Jesus vs. Religion Pt 3

And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12.

Matthew, chapter 12.

In Matthew 12, we've watched Jesus swear off against the religious leaders, and he's done so up to this point in two different ways. He, first of all, squared off with them about the Sabbath day. According to them, according to their interpretation of the law, he had broken the Sabbath law in two ways. Number one, when his disciples harvested grain, with their hands, and rubbed it together in their hands, and then ate it, he said, oh, they said, oh, you've broken the Sabbath day.

And, of course, he defended himself on that. And then, when he healed on the Sabbath day, they, of course, got so upset with him that they sought to kill him. And so, he withdrew himself for a time from the religious leaders and did all kinds of amazing things. But, of course, happened upon the scene again that the second tangling that he had with the religious leaders was when he cast out a man who was, both blind and mute, because he was demon-possessed.

And so, they said, oh, he casts out demons through the power of the demons. And so, Jesus pointed out, first of all, the illogical nature of what they had to say, but also the hypocritical nature of what they had to say, because he said, if I cast them out by the power of Satan, then how do your sons cast them out? Of course, he proved his point with that, too. And so, he then warned them about this unpardonable sin that they were getting very close.

To attributing his works to Satan and eventually turning themselves against the Lord to a point of no return. And so, we continue on from there with one more battle that he's going to have with the religious leaders. And so, as we come to Jesus versus religion, part three here at the end of the book of Matthew, or at the end of this Matthew chapter 12, I really wanted to give this another little title. I didn't put it on what she put up there, but all I could think of through this entire thing was a lot of 90s songs.

It had to do with the word sign. And all I could think of was that Ace of Base song, I Saw the Sign, right? If you know what I'm talking about, that's exactly what was going through my head the whole time that I was studying. I will spare you the song and dance that was in my head while I was studying it, but just know, I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes.

I saw the sign. Okay, so we come to verse 38 of chapter 12. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. See where I get this? But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. 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 with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than, Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

And behold, something greater than Solomon is here. Now, as the religious leaders come across Jesus again, they come to him and they ask a very interesting question, especially given everything that's taken place up to this point in time. They say, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. Now, when they say, we want to see a sign, what they're really asking for is a testing miracle.

That's the idea behind the word sign there. A miracle that will prove that he is who he says he is, that will prove his claims, that will prove him as the Messiah. Now, it's an interesting question to be asked at this point in time because we remember the things that Jesus has done, some of which they've seen very clearly before their very eyes. We remember the fact that Jesus had brought sight to the blind.

He had healed the leper. He had redeemed. Restored the lame to where they could walk again. We saw him raise the dead, actually from long distance. We saw him cast out demons. We saw him heal the man with the shriveled hand. And the religious leaders would have seen a great deal of these things. As a matter of fact, you may remember that John the Baptist, in the last chapter, his disciples had come to Jesus and they said,

Hey, John wants to know, are you really the Messiah or should we look for someone else? And do you remember? Do you remember how Jesus responded to John's disciples? He simply pointed to all of the works that he had done, which were attesting miracles to the fact that he was the Messiah. And so, as these religious leaders come to Jesus, they ask for an attesting miracle,

and you kind of find yourself going, how much more does one need to do to prove who he is? But you see, that's sort of the problem right now. That's sort of the problem with the religious, and may I say, sometimes that can be a problem within the church. Now, signs are kind of an interesting thing. We would call them miraculous things that God is able to do,

and they're used by God throughout Scripture. And I believe, even still today, God does miraculous things. I'm one of the people that believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including the miraculous, or what we would call the sign gifts, are very much for today. I believe that God is able still to heal in very miraculous ways. If you're a Christian, you're able to heal in very miraculous ways.

If he chooses to, he can still work through things like the gift of tongues, if he chooses to give someone that sort of a gift. He can use the word of prophecy, the gift of discernment, all these kinds of things God is able to do, but he does it, first of all, in his own way, to point people to Jesus, and according to his sovereign will. It's never to be a sideshow. And so, God uses these signs in very important ways, oftentimes to authenticate the work of God, which is what we see a lot in the Bible, in the book of Acts, and even in some foreign countries.

It's interesting to read stories of people from places where there's not much of the word of God available, and how they simply were praying, Lord, we just want to know if you're real, and these guys are actually having visions of Jesus. And you say, oh, Ryan, I don't know if I believe that. Well, if it's really pointing someone to Jesus, and it's not some sideshow that got created, I absolutely believe it. I believe God can do anything he wants to, as an attesting miracle, to authenticate his work.

But the other reason why I think that sometimes God allows these miraculous signs is simply because he has compassion for people. It's simply because he cares for people, and he wants to see people be able to be healed in order to continue to do the work that God has called for them to do. And so, God very much uses these miraculous signs in very wonderful ways. But there can be a problem with always seeking after a sign.

