Testy Critics and Dull Disciples, Part 2

Few of us would ever discourage an earnest debate with someone who's honestly seeking the truth sincere questions about Jesus deserve credible answers. But sometimes the questions come not in the spirit of genuine curiosity, but with a motive to dismantle and even destroy our faith today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll shows us how Jesus handled his biggest detractors through his example we find a model for healthy conversations about God, please join us in the 16th chapter of Matthew titled today's message testy critics and dull disciples. We begin with prayer. Thank you father for your daily delivery of our needs. You meet them day by day and you were so faithful to do that. Sometimes even before we call you have answered in while we are still speaking you are hearing and responding day by day faithfulness through you, Lord, because we are fickle by nature are emotions run hot and cold our moods are high and low, but you are the same day by day.

You are the truth you deliver that regularly to us, you've never once lied to us.

Your word stands fast even on the day when the critics attack it, and even scholars assaulted even though the inspiration of your truth continues to be the watershed issue day by day. You were there to defend it and you proof of the power of your Holy Spirit in ways more numerous than we could number that you've told us the truth in your word stands fast so thank you father on this weekend for those who gave themselves that we might have your word in our tone for their courage and their vision day by day to sacrifice to work to pour over here truth so that we might see in our own language. How grateful we are for the for the losers in this ring please and the Calvins Silvana Rowlands and the mock of the westerlies and the host and those whose names live on on whose shoulders we stand even on this day your day has arrived and we give it to you.

We come to learn, we come to change. We come to respond as we discover what you have preserved for us tucked away in words on the page and in between the lines truth to live by to die for. Give us this day our father, a fresh reminder that you are still the God of our lives, and you still meet our needs day by day these gifts and we give are really not ours to begin with. They belong to you. You own it all so we give them with great delight.

Through Christ our Savior, or master or Lord, in whose name we pray. Everyone said to study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll. Be sure to download his searching the Scriptures. Studies by going to Insight world.org/studies another message from Chuck that he titled testy critics and dull disciples. Verse five. It will help you understand not the exhaustion but the preoccupation that Jesus experiences when he is with the disciples he still thinking of what has gone on. He still remembering this the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which is why he moves quickly into that with the site and they don't get it.

They think about something else and we can see it just a moment, but now the. The move from the from the group of hostile appointments back with his disciples. Verse five there crossing the sea of the lake, and while doing so.

Remember, Jesus thinking where it was. What's going on what's been said in the disciples who forgot to bring any bread. Jesus used bread and he says, remember, preoccupation, he says, watch out beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the disciples are like why Pharisees. He's beware his back where they are verse seven going to argue with each other because they hadn't brought any bread then got a bread made they don't have any way of getting bread. Jesus finally gets fed up with them and he says to them as he knew what they were saying so little faith.

Don't you understand, even yet. Don't you remember the 5000.

Not bad with the five loaves. Don't you remember the 4000 not bad with the seven loaves and the large baskets of leftovers and you pick them up. Why can't you understand I'm not talking about literal brick if you're hungry, say so and you'll be well your whatever in bread on this boat, you will have bread to let the spiritual message I'm trying to get across all. Maybe it was when he raised his voice if he did and said why can't you understand I'm not talking about you know, loaves of bread. So again I say beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Watch out for that. Every time Easton mentioned the Scriptures.

It's is a reference to evil, and clearly hear their deceptive teaching and we read in verse 12. Look at it is like at long last, they understood this was sort of like all all I got.

After all, he had been saying and doing. Among them, it wasn't. It wasn't that they would not believe it was that the they were so preoccupied with the everyday stuff of life.

Jesus finally had to spell it out. I just describe the life of too many of us far too many. The question you see when you come to the end of this chapter or this story is which one are you one of the other. So let's put you in the garb of the Pharisees and Sadducees. You may not like that but so be it.

You're wearing those roads and you're looking all important with your questions. Searching for more evidence, demanding more signs determined that you you absolutely will not believe until enough evidence is provided and you want further proof you been saying that for years and when you can't get the answers you go to someone else or you change churches and you try that you keep the argument going closer determined to find God through the evidence. Faith is a foreign thought to you yourself by faith. Anyone know you were taught to do that.

You certainly did learn that when you got your advanced degrees in school. You're not about to respond like that and I might say to you at that point. I'm sorry I really am a feel for you because even though you may not want to accept this I will tell you you are in for a rude awakening before you're gone to get so sick there's no recovery possible to lose that one. That means more to you than you can put into words and are gone suddenly. Are you going to go through a horrendous disaster that takes from you. All of creature comforts and right now you're not looking for evidence or looking for survival and you will know the one who can provide what you need when you're on that bed know you will never get up again or when you're standing at the fresh grave site, and you'll never see her again or him or you're looking at was once what was once your home now devastated by the flutter of the fire or the tornado or hurricane and I will tell you, having cultivated this kind of resistant type mentality unit dialect is truly on omega lack compassion. When I talk this way, but I I want to be realistic when you step from death into eternity.

You, on your own and without Christ. You have nothing to face but God bless eternity like these Pharisees and Sadducees. All of the religion of their lives would not prepare them for the last moment on this earth. When they drew their final breath all that religions out to lunch. They didn't want signs they wanted to prove that they were right.

Trust me, if that's your mentality, you realize one second after you've died that you have been role role is too late. God's given you today is brought you face-to-face with the mirror of your own life and is as if the Lord is saying had no more signs for you. Jesus Christ, the way the truth and the life is there available to you.

