The Need For Jesus

September 20, 2009 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: Matthew

Scripture: Matthew 12:38–50

Transcript

The Need For Jesus

Matthew 12:38-50
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Pastor Randy Smith



Did you know that even though you may be a Christian, you can approach God in a way that is unacceptable? Allow me to provide a few examples that are common in today's church.

First, you have familiarity that degenerates into flippancy. You forget that while God is your Father, He is also the transcendent consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). He is not "one of the guys" or your "buddy upstairs." He is to be approached with reverence at all times, especially during the worship service. When we sing - a recognition of His majesty and holiness rather than just an unconscious reaction to the rhythm of the music. When we hear sermons - an engagement of our minds and a predetermined attitude to obey what we are about to hear. And when we participate in the Lord's Supper - a seriousness that rightly contemplates the sacrifice of our Savior.

Second, you spend more time focused on personal experience than you do on the objective reality of the cross for which everything is based. The cross must be in the forefront of all we do and think. As Paul said, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). And "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20). Experience and feelings are secondary to living in the consistent shadow of the cross.

Third, you think you are intimate with God but you fail to come to Him on His terms. Possibly this entails the belief that you are right with Him, but you forsake assembling with other believers. You forget that the Christian life is a corporate enterprise, and we are called to serve one another and encourage one another and pray with one another and learn the Bible with one another. Possibly you think you are worshipping God with personal music, but the music you chose is theologically unsound. Possibly you think you are right with God, but you are unrepentant and willfully violating clear biblical principles. God desires intimacy, but it must be in a way He has established in the Scriptures.

And fourth, you presume upon God's grace. Grace is a wonderful truth taught in the Bible. Guilty sinners completely pardoned through the free gift of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness instead of condemnation. Mercy instead of wrath. Heaven instead of hell. Yet you start thinking that grace is something you deserve. You are thinking that sin is no longer serious. You start thinking that Jesus is Savior, but no longer Lord.

Just because we are a Christian does not necessarily mean that we have the right approach to God. We must be continually examining ourselves against the Bible's teaching. We must welcome personal accountability. And when we detect error, we must repent of our wrongful ways. Failure to do this is evidence that we are not only walking improperly with the Lord, but also possibly that we are not really saved - regardless of what we may think or feel. God is God, and we must meet Him on His standards.

The church often struggles with that statement because we live in a world that fails to accept that statement. We live in a world that considers itself religious but the god they are worshipping is a figment of their own imagination, a god they have created in their own image.

I have already expressed some of God's expectations for His children. This sermon is about God's expectations for those who wish to become one of His children. What does the one and only living God expect? How have people veered off His prescribed course? How have they been deceived? In today's passage directly from the words of Jesus Christ, I have detected three of the most common ways.

1. RELIGION IS NOT ENOUGH

First of all, countless people think they can be right with God based on religion. God will accept them, God will love them - if they go to church, if they pray and read their Bibles, if they do good deeds, if they fill their home with spiritual stuff. My friends, you can do all of these things (most of which are not bad in and of themselves) and not be made right with your Creator.

How can we not consider the religious people who approached Jesus in chapter 7, people who boasted of the supposed miracles they did in His name only to hear the Savior say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Mt. 7:23).

The folks in today's account were of the same vein. They were the scribes and Pharisees (according to verse 38), the elite from the religious establishment in Jesus' day. Because they were highly religious, they thought they were right with God, and they came testing Jesus to see if He met their qualifications. Religious people always set their own standard. And the best way in their estimation that Jesus could prove Himself was to perform a miracle. Verse 38, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:22).

In other words, "Give us some divine credentials. Prove to us with a sign that You are really right with God."

Many religious people still believe that the badge of salvation is the ability to perform the miraculous. And many unbelievers still claim they would follow Jesus if they could personally witness a miracle. Both of these are a false dependence on man-made religion. Neither of these are supported by biblical teaching.

Look at our Lord's response in verse 39-40: "But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign.'" I think that comment takes care of things, but it is interesting to note our Lord's words that follow. "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."

What is Jesus saying? He is saying that true spirituality humbly accepts what God has provided. He is saying that true spirituality follows what God has revealed in the Bible.

Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus? "And [the rich man in hell] said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send [Lazarus] to my father's house - for I have five brothers - in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' But [the rich man] said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' [In other words, they need a miracle!] But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets [the Scriptures!], they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead'" (Lk. 16:27-31).

In asking for a sign in verse 38, they were (verse 39) "adulterous" according to Jesus. They refused to listen to the words of God. Their love was not for God. Their love was for other gods as they submitted to their voices and their authority. Jesus refused Satan's demand for a miracle in chapter 4, and Jesus refuses their demand for a miracle here. He will not bend to the whims of the created. He will be loved as the ever-wise God, not as a circus performer. These very religious people who worshipped nothing more than their own self-righteousness would demand and orchestrate the death of Jesus within months. Their religion, according to Jesus, was nothing more than spiritual prostitution.

Truly spiritual people trust the Bible. They hear the sign about Jonah (from verse 40) and understand how it pointed to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. As Jonah was delivered from death, Jesus will be delivered from death. (By the way, the Jews counted a full day if only part of a day was included. You need to understand that for the prophecy to make sense). Also true spirituality hears the sign about Jonah and understands how he preached a message of repentance. They read about that town of Nineveh and learn how God desires people to forsake their sins. And they read how Gentile people accept God's true message from His Word and follow Him with full humility and submission. There is no record of Jonah ever performing a miracle.

What an indictment this was upon these Jewish leaders. They had God's word in the Old Testament, the Ninevites had nothing. They were God's chosen nation, the Ninevites were pagan Gentiles. They had the direct present of God's incarnate Son, the Ninevites had a rebellious prophet. The heathen received God's revelation. The religious rejected it.

This explains 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."

Jesus, using another illustration, makes the same point 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" (cf. 1 Ki. 10:1-13).

Religious people think they are right with God for all the wrong reasons. They may claim to worship God, but they are deceived. In reality they are committing spiritual adultery. True spirituality submits to God's Word and accepts and follows His (Wednesday night catechism!) revelation.

2. MORALITY IS NOT ENOUGH

So people reject the true God because they are religious. Second, people reject the true God because they are moral.

Now before you misunderstand me, I am all in favor of high morality. What I am talking about is self-reformation, cleaning up one's act whereby folks think they are right with God because of their actions. In other words, "I'm not a sinner because I don't kill people, I avoid drugs, I work hard, I speak wholesome words and I love my family. God will accept me because I am a clean person, a moral person and therefore I have no need of your Savior named Jesus Christ."

We will look at the passage in a moment, but this mentality flies in the face of what we learned last week. We do not need moral reformation. We need heart transplantation!

All right, let's look at a few verses that have just been abused over the centuries. Let's be sure to keep our study within the context.

Beginning 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."

Let's remember that this dialogue began in verse 22 when Jesus cast a demon out of a man. Now whether this demon left the individual in verse 43 because he was cast out or simply left for other reasons we do not know. All we know is that an "unclean spirit" once dwelling in an individual had departed. The verse continues that the demon went looking for a new home and did not locate anything that met to his satisfaction. He becomes restless. His decision is a "no-brainer." He will simply return to the person from which he once departed. Yet upon his return to the place he calls "my house" he is greeted with an unusual surprise. Not only is the place unoccupied, but it has also been cleaned-up!

Verse 44, "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."

You get the picture. The "unclean spirit" leaves and the man begins to reform his life. He begins to clean up his act. He sets goals, attends support groups, reads self-help books, writes resolutions, buys a new wardrobe and starts exercising. The demon returns and says, "The Taj Mahal!" So what does the demon do?

Verse 45, "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."

Do you see what happened? Moral transformation apart from Jesus Christ only makes us worse than when we first started (cf. Mt. 23:15; 2 Pet. 2:20). The only hope we have is to come to Christ whereby the Spirit of Christ establishes a barrier that no demon can cross. When we get saved, the Holy Spirit says, "This place is mine!" And the Holy Spirit will never share His residence in our hearts with an "unclean spirit."

Yet the problem with moral people is their inability to see their need for a Savior. They already believe they are holy enough based upon their own performance. Like religious people, they too are blinded to the point that their morality is actually more dangerous than their immorality. At least in their immorality they saw their sin. At least in their immorality they were not swarmed with a demonic legion.

