Matthew chapter 12:38-45 (continued)

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign [attesting miracle] from You [proving that You are what You claim to be].’ But He replied and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation [that is morally unfaithful to God] craves and demands a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South (Sheba) will stand up [as a witness] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and now, something greater than Solomon is here.

Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless [dry, arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find it.’ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it also be with this wicked generation.’”

We ended our study in Matthew last time with the Pharisees asking Jesus to show them a sign. We did a short exploration of this incident and warned that the Jesus told us that only miraculous sign that would be given is the resurrection. If this were not sign enough, the fact that Jesus could conquer death, then there were no other signs to be had.

The modern church world is filled with people looking for a sign from Jesus. They want Jesus to prove Himself over and over each week by healing someone, by people speaking in tongues and putting on a show. It is like they ask Jesus to show his credentials each week, He has to prove He is God. It is to the point that it is very hard to build a church without the show. No show no people.  Each church has to prove the Jesus does more miracles in their church to keep people and the show must go on, and on, and on and on.

Today we will pick up where we left off and take a more exhaustive look at this need for signs and the warnings that Jesus gives in this matter. It may answer a lot of questions for us in the modern church. This lesson will offend some and that is okay.  It is not my intention to offend but there are so many who cannot imagine going to church without all the show that comes with it.

They can’t imagine a church service without someone speaking in “tongues” or someone being “slain in the spirit” or someone having a ‘prophetic word” which is usually about prosperity in the form of money or material things. One famous late night “preacher” always has people testifying about all the money he prophesied about.  They show their checks that “miraculously” appeared in the mail from unknown sources.

Let me also be clear that the Bible teaches that Jesus/God is a God of miracles. What God does is not miraculous to Him. He is not awed by His power nor is He surprised when something “out of the ordinary” happens. I have had countless miracles in my life, I have had God intervene and do some cool things in the life of my wife and our family.

One of the greatest examples in my life is when our daughter, Saturn, was born. We had people give us so much formula that she was four months old before we had to buy formula and the formula that was given to us, all had coupons with them so that when we did have to buy formula every can was discounted for months, even when on sale.

God promised to provide for His own and He did, for us. People that we did not know gave us formula and for the people we did know, we did not know that they had access to formula. Some would say that this was not a supernatural miracle and I would stand and testify that what God did was not just miraculous but truly more than supernatural.

You see my wife had a high risk pregnancy and she was off work for seven months before Saturn was born. By the time she was born we were financially struggling and God intervened like He did in the wilderness for the Jews. Only we did not get manna and quail, we got formula, clothes, food, bottles, wipes and a host of gifts that I could go on and on about.

God did for me what I could not do for myself. That is a miracle. BUT if God had not provided He would still have been our God.  You see He is not God because he does miracles; He does miracles because He is God.

Show Me a Sign, Verses 38-39

The Pharisees had been following Jesus, watching him and hearing of the wonderful things that He had been doing for the Jews and Gentiles He came in contact with. The news of His fame had spread all throughout Judea, Galilee and in many areas far away.  People sought Him out, brought their sick, demon possessed and dead to Him and we are told  He healed them all.

If the Pharisees did not believe after these many miracles what would one more do to sway their minds? Jesus goes one step further and called them an “evil and adulterous generation.” This must have chapped their skin. Only morally unfaithful people ask Jesus for signs all the time.  Jesus should not have to prove Himself over and over again to us.  We should be able to accept Him by faith alone. Jesus then makes them an offer of one last sign as cited in Matthew:

“But no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”

Jesus offers these Pharisees and everyone in the whole world one last sign—the sign of Jonah. Jonah as you will recall was running from God and ran into God in the middle of Mediterranean Sea. He was thrown off of a ship going the wrong way and God sent a “great fish” to swallow him:

“Now the Lord had prepared (appointed, destined) a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17).

Jonah spent “three days and three nights” in the belly of the whale and then was vomited out onto the shores of Nineveh, where he preached and the entire city repented from the king to the cattle, so to speak.  Jonah had no clue how important his trip to the bottom of the sea would be, it would be used by Jesus to talk about His resurrection.