There can be a problem with making our faith, or, yeah, putting our faith, in signs, and I think that there's three main issues that we have with seeking signs. Number one, it's never enough. In our world today, I'm afraid that sometimes signs are never enough. I'd like to tell you a story about a young lady that I used to work with in youth ministry up in Kansas City.

I won't tell you her name, because you don't need to know her name. She was a girl that had found herself in making some very bad decisions having to do with substances, and she ended up going to a program that would work with teenagers that have found themselves in those sorts of situations, and she had a spiritual experience, and the spiritual experience that she had involved speaking in tongues. Now, here's the problem. This particular group only showed the sign.

They didn't couple it with the preaching of the Word of God. They didn't couple it with the deepening of the Word of God. Well, pretty soon, you know what began to happen? There was great excitement. There was fun, but pretty soon, the sign began to fail a little bit. Maybe God just chose at that point in time not to work in the same way, and because her faith was grounded in a sign

and not in the Word of God, pretty soon, she fell away. And you went, what happened? This miraculous thing took place in your life, but the more that you would talk to her, the more you realized, well, the problem was her faith was in the sign, not in the truth of who God is, which he expresses to us through his Word. You see, we can have a tendency to think, man, if that person could just see a miracle, if they could just see a miracle happen in their life, then I know that they would come to know Jesus.

Only, do you know what I've seen? At least two other times in my life, I've seen somebody's life miraculously spared by God. Another young lady that I know was hit head-on by a car, and she survived. It was miraculous that she survived, but you know what didn't happen in her life? She didn't surrender her life to Jesus. Why? Because sometimes a miracle just isn't enough.

Because sometimes when one miracle happens, we think, well, maybe we need another miracle, and God's like, no. What they need is a truly changed heart, not just an outward miracle. So the first problem with seeking after signs is that oftentimes the sign is just never enough because we always need that one more thing if it's not coupled with being grounded in the truth of who God is. The second problem with seeking after signs is that signs and wonders become the focus.

Signs and wonders become the focus. I fear that sometimes this happens within certain movements in our nation today, is that signs and wonders have become the focus of it. As a matter of fact, there's a couple of churches, one of whom we sing some of their songs, and they're wonderful songs, but unfortunately they've put their hope in signs and wonders, and that's what they seek after, and they've stopped seeking after the one who the signs and wonders are supposed to point to. Because remember, what was the point of any of the signs and miracles that Jesus did?

It was to attest to the truth of who Jesus is. And if we only seek the sign, if we only seek the wonder, but we miss Jesus in the process of it, then we've lost our focus. And so sometimes those can end up becoming the focus. And the third problem with seeking after signs is it's not always out of a pure heart. That was kind of the problem here, is that seeking after those signs

are not always out of a pure heart. Sometimes it's just the desire to see the sideshow. Sometimes it's just the desire to see God do something big, and sometimes it's the desire of the one performing the signs to draw disciples unto themselves. In this particular case, they wanted Jesus to try to prove himself so that they could try to prove him wrong. And so while God uses signs

in very miraculous and powerful ways, sometimes there can be problems with only seeking after signs, and that's the issue that we're dealing with here. And so notice how Jesus responds to them. Jesus answered, and said, An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. Jesus is calling them now an evil and adulterous generation.

He's calling them this because the word adulterous is used here because they have found themselves in a place where they are morally unfaithful to the Lord. Now this is kind of an interesting thing to think about because we'll talk about how idolatry really has kind of been dealt with within the nation of Israel at this point in time. They're not struggling with idolatry. So why are they morally unfaithful to the Lord?

Well, because their faith is in their self-righteousness as opposed to in Jesus Christ. He said, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. They find themselves seeking only the sign and not the Savior that the sign is pointing to. And he says, And no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For 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. Now, Jesus says there's only one sign that I'm going to give to you and that's the sign of the prophet Jonah. Well, I feel like now's a really good time to kind of talk a little bit about the backstory of Jonah because Jonah's a fascinating backstory and we'll talk about what Jesus means when he says the sign of the prophet Jonah. If you haven't seen VeggieTales before, you know that Jonah got swallowed by a big fish, right?

That's where most of our theology, at least as I was a youth pastor, most of the theology comes from VeggieTales. As a matter of fact, when I taught the story of Jericho, they wanted to know why Slurpees weren't involved. Anyway, maybe they called them slushies. I think they called them slushies. Anyway, but the story of Jonah is this. Jonah lived in a time when the Assyrian nation

was very evil, particularly the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of the Assyrian nation. Now, if you've watched the movie about Jonah and the big fish, you know that in Jonah, Jonah and the big fish, the Ninevites were slapping each other with fish. But what we know is that much more heinous things were going on in the land of Nineveh among the Assyrians than that. They were an evil people.

