Matthew 12 (Part 3) :22-32

--- We're in Matthew 12 we're down at verse 22 is where we're picking it up and so let's take a look at it we'll read a few verses here and then we'll pray it says

let's stop there please if you would let's pray ask the Lord to open our hearts father God we look to you as always as the teacher the illuminator Lord turn on the light in our hearts and minds that we can get from this word what you have for us today use it in our lives we pray Jesus name Amen in the verses that we're looking at here this morning in Matthew chapter 12 we're going to be looking at three things and for those of you that like to take notes I'll put them up on the screen for you just so you know kind of the basic headings that we're going to be looking at essentially we're going to be touching on the issue of demonic possession not in in-depth however we are going to be talking about this issue of a house divided I'm sure you've heard that phrase and it comes from this very passage and then we're going to be dealing with that sticky wicket called the blasphemy of the Spirit and I know there's a lot of people with a lot of questions about that so let's begin with the issue of demonic possession the section begins in verse 22 with simply telling us that they brought a demon possessed man to Jesus and it doesn't tell us who the they is we're not really sure but it's a good chance that it was the Pharisees see the Pharisees themselves were actually involved in certain kinds of demonic deliverance type stuff because demonic possession was a big problem back in those days not that it isn't today either but anyway they did do this sort of a thing but the Pharisees also believe there were certain demonic situations for which there was no hope and I think it's a good chance they probably brought this individual to Jesus because they figured there was really nothing he could do about it and that you know know what what better way to kind of create a slur on his character power and authority but bring him someone for whom there was really no hope there's really nothing he can do about it and then we can you know kind of use that against him in a sense it's interesting isn't it that Matthew uses an economy of words to simply say Jesus healed the man you know all in one verse we find out they brought him a demon-possessed man and Jesus healed him it really wasn't that big of a deal for Jesus and once again we see him displaying his absolute power and authority over the demonic realm by casting out this spiritual power that had kept this man captive and and bound him from being able to both see and speak I think some people from time to time will think about Jesus and Satan as if they're kind of on an equal footing you know it's like we've got this battle going on you know the battle of the Titans you've got Jesus in the one corner and you've got Satan in the other and the bell rings and here they come and Lin who's gonna win well let me tell you something there's no comparison Jesus is the creator God in human flesh and Satan is nothing more than a created being and there is no similarity in fact there's every dissimilarity between their purpose and everything else but when it comes to their power and authority let me tell you something Jesus Trump Satan by an infinite amount and the word amount doesn't even apply when you're dealing with infinity the point is Jesus was not hindered by the particular situation that this man was suffering under and Matthew doesn't go into a great deal of dialogue to simply say he healed the man he just flat-out healed the man now I'm not going to go on and talk a lot more about demonic possession today because frankly we dealt with it in in you know pretty deep terms I don't know if you remember last October when we were in Matthew chapter 8 yeah it took us that long to get from 8 to 12 but back in October when we were dealing with the the man of the tombs remember the men who came out and rushed Jesus when he after he landed on the shore and and these men lived in a in a graveyard and and they were just absolutely all them as well beyond any kind of human sort of intervention and and Jesus healed them that was back in October in fact it was on the 14th of October for those of you that might want to go back to our website you can listen to that message you can watch that that teaching all over again and there was a lot of information given it about demons and demonic possession so if you have questions about those things you can go back and watch or listen to that particular message let me just say this though before we move on a soul under demonic control is kind of a picture for us and particularly this picture that we're seeing here in Matthew chapter 12 is is one that conveys for us what really Satan wants to accomplish in all people in all the sons of Adam you can see that what he did to this particular man is he took away his ability to see and he took away his ability to speak in other words he effectively blinded him and he effectively muzzled him right and essentially that's what Satan wants to do and and by the way you need to know this he doesn't need a demon to do it on on a few rare and extreme situations people can actually be invested with the demonic presence we see that in the Bible it's borne out in history but it's really kind of a rare ish sort of a situation and Satan doesn't need to play that strong of