Jesus would spend “three days and three nights” in the grave and just like Jonah got out of the fish, Jesus would get out of the grave.  This is a supernatural sign, one performed by God for all of Israel to see. The Romans knew, the High Priests knew, the Pharisees knew and the common people knew that Jesus was raised from the dead. This is the sign that trumps all other signs.

Paul said that if Jesus was not raised from the dead we are of all men most foolish.  The resurrection is the crowning event of history, without it we have no hope and we are all going to hell.  If the resurrection is not enough, then nothing else Jesus can do will convince you that He is God.

Jesus the Greatest Witness, Verses 41-42

The city of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes at the preaching of God’s pending judgment:

“The people of Nineveh believed and trusted in God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest even to the least of them.

When word reached the king of Nineveh [of Jonah’s message from God], he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the dust [in repentance].

He issued a proclamation and it said, ‘In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No man, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat or drink water. But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and everyone is to call on God earnestly and forcefully that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn [in compassion] and relent and withdraw His burning anger (judgment) so that we will not perish.’

When God saw their deeds, they turned from their wicked way, then God [had compassion and] relented concerning the disaster which He had declared that He would bring upon them. And He did not do it” (Jonah 3:5-10)

The Queen of Sheba saw the greatness of God in the wisdom of Solomon and gave glory to Solomon’s God:

“Then she told the king, “The report which I heard in my own land about your words and wisdom is true! I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of it was not told to me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.

How blessed (fortunate, happy) are your men! How blessed are these your servants who stand continually before you, hearing your wisdom!  Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, He made you king to execute justice and righteousness” (1 Kings 10: 6-9).

These people could see God from the hateful message of a reluctant preacher and in the wisdom of a human king. Yet when the Preacher Himself was there and the one who actually gave Solomon all his wisdom was standing in front of them—they could not, rather they would not believe.

We live amongst such people today. Today we have the science to understand the wonders of God in ways that our ancestors did not. But instead of bowing in sincere and repentant reverence before His majesty, we shake our fists defiantly and demand He prove that He is God.

God will return and then these doubters will be dismayed as He stands from the His holy place and sets foot on the Mount of Olives in Israel and every eye shall see Him.  Then it will be too late.  Then they will bow to a wrathful and angry God. Trust in Jesus before it is too late.

Religion Just Makes You Better for the Devil, Verses 43-45

Oh how we love religion.  It is like the drug of the New Testament church. We try to shake it but we keep coming back to it. The Jews were no different. They were so addicted to their religion that they could not see Jesus at all. Jesus paints a great picture  of how religion affects us; it makes us clean but not new. It empties us and does not fill us. We simply are more useful to the devil as religious people than we are as regular people.

Look at what Jesus says, and remember—He is addressing the ruling religious class. What happens when we get religion? We get all cleaned up we stop doing this and that; we may even have an evil spirit cast out of us. We look really good, people can see the changes and we begin to feel well.

The only problem is that there has not been a real transformation. We have not been born- again with the Holy Spirit living in us. We are changing but the changes are not of God, they are of our own power or some new discipline we have gained. But any real and eternal change must come from God. He has the power to give us a new life, a new name and a new beginning. If not, we are just the same old, lost people wrapped up in a new wrapper.

Well the devil knows the difference and comes back to find that the lost man is still lost. but much more useful to him because of the man’s religion.  So the man  gets a few  ungodly friends (unclean spirits), and they make their home within him. Since the Holy Spirit does not live in him, these unclean spirits can move in and stay.

Jesus said that a man is actually worse off, now that  he is all cleaned up. Why? Religion breeds arrogance and self-justification.  All evil can now be a part of a person’s religion; it can and will do all manner of atrocities in the name of god. Just look around at the world of Islam and even smaller cults like the Church of Latter Day Saints.

True salvation is a spiritual transformation resulting in no longer being citizens of the earth. We become “resident aliens” living amongst men. This place stops being our home and we look for a new home; one that is being made for each of us by the Lord. My focus is no longer earthly but heavenly. True salvation should drive me to repentance and a hatred for sin even when I fail. When the devil comes back to look for me he finds me filled with the Holy Spirit and evil is unable to move in and take up residence.

Folks, look around you. Many churches are filled with unregenerate people who are very religious and pious but NOT SAVED.  They know about Jesus but they do not know Jesus, and they are not known by Jesus.