They were an evil people that did cruel things and the nation of Israel hated them because of the cruel things that they did. Jonah knew all about this. So God called Jonah and he said, Jonah, I have a job for you. I want you to go and I want you to preach to the people of Nineveh. I want you to tell them that judgment is coming. I want you to warn them so that they can repent.

And Jonah did what every good man does when he's called to do something by the Lord. He ran the opposite direction. Right? That's what we're pretty good at doing as men is we're really good at running the opposite direction of what God has called for us to do. And so Jonah gets on a boat and goes the exact opposite direction of Nineveh. Well, while he's on this boat

in the exact opposite direction of Nineveh, a great storm comes up. A great storm that they could not settle, a great storm that would not calm, a great storm that everybody knew there's something deeper going on here than just a storm. There's something evil about this storm. Well, the entire time the storm's going on, Jonah's sleeping down below. Probably the only time you shouldn't be sleeping in a storm

is when you're the reason for the storm. And so Jonah's sleeping down below and everybody else is praying to their gods to see if they can figure out how this storm can stop. And they said, Jonah, there's a really great storm. You should pray to your God, because they knew he was a prophet. You should pray to your God, and see if he can tell you why the storm won't stop.

And so Jonah comes up above the deck and the storm is crazy, and he's like, I'm the problem. I'm the reason why the storm is here. I was supposed to go to Nineveh, and I'm going the opposite direction because I don't want to go to Nineveh. And so they wait a little bit longer because they don't want to throw Jonah overboard because they feel bad to do so. They're like, we don't want his blood to be on our head

and cause even more problems. But finally, he says, the only way this thing ends is if you throw me overboard. And so they said, Lord, please don't hold his blood on our heads, and they toss him overboard. The minute that they toss him overboard, the storm stops. And if you read the account, it says that God, and I love this, a lot of people have a problem with the story of Jonah because they're like,

how could God prepare a fish big enough to eat Jonah? Because God created everything in the world, and he can do what he wants to, right? That's who God is. If he can say, let there be light, and there's light, then I have no problem believing the fact that God can create a fish big enough to swallow Jonah. But it says specifically, I looked it up this morning

to make sure I was quoting it properly. It said, God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. Isn't that a great thought, right? Like, if you don't do what God tells you to do, he is completely willing and prepared to make a great fish just to swallow you, to make you obey, right? Makes you think twice before you go fishing, huh? Hope I'm not disobeying God right now

because a large sea must, I've been in the Arkansas River. I know there's sea monsters in that thing, right? Well, anyway. So this great sea monster swallows him, and he's in the belly of this fish for three days and three nights. How did it take him three days to repent? How, after like the first second, was he not like, my bad, I'll go, right? But he wasn't.

It took him three days. That's how stubborn we as men can be. And so three days later, he's in the belly of this fish, and finally he cries, he cries out, fine, I'll go to Nineveh. Now, I heard a guy teach on this one time, and he presented some things I'd never really thought about before. What takes place in the belly of any kind of an animal after it eats food?

Well, there's digestive juices and acids that help to digest the food, right? And if that's the case, what's happening to Jonah this whole time? Well, he's being covered in digestive juices and acid. Have you ever thought about that? With this guy presented, he goes, can you imagine? How much of his hair got eaten off of his head? How much of his clothes got eaten off of his body?

And how pale his skin had to have been by the time he got vomited out by a fish? Because that's what happens to him. He finally says, okay, I'll go to Nineveh after three days and three nights in the belly of this fish. And he gets vomited onto the land by the fish. That's the terminology that's actually used there. And as he gets vomited onto the land with this fish,

he walks, and then he comes to the people of Nineveh. After having been completely covered in acid, completely covered in digestive juices and all the slime of a fish, you can imagine he did not smell amazing because he just got vomited out of a fish, right? Like, fish aren't already known for the fact that they're super great smelling. Like, you're never gonna go to Bath & Body Works and be like, ooh, oh, the fish.

That's what I want, right? Nobody gets that. And so here this disgustingly stinky, half-naked, missing most of his hair, completely pale guy comes and says, repent because God's judgment is coming. You know what? I'm doing it at that point in time. I'm repenting because that's the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life. And that's exactly what happens. The whole nation repents.

