WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:28.079 Just take your Bibles and make your way to the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 16. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.640 Matthew chapter 16. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:37.840 You didn't say it, but some of you probably wondered if we were ever going to make it out of chapter 15. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:39.439 Yes, we have. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:42.320 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.479 But we're going to continue many of the themes that are found in Matthew chapter 15. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:56.320 Matthew chapter 16. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:13.519 Joyce Meyer, Sarah Young, Beth Moore, Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler, T.D. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:29.519 Jakes, Stephen Fertig, and dozens more like them enjoy wide-ranging support from the broad landscape of evangelical Christians. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:41.439 Yet at the same time, some voices cry out that we should avoid such teachers, speakers, and writers. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:53.359 The two sides of supporters and those purporting caution reveal variations in discernment. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:07.519 One group, one group takes in the teaching of such folks and discerns nothing that is problematic, or at least not enough to avoid it. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:14.719 Another group takes in the same teaching and discerns much that is problematic and thus says, avoid this. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:20.319 Now that I've gotten your attention, let me switch to COVID. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:35.439 On another, completely different level, protests of various kinds are occurring worldwide due to governmental restrictions from the COVID-19 virus. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:44.719 Our Canadian neighbors have come out by the thousands with their trucks to display their opposition to governmental limitations. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:50.400 There are protests against restrictions taking place worldwide. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:56.400 And those protests also display differences in discernment. 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:13.599 Even if the stated reason for the protests is an objection to restriction of freedom or a protest against governmental overreach, the protests illuminate disparities in discernment. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:30.319 Because one group digests all of the information available about the virus to be of a certain level of concern, and the other group discerns the information to be of a very different level of concern. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:39.840 How do you know when something is right or wrong? 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.000 How do you know if something is true or false? 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:52.080 How do you know if something is right or almost right? 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:56.479 How do you know if something is beneficial or harmful? 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:03.120 Well, thankfully, in our world today, we have the news outlets and social media worlds to help us. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:18.079 And they have employed words such as fake news, fact checkers, false information, misinformation to supposedly help us in our discernment. 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:37.199 In a world of instant communication, social media, heightened politicization, and constant advertisement, sensitivity over what is perceived as good and evil, right and wrong, is thrust front and center right into our faces. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:45.439 Whether we realize it or not, human beings exercise discernment nearly every moment. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:52.480 You are exercising discernment right this very minute as to whether or not you should keep listening to me. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:02.959 We discern the water temperature in the shower, the weather outside, and appropriate dress for the weather. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:14.959 We discern when and how much we should eat, what we should listen to, how we should respond to our bosses, to our families, to our coworkers, to traffic. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:20.079 Whether or not we should pull over if there are flashing lights behind us. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:24.240 Christians discern even within the church. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:34.399 Some discern heresy or questionable lyrics in certain popular songs, while others do not. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.920 Some sense concerning drifts and denominations, while others do not. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:48.000 Some distinguish areas of concern with speakers, authors, various kinds of organizations, while others do not. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:54.800 In a fallen world, human beings do not discern equally. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:04.480 Thankfully, our passage in Matthew guides God's people as we seek to live as wise people in a broken world. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:12.879 Matthew chapter 16, beginning in verse 1, Matthew records for us that the Pharisees and the Sadducees came. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:18.480 And to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:26.240 He answered them, When it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:33.120 And in the morning you say, It will be a stormy day today, for the sky is red and threatening. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:41.120 You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:49.680 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no one, no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.720 So he left them and departed. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:58.959 When the disciples reached the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they had forgotten to bring bread. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:05.360 And Jesus said to them, Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:11.759 And they began discussing it amongst themselves, saying, We forgot bread. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:21.759 But Jesus, aware of this, said, O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.079 Do you not yet perceive? 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:33.279 Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you gathered, or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you gathered? 