I'm going to ask you this morning to turn to the book of Mark, chapter 8. Mark, chapter 8. The miracles of Jesus, as I've said many times, have meaning much beyond what the eye could see. a slave to the devil set free from the demons that enslaved him or her, an infirm person relieved of the bodily sickness that incapacitated them, a lifeless body brought back from the dead. In all of these, it's easy to see evidence of a compassionate and merciful God who has seen and known and come to the aid of his creatures. That's easy to see in those stories. But each example of these miracles also has a spiritual meaning beyond what the eye can see and beyond what even the intellect can discern. In my message, my last message from Mark chapter 8, last time we looked at verses 1 through 10 in this chapter, and there we saw a beautiful picture of God's desire to bestow blessing on his creatures in the miraculous feeding of the 5,000. That was the first 10 verses of this chapter. That miracle had more significance than merely the satisfaction of the physical needs of the body. It was really a picture of the universal offer of the gospel to all who would come. Many of those who witnessed that miracle, unfortunately, perhaps most of them, were only there to have their bellies filled, or they were just curiosity seekers, or they were just looking for a good show. In John chapter 6, which we also read last time in that message, we also looked at where Jesus rebuked the multitude who had come for the wrong reason. He said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, meaning the signs that I am truly the son of God, whom God had sent to you, but you saw this not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. And then he said, do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, spiritual food that is, which the Son of Man will give you because God the Father has set his seal on him." And then he goes on to say, this is the work of God. Not merely the giving of physical bread, but that you believe in him whom God has sent. And then it says, Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger. And he who believes in me shall never thirst. Many would stumble over that living bread. Those who partake this bread will either take all of him or none of him. Jesus also said on that occasion, he said, this is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread, he said, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world." Remarkably, it was that offer on that occasion where Jesus said, offered himself, eat of my flesh and drink of my blood. It was that offer that caused many to depart from him. We're told that in Mark chapter six and verse 60. Therefore, many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, this is a hard saying, Who can understand it? From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. You see, the miracle of the feeding of the 4,000 or the 5,000 wasn't just an exercise of the social gospel, feeding the hungry. Many churches today, that's all they have to offer. What Jesus did was so much more. It was spiritual faith building. It was the food for the spirit to remove all doubts of Christ's ability to meet every need of our bodies and our souls. His favors are renewed as often as our needs and necessities are renewed. And that's pretty often, right? You eat a meal at noontime and you're hungry again, by evening, but his favors are renewed as often as our needs. He is teaching us faith in which we as his creatures are to learn complete dependence upon him. In the wilderness, in the giving of the manna, we are told on that occasion, he that gathered much had nothing left over and he that gathered little had no lack. Remember the pitiful lament of the prodigal son after he had left home and had spent his inheritance on righteous living. And he comes to himself and he says, in my father's house there is bread enough and to spare. There is fullness in Christ which he offers to all and which he gives to all who will come upon him. Let me read you once again the words of Jesus in John 6 and verse 26. You don't need to turn there. But they were given after the feeding of the 5,000. Feeding of the 5,000, by the way, was an earlier event, happened prior to the feeding of the 4,000. But after the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus said, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. After the feeding of the 5,000, some of those who were present at that event apparently had followed him to another place looking for another miracle, another healing, perhaps another feeding. It is true that his miracles were given at least in part as a sign to show the people that he was indeed their promised Messiah, but many, perhaps most, had missed that purpose and had followed him, as I mentioned, for the purposes of sensationalism and self-gratification. In today's text in Mark chapter 8, we have a similar interaction as that interaction that followed the feeding of the 5,000. This one takes place after the feeding of the 4,000. And again, the issue of signs comes up, but this time they are the ones demanding a sign from him. immediately after the amazing miracle that had just occurred, as if they hadn't seen a great sign of who he was right before their very eyes. But they come to him on this occasion, and let us read Jesus' interaction with them. Actually, he interacts here both with the Pharisees as well as with his own disciples, He actually rebukes them both, but for very different reasons, which will be the substance of the message today. So Mark chapter eight, please follow along as I read beginning in verse 11. Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him. But he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. and he left them and getting into the boat again, he departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then he charged them saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. They reasoned among themselves saying, it is because we have no bread, but Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, why do you reason? Because you have no bread. Do you not perceive? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? They said to him, 12. Also, when I broke the seven for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, seven. So he said to them, how is it that you do not understand? How is it that you don't understand the spiritual meaning behind the miracle that I have performed? With that thought, let us look to the Lord once again in prayer. Heavenly Father, Thank you, Lord, that you have given us this passage for our learning. Pray, Lord, that it would be a profitable passage for us. We might understand it more clearly, that we might be able to apply it to our own hearts. And it's only by your spirit and by your strength that we're able to do that. So we ask that the spirit would open our hearts and apply the word of God to our very innermost being. We ask your blessing in Jesus' name, amen. The Pharisees, according to verse 16, 17, began to dispute with him, seeking a sign. Let's define that term. What exactly is a sign? It's a very natural thing for us as mortals, who can't see God visibly, to want some visible representation of God in his presence. The Greek word here, translated sign, actually occurs 77 times in the King James Version. 50 of those times, it's translated as sign. 33 of those times, it's translated as miracle. And one time of them, it's translated as token. 23 times, it's translated as wonder. So signs, miracles, wonders, and token. It simply refers to a mark by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and is known by. It could refer to miracles by which God authenticates those who are sent by him in order to prove that these individuals are coming as living representatives of God and his cause. So, for example, We think of the miracles that Aaron performed in front of Pharaoh, or perhaps the numerous miracles that Elisha performed. A sign can also refer to unusual events that go beyond the normal course of nature, that portend or predict a sign They predict something that is about to happen. They're an indication of something that's about to happen. For example, Jesus, in his great prophetic discourse on Mount Olivet, he said that at his coming there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. and on the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." So the sign that is used here, the Greek word for sign, isn't bad in itself. When Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for seeking after a sign, here in this passage, it wasn't because seeking a visible representation of God and his works is in itself evil. God himself used signs to reveal himself at certain times and through various means. God used a visible and sometimes physical and material means to reveal himself. So really what we need to understand here is that when Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for seeking after a sign, for requesting a sign, we really have to understand it in a spiritual sense. We need to understand the scripture's use of that term and how the Lord responds to those who come seeking in such a way. It really is a matter of the heart. So here's the summary of the message this morning. God's use of signs in scripture is different for believers and unbelievers and can be understood and appreciated only through the eye of faith. Message this morning will be in three points. First of all, sinners and sign-seeking. The second point will be saints and sign-seeking. And then the third will be the Savior and sign-seeking. So let's consider our first point this morning, the sinner and sign-seeking. Let's begin with some basic principles. The Old Testament contains a number of amazing stories of undeniable signs that were given by God and done before the multitude. that were utterly and thoroughly rejected by a stiff-necked and gainsaying people. That's one of the great tragedies, in fact, of the Old Testament nation. Let's consider some of the signs in the Old Testament that were rejected. The parting of the Red Sea in the exodus from Egypt as a sign of God's deliverance from oppression, that was rejected. In fact, immediately afterwards, they began to murmur and complain. The manna in the wilderness as a sign of God's daily providence for his people Israel, that was rejected. They immediately, the golden calf, the Ten Commandments, those were also, those were examples of their rejection. The supernatural destruction of Jericho as a sign of the fact that God would prepare the way for them to inhabit the land, that was rejected. the tabernacle and the temple as a visible representation of the glory and holiness of God in heaven. That was rejected as well. Think about that. What must have been a beautiful thing for the faithful in seeing the beauty of the temple and the procession of the priests clothed in white linen and so on. To the faithful, that was a beautiful thing. It was a beautiful representation of God and his holiness and his faithfulness. But what did it mean to the ungodly, to the apostates? They had no interest in the beauty of holiness. They wanted their high places and their groves and their obscene images, their disgusting orgies, and they wanted nothing more than the gratification of their flesh under the guise of religion. People still want that today, right? hide behind religion, but yet their religion is