You Can Learn A Lot From A Chicken

Matthew 23:33-39 March 13, 2022 a.m.

Do you all remember the PSA put out by the government about wearing seatbelts. They had two crash dummies named Vince and Larry. And of course the slogan was, “You Can Learn a Lot from a Dummy!!!” I think I preached a message on that one time but it’s been a long time ago. This morning I want to preach a message similar to that but I’m NOT going to TITLE IT, “You Can Learn a Lot from a Dummy”

The passage I want to read today starts out with a question. It is the MOST IMPORTANT question that has ever been asked in the history of mankind. It’s a RHETORICAL QUESTION that Jesus asked the PHARISEES and RELIGIOUS LEADERS but yet it’s a QUESTION that you and I MUST ANSWER TODAY.

So let’s turn to Matthew 23. We’ll start reading with Verse 33 and read to the end of the Chapter.

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

I started out with this QUESTION that we must all answer for ourselves. “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

And the reason I started out with this question is BECAUSE Jesus answers this question, just four Verses later. In Verse 37 He tells us HOW. How that we can escape DAMNATION.

“How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

Listen, our only escape is by allowing JESUS to gather us to Himself and HIDE US under Hs wings. You may think I’m crazy this morning but I’m NOT going to TITLE this message, “You Can Learn a Lot from Dummies” but instead this message is TITLED,

“You can learn a lot from, ..... a Chicken.”

So before we get into this message, let’s go to the Lord in Prayer.

Brother ______, would you lead us?

As I said earlier, Jesus was talking to the religious leaders of the day. And Jesus seems to be ANGRY as he speaks to these people. I believe He was Angry at their PRIDE. Angry at their SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Angry at how CALOUS they had become to the NEEDS of the people. But yet, even in His RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION, He showed LOVE to these people. Oh how Jesus LONGED to gather them to Himself. SO let’s take a look at the LOWLY CHICKEN.

I. Did you know that hens ‘talk’ or cluck to their chicks before they even HATCH? As the chicks grow within the eggs, they also begin to peep and squeak back to their mama’s. This helps the chicks to create a bond with their mama’s before they even hatch. And when the chicks do hatch, they know their mother’s voice and will follow it everywhere she leads them.

JESUS LONGED for the Nation of Judah to HEAR the VOICE of GOD. He LONGED for them to OBEY that VOICE. Here they were being controlled by the Wicked Roman Government. And their own DISOBEDIENCE is what had led them here. Their FAILURE to LISTEN and OBEY God. And here’s the Crazy thing. The Saducees Group of Jews spent the most time at the Temple but yet they were HAPPY with their life of being SUBJECT to the Romans. They were more than happy to obey the Romans but yet refused to listen to God.

And this is something so many need to learn today. There are SO MANY who are SO WRAPPED up in their own thing, that they never listen for the Voice of God. Oh how Jesus LONGS to pull them to Himself. Oh how He longs to have that RELATIONSHIP with them but yet they won’t listen for His voice. They’re just FAT and HAPPY, living in their own little world, and they have no time for Jesus.