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:38.879 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.399 Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:55.439 Then they understood that Jesus did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:56.399 Amen. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:07.120 This account is divided here between demand for proof of divine approval for Jesus' ministry, literally on the spot. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:14.959 And on the other hand, Jesus teaching his disciples how to discern correctly. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:23.040 And the critical moment, the turning point, is when Jesus condemns the discernment of these religious leaders. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:25.920 These aren't just any leaders. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:32.720 These aren't just your typical run-of-the-mill pastors or politicians. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:35.279 Not that those two always go together. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:44.000 These are factious rivals joined together to oppose Jesus. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:48.240 We've not seen the Sadducees much in Matthew's gospel. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:53.039 And they only appear three times throughout the entire book. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:09:01.759 We saw them first all the way back in chapter 3, right before Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:07.759 This is the second appearance here in chapter 16, and we won't see them again until chapter 22. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:12.960 In chapter 3, the Sadducees also appear with the Pharisees. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:14.720 Hmm, isn't that interesting? 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:26.000 John the Baptist called the group together, Sadducees and Pharisees joined together, a brood of vipers, baby snakes full of lethal poison. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:34.240 So when they show up here for the second time, Matthew has prepared us to view them negatively. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:40.480 But the Pharisees and the Sadducees are opponents, they're rivals. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:48.240 Some think that the two groups actually despised one another, which may have been true, at least on some level. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.720 But overall, they're much more like our modern political parties. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:10:04.799 Yeah, they generally oppose one another, they have different perspectives, they have different backgrounds, but they can work together on mutual self-beneficial causes. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:10.480 And now they cooperate. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:13.039 For what reason? 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:15.679 To oppose Jesus. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:21.200 They come together asking for a sign. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:26.080 And not just any sign, but a sign from heaven. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:34.720 That's a little bit curious since the Sadducees didn't believe in the miraculous and in the spirit world. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:48.000 In chapter 12, the scribes and the Pharisees had already come to Jesus asking for a sign, and Jesus replied there that they were an evil and adulterous generation. 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:57.600 He called them also a brood of vipers, and he said the only sign that will be given to an evil and adulterous generation is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:05.440 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:07.679 Here Jesus doesn't explain the sign of Jonah. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:12.960 He just says, No sign will be given to you except the sign of Jonah. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:21.600 Now, it's not the Pharisees and the attorneys, the lawyers. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:25.759 Now it's the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:27.360 It's the temple authorities. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.240 The Sadducees controlled the temple. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.480 They ruled all of the religious services. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:46.720 So it's the temple authorities, the Sadducees, coming with the Pharisees, asking not only for a sign, but a sign directly from heaven right now, this very minute. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:54.480 And you can't help but think of Israel's history with Pharaoh's magicians. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:10.240 Think about Pharaoh's magicians, way back in the book of Exodus, when God told Moses to take Aaron and go and to tell Pharaoh, let my people go and demonstrate God's power and God's authority by doing all of these various plagues, right? 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:20.559 1500 years before this confrontation, Pharaoh arrogantly challenged God's representatives. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:22.639 Moses and Aaron. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:24.960 How did he challenge them? 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:32.879 He did it by asserting that whatever magic tricks Moses and Aaron could pull off, his magicians could do better. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.679 And now Jesus is like a greater Moses. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:43.519 He's performing all kinds of wonders. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:49.759 We've already seen it on the other side of the lake in verses 30 and 31, chapter 15. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:52.240 He's healing all kinds of diseases. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:54.399 He's raised the dead. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:57.600 He's cast out demons. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:06.559 Matthew has shown us that Jesus is the promised servant of Isaiah's prophecy. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:16.720 He's the one who was promised to bring in a new creation that would invade the world through divine healing of the blind and the lame and the deaf. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.879 In Matthew's mind, no additional proof is needed. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:30.799 But for some reason, all of the things that Jesus was doing were not considered signs from heaven. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.840 Apparently, any healer could do what Jesus did. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.720 And in that, the religious leaders are acting very much like ancient Pharaoh. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:46.240 Now we don't know whether or not Matthew intends for us to think that way. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:49.039 But what a powerful impression if he did. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:52.000 There are certainly some interesting parallels. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:14:05.759 And if Matthew wants us to think about Jesus as the greater Moses and think of the leaders of Israel asking for more significant signs, like disbelieving Pharaoh, then Matthew has flipped Jewish history on its head. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:12.639 And now the religious leaders of Israel are acting just like Pharaoh did. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:20.159 The religious leaders are holding Israel hostage, not allowing them to seek after God. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.679 Instead, demanding more signs. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:40.320 And so they come together now, joined together, cooperating, asking Jesus for a sign from heaven. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:44.720 Verify that your mission, Jesus, is God ordained. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:48.720 Show us a bit of heaven itself. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:15:00.960 That chapter three incident about the baptism of Jesus. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:07.679 You remember that when Jesus went down into the water and when he came back up out of the water? 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.399 What is it that Matthew said about that? 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:18.960 Jesus came to be baptized around the same time that the Pharisees and the Sadducees checked out crazy John baptizing in the Jordan. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:33.600 And Matthew said, and when Jesus was baptized, immediately he came up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:38.480 Prove it, Jesus. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:40.960 Open up the heavens to us. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:50.000 The first time we see the Pharisees and the Sadducees together, the heavens were opened to show divine approval of God's Son. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:53.519 And the next time we see them together, they're asking for more proof. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:56.080 They're asking for heaven to be opened again. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:03.360 Now we might think, we might think of this as an opportunity to prove his deity. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:04.799 Why not do it, Jesus? 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:06.879 Why not just prove once for all? 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:11.840 But Jesus isn't out to prove anything. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:19.360 He's out to do the will of the Father while fulfilling the word of God. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.440 But these scoundrels demand more. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:30.559 I think scoundrels is a decent modern parallel to brood of vipers, don't you? 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:40.960 Jesus' response to the demand of the scoundrels is quite instructive for the modern church. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:45.200 Here we see illustrations and instructions about discernment. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:53.200 The Sadducees and the Pharisees in the first part provide the illustrations before, in the second part, Jesus instructs his disciples. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:17:00.799 So let's look briefly at the illustrations of discernment found in the Sadducees and the Pharisees. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:06.960 The first illustration that we see is that they illustrate misguided discernment. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:14.000 There is such a thing as misguided discernment. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.039 It exists, it is real. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:22.640 Now these Jewish leaders typically get a bad rap, right? 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:27.839 We talk negatively about, especially the Pharisees, and rightfully so. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:35.920 As a group, they have rejected Jesus and they will be one of the primary instigators of the crucifixion. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:47.519 One side, the Pharisees held sway over the people using traditional rules and laws that people were expected to follow through on. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:56.799 The other side, the Sadducees believed only in the first five books of the Bible, and they ignored the rest while controlling all aspects of temple worship. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:07.279 It's like the first century version of pastors ignoring the Bible's teaching on suffering or sexuality and sin all the while by trying to lead people to God. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:08.160 What? 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.640 How can you ignore much of the Bible while saying you're leading people to God? 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:14.480 That doesn't make any sense. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:18.480 So these two groups of leaders see things differently. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:38.319 And yet they come together and they say, no, when we discern things about Jesus, we, the religious leaders, the experts of worship, the experts of Israel's history and the law, we discern that this does not meet the required level of proof. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:45.200 But let's be careful about being too hard on them. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:46.720 And I say that genuinely. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:49.200 Let's be careful about being too hard on them. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:59.440 You know how how people will sometimes say, you know, John and Jane Doe are such good Christian people. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.279 You might not know them, but they are just such good Christian people. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:20.640 We make sweeping conclusions about people in other churches or in our community because of appearances or claims of loving Jesus. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:29.839 If we were living in first century Judea, we would say the same thing about the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:36.480 Fellow Jews would say their religious leaders were good people. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:42.160 They would say that they were religious people, that they were law-abiding people. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:49.920 We would say that the Pharisees and the Sadducees loved God and they desired to follow Him and to be right with Him. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:57.680 We would say that they have genuine hearts, that they are earnest in leading Israel in what they believed was the right way. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:02.240 These religious leaders were the ideal Jew. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.920 In the first century, we would all hope to be like them. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:18.079 That's why it's better to be careful about saying something general like John and Jane Doe are good Christian people. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:28.480 Because on the outside, they may look good, they may say all of the right words, but their hearts, like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, might be far, far from God. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:35.599 These leaders come to Jesus exercising discernment. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:39.519 They're leading Israel, they're doing the right thing. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:43.200 They're trying to do the right thing. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:48.880 The law demanded that they evaluate a prophet according to God's standards. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.400 The law expected that of them. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:57.839 They're trying to do the right thing, but they are misguided in their discernment. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:04.079 As they come and they approach Jesus and they're evaluating all of the evidence, their discernment is misguided. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:15.359 You see, Jesus has already shown them beyond any question that what he does is by the direction of God the Father and the power of God the Spirit. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:27.599 But they show their discernment is misguided by ignoring the teaching and the powerful working of Jesus that fulfilled the prophetic scriptures. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:29.039 Listen to this. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:34.720 The religious experts ignored Scripture. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:40.880 The experts in Scripture ignored Scripture. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:49.359 Discernment is misguided when we are religious, but we ignore the Word of God. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:59.039 We often forget, just as normal human beings, we often forget the parts of the Bible that make us uncomfortable. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:10.720 We often forget, maybe conveniently, maybe just because we're forgetful people, the parts of the Bible that don't fit our paradigm of life. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.960 That ignorance will impact our discernment. 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:22.480 These leaders also illustrate, though, that all discernment is not equal. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.440 All discernment is not the same. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:32.480 We, Allison and I hosted some friends a couple of weeks ago while they attended our men's conference. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:40.480 And one of them, one of the men, showed up at our house wearing shorts in below zero temperatures. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:52.319 He discerned that the temperatures did not require pants. 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:58.799 Now we might question that kind of discernment. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:02.960 But that illustrates the point, doesn't it? 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:08.720 Some look at the thermometer and say, What's wrong with wearing shorts? 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:14.160 While others look at the same numbers on the thermometer and say, What's wrong with him? 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.720 Not all discernment is equal. 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.559 Now that's only a surface-level illustration. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:33.359 Discernment about dress that might lead to frostbite is different from discernment about Jesus and the scriptures that leads to spiritual disaster. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.279 Not all discernment is equal. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:41.279 Jesus here points to a typical weather pattern. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:47.599 You know, he says to the leaders, you know what it means if the sky is red in the morning or in the evening. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:57.519 He says, you know how to judge the appearance of the heavens, but you are unable to judge the signs of the times. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:03.119 You are unable to judge the appearance of the heavens, but you are unable to judge the signs of the times. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:04.720 Did you hear what I said there? 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:09.359 Jesus' words are recorded here with a play on words. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:16.000 When your Bible says the word sky there, you can judge the sky at night when it's red. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:22.559 Matthew uses the same word that is translated heavens in, or heaven, in verse one. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:27.920 In verse 1, it's singular, heaven, and in the other places it's plural, heavens. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:30.559 Matthew will do that often. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:35.119 He will use the plural form of the word to refer to the sky that we can see. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:40.319 And when he uses the singular form, he refers to the place of God's presence. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:51.920 So Jesus says that the spiritual leaders that are coming to him that are challenging him, they think that they can discern the weather by looking at the sky. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:25:00.319 And they think also that they can discern signs from God's home. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:06.319 But Jesus says, you're merely amateur meteorologists looking out the window. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:15.200 Their ability to discern a heavenly sign is worse than their weather forecasting. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:22.640 They claim to be able to predict tomorrow's weather by looking out the sky, out the window today. 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:26.319 They assume that they have the proper level of discernment. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:36.720 We have arrived at the place where we can understand what the weather is going to be like in the heavens, and not just that, we can understand a sign from the heaven, from God's home. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:42.240 But Jesus says, you can't interpret the signs of the times. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.759 What makes you think like you would understand a sign from heaven? 