a card every time because he either he has other ways of blinding people and muzzling people but that is his desire and he desires to blind people from an understanding of the gospel of knowing that Jesus is the Christ that he is the Savior and people are blinded to that all the time Paul writes about the fact that the God of this world has blinded the minds of those who are in the world less they believe they literally are walking around and it's like yeah whatever you know they we sit and talk about Jesus and they're like I don't know what that's all about this Jesus guy you're talking about and singing about and stuff you know it's like you know he's a guy but they're blind there's a blindness there you know and Satan does that very effectively and even when someone does come to a place of opening their eyes and being able to see who Jesus is and the gospel of truth that is behind him there's still sometimes a muzzle there's an inability to cry out to speak out to say Jesus I need you you know I've prayed with people or at least tried to in years past where we'll talk about the gospel and we'll get them to a place of saying yeah I get that and then well would you like to call out on them to the name of Jesus and receive salvation and they're just like oh I don't know I I don't know what to say I I just need time to think about it boom I'm gone you know sort of a thing it's like there's a there's something there keeping him from speaking just saying the name of Jesus and crawling out to him and you know that's salvation is largely dependent upon just crying out so you know Satan has his way you know I guess the point of what I'm making here is the point of what I'm saying I should say is that just because an individual isn't possessed with a demon doesn't mean that they cannot be under his influence or very much under his control in fact you know now that doesn't apply to believers you know we talked about this last October and probably mentioned it since then but a believer cannot be invested with a demon I don't care what you've been told if anybody maintains that believers can be invested with the demonic presence they are having and holding that particular belief not on the basis of the Bible but on the basis of experience Which can be very faulty and just opinion There is not one instance in the Bible of a believer invested with the demon not one and Really the it's common sense, I mean it's biblical, but it's also common sense You can't have a demon when you're a believer because you already have the Spirit of God living within you You're already invested with a spirit. It's the Spirit of Jesus He lives within you when you come to faith in Christ, and there's not room for any kind of demonic garbage it doesn't mean a believer can't be under the influence or Oppressiveness of a demonic spirit because we can be hassled can't we that's why the Bible talks a lot about you And I putting on the full armor of God being prepared being alert Remembering that our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour and so forth We're given all kinds of warnings to be on our guard But there's not a threat of any kind of demonic presence taking Residence in you and I because Jesus is already there and all of his glory but that's not the case with unbelievers, but like I said before an unbeliever doesn't have to be invested with the demon to unknowingly be under his control Let me share with you a verse on the screen from first John chapter 5 and verse 19 It says John writes We know that we are children of God and we also know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one You see there are two kingdoms basically in the world there's the kingdom of God and there's the kingdom of this world and we know who the leader of that is temporarily so and There really isn't any neutrality on the issue and we'll see that in just a few minutes But there really isn't a position of like well, you know, I'm not really decided yet If you're not in the kingdom of God, you're in the kingdom of Satan and that doesn't mean you're demon-possessed It doesn't even mean that you're a rotten person It doesn't mean you're going around doing awful things and you're an axe murderer or something. I didn't mean that It just means that there are two kingdoms and they are vying for control and One of them is going to be in control in your life. And if if one isn't the other one is And that's basically what John is saying in this passage Satan longs to to get a hold of people Take control of their lives and it doesn't have to be through demon possession once in a rare Once in a while in a rare case it can happen. But again, it is rare anyway The next issue that we're going to deal with here From our passage in Matthew chapter 12 is this issue of a house divided? I'm sure you've heard that phrase It says here that when Jesus Delivered the man from that demonic presence and he was able to both see and speak that the people were amazed In fact, the Greek literally means they were beside themselves and they asked one another Could this be the son of David and that was a way of saying could this be the Messiah Who we've been waiting for and you'll notice the response of the Pharisees. It was it reveals very much about their Hearts and what's in them and they respond by basically saying I it's it's just Because he's operating in league with Satan. That's why he's able to do these