Sat cloth, ashes, torn clothes, whole nine yards. They all repent. All this is important for everything that Jesus mentions here. So when Jesus looks at the people, he says, here's the thing, boys. And when I say the people, I mean the Pharisees. He says, here's the thing. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. In other words, a morally unfaithful,

evil people seek after a sign. Why? Because they're not content with the revealed revelation of God. They need something more. I'm not content with the revealed revelation of God, Jesus, sitting right here in front of me. I need something more. He says, but there's only one sign that I'm gonna give you. And that's the sign of the prophet Jonah. He says, the prophet Jonah was three days

and three nights in the belly of the fish. And I think here it calls it a great sea monster. So will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. What is the one sign that he tells them is going to prove everything that he has to say? He says, the one reason, the one sign that I'll give you is the sign of the resurrection. Because as Jonah was three days and three nights

in the belly of the fish, so Jesus was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And then in the same way that Jonah came out of the fish, well, a little different. Jesus, too, will come forth. Now, this is another statement that creates some problems for some people because they go, if you really look at the resurrection story, was Jesus really three days and three nights?

Because if he was crucified on a Friday and he rose again on a Sunday, well, you have to understand a little bit about the way Jewish people use their language. Any portion of a day was considered one whole day and a night. So, yes, it completely fits with the language of the time that Jesus was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. No, Jesus wasn't in the belly of the fish.

That was Jonah in the heart of the earth. I love this, though, because the one sign he says I'm willing to give you, the one way that you will absolutely know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am who I say I am is the day that I come walking out of the grave. And you know what we're told in the book of Romans? In the book of Romans, we're told that, when God raised him from the dead, he was declared to be the son of God with power.

Why? Because it proved everything that he had to say. It proved that he was the very son of God. It proved that he did live a perfect life. It proved that he did die a perfect death. And it proved that his death was enough to cover all of our sin. The greatest attesting sign to the fact that Jesus is who he says he is is the fact that he rose. He rose from the dead.

I know we're a couple of weeks early on this, but remember what we said. Every Sunday when we gather is Resurrection Sunday. Every Sunday when we gather, we celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive from the dead. And person after person, scholar after scholar, critic after critic has tried to disprove the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. And do you know what happens to all of them?

They end up getting saved. Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, there was one other one, and I can't think of it right now, have all tried to write books about how Jesus did not rise from the dead. If you've not seen the Lee Strobel movie, which again, I don't know what's wrong with my brain right now, but I can't remember things anymore. What's the Lee Strobel movie?

The Case for Christ. Thank you very much. If you've not seen The Case for Christ or read the book, I would so highly recommend that you watch The Case for Christ. It is such an amazing movie because you learn the story that he tried as hard as he could to disprove the resurrection, and he couldn't do it. Why? Because the greatest proof of the fact that Jesus is who he says he is

is the fact that he is alive today. Brothers and sisters, I don't think we spend nearly enough time pointing out the fact that Jesus is alive and exactly how much that changes our faith. We are not just a group of people that gather because we don't like what the rest of the world is doing. We're not just a group of people that gather because no one else would take us in.

Although maybe for some of us it's true. I know it is for me. That's not the only reason why we gather. We gather because we have a risen Savior that we serve. The only one who's ever defeated death. The only one who's ever given us hope beyond this life. The only one that we can say, I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living.

He's the only one that gives us that hope. And so if you don't gather on Sunday morning for any other reason, then we should all gather on Sunday morning to give each other one massive holy high five to say he's alive. And it's the most amazing thing in the world. And so Jesus said, hey listen, I'm not going to give you any more signs. The only sign that I'm going to give you

is the sign of the prophet Jonah who was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. So the son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. And we know that death could not hold him. Well, he goes on from there to say, there's going to be a couple of witnesses against you guys. He says in verse 41, the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation

at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold something greater than Jonah is here. This is an amazing statement that Jesus makes and one that would have really struck at the heart of these Pharisees. Because remember, the Pharisees found some of their greatest pride in the fact that they were Jewish. The fact that, they were God's chosen people.

And who did he say was going to rise up in judgment against them? Who did he say would gather with this generation and would condemn them? Because when they heard Jonah preach, they repented. And yet all of these people have somebody greater than Jonah in front of them and they still refuse to repent. Who did he say would stand in judgment against them? All of the people of Nineveh.

Why do I care about that? Because who are the people of Nineveh? The people of Nineveh were a bunch of pagan Gentiles that heard the preaching of God's judgment and decided that they would repent in sackcloth and ashes. And yet, God's chosen people who had Jesus, the very one to whom all the signs were pointing, standing right in front of them, and they refused to repent.

He said, the men of Nineveh will rise up against you. You know, I think that there's a point to be made here for the church today. Because the church today, especially the church in the Western culture that has every opportunity presented to it, that it would, it's awe-inspiring how much we have that point to the truth of Jesus. Not only the way that God has blessed this nation, not only the way that God has given us such amazing Bible teachers, but the fact that we have Bibles available in more translations than you can shake a stick at, and I can shake a stick at a lot of translations.