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:50.160 Well, what are the signs of the times? 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:55.519 Signs of the times can be answered in one word. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:57.680 Emmanuel. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.200 God with us. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:06.799 That's the sign of the time. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:08.319 God is with them. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.799 It's everything that Jesus has said and done. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:13.200 The heavens were already opened. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:17.519 The sign was given to them. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:24.799 The revelation of God the Son is taking place and they can't see it. 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:34.319 They were better at discerning the weather from the heavens than they were at discerning the signs of the times. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:42.000 Jesus says they wouldn't even ask for a sign from heaven if they had adequately discerned the signs of the times. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:49.359 My friends, just because you have discernment in one area does not mean that you have the skills to discern in another. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:53.039 Not all discernment is equal. 00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:02.640 My father-in-law was a world-renowned research meteorologist specializing in tornadic storms. 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:11.440 His contemporaries referred to him as a pioneer in radar meteorology and called him brilliant. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.759 His understanding of severe storms on the radar was among the best in the business. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:19.039 And as a result, his work took him around the world. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:25.839 But that's where his discernment took a strangely odd yet fascinating turn. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:30.799 You see, he could travel the world on his own without a problem. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:35.599 Foreign cities posed no issues to him. 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:39.200 But he would get lost in his own hometown. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:56.400 Your ability to rightly discern what is needed for clothing at twenty below does not mean that your spiritual discernment is equally sufficient. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:04.000 Going to church for forty years doesn't mean that you will know what is right versus what is almost right. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:10.160 Making a wrong decision might get you lost in your hometown. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:24.000 But failing to grasp what is right versus what is almost right doesn't merely get you lost in your hometown. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.960 It can be much more dangerous, as the third illustration demonstrates. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:36.799 The Sadducees and the Pharisees demonstrate that some discernment leads to hell. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:43.519 It's hard for us to process because we think of discernment as a good thing, right? 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:47.200 And we should, we should. 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:56.960 But discernment merely means making a decision about something, making, reaching a conclusion about whether or not something is right or wrong, good or bad, right or almost right. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:00.079 Am I making the right turn or the wrong turn? 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.119 Should I make a left turn or a right turn? 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:07.279 Should I go out in a blizzard or should I not? 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:18.400 But some discernment leads to hell because the Pharisees and the Sadducees could not tell the difference between what was right and what was almost right. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:19.359 How do we know that? 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:28.160 We know that because they stood immediately in that moment right before the judge of all the earth and declared themselves to be perfect in discernment. 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:41.440 Yet the evidence is piled up time and time again, and they continually respond by hardening their hearts, just like Pharaoh, saying, This is not enough. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:44.160 We need more. 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:49.839 So Jesus says, an evil and an adulterous generation seeks for a sign. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:30:00.640 Chapter 12, we saw that that statement was a turning point for the leaders of Israel. 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:03.200 It was their conclusion. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:09.039 It was the end of any chance of them to change their minds about Jesus. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:13.680 When Jesus said that, it was as though He put a stamp of confirmation on. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:16.160 He says, That's your choice, so be it. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:30.079 God put his word in flesh and walked among his people. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:34.240 But they could not discern that he was heaven-sent. 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:50.640 God came to his own people and they missed it. 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:54.559 What makes us think that we would be different? 00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:00.799 They could not discern that he was heaven sent. 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:05.200 What they had always believed was in reality almost right. 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.839 The Sadducees and the Pharisees believed that their powers of discernment were sufficient. 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:16.640 They intended to judge for themselves whether or not Jesus was the Messiah. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:25.519 Just show us a sign, Jesus, from heaven, because we know what comes from heaven, and we will judge. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:31.119 And as a result, they prove their failure in discernment. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:37.119 The section is dripping with irony. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:41.599 You remember back in chapter 15, the Canaanite woman up in Tyre and Sidon? 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:50.559 That Gentile dog, whom Jesus said possessed great faith. 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:51.759 Remember her? 