things. That's basically what they say. Look at verse 24 It says but when the Pharisees heard this they said it's only by Beelzebub, which is just kind of a form It was a it was a name that was given for once in a while to Satan the prince of demons He said that's why this guy is able to drive out demons. He's simply in league with the devil and So Jesus is going to respond to that and he's going to respond in two different ways. First of all, he's going to Present an argument to show the stupidity of their statement. Secondly, he's going to Share with them Just how grave That sort of a statement actually is how serious it is. Let's deal with the first one first verse 25 Look with me in your Bible Jesus knew their thoughts by the way That's something only God can do and he said to them every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and every city or household Divided against itself will not stand and then he says this if Satan drives out Satan He is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand stop there? You know, that's really a pretty simple argument when you stop and think about it What Jesus is basically saying is if Satan is in the business of casting out Satan because Satan is also in the business obviously of Keeping people in bondage So if he is now in the business of releasing them from bondage Then he is putting them in and releasing them. That means his kingdom is divided against itself. That means there's a problem His kingdom can't stand That's a great argument You can't be for yourself and against yourself at the same time. I mean that kind of duplicity is just not possible Here's the real sobering thing about the statement that Jesus makes he basically reminds us here that this principle is True, not just of the kingdom of Satan It's true of any kingdom It's true of any city Here here's the tough one guys, it's true of every household and essentially what he's saying is the presence of internal strife and division is a sure sign that things are in a bad way and Destruction is imminent Now I don't often wax eloquent on things political But I'm sorry, I just can't keep my hands off this one. I mean look at the the condition We are in in the United States of America You know, we can't we can't even make financial decisions or budgetary decisions, you know, I mean, we're just paralyzed Government is paralyzed. I don't know that we've seen this kind of division since the time of the Civil War I don't know that it's been this bad ever It's in it's a serious issue But What's what's applicable more specifically to your life and mine is that issue that even a household divided against itself cannot stand kind of makes you you know, think twice about having an argument doesn't it and Needing to be right all the time, you know, sometimes people come to me as a pastor. They want me to play referee Between their their spats And sometimes I'll just look at him and say just let me ask you a question Just how badly do you want to be right? I Mean what is it worth? You know, is it worth the destruction of the home? Is it worth the destruction of your marriage? That you have to be right all the time. I mean good grief. Think about the implications think about the consequences sometimes of our Stubborn pride that just is gonna stand our ground no matter what the cost. How dumb is that? I Love the the words of the Apostle Paul when he talks to the the Corinthians about the fact that they wanted to be right so much They were taking each other to court suing each other. He said why not rather be wrong? Isn't it better to be wrong than to drag the name of Jesus because of your petty issues in front of a human worldly court and Basically prove the fact that we really are idiots and can't get along. I mean good grief You know the fact of the matter is it's going on in our marriages, too. We just got to be right No matter what the cost Jesus says if there's division there it's going down It's time to do something about it and You know what? I love the question that Jesus asks as he goes on look with me in verse 29 in your Bible I like this too again. He's getting back to this issue of his power over Satan He says or again How can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house That's a great argument And basically what Jesus is saying here is that if I am casting out demons and you're admitting that I am you're just simply saying I'm doing it by his power, but we've already dealt with the stupidity of that statement But if I am casting out demons then what that means is I am able to go into his house and take what I want He's essentially saying this if you knew that a thief or a robber was coming to your home Right, and I'll speak to the guys here because you know you you kind of have a little bit more testosterone going for you that makes you want to be that protector guy and You know if you knew somebody was gonna break into your home You'd do something about it. Somebody knocked on your door and said excuse me I'd like to come into your home and take whatever I want including your family. You'd say over my dead body, right? I mean you do whatever you needed to do to protect well, if he so if that guy wants to get in and do what he wants to do, which is take he's gonna have to incapacitate you and Jesus is basically saying that very thing in order to go into somebody's home and take what you want You got to incapacitate the