That every opportunity is given to us to have the very truth of who God is revealed to us through the pages of these scriptures. And the Holy Spirit has been poured out, at this point in time, shedding abroad the truth of who God is by bringing conviction into the world. And yet, so many people in the church say, yeah, but show me a sign. Yeah, but there's got to be more.

Yeah, but give me a show. Give me some smoke. Give me some lights. Give me better music. Give me something besides just the simple preaching of God's word. I tell you that there are people all over the world who will rise up in judgment against the church in the United States of America who have been given every opportunity and yet still say, show us more. There will be so many that rise up against this nation,

against this church in judgment, not this church, but the church in the United States of America in judgment today because we had every sign in the world pointing us to Jesus, and we still missed him. Well, he gives one more witness against these Pharisees. He says, in verse 42, the queen of the south will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. Now, he brings up another section here.

I believe this is out of 1 Kings verse 10, if I remember, or chapter 10, if I remember correctly, that Solomon had been given so much wisdom, remember, Solomon was David's son, the chosen king, the one who would take over for David, the one who reigned in peace, and God gave Solomon a choice. He said, because your dad was so amazing, I love him so much, and I made such a great promise to him, I'm gonna give you anything that you ask. I don't care what it is, the life of your enemies, great wealth, you name it, it's yours. And Solomon says, I only want one thing.

I'm a young man, and I don't know how to go in, and I don't know how to come out, so give me wisdom to know how to lead, your people. And God said, because you chose wisdom to lead my people, exemplifying the heart of a shepherd, because you chose wisdom to lead my people, I will also give you all of the things that you have not asked for. And Solomon was the wisest man to live, and everything that he did was amazing, and people brought him money just because of how awesome he was, just because of how wise he was. Well, the queen of the south wanted to hear for herself, is this Solomon, everything that he said he was, or everything that everybody says that he is, and so, she goes up to visit with him, and she saw his great kingdom,

and she heard his great wisdom, and she said, I've not even heard half the story of what your God has done through you, and the wisdom that your God has given to you. And so, he looks, Jesus does, at these Pharisees, who have Jesus standing right in front of them. They don't even have to go anywhere to find him. All they have to do is just look in front of their faces, get a little bit past their nose, to see the real Jesus standing right in front of them, and he says, you know who else is gonna rise up in judgment against you?

Who will condemn you on the day of judgment, the Queen of the South? Why? Because all she had to do was hear about the great wisdom of Solomon, and she trekked far and wide in order to find him, to hear the great wisdom of Solomon, and he said, and I tell you the truth, there's somebody greater than Solomon who's standing right in front of you today. The one that gave Solomon his wisdom is standing right in front of you today.

You know what's kind of interesting to think about in this chapter? So far in chapter 12, as Jesus has spoken to these religious leaders, as Jesus has spoken to these Pharisees, he's told them three things. He's told them, I'm greater than the temple, I'm greater than the prophets, and I'm greater than the greatest king, one of the greatest kings that ever ruled in all of Israel. I almost wore my t-shirt today that says Jesus is better, because isn't that what the book of Hebrews is really all about?

That Jesus is better than the prophets, and he's better than the law, and he's better than the temple, and he's better than our own wisdom. He's better than all of those, and he's better than all of those things. And as Jesus confronts these religious leaders, he says, you're missing the point, because in all of these things, you're missing me. You're missing the truth that's standing right here in front of you.

He goes on from there to give these guys a warning. Notice what he says in verse 43. Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came, and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it

seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and they live there, and the state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will be with this evil generation. Now Jesus gives this very interesting illustration that is a warning. He gives this illustration of the demon-possessed man who finds himself set free from demonic possession, and as he's set free from demonic possession, the demon goes out and finds that there's no place to possess, no place to live, so it comes back with seven other demons and comes and possesses him, and he says his state is worse than the first.

But did you notice how the demon comes back and finds the man that had been demon-possessed? It finds him unoccupied. I'm going to point out why that's important here in just a second. Because from this, there is not only a direct application and warning, but there's also a practical truth, that we learn about this. There's a practical truth about the demonic

that Jesus gives to us here. First of all, we understand the fact that demonic oppression and possession is actually a real thing. I think we've talked about this some, but I know that many people are like, oh, that's just a bunch of spooky stuff. It's just stories. Those are just movies. That's why I don't like movies with some of that stuff that go on. I don't like movies with demonic stuff,

because I do know that it's real. I remember, even when I wasn't walking with Jesus, and was living according to the way of the Lord, I went to a party, and it got towards the, real late in the night, and they got out the Ouija board. I was like, no, I can't be here. Listen, I know I'm doing some things I shouldn't be doing, but I know that stuff's real. I don't want to be a part of that.

