Whenever I am driving to a place that I’m not familiar with I am a person who needs signs. I can follow good directions with anyone. But even with directions in hand I get uncomfortable if I don’t see a sign for where I’m going. My wife can always tell when I’m a little concerned or nervous about where I’m going because I always put my hands up to my mouth. Once I see a sign or maybe it’s just a landmark that I was given then I become much more comfortable in the direction I’m going. I’m not your typical male though. I don’t just keep driving if I’m not sure. If I’ve gone too long without seeing a sign I’ll pullover and make sure I’m still on the right path. There just seems to be something about signs that make us comfortable. In our text today the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign. He wasn’t real pleased with their requests. When we ask God for a sign it is not pleasing to him. This morning we will look at three reasons why asking God for a sign does not make Him happy.
Mark 8:11-13
The Pharisees wanted to see a miracle. Not just any kind of miracle but a miracle that would leave absolutely no doubt that He was the Messiah. It had to be a sign that only God could perform. You might think, “This would be it. This would be his chance once and for all to prove to them that He indeed was the Son of God.” But Jesus said, “There will be no sign given.” You might wonder why didn’t Jesus prove it to them. I think there might have been a couple of reasons that Jesus refused to give them a sign. I believe one reason was the state of their heart. Their hearts were so hard against the truth that it wouldn’t have mattered what great miracle he did they would have found a way to still deny that He was the Messiah. They were so blind to the truth. There are still people like that today. Their heart has become so hardened that they just dare Christ to prove that He is the Messiah. Some may even go as far to just dare God to prove He exists. They say, “Give me some miraculous sign.” But God knows their heart, and He knows that there is no sign that will change their heart. I think maybe another reason would be if he did this gigantic miracle to prove who He is then it takes faith out of the equation. A life of faith is what is pleasing to God. Remember after Jesus’ resurrection when Thomas refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead unless he could see the nail marks and put his fingers where the nails were. Then Jesus appeared and allowed Thomas to see and to touch him. Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus
did that because Thomas was a follower of Him and he wanted him to know that He had indeed risen. But do you think he was happy over Thomas’ unbelief. Of course He wasn’t. When I was younger I used to wonder why God just didn’t come down in a cloud and appear to everyone at once so people would say, “Wow, God does exist.” Then there would be no Atheist in the world anymore. Of course there would still be people denying that they saw what they saw. God wants us to reach out to him in faith. Asking God for a sign is not pleasing to God because it’s a sign of unbelief.
Believers who think your going to get off easy this morning, not so fast. We may not ask God for a sign to prove He exists, but I believe there are times we ask God for a sign, a sign that shows our unbelief. In the book of Judges God came to Gideon and told him to go and save Israel out of the hands of the Midianites. Of course Gideon immediately said, “How can I do that? I’m from the weakest clan, and I’m the low-man on the totem pole in my family.” The Lord told him, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” And here Gideon goes, he says, “If I have found favor with you, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.” But it didn’t stop there. Gideon said to God a little later. “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” God did exactly as Gideon asked. Then Gideon has enough gall to say again, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.” Once again God did just what He asked. Now you might wonder why did God give Gideon all the signs he needed. I believe it was because Gideon did have a heart that loved the Lord. But did it make God happy that Gideon was asking for those signs. NO, because it was a sign of unbelief. By asking for these signs Gideon was saying I don’t believe Lord that you can save the Israelites through my hand. I don’t think I’m capable so therefore I don’t think it can be done. There was no reason to ask for a sign. Gideon said, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised…” That should have been enough right there. God had promised him that He would do it. But instead of taking God at his promise he kept asking for signs. When you don’t take God at His Word and you keep asking for signs it says, “I don’t believe what you are saying!” There are times when God has told us something or given us something to do and
instead of believing Him and just doing it. We show our unbelief by saying, “If this is really from you God then show me a sign!” Sometimes we are like Gideon and we are saying Lord I don’t believe you can do what you want to do through me I don’t think I’m good enough!” Asking God for a sign shows a lack of belief. God granted Gideon his signs and He may grant you your signs when you ask. But is it pleasing to God. The answer is no. Unbelief is never pleasing to God.