strong man The fact that I am casting out demons has proven that I am able to incapacitate Satan because I just in your in your viewing Waltzed into his house and I took some things they in the form of people who are under bondage To his control. I went in and I proved to you that I had the ability to take what I want and set them free and If that's the case then the kingdom of God really truly is among you Jesus is showing by all of these things that he has the authority. He has the power. He has the ability they simply just didn't want to see it. Let's deal with this last issue, this issue of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 30 with me, and he's going to kind of intro this idea with this statement, he who is not with me is against me and he who does not scatter, or excuse me, does not gather with me scatters. That's the way it goes. All right, what is Jesus saying here? Well, this is where we get to that issue of no neutrality. Jesus is saying there is not a neutral position. If you're not with me, you're against me. If you're not gathering with me, you're scattering. And by the way, that's a farming term. Some of you are farmers, some of you work on farms, some of you have driven by a farm, and some of you have seen farms on television. But these are farming terms, they deal with the man who works the ground, and they deal with the man who works the livestock. From the context of someone who's a dirt farmer, he's basically saying if you're not out there sharing in the gathering of the harvest, you're actually scattering the grain, the very precious harvest. And it comes also from the farmer of livestock, who is saying if you're not helping me gather the flock, you're actually scattering the flock instead. And then he says in verse 31, if you look with me there in your Bible, and so I tell you, meaning that's connected to what was just said, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. I have to confess to you, it's a little shocking, maybe even a little disturbing to hear the Savior talking about a sin that can't be taken care of, isn't it? I mean, we think of Jesus as the one who forgives all things, and in fact, he does. But he says to us here, there is this thing called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, so we need to look at it. Now, I would be lying to you if I told you that anybody who has ever looked at this verse has come to the absolute same conclusion as anybody else, and we're all on the same page. There have been some interesting, sometimes even fanciful interpretations to this passage, but one of the things I love about God's Word is that you can look in other places in the Scripture, and you can find things corroborated. We basically use that as an interpretive tool of God's Word. It's called interpreting God's Word by God's Word, because God's Word doesn't contradict itself, and so we can look elsewhere, and we can actually see clarity. It can actually remove the kind of issues that might get in the way, and I think the ambiguity of this passage is taken away. When we look at the same story in Mark's gospel account, Mark is an interesting gospel writer. He's kind of like the Reader's Digest version of the gospel. Have you ever noticed that when you're reading through Mark? He's kind of shortened to the point, whereas Matthew is a little bit more the amplified version. So Matthew gives us more details, talks more about biblical prophecies being fulfilled. Mark just kind of, boom, kind of nails it. Let me show you this exact same passage in Mark's gospel. On the screen, Jesus saying here, I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He is guilty of an eternal sin. And then Mark offers this commentary. He said this because they were saying, he has an evil spirit, meaning Jesus is doing this by the power of Satan. He's in cahoots with the devil. He's in league with the enemy. That's why Jesus said it. All right? That's important to see. So what is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Well, it seems pretty clear. It's declaring that the supernatural work of Jesus Christ is actually accomplished through the agency, power, and authority of Satan. That's why Jesus said what he said, which even brings up the question whether someone could even commit the sin today, but I won't get into that specifically. Over the years, I need to tell you that many tenderhearted Christians have been tempted to kind of run away with the temptation, the idea that they have committed the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In fact, I remember a time when I was pastoring up in Washington when a woman who attended our fellowship, a single gal, called me up just absolutely in hysterics and was crying and hyperventilating about the fact that she really truly believed she had committed the unpardonable sin. And it frankly took me a long time to kind of talk her down from that particular issue. I don't want to oversimplify this, nor do I want to make anyone who in this room has ever dealt with that concern, or maybe even is dealing with the potential concern of blasphemy against the Spirit, I don't want to make you feel slighted or, you know, like an idiot. Don't want to do that. But I do want to assure you, and I want to assure you in such a way as to say that if you have ever struggled with this thought or maybe are even struggling currently with the potential idea that you