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:53.519 The unnamed woman? 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:55.920 She believed without seeing. 00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:01.279 She believed before she ever laid eyes on Jesus. 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:04.240 She believed before her daughter was healed. 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:06.240 That is true discernment. 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:08.799 That is discerning the times. 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:13.359 But the possessors of the law were blind leaders of the blind. 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:22.400 They believed that they had proper discernment, but their judgment would get them lost in their hometown, sending them on the wide road to hell. 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:31.359 Today we would call them good Christian people who could not see the light of Christ. 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:36.720 These are illustrations of discernment. 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:40.400 Now we move to Jesus' instructions to his disciples about discernment. 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:44.480 They cross the Sea of Galilee. 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:50.480 Jesus maybe just waiting for the right time to speak to them. 00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:53.839 They cross the Sea of Galilee, so some time has elapsed. 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:57.680 They get to the other side, and Matthew makes this little note. 00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:01.759 Oh, by the way, you need to know they'd forgotten to bring any lunch. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:11.680 Jesus tells his disciples to watch out for the teaching of the religious leaders. 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:13.279 Only he doesn't say teaching. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:14.640 He says leaven. 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.240 What's leaven? 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:17.920 Yeast. 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:19.200 It's yeast. 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:25.200 In the Bible, it's often used as a symbol of sin, of evil. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:29.599 It's an appropriate symbol because yeast spreads. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:34.799 If you put yeast into a batch of bread, it means that the entire loaf of bread is leavened. 00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:44.160 It will raise, it will puff up rather than being a thin, thin, crispy-like cracker bread. 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:48.480 Quite an appropriate illustration. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:53.920 Because in the Passover meal, you only used unleavened bread. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:06.319 And so these religious leaders would be very, very cognizant of the difference between leavened and unleavened bread, and the disciples would be very aware of the Passover meal. 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:11.039 And what happens when you put yeast into some dough. 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:14.079 Sin is the same, it spreads in a bad way. 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:20.239 And Jesus equates the teaching of these leaders with those same negative qualities. 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:23.760 But the disciples are daydreaming. 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:25.360 They're off in la la land. 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:29.199 They're daydreaming while the teacher talks. 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:33.280 They're like the folks listening to the preacher while drifting off into dreams about lunch. 00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:42.559 And when Jesus interrupts their daydreaming, they immediately feel guilty about not bringing lunch. 00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:54.159 It's a good illustration that our feelings do not always reflect reality. 00:34:54.880 --> 00:35:01.360 They hear Jesus' instruction about leaven and immediately exercise their powers of discernment. 00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:09.519 They conclude immediately that Jesus is rebuking them for neglecting to bring lunch. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:12.400 Was their discernment accurate? 00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:13.599 No. 00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:15.199 No. 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:18.800 Their discernment was misguided, wasn't it? 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:29.920 Jesus uses this recent interaction with the Sadducees and the Pharisees as an object lesson to teach his disciples about discernment. 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:33.920 There are three principles of instruction that Matthew repeats for us. 00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:40.639 First, he instructs the disciples that wise discernment begins with trusting Jesus. 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:46.320 Oh, you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:48.719 Do you not yet perceive? 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:54.320 Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you gathered? 00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:59.519 Or what about the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many baskets you gathered there? 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:05.599 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:08.880 Can you imagine Jesus saying that to you? 00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:11.679 How is it? 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:19.920 How is it that you've you've been so long in church and you don't get this? 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:28.320 There's a difference between the religious leaders and the disciples. 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:34.480 The religious leaders are condemned to go to hell because they have no faith. 00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:41.679 The disciples are instructed because they have little faith. 00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:45.599 See the difference? 00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.239 One group has no faith. 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:50.719 The other has faith, but it's little. 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:57.360 It's a faith that exists, but it needs strengthening, it needs growing, it needs stretching. 00:36:57.679 --> 00:37:03.039 It's common for those whose faith is little to need growth in discernment. 00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:11.599 And Jesus says that what they've just been through ought to have grown their faith. 