Pharisees, if you will remember, believed in the oral traditions of men that had been added to the laws of Moses and they also believed in angels and in the resurrection.
The Sadducees though, believed only in the law of Moses and did not adhere to the extra curricular oral traditions that had been passed down by men.
They also did not believe in angelic beings or the resurrection.
So the fact that these two groups had come together to go against the Lord is a very unlikely and unsettling thing.
Have you ever heard the old saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend?”
That’s exactly what was taking place here.
The two unlikely foes had come together with one common enemy in mind and that was our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Charles Spurgeon said — It is the way of the wicked to become friends when seeking the overthrow of the kingdom of heaven.
So, they come together and request that Jesus show them a sign from heaven.
Apparently, the many miracles He’s already performed wasn’t good enough for them.
The feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000, the healing of the sick, the casting out of demons, the raising of the dead, apparently none of these things were good enough for this brood of vipers!
So now they request a sign from heaven!
As I was thinking about this scene, could you imagine if in that very moment Jesus had of just called down lightning from heaven and struck them all dead?
I mean I know that’s not how our Lord works but could you just have imagined what the talk of the town might have been then?
Sadly, I still don’t think they would have believed!
But this motley crew comes to test Jesus and now let’s begin to look at His response to their silly question.
Their Capability and Character — (Vs. 2-3)
Anyone heard the little saying… “red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning?”
Jesus says here, that these men had enough sense to look at the sky and determine what the weather was going to do for the day but they didn’t have enough sense to see who was standing right in front of them and what was taking place right before their very eyes!
These men were so smart they were stupid!
And I know that sounds harsh but it’s the truth! They were blinded by hatred, pride and arrogance; unwilling to see what was taking place right before their very eyes!
Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:7 that in the last days people would be...
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
This was the very case playing out before us today! They had book sense, but apparently they were lacking in the common sense department!
They were more than capable in their understanding and should have been able to see the miracles that Jesus had already performed and believe but they were blinded by their own inhibitions!
John G Butler — There is nothing wrong with discerning the weather but being able to know how to get to heaven is much more important.
And because of this, Jesus calls them once again… “hypocrites!”
“You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!”
Their capability and character put on full display for all the multitudes to see.
Then we see Their Calamity.
Their Calamity — (Vs. 4)
You call yourself righteous, you put on your robes and your phylacteries, you look the part and play the part but you are as whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful on the outside but inside, are full of dead men’s bones!
“A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign!”
“You seek a sign but no sign will be given this day! The only sign you’re gonna get is the sign of the prophet Jonas!”
The prophet Jonah and the story of Jonah would be very familiar to this crowd of hypocrites. How he tried to run from God instead of going to Nineveh and sharing the news that God had for them and was cast overboard and swallowed by the whale. How he spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the whale before being vomited up on the shore.
The reference here to Jonah was a foreshadowing of Jesus death, burial and resurrection that not even the disciples knew about yet.
As we will see in the coming weeks and during Easter, after being taken down from the cross, Christ spent 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb before being resurrected.
This was a fulfilling of this prophecy here before us today!
Not only was there the resurrection of Jesus that had to do with the story of Jonah but who was Jonah tasked with taking the message to?
Gentiles right? Listen to what Spurgeon said about it.
Charles Spurgeon — Jesus will be buried, and will rise on the third day, and in the power of his resurrection will win the Gentiles to repentance: in this he will be the antitype of Jonah, and this shall be the sign that he is indeed the Christ of God.
Sadly, even then, after the death, burial, and resurrection, the majority of the Pharisees and Sadducees did not believe.
You would think that this very moment would’ve flashed back to their minds the moment they heard of the empty tomb but no…instead they would believe and even persuade others, that Christ’s disciples had come and somehow overcome the guards that were at the tomb that night and stole His body away.
Don’t you think if that had of been the case that at some point, someone would have flipped and spilled the beans instead of being crucified for it?
You can’t tell me if it were all fake that those 12 men who followed Him so closely would have given their lives for a phony.
No way. Someone would have given in to the pressure, the pain, the agony and spilled the beans.
This is one way dear friend you can know that the gospel story is absolute truth!
Men, women, boys and girls all down throughout the ages have given their lives for the name of Jesus Christ.
And the moral behind the story of The Sign Seekers is this…long before Jesus ever came to this world as a babe in a manger, men prophesied of His coming.
For thousands of years they told of a coming Messiah who would set the captives free and rescue the perishing and care for the dying.
Those prophecies were fulfilled in one man…Jesus of Nazareth.
No other person in history has fulfilled the prophecies that He fulfilled nor could they!