I just had to get out of there, because that stuff weirds me out. I know that demonic possession is a real thing. I believe that so many of the evil things that we see that are almost just so heinous that we can't even understand how someone could do that is because of demonic possession. We know, of course, from places like the book of Daniel that even some of the great leaders of the world that do such evil things are actually, if not possessed, at least oppressed and guided by the demonic, because Satan hates life, and he does everything that he can to destroy it.

We first of all learned that the demonic is very real from this, not something that we as believers should be fearful of, because greater is he who's in us than he that's in the world. But he gives us a really important point. He says that once a demon is cast out, if he comes back and finds a place unoccupied, he's completely willing to make that his home again. Now, what does it mean to be occupied or unoccupied?

Well, if the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, has made his home in my heart, there's all of a sudden a sign on the door, and the sign on the door says, no vacancy, occupied, because he is dwelling inside of me. And so, can I still deal with demonic oppression? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I think sometimes, that's the way the enemy tries to work in our lives now, is he tries to oppress us.

That's why those days when you're dealing with some depression or something like that, I think that there's an aspect of demonic oppression that comes into play there. We call it spiritual warfare, and I think it's very real. But once that no vacancy sign shows up on your heart because the Holy Spirit is in there, then you can't be possessed any longer by a demon. And that's why the greatest thing that we can do with people is to bring them to faith in Jesus Christ, to bring them to the truth of who Jesus is, to bring them to a place of regeneration, because then there's a no vacancy sign there.

And he can't come back and possess you any longer. And so, that's sort of the practical truth that's given to us here, but there's also a direct application to this, because remember, this is a warning to the religious leaders. Otherwise, that doesn't make sense. Why at that point in time would Jesus decide to discuss demon possession a little bit further? Well, there's a reason why.

It's because there's a direct warning that he's giving to the church. To the disciples, you see, or to the Pharisees. You see, the nation of Israel, the Pharisaical leaders, they had swept clean the house of idolatry. If you remember, when the nation of Israel went into captivity to the Babylonian people, if you were to go back into the Old Testament towards the end of either 2 Kings or the end of 2 Chronicles, you would find that the nation of Israel ultimately went into captivity to Babylon.

Why? Because of their great idolatry. Well, once they were set free from Babylon, you find that idolatry is really not an issue for the nation of Israel anymore. As a matter of fact, when they come back into the land, that's when the Pharisees kind of got their start because they did not want to see the nation go back into captivity because of idolatry. So they swept the nation clean of idolatry.

But the problem was, when they swept the nation clean of idolatry, instead of filling it with a true searching for the Messiah who showed up right in front of their faces, they filled it with something else because something worse came in. What was the worst thing that came in? Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride.

Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride. You see, the real problem that they had is that they had reformed the culture, and as they reformed the culture, they didn't bring in a relationship with God. They brought in self-righteousness and pride. And you see, reformation is not what we're supposed to do.

We're not supposed to just make the culture better. I think we need to understand something. We will never make America great again. I know that that's not a very popular statement, and that's probably going to cause some issues for me at some point in time, but it's absolutely true. I don't think we need to be worrying about whether or not we're going to make our nation great again.

I'm going to say something else that's going to get me in trouble, but I'm completely willing to say it. We will never rid our world of racism. Do we understand that? Because we'll never rid our world of hate. There will always be one group that hates another. I don't care what color it is. I don't care what gender it is. I don't care what sexual orientation it is.

There will always be someone who hates someone, because we will never rid the world of hate, and we cannot reform our culture by making new laws about it. We can't reform our culture by trying to make everybody a little bit more sensitive. The only thing that will change the hearts of people is a regenerated spirit, because here's what happens. If we make laws and we try to reform the culture, do you know what will then come in?

Self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. That's what happened in the 50s and the 60s. Self-righteousness crept into the church, which is why then in the 60s and on into the 70s, all of the young people were sick of the hypocrisy that they saw amongst their parents, all of the self-righteous hypocrisy that they saw in the church, and they said, we don't like this, because this is self-righteous hypocrisy, and we're sick of it.

I know. Let's have free love and smoke as much weed as we want to, and that's going to make things better. And you know what they found at that point in time? That doesn't help either. And that was where places like California, Calvary Chapel came in and said, let's not reform the culture. Let's change your heart. I don't care what you look like on the outside.

I want to change your heart on the inside, and then the Holy Spirit will take care of everything else that he needs to. The Holy Spirit will take care of everything else on the outside that needs to be taken care of. And brothers and sisters, the problem with the Jewish nation at this point in time was that they wanted to reform the culture instead of regenerate the heart. And the one who could truly bring regeneration had showed up right in front of their faces, and they said, you're not what we're looking for.

