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Matthew 16 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Matthew 16:1 [music]
0:02The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and
0:05testing [music] Jesus, they asked him to
0:07show them a sign from heaven.
0:10And he replied [music] to them, "When it
0:13is evening, you say, "It will be fair
0:16weather, for the sky is [music] red,
0:19and in the morning there will be a storm
0:22today, for the sky is red and [music]
0:23threatening."
0:26Do you know how to discern the
0:28appearance of the sky, but cannot
0:30discern the signs of the [music] times?
0:34An evil and adulterous generation seeks
0:37after a sign.
0:40And a sign will not be given except the
0:43sign [music] of Jonah. And he left them
0:46and went away.
0:48And the disciples came to the other side
0:50of the sea, but they [music] had
0:51forgotten to bring any bread. This is
0:55immediately on the heels of feeding the
0:575000. And Jesus said to them, "Watch out
1:00and beware of the leaven of the
1:03Pharisees and [music] Sadducees."
1:06They began to discuss this among
1:08themselves, saying, "He said that
1:11because we did not bring any bread." But
1:14Jesus aware of this said, "You men of
1:17little faith,
1:20why do you discuss among yourselves that
1:23you have no bread?
1:26Do you not understand or remember the
1:28five loaves of the 5000 and how many
1:31baskets [music] full you picked up? Or
1:34the seven loaves of the 4,000 and how
1:37many large baskets full you picked up?
1:41How is [music] it that you do not
1:43understand that I did not speak to you
1:46concerning bread?
1:48But beware of the leavenven of the
1:50Pharisees and Sadducees.
1:54Then they understood that he did not
1:56say, "Beware of the leavenven of the
1:58bread, but of the teaching of the
2:01Pharisees and Sadducees."
2:04Now, this is an interesting
2:07review because
2:10Matthew says that the Pharisees and
2:13Sadducees come to him and they're
2:16testing him and they say that they want
2:19to see a sign from heaven.
2:22Now, they've already done this and he's
2:24already told them exactly the same thing
2:28that the only sign that they will be
2:29given is Jonah. But there is [music] a
2:32great irony here because Matthew is
2:34telling us chapter after chapter about
2:37sign after sign that they keep getting.
2:40But their
2:42faith is not in the word of God or in
2:46the works of God. Their faith is in
2:49their own understanding.
2:52They do not have faith in the works of
2:55God or in the word of God or in the
2:58presence of God living among them in
3:01Jesus Christ. Their faith is in their
3:03own understanding and that understanding
3:08is like yeast that is coloring
3:12everything that they are encountering.
3:15They have a narrative. They have an
3:17understanding that is so baked in, that
3:20is so set that they cannot
3:25help but change their own perception of
3:29everything they encounter. They can
3:31encounter a large lump of dough
3:35or a large miracle on a hillside where
3:38God multiplies
3:40and feeds thousands of people. It
3:43doesn't matter because the levan is in
3:46them. The levan is hypocrisy. But what
3:49kind of hypocrisy?
3:52It's this phony commitment
3:56to the word of God and to the truth of
3:59God and to the law of God. But it's
4:03really rooted in self being the arbiter
4:07and mediator of all the above. So it's
4:10hypocritical. It's pretending that this
4:13is in protection of God and it's really
4:16in protection of my place, my role, my
4:19authority, my influence in the
4:22community.
4:23So, it's hypocrisy. It's a hypocrisy of
4:27unbelief toward anything that doesn't
4:30happen according to my expectations.
4:33And that hypocrisy of unbelief
4:36is like a yeast that changes the shape
4:38and nature of everything I encounter. It
4:41is a leavenvening agent. He tells them
4:44that their hypocrisy is evidenced by the
4:47fact that they are able to accurately
4:49forecast the weather by the color of the
4:51sky at evening and at morning. But they
4:54cannot accurately appraise what they are
4:56encountering in the presence of God, in
4:59the fruit of his ministry, in the
5:02miracles they are seeing. They can't see
5:04it. They're asking for a sign while
5:06miracles are happening all around them.
5:08And he's saying, "Why can't you see
5:10this?" Because there's a yeast in your
5:13head. There's a a narrative in your
5:16head. You have already predetermined
5:19and prejudged me. You are prejudiced
5:22against me. And so everything that you
5:24encounter is like these lumps of dough
5:27that are encountering yeast. In the
5:30ancient times, yeast was sourdough. They
5:33didn't have a powder that they mixed
5:35with water and combined with bread.
5:37Instead, they had a starter. It's your
5:40starting place. They had a small portion
5:42of [clears throat]
5:44of flour and and batter. And every new
5:47lump of dough would be added to that
5:51starter of old dough. And this is what
5:54they're doing. They're they're adding
5:56the new thing that God is doing to the
5:58old assumptions that they already
6:00possessed. And those assumptions
6:04are are poisoning and changing the
6:07nature of everything they're
6:08encountering from God. Something else
6:10that is fascinating is after you would
6:13make bread in the same wooden bowl for
6:17years and years, the yeast would
6:19permeate the bowl itself. This would
6:22happen with wine as well, but it would
6:24permeate the bread bowl because they
6:26weren't using stainless steel or glass.
