Miraculous Signs, Evil Spirits, Startling Statements, Part 3

When you follow Jesus, you'll eventually run into people who want to bridle your enthusiasm with unwanted expectations. Legalists, we call them, have a way of stifling the Christian experience by imposing fabricated rules that are impossible to follow. Well, in Jesus' day, they called these legalists Pharisees. The Pharisees were religious leaders who were trapped in their own self-righteousness. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from Matthew chapter 12. In this passage, we read about Jesus' lively showdown with the Pharisees. Chuck titled today's message, Miraculous Signs, Evil Spirits, Startling Statement.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1 that the Jews always want a sign. They want to see the proof. They want to see evidence.

They have had proof after proof, evidence after evidence. They have seen miracles. They have watched the lame healed. They have seen the blind receive sight. They have watched situations where a lame hand has now been made whole.

And then they're saying, how about one of your signs again, teacher? That's the spirit of it. And he catches it. And he isn't intimidated by it. He sees the cynicism. And so he answers them as to what they were, not so much what they wanted. He calls them an evil adulterous generation, not here, but later and yet again a third time because he knew them.

He knew them to be cynics. In fact, he says, you know your Bible better than anyone else around. You know the story of Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth.

Verse 41, the people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins after hearing the message of Jonah. You have seen me at work. You have heard my words and you have attributed my work to the work of Satan. So there's a crucial question that comes to the surface, if I may pause and apply this at this moment. It's this, am I becoming a cynic? Am I showing signs of Pharisaism? How many signs do you need to be convinced that I'm Messiah?

For you, never enough. Because when you're a cynic, you don't really want evidence. You want a reason to prove it wrong. Second crucial question.

Is your heart becoming softer in the passing of time or harder? You want to know who is the most difficult person to reach for Christ, the moralist. The one who is religious has scrubbed up on the outside and looks so right.

Let me tell you, it's much easier to share Christ with an out and out scumbag sinner who is greedy and immoral and rotten to the core and proud and all those things I could list because he knows he's a sinner. Now, as if that isn't enough, look at the narrative. Look at it. Coming right out of the heels of this rather heated dialogue, look at this.

As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside. Stop. Think.

Here we go again. Where do they live? They live in Nazareth. Where is Jesus?

According to correlated passages, Jesus is in Capernaum over by the Sea of Galilee. That's quite a walk. And they walked in those days. And they've walked all the way to Capernaum.

Who are they? His mother and his brothers stood outside asking to speak to him. Look at chapter 13. Look at 13 verse 55. Then they scoffed. These are people in his hometown according to verse 54. He's in Nazareth. They scoffed saying, he's just the carpenter's son.

Stop. The carpenter had nothing to do with his conception. Unless of course you live in Nazareth and believe the scuttlebutt. So by now they've got their minds made up. They're wrong, but they say he's just the carpenter's son.

In fact, they go further. We know Mary. Keep reading. We know his brothers. This is the place where they are named. James, Joseph, Simon.

And look at that. Judas. Not the one who betrayed him. For in those days that was a common name. Judas Iscariot came later. But James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. You know what? They grew up with him.

And look further. All his sisters live right here among us. All. Probably more than two. Or they would say both his sisters.

So at least three, maybe four. Here is Jesus asking who his mother is. Who his brothers are. What is that about?

Isn't that what he said? Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? When you read your Bible, let it be. Don't try to change it. He asked that question.

Or those questions. What does he mean? As best I can understand, he is expanding their understanding of a spiritual family.

He is enlarging it. So that it isn't just the immediate mom and Joseph and four boys and brothers and sisters. It's my followers. I got a couple things I want to say about this. Stop and think. I'll say it again. Some of you are closer to other people in the family of God than you are to your own siblings.

Don't answer out loud. I know that. I have some people that are so near and dear to me, they are as close if not closer than my own brother. And as much as I love my sister, some of those people are as close if not closer than my own sister. And some older ladies that I know, women of God and people who have helped shape my life, they mean as much to me as my own mother if not at times more. You got it? That's one thing I want to say.

Because I think that is implicit in what he's asking. In fact, he points to his disciples and said, look, there's my mother. There's my mother. There's my brothers. So first, in the family of Christ, there are relationships that are absolutely intimate in the right sense of the word and deeply satisfying, fulfilling.

And they're like family. I can go to Canada. I can go to Australia. I can go to an island in the sea. I can go to South America. I can go to a part of Europe. And I would meet up with and spend enough time with those in the family of God.