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:15.119 That's why he asks them these questions. 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:25.599 He said, Listen, you saw five to ten thousand people being fed with five loaves and two fish. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:34.400 You saw 4,000 men, plus women and children, being fed with seven loaves and a handful of fish. 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:36.800 What did you learn from that? 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:42.559 The number of people that were fed to satisfaction. 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:46.400 Remember, we said it meant to be fattened like cattle? 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:48.400 That's how satisfied they were. 00:37:48.639 --> 00:38:11.360 The number of people that were fed to satisfaction and then left over food gathered together with starting point of an infinitesimally in comparison amount of food ought to have taught you, ought to have impressed upon your heart that you need never worry or be anxious about what you eat. 00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:20.159 Physical needs are of no concern in the presence of the bread of life. 00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:23.760 We say that again. 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:30.000 Physical needs are of zero concern in the presence of the bread of life. 00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:44.239 But their little faith is so distracted by physical needs that they are unable to discern that Jesus wasn't speaking about bread. 00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:53.920 In other words, they didn't trust that Jesus could provide in any and every situation. 00:38:57.679 --> 00:38:59.519 Their faith was small. 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:11.760 Those whose faith is small will struggle to discern what Jesus means and properly apply what he says. 00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:21.199 Those whose faith is small will struggle with getting lost in their hometown. 00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:32.079 Those whose faith is small will struggle in making a decision between what is right and what is almost right. 00:39:34.800 --> 00:39:44.239 Those whose faith is small will struggle with the physical needs of life when Jesus says, just trust me on this. 00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:52.800 Let's check ourselves before we pat ourselves on the back for having great faith. 00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:53.840 Right? 00:39:54.719 --> 00:40:04.719 We put ourselves into the feet of the disciples and we think, hey, if I would have been there, if I'd have been there, yeah, I would have been trusting Jesus by that point. 00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:06.960 Yeah, probably not. 00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:08.559 Probably not. 00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:21.360 You see, friends, in the entire context, beginning in chapter 15, all the way to this point, the only person, the only person with great faith is an unnamed Canaanite woman. 00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:25.920 Who had never before laid eyes on Jesus. 00:40:29.440 --> 00:40:36.800 Not the religious leaders, not the experts in God's word, not the disciples who'd been following him for who knows how long. 00:40:39.280 --> 00:40:47.760 But the woman who had only heard about the greatness of this guy named Jesus. 00:40:52.639 --> 00:41:02.320 In the context, the distinguishing characteristic between little faith and great faith is that great faith believes regardless of present circumstances. 00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:12.000 And little faith worries, stresses, and gets anxious over the things of this life in this world. 00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:16.159 In this context, that's the distinguishing marker. 00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:20.880 Great faith trusts Jesus no matter what life brings. 00:41:21.599 --> 00:41:33.199 And little faith gets sidetracked, gets distracted, makes wrong discerning choices. 00:41:33.440 --> 00:41:42.400 So if we want to grow in our faith and increase our discernment, we must grow in our trust in Jesus over all the things of this life. 00:41:43.280 --> 00:41:49.360 Even things that might seem minute, like what's for lunch. 00:41:51.840 --> 00:42:00.079 Jesus, though, also instructs his disciples that wise discernment distinguishes between the earnest and the true. 00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:13.280 Matthew has taken the man-centered traditions and laws of Judaism put forth by the Pharisees, and he has set them in opposition to God's purposes. 00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:26.320 We saw that in Jesus moving from the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Pharisees and the Scribes, challenging Jesus' disciples eating with unwashed hands. 00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:30.400 And Jesus says, Listen, you would keep them from the things of God. 00:42:30.480 --> 00:42:33.360 And then he moves to the unnamed Canaanite woman. 00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:35.920 He says, You would really keep her from the things of God, wouldn't you? 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:38.239 You wouldn't even let her close to the temple. 00:42:38.960 --> 00:42:48.559 So Jesus has dismantled the traditions and the laws, and he's bringing that reality to the forefront of the disciples' thinking. 00:42:48.719 --> 00:42:53.599 The Pharisees and the Sadducees are earnest in their faith. 00:42:54.159 --> 00:42:55.679 They're good guys. 00:42:58.159 --> 00:43:00.320 We would call them faithful. 00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:04.400 They're the be at church whenever the doors are open kind of people. 00:43:04.800 --> 00:43:07.039 They're the good people of the community. 00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:10.480 They're genuine in their faith and in their religion. 00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:14.880 But they're blind to who Jesus truly is. 00:43:16.719 --> 00:43:20.480 They are earnest, but not true. 00:43:21.519 --> 00:43:26.000 And it's possible to be earnestly and genuinely wrong. 00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.360 It's a hard thing for us to process. 00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:40.239 Because we like to think about the way we process decisions, the way we make discerning choices. 00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:45.039 And in the end, we make choices because we feel good about them. 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:47.679 We feel that we've reached a right conclusion. 00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:52.880 And often those things are based upon how we feel. 00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:59.679 And Jesus reveals to us that it's possible that all of your feeling about your earnestness and your genuine. 00:44:01.599 --> 00:44:04.320