As John MacArthur remarked, "Jesus had little trouble reaching the harlots, the thieves, robbers, criminals, outcasts, and sinners of society, including the tax collectors and the extortionists, but He had an almost impossible time reaching the religious, self-righteous, moral people who were under the illusion and self-deception that because of their goodness, everything was OK between them and God. They recognized no sin, so they needed no Savior. That is always the danger of morality. Morality creates an illusion of safety when in fact the person who is moral may be in the greatest danger of all" (Reformation vs. Relationship, Sermon Matthew 12:43-50).

Only Jesus Christ can bring salvation. Only Jesus Christ can give us the right motives and strength for personal reformation. Only Jesus Christ can truly fill the empty hole in our hearts.

3. FAMILY IS NOT ENOUGH

So religion is not enough. Morality is not enough. And finally, our third point, family is not enough.

In my eight years among you in New Jersey I have to admit that your family loyalty on the East Coast is more intense than what I witnessed in the Midwest. Yet along these lines, I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed someone afraid to come to this church or get baptized by immersion because of their fear in disappointing a family member. Even though they know the right thing to do, they refuse to do it due to family pressure. Their true god is their family. We should honor our family members, but I trust we all understand that true salvation is not found in following a family heritage. It is found in following God's Word and if necessary accepting the reproach for doing it. And as many of you can testify, that is not easy!

Jesus loved His earthly family, but there came a distinct point in His ministry when He had to make it clear that following His heavenly Father was more important than following them. And they had to realize what we all need to accept. Our ultimate allegiance must be to Jesus Christ. And our ultimate family is not biological, but spiritual.

Verses 46 and 47, "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.'"

As a side note, this verse (and others) proves that Mary was not a perpetual virgin. Nevertheless, someone, possibly His family as well thought they could interrupt His teaching. It was the perfect time for a lesson.

We know from other verses that Jesus' family had some concerns about Him. They thought He was taking this stuff a little too far. No doubt they were aware of rising opposition He faced. They were concerned. They meant well. They probably wanted Him, as they did in other places in the Bible, to submit to their counsel. But they had it backwards. They would have to submit to Jesus' counsel. If they were to have any hope, they would have to start seeing Him as more than a son and a brother, but rather the Savior from whom they needed forgiveness. So Jesus sets the record straight about who belongs to His truest family.

Verses 48 and 49, "But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, 'Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, 'Behold My mother and My brothers!

God loves it when we are loyal to our family. He loves it more when we are loyal to Him, even if it be at the expense of being loyal to our family. And how do we know if we are being loyal to Him? How do we know if we belong to His spiritual family?

Verse 50 provides the unmistakable answer: "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."

Evidence that we belong to God is the accomplishment of God's will as He has revealed it to us in the Bible - this has been our theme throughout the sermon! If God is truly our spiritual Father, we will hear His voice (over the family's voice) and do as He expects (over what the family expects).

The Jewish leaders thought they were right with God because of their rich family heritage that traced back to Abraham (cf. Mt. 3:9). They cried, "Abraham is our father" (Jn. 8:39). To which Jesus said, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham" (Jn. 8:39). True lineage is demonstrated by the one we obey. The problem was they did not obey Abraham, and they did not obey God. That is why Jesus said, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father" (Jn. 8:43-44).

Whose voice are you listening to? Do you belong to God's family? The simple test is to ask yourself if you are seriously intent on doing the God's will more than all the competing voices? Chapter 7, verse 21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter."

In today's message we uncovered three obstacles that can keep us from Jesus. All of them appear very positive on the outside. How many people would argue that religion and morality and family ties could keep us out of heaven? Yet all three of these, as good as they can often be, have the incredible possibility to blind us spiritually. They have the incredible possibility to keep us from Jesus Christ.

They are artificial substitutes. It is not about religion. For only Jesus can give us true spiritual affections. It is not about morality. For only Jesus can give us a new heart. And it is not about family. For only Jesus can bring us to God as Father. And if God is our true Father, we will listen to His voice in the Bible and obey it above all things.


More in Matthew

May 1, 2011

The Great Conclusion

April 24, 2011

Resurrecting Hope (2)

April 17, 2011

The First Prerequisite To Resurrection