You vetting presented in who knows how many ways frankly enough ways for you to believe but you won't believe one day you will, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

But then it's too late. How smart of you to respond in humility and save my demand for more and more evidence is passed on, I'm coming by faith to the one who died for me and has opened the door and sealed my future with a home in heaven, and I accept him now untaken now all of the evidence come and go and I'll let him deal with all of that in my life. But right now I want to secure my future. My eternity because apart from that it is hell. Plain and simple. Now that may not be you may not be in the that group, you might be like one of the disciples.

Those who don't hear not vote here.

You just don't hear you verse so much and no longer make any difference. I ended my message on that last time you are overexposed and you what you need by me.

You need a big bang somehow forgot to get your attention and make you aware you need to wake up walking through life like a dead man on his feet, but Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote verse crammed with heaven and every common Bush of fire with God but only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest soon rounded and pluck blackberries. I wonder if Browning that moment didn't smile. I wanted that was the poet's own testimony sitting around plucking blackberries preoccupied with your next meal. Your slice of bread. Your creature comforts and you're missing the spiritual lessons of life that God is hammering away to teach you to teach you to show you to deepen you.

I love Richard Foster's comment about that today, we don't leave we don't need more intelligent people or busier people or richer people.

We need deeper people trust me. The disciples were not deep over there would be a day when it would all fall together. Their Savior would be gone and it would all rest with them. There may be a day in your life like that when you would really wish she would pay closer attention so that I look at the face of a man on a magazine that we admire name is Sam Johnson Sam as a prisoner of war held in a 4 x 9' cage 70+ days. Horrible existence. Sam is told me everything that moved into the cell was still alive. I ate everything we had nothing. We were starving.

I remember Sam describing that there was one or two among them who remember the days when they had learned of Jesus and what it could mean Sam reaches his and when the rains come in his cell begins to flood any certain that he's going to drown.

They had them in stocks. They cried out to God because he thought the best thing I could do right now is not in the plans. The rain stopped.

His captors came in for some unrevealed reason took off the stocks. The water receded with a matter of time. They were liberated Sam as a congressman I don't know of anyone I respect more or would salute more quickly than I would. Sam Johnson you know why that awful awful experience but like shook him to the to the very bottom of this. Bare feet. Thank God for every reminder of the Sam Jones it could be you or me, but what we don't know what the future holds. These are the most threatening times I've ever lived in in my life and you know that's true in yours were a crossroads nationally. Our world is on fire at every turn, and I will tell you to try to exist in this kind of environment without an knowledge of any working faith. A working faith in Jesus Christ's anybody makes anybody sleep through the night around any merit stays together. But any family stays close. Verse crammed with heaven and every common Bush fire with God but only he who sees takes off his shoes.

The rest sit around and pluck blackberries don't do that, don't go there.

You know better than that. I think these disciples heard for the first time a breakthrough in their thinking regarding regarding those deceptive teachers that had such an impact in their growing up years because they are the ones who taught their rabbis as they grew up in the synagogue school. Now they're getting it. Jesus in this breakthrough moment says to them, oh you of little faith. What are you going to ever learn. I'm not talking about a piece of bread. I'm talking about the love and the evil that is in life and will deceive you all the way to the great I'm talking to you today and I'm here with you further future will take us not one person in this room knows nobody will tell you they can take you there.

They don't know either.

Only the living God, who is the same yesterday today and forever can escort us in the way we should go, let's go with him. Let's go with his son was trust for one day we may be in that cell. One day it may be you and me and will beat each other to remind each other of what God said in a book. We used to carry and were free to read serious stuff folks serious. Please bow with me just sit right there you have anyplace more important to go than right here. Stay right here. You never believe in Christ really know dear go out the door this place until you trusted in him.

Don't risk the drive home. Don't risk thinking you live another week. Trust him now this is a scare tactic. It's reality. Barium younger every year you don't know what today will bring forth trust in Christ.

Now believing Jesus now set aside your demand for more evidence and come in simple faith, like a child like this song nothing in my hands I bring, simply to your cross likely if you're a disciple of Jesus. I suggest you get off the fence. Given you owning your way through enough of life. I suggest you begin to sit on the edge of your seat stand on tiptoe and realize this day may be among your last you really want to count for the Savior. You don't want to miss what is teaching you don't want to spend your time wasted in arguments over nonessentials. I warn you. Spiritual deception is at hand. Pharisees and Sadducees were gone, but the Colts are here and false teaching proliferates turn to Christ open his word call on him in prayer.

Lead your family and that way don't be afraid or ashamed they don't hear from you going to hear it from get serious about your walk go deeper start now. We learn from your son, father, that there are times it's necessary to talk straight and because we are not able to hear his voice, and we were not there when he said what he did. He spoke boldly to both groups. One group recalled in an evil and adulterous generation who demanded a sign into another group.

He rebuked them for their little faith, whatever reproof we need to hear.

Maybe here at and heated and may it make a difference especially for those never come to your son. Oh Lord, bring them to their needs through Christ our Savior. I pray this everyone together set a man a Chuck Swindoll titled today study in Matthew 16 intensity critics and dull disciples.

This is insight for living to see what resources we have available for today's topic, please visit us online@insightworld.org. Did you know that if you missed any portion of this two day presentation. You have a number of different options for listening to insight for living. In addition to listening online, you can hear this program on your radio station or catch up with any program you may have missed subscribing to the daily podcast from your favorite provider and then know that thousands of new friends have joined us this year by using the convenient insight for living mobile app so please feel free to take advantage of any of these listening opportunities and then to dig deeper into the book of Matthew on your own. Let me remind you that Chuck wrote a commentary on the book of Matthew.

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