6:27They were using a wooden bowl and and
6:30the yeast would permeate the bread bowl.
6:32So it was possible to just add flour and
6:36water and the yeast embedded in the
6:39container
6:41would would change the dough and begin
6:43to uh leaven the dough that you were
6:46baking. So he's saying the container,
6:49the the world view, the the framework of
6:54your thinking is such that everything
6:56that falls into it begins to be yeasted
7:00and leavened. And you aren't
7:02encountering what I'm giving as I gave
7:04it. You're encountering it after the
7:06yeast of your hypocrisy and
7:08presuppositions and prejudices have
7:11changed it and you can't see it for what
7:14it is. Now when Jesus came into the
7:17district of Cesaria Philippi, he was
7:20asking his disciples, "Who do people say
7:24that the son of man is?"
7:27And they said, "Some say John the
7:29Baptist, others Elijah, but still others
7:33Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
7:37And he said to them, "But who do you say
7:40that I am?"
7:43Simon Peter answered, "You are the
7:46Christ, Messiah, the Son of the living
7:51God."
7:52And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you,
7:55Simon Barjonah,
7:58because
7:59flesh and blood did not reveal this to
8:03you, but my father who is in heaven.
8:08I also say to you that you are Peter and
8:12upon this rock I will build my church
8:16and the gates of Hades will not
8:18overpower it.
8:20I will give you the keys of the kingdom
8:23of heaven [clears throat] and whatever
8:25you bind on earth shall have been bound
8:27in heaven and whatever you loose on
8:30earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
8:33Then he warned the disciples that they
8:35should tell no one that he was the
8:38Christ.
8:40This is one of the most important
8:42passages in all the New Testament. It is
8:45one of only two times that Jesus speaks
8:48of the church. And when he does, he
8:51makes it inseparable with the kingdom.
8:54And he says that the gates of hell or
8:57the gates of the grave will not
8:59overpower it. Gates refer to authority.
9:04It's the first overt confession that the
9:07disciples give that Jesus is the
9:09Messiah, the son of God.
9:12But let's look at this in a little
9:14larger context. Cesaria Philippi is
9:18where this happens.
9:20Now at Cesaria Philippi, you are at the
9:22headarters of the Jordan River. It is a
9:25powerful gushing torrent at that place.
9:30And you have to think of the prophecies
9:33from Ezekiel that speak of the rushing
9:36river coming out of the house of God. So
9:40Jesus is there at the rushing of the
9:42river at the headarters of the of the
9:44river. And he says, "This is where my
9:46house is going to be. But what is also
9:48at the headarters at Cesaria Philippi is
9:51a massive rock. This massive huge rock.
9:56And upon that rock, Herod had built his
10:00palace. This was his refuge retreat
10:04palace. This massive palace had been
10:07built. So the king of the Jews, the the
10:10phony Edomite Roman slave king of the
10:14Jews has built the symbol of his
10:18authority and power on this rock. And
10:20Jesus walks up to that rock and says,
10:24"Who do you think I am?
10:27And they say, "Well, some people say
10:28this and some people say that." He says,
10:30"Who do you say that I am?"
10:34And Peter says, "You are Messiah,
10:37Messiah, the son of the living God. You
10:41are the anointed one."
10:43And Jesus does not say, "Blessed are
10:46you, Simon Barjonah, because you got
10:48this right and so few people are." He
10:51didn't say that. He said, "Blessed are
10:53you, Simon Barjonah, because flesh and
10:56blood did not reveal it to you." The
11:00whole story of his kingdom up to this
11:02point is that it's not a flesh and blood
11:06reality. It is a spiritual reality.
11:10And you can't see it, you can't enter it
11:12until you are spiritually awakened and
11:15changed.
11:17In the 13th chapter, he gives us eight
11:20different parables. What shall I compare
11:22the kingdom to? Because he's trying to
11:25open our eyes that the kingdom is not
11:27what we expected. The kingdom is
11:29something different.
11:31And so now when Peter says, "You are the
11:34Christ, the son of the living God,"
11:37Jesus tells him, you are blessed because
11:41you just spoke and declared a revelation
11:46that did not come from your peers. It
11:49did not come from carnal instruction to
11:52carnal heads. It came from God. It came
11:56as a revelation from my father. That's
11:59why you're blessed. Jesus could have
12:02told him, "I am the Christ. Now repeat
12:03after me. You are the Christ. You are
12:05the Christ." And that would have
12:06amounted to nothing.
12:09It needed to be a revelation. It needed
12:11to be a conviction that came from the
12:14father who is in heaven. And upon this
12:17rock, this rock of who Jesus really was,
12:21the incarnate God in the flesh, and the
12:25rock of how Peter got that revelation
12:28straight from heaven. He was going to
12:30build an anointed body. He was going to
12:34build a holy nation. He was going to
12:37build a messianic people. He was going
12:40to build a church, the calledout people.
