Beware of Fungus Among Us - 6/22/2025 Sunday Sermon

The Tabernacle Today

Beware of Fungus Among Us

When the child of God

Looks into the word of God

And sees the Son of God

They are transformed by the Spirit of God

Into the image of God

For the glory of God

-Warren Wiersbe

Criswell looked at the older man and said, “Yes, brother, I agree. I think we as Christians should confess our shortcomings and sins to one another. Could we start with you?”

Today we are going to see Jesus warn His disciples to avoid the false teaching and false lifestyle of both extremes – legalism and liberalism.

Matthew 16:1-12

The folly of asking THE sign for a sign - V. 1

They disagreed fiercely with each other, but something had brought these fierce rivals together – hatred for Jesus. It still happens today!

In their rejection of Jesus, they made the same mistake proud and unbelieving sinners still make – they put Jesus on trial, not realizing He is the very Judge we must all give an account to. If they didn’t repent, there would remain on the path to Hell.

The foolishness of rejecting THE sign all other signs point to - V. 2-4

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in morning, sailor’s take warning!

Jesus’ life, teaching and miracles were convincing signs of the times - that God’s Kingdom had come among them, just as John the Baptist and He had proclaimed. Yet they would not repent and turn to Him in faith.

Jesus saying they were adulterers means they were spiritual adulterers, they were not faithful to the very God who had said He would send the Messiah. Messiah was walking among them, and they rejected Him, preferring the idols they had set up. Idolatry is spiritual adultery.

Jesus Himself was the only sign they needed, and the proof would be His resurrection from the dead. To gain eternal life, we need to embrace Jesus by faith and the miracle of His resurrection.

“If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” - Luke 16:30

The importance of thinking about the right kind of food - V. 5-12

Jesus wanted them to think of spiritual things first instead of just focusing on where their next meal would come from.

Leaven usually represents evil in the Bible. A little evil mixed into teaching will bring a whole lump of problems! The Pharisees leaven brought about a whole lot of legalistic attitudes and actions. The Sadducees leaven brought about a whole lot of liberal attitudes and actions.

Jesus was switching them from thinking about physical needs to thinking about spiritual truths. But they did what some of us are doing right now – they tuned spiritual matters out and focused on lunch.

They wanted to have their physical needs met, which Jesus had shown was no problem for Him. But first He wanted them to focus on spiritual things! They had the same lack of understanding and hard hearts we often do today. So stop focusing on physical lunch and get your spiritual meal!

Don’t add unnecessary commands & expectations to God’s people like the Pharisees did with their legalism. But also don’t reject God’s word like the Sadducees did, leading them to compromise and live carnally.

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” - John 4:24

If we worship in spirit without truth we can wind up sinning by ‘loose living’ like so many today who refuse to call anything sin. If we worship in truth without spirit we can wind up sinning with a ‘legalism’ like so many today who show little love as they judge others harshly.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8