Down to the most minute of details, Jesus Christ fulfilled everything that had been written of Him.
In His birth, His life, His death and resurrection…every “i” has been dotted and every “t” has been crossed and the only thing we are waiting on now is the fulfilling of His own prophecies that one day He will come back and receive us unto Himself that where He is, we may be also!
Instead of seeking a sign this morning, seek Jesus!
By faith, having not seen, put your trust in this man who came to this world, lived a perfect life, died an agonizing death, and rose from the grave three days later just for you!
To give you a future and a hope! And not just any future but an eternal one!
Listen friend, you can seek signs all day long and you’ll die lost in your sins and spend eternity in a place called hell prepared for the devil and his angels, or you can trust in the signs and miracles that have already been given and spend eternity in heaven with the one who gave His life for you.
Just like these Pharisees and Sadducees before us today, the choice is yours this morning. I simply say, choose wisely!
Now that we’ve looked at The Sign Seekers, let’s finish it out by looking at The Stubborn Students.
The Stubborn Students — (Vs. 5-12)
The Stubborn Students — (Vs. 5-12)
In all the hustle and bustle, someone forgot to bring the bread!
Can you imagine 12 grown men with nothing to eat?
I bet they all looked like Douglas does when I preach until about 12:30!
They start looking all hangry!
You all know what hangry is right?
It’s when you’re so hungry you’re angry!
Y’all should see the looks I get up here when Douglas is hungry!
Explain 😂
But someone here forgets the bread and out of nowhere Jesus with the previous conversation still fresh on His mind, tells the men… “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
Now, we talked about leaven a month or so ago if you will remember?
We talked about how it’s invisible once mixed with the dough but although it’s invisible, very little is very powerful!
“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump!”
And Jesus says to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees!
The problem with the situation at hand is that all the disciples had on their mind was physical bread!
So much so, that as soon as Jesus makes the statement, they all began to argue over who forgot the bread!
7 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread.
Peter’s blaming John and John is blaming Andrew and Andrew is blaming James and everybody is blaming everybody and then they all point at Judas who held the bag and said Judas, you’re the one in charge of buying what we need why didn’t you get the bread!
The blame game was in full force here!
We can conclude from the next verse here that the blame game was maybe taking place behind Jesus back or kind of under their breath because it says, “when Jesus perceived.”
Then Jesus gets upset.
What was to be a spiritual principle has been misunderstood to be a physical problem.
The disciples were thinking physically but Jesus was speaking spiritually!
Look what He says in reply to their petty argument.
Verses 8-11
Illustration of man wanting money from the bank. — Chuck Swindoll via Kent Hughes
O ye of little faith!
Why are you arguing?
How do you not understand what I just said?
Do you not remember 5 loaves and the 5,000?
Or how many baskets did you take up?
Do you not remember the 7 loaves and the 4,000?
Or how many baskets you took up?
How is it that you don’t understand that I wasn’t speaking of physical bread but the spiritual leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?
After a little chastising, they finally get it!
THEN THEY UNDERSTOOD...
Oh…now we get it!
It’s very easy to look at these men and say… “how did they miss that?”
But how many times do we get so focused on the physical things of this life that we miss the spiritual?
Probably more times than we dare care to say!
As we come to a close this morning I do want to say about this final section…as born again believers, the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples still apply to us today.
We must always be on guard for false doctrine being preached.
Like leaven, it is often introduced in small portions until it permeates the entire mind and causes it’s listener to err from the truth and context of God’s word.
Notice Jesus said beware of the leaven of “both” the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These were two sects with totally different views…both missing the mark of God’s word by relying on outward works of religion than the inward work of a changed heart and relationship with God.
There is so much false doctrine even today and people are so enamored with the physicality of the teaching that they miss the spiritual side of it.
This morning friend, whether you are here and lost or whether you are here and saved but find yourself focusing more on the physical than the spiritual, remember, a relationship Jesus Christ is the most important decision you can make on this side of eternity.
Focus on what’s important. Put an emphasis on seeking and searching out God’s will for your life. Instead of seeking for a sign to lead you to Christ trust in the signs and the miracles that have already been performed and passed down from generation to generation in this Book called a Bible.
Seek out a relationship with the Lord and nurture that relationship by talking with Him on a daily basis. Get in His word and learn as much as you can about Him. Trust in Him to lead you, guide you and direct you in all things.
If you are here this morning and need to be saved, you need to know that God loves you and wants you to be saved. He loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for you so that you might have life eternal.
And if you are here and want to grow closer to Jesus guess what…that’s all Jesus wants as well.