Here are some of the scariest words in the Bible; I hope that you never have to hear them.  Repent, humble yourself and be saved:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7: 21-23)

Missionarybaptistchruch76@yahoo.ca

www.mississaugamissionarybc.com

Matthew chapters 12: 1-8 (continued)

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry and began to pluck the heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry,  how he entered the house of God and ate the ritual bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, but are blameless? I say to you, in this place there is One who is greater than the temple. If you had known what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” When He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.

And there was a man whose hand had withered. They asked Him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ that they might accuse Him. He said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Then how much better is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and it was restored whole like the other. Then the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how they might kill Him.”

We ended our talk last week with a discussion about rest and the Sabbath.  God established the Sabbath as a holy day of rest both for man and beast. It is very important to set aside time for rest and restoration.  Our bodies, minds and souls need to rest. This may mean sleeping, it could simply mean relaxing, it could mean doing something else to take our mind off of the normal work we do or it could mean doing less of what we do.

The idea is that rest should be an essential and scheduled part of our lives. We suffer when we don’t rest, our families suffer and our work suffers. The other more serious end of the ‘no resting’ lifestyle is that you are not truly depending on God for your needs; you are depending on you and your efforts. There is nothing wrong with hard work, in fact God encourages it but God expects hard rest as well.

Every 7th year in Israel the land had to lie fallow, it grew on its own untilled and untended.  God was responsible for the people; He made the crops of the 6th year enough to feed them for the 6th, 7th and then the 1st year of the next set of Sabbaths so that the people would not forget that it was God who provided and not man’s effort. We see this in Leviticus 25:3-7:

“Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ‘Your harvest’s after growth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. All of you shall have the Sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.’”

God took the idea of the Sabbath very seriously and we should, too. Today we will explore    how mankind corrupts the law of God.  I think we have established that God wants us to rest.    Sadly, mankind takes all of God’s laws and adds his interpretations or adds his rules to God’s law so as to make them more of a burden than God intended.

Man wants to have some degree of control over people and I find that the more “religious” a person is the more rules they like to have for themselves and especially others.  If I recall my studies correctly there are 613 laws in the Old Testament, for mankind to add more rules to that to define and explain God’s rules usually makes life even more difficult.

In our text today Jesus will offer some godly insights into the Sabbath that we need to consider.  We will also ask ourselves about how we execute the other laws of God? And do we use the Laws of God as a battering ram to condemn or as a tool to win others. God`s laws were designed to help us see our need for Him not to push us away and turn into un-redeemable reprobates.

Judging the Judge, Verses 1-6

Self-righteous people are prone to judge everyone, even God.  This, I am sure is moderately amusing to God but probably more irritating.  What pride you must have to tell God how to execute His laws; to interpret His laws for Him so that He gets a better understanding of what  He said.

As usual man had taken the idea of not working to the extreme.  These religious leaders were upset that the Lord`s disciples has taken a few heads of grain and eaten them.  This in no way took away from the Sabbath.  They were hungry so they ate.  The Law did not forbid one from eating.  What it did forbid is servile work.

Today of course we here the stories of people being in Israel and observing the Sabbath, the elevators run by themselves, devout Jews don’t turn on the TV, but if a Gentile come over and turns it on that is okay and on and on we can go.  This is not the spirit of the Law about the Sabbath, in fact the servants were not allowed to work either, not just the Jews. We see this in Exodus 20:10:

“…but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You must not do any work–you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates.”

This seemed to cover all the people, even the Gentiles. So you can see how man takes the Law of God and modifies it to meet his needs and wants. Well the religious leaders had modified the Law of the Sabbath so much that people were wearier of man than God.  Jesus used an example of man being the ruler of the Sabbath or the holy things of God from the life of David.

In 1 Samuel 21, we find David running for his life from Saul. He and his troop of men come to the city of Nob and ask the high priest for food, bread in particular. There was no bread there except for the Holy bread to the Lord. The High Priest gave David the bread that was intended for the priests only.

There was no law broken here, these men were hungry and needed food, the only food around was the Temple bread so that is what they ate.  God is a Holy God but He is also a practical God.  There is a Holy balance between God`s grace and His holiness.  We tend to have one or the other; we seem incapable of finding that balance.