You're not what we're looking for. We want something different. And do you know what's happening right now? Is that right now, the church wants to reform the culture, and we want to reform the culture by either making America great again. Again, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to step on toes here. We either want to reform the culture by making America great again,

or we want to reform the culture by allowing sin to be what it is. And can't we just, we just accept it all. Those are the two ends that we're trying to reform the culture. And you know what we're missing in all of it? The regeneration of the heart. Because Jesus isn't looking to take America back. Jesus is looking to take his church home. And so he says, it goes,

and it takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, verse 45, and they go in, and they live there, and the last day of the man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will be with this evil generation. I think that there's a lot to be said about what Jesus said. I think that there's a lot to be said about what Jesus said. I think that there's a lot to be said

about what Jesus said. When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, there's a lot to be said for us as the church today. Because I've heard Rick Hawkins teach on it before. There's only been two times when the church and Israel have dwelt together. One was at the end of the, or right before blindness in part came upon the nation of Israel, and the church began to come forth

as the church was being grafted in. And now we have this second time as Israel is being grafted back in, and the church is, is fading away. Brothers and sisters, Jesus is looking to take us home, but he wants a bride that is pure. He wants a bride that is not a part of this evil generation. He's looking for a regenerated bride. He goes on from there, verse 46,

says, while he was still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to him. Someone said to him, behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you. But Jesus answered the one who was telling him and said, who is my mother? And who are my brothers? And stretching out his hands

towards his disciples, he said, behold, my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven, he is my mother and my sister and my brother. Now, as we close out this chapter, we look at the true family of Christ. We look at the true family of Christ because someone, Jesus' mother and brothers show up. Now, from this, we'll learn a couple of interesting things

and I'll get to that momentarily. But his mother and brothers show up and they show up to speak with Jesus. Now, we're given the indication from some other gospel accounts that the reason why they show up to speak with Jesus is because they think Jesus has maybe gone a little too far with this whole thing. Jesus has maybe gone a little too far by calling the religious leaders a brood of vipers.

He's maybe taking this Messiah thing a little too seriously. We know, according to John chapter seven, that his brothers definitely did not believe with him or believe in him until after the, the resurrection. But we also find that maybe Mary's mildly concerned about Jesus at this point in time. And so they show up to speak with Jesus. And as they show up to speak with Jesus,

somebody says, hey, Jesus, your mother and your brothers are here. And Jesus says this interesting thing when he says, who is my mother and who are my brothers? Now, again, there's a very practical thing for us to pay attention to here that I think is really important. It has to do with some Catholic doctrine, some Catholic teaching. Especially about Mary. Mary is viewed

in a way that she should not be among the Catholic Church. They said, oh, she has special access to Jesus. As a matter of fact, she's a co-redemptress with Jesus. And you should go to her in prayer. Hail Mary. You know, all the things that they have to say. But from this, we learn something kind of interesting. Number one, we learn that Mary was not a perpetual virgin.

Otherwise, where are those brothers? I took that class in high school, right? I know where those brothers came from. They belonged to Mary. They're Mary and Joseph's kids. So Mary couldn't have been a perpetual virgin because she has other kids. But the second thing that we learn is, in this, we see Jesus speak to his mother in a very kind of interesting way.

Well, if she's supposed to be the one who sits next to Jesus and intercedes for us, then why did Jesus just say, who is my mother? You would think if anybody had direct access to Jesus, especially at that point in time, it would have been Mary, though. The mother of Jesus. That should cause us to say, well, if the doctrine teaches that Mary is in some place that's somewhat equal with Jesus, maybe that doctrine doesn't go along with what Scripture has to say.

And so, we see kind of an interesting thing take place there. Now, I do want to point something out. I think sometimes amongst the Protestant church, we fail to recognize what an amazing woman Mary was. And I've tried to point this out before because I do think that she was an amazing woman of God. One of the greatest women of faith potentially to ever live.

I have no problem accepting that as the case. But there's nothing divine about Mary. There's nothing that sets her above humanity because she was still a human being with a sin nature that needed to be dealt with by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so, so Jesus says, who's my mother and who's my brothers? He stretches out his hands. Who towards? Verse 49, his disciples.

He says, behold, my mother, and my brothers. If this was a comedy, one of the disciples would have looked at each other and said, you're his mom. That didn't happen. He says, my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of my father who's in heaven, he is my mother and my sister and my brother. Now, it's kind of interesting what he points out here because he tells us

that there is a bond in the family of Christ that is deeper than any physical bond that we can have. That's deeper than any blood relationship that we have. First of all, I am closer to Jesus than anyone else in my family. You know, there's a bond that I have with Jesus Christ that I will have with no one else in my life. There's a bond that I have to him that is different

than any other human being I will ever be in contact with because he is the only one who knows my thoughts. He is the only one who knows the intent of my heart. He is the only one who is able to reveal that to me. He's the only one who I can truly go to with everything. Listen, even in your marriage relationships, there are still things that you can only go to Jesus with

because, because you just don't know how to even share them in words. We call those the things that you don't even know how to say and so you just groan in your spirit. He's the only one that truly understands who I really am and so my bond to Christ is closer than any other human being that I know, than any other human being I'll ever be around. And my wife distinctly has the understanding that I will always love Jesus more than her.