have done that, I believe that we can be sure that those who have truly repented and put their faith in Christ have not, in fact, cannot commit this sin. And here's why. Here's why. We forget something about repentance and faith. We forget that it's a gift of God. It's a gift. And I'm not... By saying that, I'm not saying that I believe that God gives the gift of salvation to some people and not to others. I believe that the potential for everyone to be saved is the same. I do not believe some people are marked out for salvation and some people are marked out for destruction. I do not believe that. And we can talk later if you have some issues with that. My point is repentance and faith are a gift from God. It's not just you repenting of your sin. It's not just you expressing faith in him. That has to be, too, a gift from him. And I have a hard time believing that he would bestow the gifts to you specifically of repentance, the gifts of faith, and then basically determine never to pardon you, you know? It just doesn't make any sense. And so, you know, I really believe that somebody who is capable of committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is never going to really come to a place in their lives where they're ever going to care about it, you know? I think if you care, it's like not a concern, you know? I mean, if you care, that shows a sensitivity of heart and an openness of heart toward God that just can't be there even to commit the dumb thing in the first place. These Pharisees were so hardened, so cut off, so determined not to believe, regardless of the evidence, you know, evidence that demanded a decision on their part saying, yeah, Jesus is who he says he is. They were so determined not to do that, they would go to any length, including trying to convince people that Jesus was in league with Satan himself. And Jesus, I think, is saying that that shows somebody who is so far gone that there's just no recovery, you know? There's no repentance, there's no forgiveness that's going to come from that because they are just so far down the road. If you're concerned about it at all, I don't think you're down the road at all in that sense. I think God probably has you right where he wants you. Let me say one more thing, if I may, about this particular passage or this statement about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It's interesting, isn't it, when you read verse 31 that we look at it and all we see is a warning. All we see are these dire, you know, things, these negative circumstances that are conveyed in this passage. But did you ever look at this passage and think that there's really a wonderful assurance and promise contained in this verse? Look with me again, would you, one more time, at verse 31. Let's just read it one more time. Jesus says, and so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Now, stop there. I suppose it's human nature for you and I, I suppose, to just kind of jump past a wonderful promise that is given in this verse and just jump right to the end and fixate on the most negative thing that we can grab a hold of because it probably strikes fear in us or whatever the case might be. But we just, we focus on that and we don't even think about the first part. Well, we've dealt with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. We know what it is. It's ascribing to Jesus the works of the devil. We know that. We know that it's something whose heart is just hardened and gone, might attempt to say, to convince others to not come to Jesus and so forth. So now that we've got that handled, let's look at the first part of the verse and let's just think about it for just a moment. Let's take that by itself, shall we? The first part of verse 31 says, and so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. That's actually good news. I mean, I wouldn't even mind putting that one on my fridge. How about you? It says here that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. It's funny, you know, we talk to people on a regular basis about whether or not they feel forgiven. And we don't try to use the word feel very often because it's not about feelings, but, you know, we'll ask people, you know, do you believe that you're forgiven of your sins? And about five times out of ten, someone will say, kinda. And then when we dig a little deeper and ask them some more questions about it, we find out that there's something in their past that they believe God cannot, in fact, will not forgive them for. And, you know, apart from blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which, you know, has to be about as rare as hen's teeth, I think that he can forgive every one of you in this room for anything you've ever done. So lest you have been struggling with the thought that somehow, some way God can't forgive you, you've gone, you know, over the top and for you, there's no return. Let me just tell you that is a lie from the pit of hell and Satan would love nothing more than to have you believe that it's not true. You know, my Bible says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us from all unrighteousness. From all. So don't let that harass you. Don't let it strike fear in your heart. Just know with confidence that whatever you bring before the Lord in the way of your past, that he is able, he is ready today to forgive you if you haven't already dealt with the issue of forgiveness.