nothing more than a gratification of their own base desires. How about in the New Testament? What place do signs have under the New Testament? Once again, let me read those first two verses of our passage. The Pharisees came out and began to dispute with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him, but he sighed deeply within his spirit and said, why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 16. And this is the parallel passage to the passage that we're considering today. And this actually gives us a little more insight into how Jesus saw what they were doing, what Jesus thought of what they were doing. Notice in verse one, it says, then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked that he would show them a sign from heaven, they say. And he answered and said to them, when it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites, you know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. And then notice what he says in verse four. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them and departed. By the way, those closing words, he left them and departed, I think even that seems to have a spiritual meaning, as I'll talk about later. But those are very strong words. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. But we should think about their rejection, not just in the immediate context of that situation. We should think of their rejection more broadly. What was it or who was it that they were actually rejecting. Well, the object of their rejection was actually Jesus himself. God was offering to them the greatest blessing of all, his bodily presence among them in the person of his son. That was what God had given them and was offering to them, and yet even that would be rejected. Let's think about just how great this rejection was. When they saw the feeding of the 5,000, they must have convinced themselves that what happened really wasn't a true sign from God at all. After all, Jesus had given them earthly bread, not bread from heaven. They actually were expecting bread from heaven as Moses had done when he gave them the manna. they'd missed the entire spiritual meaning of what Jesus was giving to them daily in their midst. He was giving them spiritual manna, teaching them directly as a visitation from God, teaching them God's words. That was better than the manna, the literal manna that came from heaven. They didn't have the ears to hear it, so they had no respect for it. They had no appreciation of it. And that oversight on their end was bad enough. But they went even beyond that, trying to tempt Jesus, telling him to give them the sign that they demanded. They hoped that he would try something and fail, try to perform a miracle and fail, and that he could be publicly discredited. That's really what they wanted. No, we want a sign from heaven, they said. And of course, they defined the sign according to what they expected and anything short of that, they would reject. What were they expecting? Well, they were demanding, in a sense, for him to do what Moses had done when the manna fell as due from the heavens. Or maybe like something Joshua did when he caused the sun and the moon to stand still. Or maybe they were saying, let him repeat what Samuel had done when he called down thunder from the Lord to frighten away the Philistines. Or let him be like Elijah when he prayed that it wouldn't rain and it didn't rain for the space of three and a half years. Now, of course, Jesus had done many things just as miraculous and in fact, more so. But what was their response when they saw him cast out demons, for example? He does it by the power of the devil. So they didn't appreciate that either. What a great rejection was this. This is what Spurgeon said. He said, what need for more signs when his miracles were so many? Were not all his miracles signs from heaven? Did not this demand cast a slur on all that he had already done? What a rejection this was. As one commentator suggests, the source of their rejection was knowledge, in a sense, or the suppression of knowledge by the will. Their will was forcing knowledge out of their own minds, which they refused to acknowledge. The will refuses to process knowledge that it doesn't like. As someone has said, it is striking that the stumbling block to faith was knowledge, theological knowledge. The difficulty lies in the will, not in the intellect, as far as acceptance of the claims of Christ is concerned. And isn't that what Jesus said? Jesus said in John 7, 17, if anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. If anyone wills, has the will to do the will of God, he will know, he will understand. That's a powerful statement. Wasn't it the will, their wills, that really was the basis of their rejection of Christ? On a number of occasions, in fact. You don't need to turn here, but in Mark chapter six and verse three, after the people were amazed at his teaching and his mighty works, they said, is this not the carpenters, the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and of Judah and of Simon? are not his sisters here with us?" And then it says, amazingly, they were offended at him. Offended. They were amazed at his teaching and the consequence was they were offended at him. Why? Because their will refused to hear what he had to say. John 7 and verse 52, some of the people, including Nicodemus, were inclined to believe on Jesus, saying no man ever spoke like him. But what was the response of the religious leaders? They said, are you also deceived? They said, search and look, for out of Galilee there arises no prophet. You see, they had some knowledge, but a little more careful search would have led them, they were aware of the fact