Mark 8:11  And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.
12  And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
13  And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.

I read an encouraging article recently from the latest O Timothy Magazine. Bro. David Cloud is the author of that magazine. He has been an evangelist in Nepal for a number of years. He also travels to different parts of the word to hold conferences. He is just a man, but I appreciate his research and his teaching. In the latest O Timothy he wrote about the failures in the Independent Fundamental churches. Like any human organization, it will corrupt over time.
Jesus declared:

Matthew 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

There is no perfect church on this earth. Every church has a fallible pastor and the membership is also fallible. It is essential that a church build upon the sure Word of God. The King James Bible is the only sure Word of God for the English speaking world. I know there are many who disagree with this fact, but that does not change the fact. The evidence of the failure of most churches is very obvious. The reason for the failure is also very obvious. Jesus made the promise. If a church is not submissive to His authority and is not building on His sure Word, it cannot survive.
The Bible warns that the last days will be a time of a “falling away”. This is a warning that each generation needs to heed. If we will not accept God’s Word in Its’ entirety, we will fail. In our text, Jesus exposed the Pharisees as false teachers. They proved that so often during Jesus’ time on earth. The people needed to see who these deceivers truly were. The truth will expose the deceivers. It is important to build our lives on truth, not feelings or even on what we think we see with our naked eyes.
It is important to expose false teachers in our time as well. We still have the sure Word of God. We do not need to scratch our heads and wonder where the truth is. We can walk with confidence if we submit to the sure Word of God. That will begin with being born again. Then it will require a steady diet of teaching from God’s Word. There is no substitute and there is no shortcut.
We read here that the Pharisees began to question Him. The problem is that their questions were not designed to seek answers. We read that they were tempting Him with their questions. In this particular case, they wanted to see a sign.
If we go back to Jesus’ final preparation for His public ministry, we read that He was in the wilderness and that He had fasted for forty days and forty nights. The Bible tells us the tempter came to tempt Him by seeking signs then as well. Satan wanted Jesus to turn stones into bread. He wanted Jesus to jump off a tall building and see if God would protect Him. He also wanted Jesus to bow before him and he would give Him power over the kingdoms of the world.
Jesus rebuked the devil every time with the Word of God. He did not honour the devil with what he wanted. Jesus is the living Word and thus He was always ready for every temptation. It is important for us to know God’s Word as well. We are not told to rebuke the devil. We are not told to answer him. We are told to draw nigh to God in humility and the devil will flee. He does not want to be in the presence of the Lord. We are not Jesus. We are not little gods as some cults would have us believe. If we are saved we are called sons of God and we are given the power to resist temptation and to draw nigh to God.
In verse 12 we read that Jesus sighed deeply in His Spirit. As we have noted already, Jesus had done many miracles up to this point. He had been kept busy with teaching and doing miracles. We just studied the miracle of the feeding of the four thousand. The Pharisees were not interested in truth. They could not appreciate truth because their hearts were hardened.
Jesus rebuked them by asking them a question. Why did they seek after a sign? Why did they not want to believe what they had witnessed. The answer is obvious. They were too proud to be willing to bow before the true Saviour. They did not want the true Saviour. They wanted someone that would fulfil their imaginations.
The Pharisees were no different than the majority of people today. Most Jews and Gentiles are looking for a sign. There have been imaginary signs in the heavens. There have been imaginary signs in Catholic idols. There are many people who look for a sign to determine their course of action. What people need is the truth. Too many people take their assumed sign as evidence that they made a right choice. Few people take the Word of God and seek godly counsel in making right choices.
Jesus rebuked these people by telling them there would be no sign given to that generation. The Greek word translated as “generation” generally means an age, or a people of a certain time period. These people had hardened themselves so much that Jesus told them He would not give them any sign. They likely had some sick people in their midst. They may have had some poor people who needed some food. Jesus declared that He would not give them any sign.
The fact is that they did not need any further signs. He had already proved Who He was. He would do more miracles yet, but not for these people. The Pharisees were a particular group of people who were openly defiant against the Lord. They were trying to overthrow Him. They also wanted to overthrow the Roman government. Jesus was not their man. He did not do what they wanted. They were fools for rejecting the true Son of God. They would miss out on God’s peace and on heaven due to their hard-heartedness.
The Bible warns that there will be many people on this earth when the antichrist comes. They will accept his lying signs and wonders because they loved not the truth. There are thousands of people today who are gullible enough to believe the lies of the charismatic camp. They reject the truth, but they are willing to embrace someone who will come with a supposed sign or wonder. Their rejection of the truth prepared them to receive the deception. There are people who will admit to seeing something, even when they do not really see anything. They want to fit in so they are willing to lie in order to do so.
In verse13 we read that Jesus left the Pharisees. He was not going to waste His time and the time of others who wanted to know the truth. He would leave these Pharisees to wallow in their deception. He would cross the sea of Galilee again to meet with other people.
Today, Jesus is also passing by many people. We are living in an area where most people are not interested in the truth. People walk past our building every week, but they refuse to enter. People are seeking, and not finding because their imaginations will never lead them to the truth. It is necessary to turn to God in repentance and be saved. The truth shall make you free. Your soul longs for truth. Ask God to lead you to the truth. If you will submit to Him, He will bless you with the truth. If you insist on your brand, you will miss out on that which your soul needs.
Pastor Bartel