They would be just like one of my own. That's what he's saying. You know what else he's saying? He's saying to be careful that you don't make a family member an idol. So important to you, so significant that they take first place, which is to be occupied by only one, Christ himself. He wants to free us from that. I appreciate the words of Kent Hughes who writes this in his book on Mark.

Listen carefully. Today we're witnessing the disintegration of the family all around us, even in the church. In a valiant effort to stem the tide, many Christians and non-Christians alike have made the family everything, meaning their immediate family. Every moment of every day, every involvement, every commitment, every engagement is measured and judged by the question, how will this benefit my family? While this is generally commendable, it can degenerate into a familial narcissism.

I'd never seen words, those two words put together, into a familial narcissism. The four walls of the home become a temple and only within and for those walls are any sacrifices made. Thus we commit domestic idolatry. This is an immense tragedy.

I'll tell you how it becomes a very real practical tragedy. The Lord calls you to pull out, to move away, to be engaged in ministry for his purposes and for his glory and it will mean the sacrifice of closeness with your family. In fact, you may rarely see them again. There isn't a missionary alive who serves in some field beyond these United States if they're Americans who have not gone through this and you pull away but you do it because there is one who is first place and it's not your mother and it's not your father or your brother or your sister. In the words of Jesus, as he points to his disciples, these are my mother and brothers.

Anyone who does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother. Question. Is Christ really in first place in my life? I am as serious as a judge.

Listen to me. Is Christ first? Don't be glib and respond, oh yeah, absolutely, just stop. If he calls you somewhere which will mean the sacrifice of the closeness that you've enjoyed through the years, you're going to do it? You're going to say yes? If you are to be engaged in something that will cause some hardship for the family but it's for the glory of Christ, you're going to sacrifice? Are you going to be overly protective and never cause difficulty for family because after all they're family? That means your family is first.

So you've got to answer the crucial question. Is Christ really in first place? Above friendships, above geography, above career, above possessions, now you realize though it is a difficult passage, it's like a sword that drives its way right into the core of your being. You're becoming pharisaical.

Is your heart softer or harder? Christ in first place? You know the beauty of Christ?

He really says it as it is. In fact if I may go back just briefly to Mary, will you please stop the veneration of Mary if you're caught in that? She needed the Savior just as much as the brothers, just as much as you and I. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. She certainly was chosen, she certainly was the vehicle God used, but please she is not the media tricks between man and God.

Don't go there. Part of the reason I love that wonderful song that Buddy Green sings, Mary did you know, Mary did you know that this child that you delivered will one day deliver you? Love that line. Do you know that? You know what? She knew that. Did you know that? The beauty of the teaching of Christ is that it just brings such freedom.

I say it again. I'm freed from the expectation of a fellow who may come along and be a Pharisee in my life. I'm free of intimidation because of what Christ means to me. And I'm free by the grace of God of picking up the traits of a self-righteous Pharisee because of the brokenness Christ can bring into my heart. You can be freed the same.

I'm freed from a hard heart because Christ lives within me and softens it regularly as he doesn't work in my life that I can't describe in any other way than profound. And I'm freed from as much as I love my family, absolutely adore my wife, she is not in first place in my life. Nor should she be. Knowing her she doesn't want to be. Nor am I in hers. I love the words of Steve Brown.

Please listen. You are really and truly free. Completely free.

There's no kicker. There's no if, and, or but. You are free. You can do it right or wrong. You can obey or disobey. You can run from or to Christ.

You can choose to become a faithful Christian or an unfaithful Christian. You can cry and cuss and spit and laugh and sing and dance. You can read a novel or the Bible.

You can watch television or you can pray. You're free. You're really free. Then he writes, Abraham Lincoln went to a slave market. There he noted a young beautiful African American woman being auctioned off to the highest bidder. He bid on her and won. He could see the anger on her face in the woman's eyes. He could imagine what she was thinking.

Another white man will buy me and use me and then discard me. As Lincoln walked off with the young woman by his side, he turned to her and said, you're free. Unshackled her. You're free.

Yeah. What does that mean? She replied. It means you're free. That mean I can say whatever I want to say?

Yes, replied Lincoln. Smiling, it means you can say whatever you want to say. Does it mean, she asked incredulously, that I can be whatever I want to be? You can be whatever you want to be. You're free. Does it mean, the young woman said hesitantly, that I can go wherever I want to go?