that the great prophet would come, would not come from Galilee. But if they had done a little more careful search, they would have realized Jesus wasn't actually from Galilee. He was born where? In Bethlehem. They knew Micah 5 and verse 2, that he would come from Bethlehem. And it would probably, they probably actually knew in the back of their minds that he was from Bethlehem, actually. but they chose to put him from Galilee so that they could reject him. You see, where the will is such a major factor in what we believe or don't believe, what we accept or what we reject. And isn't that the case with scoffers today as well? Knowledge is often the alleged source of their rejection. You know, they say things like, or they apply, the problem with you Christians is that you don't fit in with our system of knowledge. You don't unquestioningly accept our philosophy, our science claims, our politics, our legal opinions, our moral priorities. You don't honor our institutions of higher learning, our think tanks, and their expert opinions regarding world affairs. You Christians are so foolish. You don't accept our expertise, in other words. You don't respect our intellectual leaders or our celebrities or our shrines and so on. You don't respect us and so we will use the claim of knowledge. We are above you. You are down here and we are the experts and you have rejected us. The real source of the Pharisees' rejection was nothing more than prideful unbelief. And that really strikes at the root of the biblical concept of the nature of faith. Unless you people see signs and wonders, Jesus said on another occasion, you will by no means believe. Think of it this way. What is the biblical order of things? To the world, they say, show me and I'll believe. At least that's what they say. But they're actually more easily fooled than they admit. They have evidence right in front of their eyes on many things and they don't understand. But they say, show me and I'll believe. To the world, seeing is believing. But to the Christian, at least when it comes to spiritual matters, the priorities are reversed. Believing is seeing. When we believe, we see things that we otherwise couldn't see. The world, claiming that they will believe when they see, they have the biblical order reversed. So in a sense, the sinner is trying to get at things from the other side. He's trying to enter the sheepfold through another door rather than the door of faith. He's trying to enter by sight, not by faith. Pharisees' failure to believe the signs that Jesus had given them, the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000, reminds us of the words of Abraham to the rich man who, in hell, he begged the Lord to send Abraham to witness to his people so that they wouldn't end up in that terrible place. But what did the Lord say? The Lord said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them believe them. You don't need to actually experience hell in the flesh. To understand that there was a place of judgment after this life is over, you simply have to believe Moses and the prophets. It's clear. So their problem was that they didn't know that there was a place of torment for unrepentant sinners. The problem is that they chose not to believe it. That's true of our generation today. The only sign that will be given to such a generation, according to Matthew's account of our passage in Mark, was the sign of the prophet Jonah. You see that in, if you go back, Mark chapter 12 and verse 40. I'm sorry, Mark chapter 16. Matthew, sorry, Matthew 16, and what's the verse? I'm sorry, I lost the verse. Okay, yeah, verse four. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Now, what is the sign of the prophet Jonah? Well, I'd say that's a very powerful statement because go back a few chapters to Matthew chapter 12, And notice in verse 40, Matthew 12 and verse 40, Jesus says, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. You see, the sign of the prophet Jonah had direct reference to Jesus' resurrection. The Pharisees had failed to hear Moses and the prophets, nor would they be persuaded when Christ rose from the dead. That's what Jesus actually said. So let's bring all that kind of close to home. We have to ask ourselves these questions. Am I living by faith? Or am I trying to live by sight, waiting for a sign of heaven to show me? We used to know someone like that. And he was always struggling. He was always asking questions like, is the Bible really true? He claimed to be a Christian. Is the Bible really true? Can we prove that? Did God really create the world in six days? I need proof of that. And he was just asking what were fairly basic questions for a Christian. And I used to say, you would think that if he's a Christian, he would already have overcome those obstacles by faith. So people will ask those questions, those continually doubting questions, or they might say something like, is this narrow belief of my parents or my husband or my wife or my pastor, is this really the truth? If that's true, why aren't there more people following us? How come we're just churches where the truth is being preached are just small groups of people scattered here and there, sometimes with great distances in between? Why is that, if it's the truth? Is God's holiness really that big of a deal? Why can't we just loosen up a bit? Other Christians or those professing to be Christians, they're having so much fun, it seems. Why aren't we? Well, again, Jesus said, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. The tragedy of the human condition. We come by faith believing. That's the gift of God. And if you've never received that gift, The invitation is still open. As Jesus said, he