Another reason that asking God for a sign is displeasing to him, the signs are already there. Jesus had done miracle after miracle in the presence of the Pharisees. They had seen all the evidence that they needed to see that He was in fact the Son of God, the Messiah. He had healed people. He had driven demons out of people. He had fed the masses with one little boy’s lunch. But because of their hard hearts they tried to explain the miracles away. They even accused him of doing his miracles through demonic power. Isn’t that funny that the devil would drive out his own spirits from people. They just refused to see the signs that were all around them. So many people today in the world are still ignoring the signs that God has placed around us. One of the most accomplished poets, Elizabeth Barret Browning wrote, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.” There are signs of God everywhere we look around. We miss such tremendous blessings when our callous hearts blind us to those signs. Paul talks about in Romans that no one is without excuse because God has made himself known through his creation. He says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Yet so many people ignore the signs and come up with all these theories of their own how things happened by chance. The world just appeared by some cosmic coincidence. Why should God give another sign when so many people ignore all of the other signs that He has given and are already there!
But once again, in different ways maybe; but we as Christians are so guilty of ignoring the signs that God has already provided. Look at Gideon: When God told Gideon to go and save his people from the hands of the Midianites Gideon gave him his inadequacy excuse. But God plainly said, “I will be with you.” Other words you aren’t doing it, I’m doing it through you. God’s Word should have been all he needed to hear. But Gideon
needed proof that it was actually God that he was talking to and then he asked the Lord for two other signs. God had already given Gideon all the signs he needed even before he asked for the first sign. Every Israelite knew the history of all that God had done for His people. He should have known from all of God’s dealings with the Israelites in the past that God was a God of His Word. If He gives His Word you can believe it. Yet Gideon paid no attention to the signs that had already been given to his people he wanted more. We have so many promises that God has given us in His Word. He has revealed signs to us in His Word. He has revealed signs to us through what He has done in other people’s lives. He had revealed signs to us what He has done in our own lives. Yet, God tells us something He wants to do through us or he tells us something that is going to happen in our midst and we say, “Show me a sign!” God’s doesn’t like signs because it not only shows our unbelief, but also because he has given us so many signs already. The signs are there, we don’t need any new signs. Just like Jesus Christ was the final revelation of God to the world, we don’t need any new signs. God has showed us the extent of his love and salvation through Jesus Christ.
I believe the last reason that asking for signs is displeasing to God is that it delays what God wants to do. We’ve been looking at the case of Gideon. Here God was ready to save the people of Israel from the hand of the Midianites. God chose the person that He wanted to use to bring glory to His name and save Israel. God was ready to move. For those of you who have taken Experiencing God you remember that when God speaks he’s ready to move. But here Gideon was wasting time. Show me a sign it’s really you God. Give me this sign so I know what you are saying is true. Can you give me one more sign so I will know for sure. God was ready to move but Gideon’s actions were slowing down the plan. Here Gideon and his people were in captivity and all God wanted was to help them overcome the oppression that they were facing but Gideon was making the process much longer than it needed to be. There maybe Christians here this morning that God wants to do something through you, something that will bring you and your family great blessings. You could be enjoying those blessings a lot sooner if you would just stop asking for signs and be obedient to what you know God has said. There are some of you here this morning maybe that you’ve never asked Jesus Christ into your heart. You keep waiting for the perfect sign or the perfect opportunity but you always find a way to put it off. Whether it’s wanting one more sign or you just keep deciding that today
isn’t the day. God has this plan for your life that He so wants to bless you with. He wants to bring blessings to your life. He wants to fill your life with a peace and a joy that you’ve never experienced before. Today will you say “yes.” Or will you put him off and say show me one more sign.
Whether you’re a Christian or someone who hasn’t made that decision, a great deal of wisdom can be found at this altar seeking God. Whatever your needs are this morning I encourage you to step out in faith. Quite showing your lack of belief, God has given you every sign you need to show you that you can trust Him. Don’t delay what God wants to do in your life.
