Sep9
Matthew 16:2-4……Ready
16:2 He replied, “When evening comes, (sunset-(New) you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, (sunrise-New) ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.– You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret (discern-(New) the signs of the times. 4 A wicked (skeptical, unbelieving-(New) and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah”. Jesus then left them and went away. (Expresses finality, grief, helplessness-(New)
Extended Sermon Notes
“Teaches disbelief is not an intellectual issue or a lack of evidence, but a heart issue that is unwilling to believe.” ⇒ We all strive to keep an image of ourselves as consistent, stable, competent, and good. A challenge to our big ideas feels life threatening. So we strive to reduce the pain either by ignoring the evidence that proves we’re wrong or reinterpreting evidence to support us. It’s spiritual blindness and hard-heart that keeps people from believing in Jesus. Often we think that if we just share the bible or quote scriptures to them they will believe. Or we think if we can give the right argument we can lead them to Jesus and into the Kingdom of God. But what we fail to realize is that it’s not a logical blindness that they have but a spiritual blindness. Their eyes first need to be opened by the conviction and drawing of the Holy Spirit through the power of God’s Word and not by how persuasive or convincing we are. You can win an argument, but still not see someone get Saved. Even if you were given sufficient and irrefutable proof that answered all your skepticism about Jesus and your heart response was still no. Then perhaps the problem is not Jesus and the lack of evidence. Perhaps the problem is with you. Maybe your intellectual skepticism about Jesus is merely a veneer to your moral resistance to God and His word. Maybe your skepticism is a result of your pride and self-worship. [Note: In years past the intellectual argument against Jesus and the bible used to be based the scientific or the historic. But now the intellectual argument against Jesus and Christianity is more of a moral or ethical rejection. That the bible is too outdated or too bigoted on ethics and sex, especially on sexuality and gender. Maybe for you, your skepticism is your wanting to hang onto your transgender identity or homosexual lifestyle. Or your wanting to hang onto your immoral lifestyle of drinking, stripping, and sleeping around.
“Teaches how signs and wonders can never convert a person or bring them to a Saving faith in Jesus” ⇒ It is easy to place far too much confidence in signs and wonders as tools to bring people to faith in Jesus. The problem isn’t that the signs are themselves weak, but that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after them. The Bible gives repeated examples of those who saw remarkable signs, yet did not believe.
“Teaches how sometimes, we need to know when to stop arguing with skeptics and just walk away.” ⇒ Invest your time in people who are sincere about learning about God, not in people who seek to challenge or argue with you.
“Jesus is not against seeking signs and evidence, but that which blatantly and willfully ignores the evidence already given.” ⇒ This not saying that the Lord will not grant a sign for us when it’s out of a sincere heart (Gideon-Judges. 6:36-40) but only when it’s out of a desire to challenge. This is not that we need all blind acceptance, but nor are we to have all blind dismissal either. These men weren’t searching for the truth—they had already hardened their hearts toward Jesus. Their issue wasn’t a lack of evidence (there was plenty of evidence to show that Jesus was the Messiah by the miracles He had already performed) their issue was an unwillingness to accept it. Besides that most of Jesus’ miracles were motivated out of compassion. Not just to show people He could. He is not like a trained monkey to perform on demand. He did not need to prove Himself to them and indeed nothing He did would have been proof in their minds anyway. This demand is actually very similar to Satan’s testing of Jesus in the wilderness. Clearly Jesus was not swayed by, “If you are the Son of God, you will…” challenges. [Note: This not saying that the Lord will not grant a sign for us when it’s out of a sincere heart (Gideon) but only when its out of a desire to challenge. Evaluate your heart.
Additional Notes & Applications
Teaches how signs and wonders can never convert a person or bring them to a Saving faith in Jesus.
Teaches how a lot of professing Christians can be good at parroting doctrinal and theological platitudes and bible verses. But are completely inept at applying them to the times. They can’t recognize the evil in the world around them. They can’t recognize current events, trends, or depravity in society that reflects a Satanic influence and direction. They can’t see how terrible pornography is and what’s doing to marriages. They can’t recognize the opioid epidemic. They can’t recognize the things our schools our teaching our children. They can’t recognize the Antichrist in big government, taking away religious freedoms. They can’t recognize the salacious images and immorality they find in magazines, videos. movies, etc. Many Christians are at ease in watching a R-rated movie where there’s nudity and violence
“Red sky at night, Sailors delight” is often be proven true, since red sky at night means fair weather is generally headed towards you. A red sky appears when dust and small particles are trapped in the atmosphere by high pressure. The rhyme is a rule of thumb used for weather forecasting during the past two millennia. It is based on the reddish glow of the sky at sunset or sunrise, caused by trapped particles scattering the blue light from the sun in a stable air mass. If the morning skies are of an orange-red glow, it signifies a high-pressure air mass with stable air trapping particles, like dust, which scatters the sun’s blue light. This high pressure is moving towards the east, and a low-pressure system moves in from the west. Conversely, in order to see “red sky” in the evening, high-pressure air mass from the west scatters the blue light in the atmospheric particles, leaving the orange-red glow. High-pressure air mass signifies stable weather, while low pressure signifies unstable weather. (Watch Video https://youtu.be/KjdlTqFjirY?si=eNhkseGrUaTIWpvi
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