Yeah. It means you're free to go wherever you want to go. Then with tears welling up in her eyes, she said, I think I'll go with you. Listen to me. That's Christ's message.

You don't want to go with anyone else. You'll be enslaved by those who would love to play the Pharisee in your life. When he comes, he sets us free. Free to obey him. Free to follow him. Free to shove all of the idols off the tables of our lives so that we really can operate as mature believers in Jesus. Isn't that great? Free indeed.

Free at last. Please bow with me. Just sit right there. Just stay right there. First of all, do you really know Christ?

If you don't, what in the world are you waiting for? He has come. He has died. He has opened the way.

He has cut through the curtain. He has made it possible for you can know and talk with and walk with the living God. Trust him now. Believe in him now. And if you know Christ, are you really free?

That's all part of the package. Free to forgive. Free to understand. Free to accept. Free to love without idolizing. Free to be vulnerable without fear.

Free indeed. That, I think, is what these verses are teaching. I invite you before you turn this off to make sure you have addressed the three questions and then what have you done with Christ and his offer of freedom? In our journey, Lord, from earth to heaven, filled with all the obstacles that life throws at us, it is easy to get confused and to get so bound up in pleasing people, including ourselves, that we lose our way. I pray, Father, that you will clear the path of understanding, that every person hearing these words today will answer the questions and will turn to your Son as Lord and Savior, the source of freedom. The question is not, did Mary know?

The question is, do we know? Help us as we answer it, Lord. In the name of Jesus, I pray this. Everyone said, amen. The Apostle Paul said to the Galatians, So Christ has truly set us free.

Now make sure that you stay free and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. We hope today's study in Matthew chapter 12 has inspired you to receive this beautiful gift of grace and liberty. You're listening to Insight for Living. Our Bible teacher, Chuck Swindoll, titled today's message, Miraculous Signs, Evil Spirits, Startling Statement.

And we've set aside several minutes to hear some closing comments from Chuck, so please stay with us. And to learn more about this ministry, please visit us online at insightworld.org. In light of the complicated issues facing our country and world today, it's possible you've come to a place of discouragement, perhaps fear.

And quite candidly, your trust and confidence in God's sovereignty is waning. Let me recommend a helpful book Chuck's written that will bolster your confidence. This is a tremendous resource for yourself or perhaps someone you love who's going through a challenging time. It's a devotional book called Perfect Trust.

If you're ready to let go of things you can't control, we believe you'll find the biblical insight in this book a real game changer. And you'll find all the details about Chuck's devotional book, Perfect Trust, at insight.org slash store. Or if you prefer, call us.

If you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888. Chuck one of the positive outcomes of this radio program has to do with the instant response we receive from people who hear Insight for Living. We love reading their comments.

That's right, Dave. God uses the feedback from our listening audience to remind me that His Word is alive and powerful. In fact, as the writer of Hebrews put it, the Word of God is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword cutting between soul and spirit.

Think of that. As an example, I was so touched when I recently read the encouraging words from one of our listeners who found his rest in Christ after an agonizing year in 2020. Listen to what he wrote, Chuck, I can't tell you how much your messages have helped me through the storms I have been through, starting in September with the passing of my sister, then my stepdaughter in November, then with the passing of my wife in December. Jesus used your messages to comfort me and love me and give me a peace that words cannot explain.

Thank you. Clearly, the Spirit of God has penetrated that man's heart, providing deep and healing soul care during a painful season of loss all in one year. For that reason, I come to you with a bold request and without apology to help us continue touching lives in this way. You see, when you give a generous donation by the 30th of June, you're enabling Insight for Living Ministries to teach the Word of God without barriers, allowing the Spirit of God to perform spiritual surgery with divine precision. I can assure you that your investment in this nonprofit ministry is yielding fruit. God's Word is alive and powerful.

People are responding daily, and I mean that literally. I am more energized today than ever before to pursue sharing the good news in all 195 countries of our world. Now, here's our contact information, and I look forward to receiving your donation today or certainly by the deadline of June the 30th.

And in advance, let me say thank you so much. And here's how to respond to Chuck Swindoll. The most convenient way to give is to follow the simple instructions at Insight.org or use our convenient mobile app. We'd be pleased to take your phone call as well. If you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888 or go online to Insight.org. Join us again tomorrow when Chuck Swindoll tells us what he calls a story for the heart of listening, right here on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Miraculous Signs, Evil Spirits, Startling Statement, was copyrighted in 2016 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.