who comes to me in faith, that is, I will in no wise cast out. There's no promise that we'll be on this great bandwagon with millions of people surrounding us and seeing the truth as we see it. That promise was never made. So the sinner and sign-seeking, and that brings us to our second point this morning, the saint and sign-seeking. Are visible signs necessary for true believers, according to the Bible? True believers, we are told, live by faith and not by sight. So do we need visible signs, just like the unbelieving world is demanding? Well, my answer, I think, when we consider the question biblically, is a resounding yes. And I say that not because I'm making that demand of God, but because I think God has shown himself to bless us with even visible representations of himself in so many different ways. So when I say, yes, even saints can benefit from signs, I think we need to qualify that answer. Because God signs for his saints, we might say, use maybe a different word, maybe we could call them markers. They are signposts or markers that we put up along the path of faith. They're not the foundation of our faith. They're not the starting point of our faith. They are simply reinforcers of it. Well, let's consider a few examples. Let's look back into the Old Testament once again. Think of the Old Testament saints. Did Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, did he see a sign? Well, absolutely. He saw God's promise of a worldwide flood come true. He saw the rainbow in the sky representing God's trustworthiness as a God who covenants with man. But he saw those things, if you think about it, only after 120 years of preaching to a world full of unbelieving, mocking, unrepentant sinners. And he saw very few following him outside of his own family. How about Abraham? Did he see a sign? Well, again, we have to say yes. When he was called by God, we are told that he went out not knowing where he went, but he did see a number of visible markers on the way, along the way, to increase his faith. After warning Lot of impending judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, he did indeed see those cities destroyed with fire and brimstone, but only after he had come a long way by faith. Upon the birth of Isaac to his hundred-year-old wife, whose womb was as good as dead, He was given a miraculous and visible son of promise, but only after wandering and wandering for many decades, for a long season. But what faith-strengtheners those things must have been. When Israel entered the promised land, the waters of Jordan parted for them, offering them a God-given and God-appointed visible sign of what he was doing for them now and would do for them in the future. But before that would happen, the leaders and the priests needed to walk in faith and bring the people to the very brink of that river, risking their lives and their sacred honor if God's promise turned out not to be true. How about Gideon? Gideon asked for a visible sign that God was with him. And under the oppressive circumstances in which he lived, God granted him that sign and did not rebuke him. And by the way, I think many preachers... I think many preachers have rebuked Gideon for... I don't know about you, but I've heard A number of sermons actually rebuking Gideon for seeking a sign. For the, you know, the fleece, the dew on the fleece. I don't really find that God rebukes him for it, which is kind of interesting. How about Daniel? Daniel prayed toward Jerusalem. Why did he do that? He couldn't see Jerusalem. He was in Babylon at the time. He saw Jerusalem by the eye of faith. And God gave Daniel many other things that strengthened his faith in a visible way. Think about that. How about a raging fire that didn't even singe the hairs of the faithful men who were thrown into it? That was a sign for Daniel to strengthen his faith. How about hungry lions that waited for their meal until not just any men, but only the bad men were thrown in to the lion's den? That was a sign. from heaven, those things would have at the very least strengthened Daniel's faith, don't you think? He exercised his faith without them, but his faith was reinforced through them. Okay, you say, well, that was Bible times. How about in the New Testament? Well, we can begin in the early days of the New Testament. At the time of Christ, there was the virgin birth. which would only be snidely and mockingly referred to by the unbelieving Pharisees. But how would it be received by Simeon or Mary? Simeon, we're told in Luke chapter two, it says, came by the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, Now you are letting your servant depart in peace. He says, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. Think about Simeon. Simeon had to know that the Pharisees were spreading the malicious lie that Mary was not a virgin. But yet Simeon didn't believe the lie. He believed the truth. And ultimately, even before he departed from this world, God showed him with his eyes God's salvation. How about all of the works that Jesus did? The healings, the casting out of demons, the other miracles that were done in the sight of the people to affirm the coming of the Messiah. Those would eventually become a stumbling block to the faithless. But to the faithful, they were powerfully received. Peter, after seeing Jesus walk on the water, how did Peter respond? He said, Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man. He came to understand more deeply his own sinfulness and his own dependence on the Lord. Thomas, after seeing the prints of the nails in Jesus' hands, he said in that acclamation of faith, he said, my Lord and my God. He saw it with his eyes that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. But the ultimate sign of Christ's Messiahship for the faithful in the New Testament Gospels had to have been the resurrection, right? In fact, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul says that a belief in the resurrection as a physical and visible sign is one of the most basic and necessary ingredients of Christian belief. You have to believe that these things are actually our historical facts. Paul said, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel that I preached to you, which you also have received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And then Paul continues, and notice how many times he uses the word seen. He says, he was seen by Cephas and then by the 12. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once. After that, he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. And then last of all, he was seen by me also, Paul says, as one board out of due time. He was seen by the eyes of those who believed on him. And it strengthened their faith they knew for sure that he was the one. New Testament believers, the early New Testament believers were given many visible signs to strengthen their faith, but how about bringing that into the modern age? What do we have as modern believers? I think sometimes modern believers can be, we can almost be overly pious, and we can start thinking that our faith is so solid and strong we don't need anything else, anything visible to strengthen our faith. But let's consider just a few visible things that remain even with us today. Creation is a visible sign of who God is. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, Paul says in the book of Romans, being understood by the things that are made. even his eternal power and Godhead. These things are seen in creation, Paul says. How about the new creation? That's a visible sign, seeing a person who is completely transformed by faith in Christ. Just on an individual level, we see individuals completely changed to walk in newness of life, including ourselves, especially if we were saved as an adult. But on a larger scale, God periodically sends times of great spiritual refreshing in the form of revivals, of which we have many in recorded history. The Reformation, the Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and so on. Answer prayer is a visible sign. When God gives specific answers to specific prayers, we as God's people see it and our faith is strengthened. And the Lord's Supper is a visible sign in a sense. It's kind of a strange thing we do, isn't it? When we take the Lord's table, we eat of the bread and drink of the fruit of the vine. We take these elements and we pronounce them to represent the Lord's body and blood. Kind of a strange thing to do, isn't it? But if you think about it, we do a lot of things and say a lot of things that we have no idea why we say them. I was just thinking of a couple. People say this all the time. Isn't that the cat's meow? Do you have any idea where that slogan came from? You might look it up and somebody might say, well, it came from this, and maybe that's true. We might talk about driving all the way to Timbuktu. Do you know where Timbuktu is? I don't. Do we know where that slogan came from? I don't. The point is that we say and do a lot of things that we have no idea where those things came from, but when we take the Lord's table, we do know where it came from because we have the historical record of the first night upon which that was done. Jesus did it, and he said, as often as you do it, do it in remembrance of me. And here we are over 2,000 years later, and we're still doing this strange thing of distributing bread and wine and partaking of it, declaring the death of Jesus Christ. I would say that's a visible sign, in a sense. Are these examples making sense? God has instituted faith-building signs for our use as believers, but let's be careful that we're not testing God with a demand for signs. That's the opposite side that we need to use caution. Things like, Lord, I won't take this step of faith until you show me a sign. Or, Lord, I won't speak to this person until you tell me exactly what to say. Or, Lord, I won't give up this sin until you send me some supernatural message or make something happen to stop me. Or, Lord, I will date this person or marry that person until you clearly tell me no. That's a big one. That's a common one. You need to send me something into my life that will stop me from doing that which I already ought to know I shouldn't do. Are you walking by faith and praising God for the little faith-building signs that he gives along the way? That's the life of faith. So this morning we've looked at the sinner and sign-seeking. We've looked at the saint and sign-seeking. And really the difference between the two is a matter of faith, the presence of faith or the absence of faith. It's really a matter of the heart. The sinner is demanding a sign before he or she will believe what the Lord says. The saint already believes by faith and is thankful for any visible sign that God might give to reinforce what they already believe. But what about God's heart on this issue? I'd like to close this morning with this third point, and let's just call it the Savior and sign-seeking. One of the ways we can see God's heart on this issue is to compare and contrast Jesus' response to the Pharisees with his response to the disciples. So let's go to our passage in Mark chapter 8. And once again, we looked at verses 11 and 12, where the Pharisees came, disputing with him, testing him. And verse 12 says, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. Now we do see the heart of the Savior here, do we not? He sighed deeply within