And as a matter of fact, she wants me to do that because she knows that if I don't love Jesus more than her, I'll never be able to love her the way that I'm supposed to. And I think I've shared with you before, I'll never forget Nora asking me about maybe a year and a half ago, she said, Daddy, do you love me more than Jesus? I said, no sweetie, I don't. I love Jesus more.

She kind of got her feelings hurt a little bit and she said, how can you love Jesus more than me? I said, well sweetheart, I have to love Jesus more than anyone else in the world and if I don't love Jesus more than you, I'll never be able to be the right kind of father to you. I don't know that she fully accepted that just yet but it's the conversation that we had because my bond to him is closer to anybody else and it's the same with you. But not only is my bond to Jesus closer than any other human being that I'll know because I am actually a part of the family because the spirit dwells in me but now my bond to the family of Christ is deeper than the bond to my own blood related family.

Our bond that we have as the family of God is deeper than any other bond that we'll have to any other human being because we're a family in a completely different way. We're a family not by human blood but by the blood of Jesus Christ and I think one of the greatest things that we can do as brothers and sisters in Christ and that's why I always say brothers and sisters in Christ because that's who we all are is that we learn to get along with each other as a family. Is that we decide we're family with each other. This is not just people you attend church with.

These aren't just friends that you attend church with. This is your family. Once you become born again you're a part of the family of God and that family listen you're going to be with them forever. And every now and then within the family crazy Uncle Ed is there too. Right?

In fact my good friend Jerry Horton used to tell me you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can't pick your family. Right? But we're still all the family of God. We still need to love each other like the family of God. You know what I've been loving that takes place after church here on Sunday mornings? I can't get you people out of here.

And I love it. I love it. I stick around here so long on Sunday afternoon and listen KU plays at 1.30 that's all I'm saying. But it's so great because everybody just sticks around and talks. And sometimes somebody will come up to me and say look at this we can't even get people out of the sanctuary and I think it's the greatest thing in the world. You know why?

Because that means you're being family. I love hearing someone say hey going over to so and so's house for dinner tonight. I think that's such a wonderful thing. Because that means that the family is doing exactly what the family is supposed to do. You're having each other over for dinner. You're having each other over for meals. And it's not just because it's a church sponsored function.

Right? I think the greatest thing that can happen is when fellowship takes place outside of a church sponsored function. Because that means you're not just family inside this building you're family outside this building. And I think the greatest sign of the success of a church has nothing to do with what their bank account looks like and it has nothing to do with how many people are sitting in the seats.

It has to do with whether or not people feel loved and accepted when they walk in the door. With whether or not they feel like somebody cares that they're here. Brothers and sisters I know that that's happening because I'm hearing people tell me that. They're saying I showed up to your church for the first time and I couldn't get past people greeting me. Keep that going.

Because that is the sign of a family in a healthy church. That's who I want us to be. That's who the Lord wants us to be. Because whoever does the will of my Father in heaven he is my brother and my sister and my mother. That's family. And that's who we are. Some of y'all have been ostracized from your families because of your faith. Some of you guys are no longer close

to your families because of your faith. Some of y'all are close to your families because they're gone. My prayer is that you find an even deeper bond within the family of Christ. Amen? Let's all stand.

Well family I'm praying that it's a great week for you guys. I'm praying that this week will be an opportunity to see your Savior more clearly and to serve him more effectively. Father we come to you and just praise you for what we've learned in your word this morning. And Lord I just pray that that you would do the work of regenerating hearts in the way that only you can.

Father help our focus to be right where that's concerned. Help our focus to be on seeing hearts changed for the truth. Not just trying to make the world look like we want it to. Father continue to do the work that only your spirit can do by bonding us together as family. And we just thank you for who you are in Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed.

Alone in my sorrow and dead in my sin.

Lost without hope with no place to begin.

Your love made mercy come in.

Death was arrested.

Your love rose to death when death was arrested. So wash it from my chains. I'm with my shame was arrested.

So my death and he called me his friend.

My darkness rejoiced as though heaven had rested. Heavenly Father God just God may you be glorified this morning God. Thank you for your son Jesus God. Thank you for the new life in him. Thank you for the freedom in him God. Thank you so much. Lord I just pray that as we leave here today God I just pray that you go with us that your Holy Spirit go with us and just continue

ministering to us and working in us God and working through us. We love you Lord and we praise you in your precious and holy name and all of God's people said Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. Be blessed.