Another example that I would offer is the battle against Jericho; the armies of Israel were instructed to march 7 straight days around the walls of Jericho, see Joshua 6:1-5:

“The Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have given Jericho, its king, and mighty men of valor into your hand. All the men of fighting age shall march around the city. Circle the city once. Do this for six days. Seven priests shall carry seven ram’s horn trumpets before the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When they blow a long blast on the ram’s horn and when you hear the trumpet sound, all the people shall shout a loud battle cry. The walls of the city will fall down, and the people will go up, every man straight ahead.’”

In this case God actually tells the Jews to violate the Sabbath, they not only worked but they went to war, this was strenuous work.  Jesus made it clear that He was and is the Lord of the Sabbath. You see if the disciples had been doing something wrong He would have told them.   He was not afraid to set them straight.

But He did not condemn them so neither should have the religious leaders.  Now, this is where the issue comes to a head.  When we add man-made rules to the Laws of God we begin to bring guilt where there is not supposed to be guilt, and we actually make it easier to break God`s law. Let us look at the first ever example of this in Genesis 3:2-3:

“And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the garden; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You will not eat of it, nor will you touch it, or else you will die.’”

God had said not to eat of the fruit. One could touch it or any array of actions with it just don`t eat it.  As such by adding the man-made clause what was to create more security actually opened the door to more sin. Once the manmade law had been broken the God made law was easier to break.

We see this today in so many of the Lord’s churches, they have this list of man-made rules that define that church`s version of Christianity and they often have an array of Scriptures to back it up, but nonetheless the rules are not the rules of God. The natural fruit of this is that people begin to obey the laws of mankind and not of God.

Jesus pointed this out in Mark 7:13:

“You revoke God’s word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”

Soon we begin to judge people’s Christian walk by the Laws of men and forget the laws of God.  People can be ruthless, unforgiving, loveless, have no compassion and no mercy as long as they don’t go to movies, don’t drink, don’t smoke and wear a nice suit to church.

We, too, have usurped the Laws of God with a man-made righteousness that has nothing to do with Christianity.  Far too many of us are way more religious that we are Christian.

Loving Kind and Humble Service Is Never Out of Place, Verses 7-14

Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. Yes, Jesus commanded a man to be healed on the Sabbath. In one case he asked a man to take up his bed and walk (John 5:8)—this was work. Jesus set an example that it is always right to do good to our brothers, sister sand enemies no matter what day it is.

Imagine a doctor refusing to help you because it is the Sabbath, or a soldier refusing to defend his position because it is the Sabbath or a man leaving an animal in a ditch to suffer because it is the Sabbath? Yet these religious leaders would rather that Jesus put off healing a man on the Sabbath.  “Come back tomorrow Jesus, heal him on the Sunday, what could one more day as a cripple do to him?”

Yet, Jesus points out that these same men would gladly break the law of God for a sheep BUT not for a precious brother. They would have more compassion on an animal than on their own countrymen. Oh, how we have perverted the laws of God! The Law was never designed to make us righteous; it was designed to show us how sinful we actually are. We see this in Romans 3:20:

“For no one will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.”

This is where modern Christianity has fallen into the same trap. We have made these rules to make us more ‘Christian’, when in fact the rules actually make us more sinful.  When one is truly saved the Holy Spirit along with the power of the written Word will move you to change. That change is MOST often from the inside out.  The way you think will change before you change the way you act, see Romans 12:1-2:

“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

As we present our bodies to Christ we must also have a renewing of the mind or we end up just like these religious bigots who confronted Jesus, questioning God and condemning our brothers and sisters for nothing. Nothing does more damage to the cause of Christ than religious people.  People who exteriors have been regenerated by man’s laws but their hearts have never been transformed by God.  Oh how we do a disservice to God when we live like religious people rather than the regenerated people Jesus actually died for.

Yes, we have standards, yes we have “dos and don’ts” but before all of that we must have the LOVE of God in us through His Holy Spirit so that our behavior is tempered with His love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness anything less is religious not Christian. Live for Christ,  serve your fellow man.

“Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

www.mississaugamissionarybc.com