his spirit. I would say that's an indication of his genuine sorrow over their unbelief. Some would say that these Pharisees were seeking sinners just coming to have their questions answered, but their hardness of heart and their presumption condemned them and revealed who they really were. See, the extent of God's compassion should never be pridefully put to the test. Some have said that this interaction with the Pharisees indicates a conscious decision by Jesus to end his dialogue with the religious leadership. Those who hadn't yet been convinced of the truth of his message or who he was. that they wouldn't be given any other opportunities or incentives to believe. I don't know that I necessarily agree that this was his last offer of mercy, but I think an argument perhaps could be made there. We certainly could get the impression from Matthew's account which I read earlier, Matthew 16 and verse four, which seems to have a note of finality to it. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah, and that would be the death and resurrection of the Savior. But even here in Mark chapter eight and verse 12, notice again where it says, assuredly no sign shall be given. It's been pointed out that this is actually a kind of a hanging phrase. He's actually saying, amen, I say to you, if a sign will be given, dot, dot, dot. It's never completed, the phrase is never completed. It's been pointed out, it's the only example of that in the New Testament. And to a Jew, that would have had the full force of an oath on God's part. Sort of like a double amen, amen and amen. If that is true, if that interpretation is true, Jesus' answer here didn't bode well for his enemies who had chosen to remain in unbelief and who would remain so for eternity. But to the disciples who were rebuked by Jesus also, and also for their misunderstanding of his warning to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. But the difference in how he rebukes them and how he rebuked the Pharisees, the difference in tone and disposition is really quite remarkable, I would say. Notice once again in our passage in verse 18, he says, having eyes do you not see? And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? Can you almost hear Jesus' tone here of perhaps genuine heartfelt sorrow for these disciples whom he loved? When I broke the five loaves, verse 19, for the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? And they said to him, 12. And when I broke the seven for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up? And they said, seven. So he said to them, how is it that you do not understand. How is it? How is it? He's chiding with them, but at the same time, he's full of compassion. He talks to them as a loving father, as a concerned shepherd who's setting up, or rather, who is setting his straying disciples back on the right path. It's totally different. Words of rebuke like this in their more tender-hearted moments, must have cut them to the heart. Lord, how could we have not seen this? They must have thought. You ever had one of those moments? How could I have not seen this? When the Lord wakes you up to something, maybe that you, some wrong direction you had taken maybe a month earlier, weeks earlier, months, years even, decades ago, something you didn't see, and suddenly the Lord wakes you up to it? Lord, how could I have not seen this? Those times that lead us not to make demands of God, those times really lead us to pray, Lord, help me to see the truth and follow you in pure, simple faith. So in this passage, God is using the issue of signs from heaven really to divide the righteous from the wicked. Have you been a Pharisee or a disciple as we draw to a close this morning in your view of visible signs from heaven? I can't see your heart. I only see what you wear on the outside. I see the clothing that you wear in a sense, the words you speak, the actions you carry out, but I don't see your heart. So I'm asking you, do you have more of the attitude of a Pharisee or a disciple in your view of your expectation of visible signs from heaven? Jesus has already shown himself to us. According to Acts chapter one, he showed himself to us by many infallible proofs. Many infallible proofs. Are you demanding more proofs than what he has chosen to give? Are you making demands or are you rather thanking God for his many blessings? Thank you, Lord, for what you have shown. Thank you, Lord, for what you have revealed of yourself. You weren't required to reveal anything. You could have just left us to die in our sins. So the question is, are you waiting for something visible before you will believe and commit yourself to the life of faith? Or are you willing just to say that just shall live by faith, and are you just walking in that belief by faith and not by sight? That's what we are commanded to do. May God draw all of us to be true disciples and not Pharisees. May God open our eyes so that we might understand what the scripture means when it says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. That's the life of faith. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, We, once again, thank you for what you have revealed about yourself and about your son. Lord, the plan that you have devised for our redemption, which allows you to remain just, but yet the justifier of sinners. It is such an amazing plan of salvation, plan of redemption. And Lord, we are so thankful for it that you have drawn us by your spirit to understand it and to be blessed by it. And we ask, Lord, that all of us might be on that path of faith. We pray, Lord, that you might continue to draw sinners to yourself. And we ask your blessing on these matters in Jesus' name. Amen.