12:44and the gates of the grave will not
12:48overpower the threat of fear and
12:50violence and Rome. This king who's built
12:54his empire and who's built his palace on
12:57this stone, he won't overpower you if
13:00you live and act by the power of hearing
13:03from heaven and confessing and realizing
13:06it on earth. That's the the church being
13:09built out. And whatever you bind on
13:12earth, it will have been bound in
13:14heaven. He's saying, I'm opening up a
13:16connection where people on earth are
13:19going to hear the voice of the spirit in
13:21heaven. And they're going to do on earth
13:24only what God is doing in heaven. Earth
13:27and the church is going to be a mirror
13:30reflection of what God is deciding in
13:32heaven. We're not going to act and pray
13:34that God mirrors us. God is going to
13:37will and do and we're going to mirror it
13:40on earth
13:42from that time. As soon as they get the
13:45revelation of who Jesus is and that the
13:48kingdom is spiritual and that they're
13:50going to have the keys to open that door
13:54for other people. From that time on,
13:56Jesus began to show his disciples that
13:59he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many
14:02things from the elders and chief priests
14:05and scribes and be killed and be raised
14:08up on the third day.
14:10Peter took him aside and began to rebuke
14:14him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord.
14:20This shall never happen to you."
14:24But he turned and said to Peter, "Get
14:27behind me, Satan.
14:30You are a stumbling block to me, for you
14:34are not setting your mind on God's
14:37interests,
14:38but man's."
14:41Peter has just had an anointed
14:43revelation, but he's still human. And so
14:46when Jesus begins to tell them that he's
14:49got to be crucified, that he can't start
14:52this messianic nation until he is put to
14:55death by the law by the chief priests
14:59and scribes in Jerusalem.
15:01That's the only way he's going to be
15:03able to disarm it and undermine its
15:05power. Peter now is not moving by the
15:08power of the spirit. Peter's now moving
15:10by his own instincts. And it looks like
15:14magnuminity. It looks like concern for
15:16Jesus, but it's really fear for himself.
15:20His mind and heart are fixated on self-p
15:24protection, the interests of man, not
15:27the interests of God. And he rebukes
15:30Jesus and says, "This will never be."
15:33And Jesus says, "You're a stumbling
15:35block to me. There's something in me
15:38that wants to hear what you're saying.
15:40There's something in all of us that
15:41wants to hear. You don't have to live it
15:44that hard. You don't have to make a
15:46sacrifice. That's not necessary. And
15:49Jesus identified that as Satan. Get
15:53behind me, Satan. So, this is a wow
15:56chapter. He's just spoken. And Jesus
16:00says, "You got that straight from the
16:02father." They turn around, Peter speaks
16:05the second sentence of the day, and he
16:08says, "You got that from the devil."
16:11That's how fast we can oscillate between
16:15channeling what our father in heaven is
16:18saying and channeling what the enemy is
16:20saying because our minds are still fixed
16:23on the things that be of man. Then Jesus
16:26said to his disciples, "If anyone wishes
16:29to come after me, he must deny himself
16:33and take up his cross and follow me. for
16:37whoever wishes to save his life will
16:39lose it. Now he's he's telling us he's
16:43indicting the problem in Peter's life.
16:46He's saying if you want to be part of
16:48this kingdom, if you want to use these
16:50keys to open the embassy of heaven on
16:53earth, you're going to have to face your
16:56flesh, your self-preservation, and how
16:59the devil manipulates that to get you to
17:03do the opposite as God's will. For
17:06whoever wishes to save his life will
17:09lose it, but whoever loses his life for
17:12my sake will find it.
17:14For what will it profit a man if he
17:17gains the whole world and forfeits his
17:19own soul? Or what will a man give in
17:22exchange for his soul? For the Son of
17:24Man is going to come in the glory of his
17:28father with his angels and will then
17:31repay [music] every man according to his
17:35deeds. Truly I say to you, there are
17:38some of those who are standing here who
17:41will not taste death until they see the
17:45Son of Man coming [music]
17:46in his kingdom.
17:49This final promise is powerful.
17:52He goes back to the promise that he's
17:53giving them the keys to the kingdom and
17:56building a church that the gates of hell
17:58cannot prevail against. But he says,
18:00"You've got to recognize that what's
18:02going to keep [music] this kingdom from
18:04being established through you is that
18:06you're seeking to save your life. You
18:09got to lay it down. You got to be
18:11willing to hurt. You got to be willing
18:12to lose your ambitions. You got to be
18:14willing to lose your life or you cannot
18:17be part of this because the [music]
18:19enemy is working through your
18:21self-preservation, but God is working
18:23through your self-surrender."
18:25And then he [music] says, "Truly I say
18:27to you, there are those standing here
18:30who will not die until they see the Son
18:32of Man coming [music] in his kingdom."
18:35So whatever this kingdom is that they've
18:37been talking about [music] that Jesus
18:38has been describing that he says eight
18:41times, "What shall I compare this
18:42kingdom to?" I'll [music] tell you what
18:44it's not. It's not some millennial
18:46political system. It's a mystery and
18:49it's spiritual. And it comes when we
18:52start dying to oursel and channeling
18:55what our father in heaven is speaking.
18:58And whatever this kingdom is, these
19:01people are not going to die before it
19:03comes and becomes a reality on the
19:06earth.
19:09[music]
19:19>> [music]

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