Matthew 12:22-37

In Matthew 12 and verse 22 to 37.

And I want to speak to you this morning on the subject that ministers and preachers don't like to speak on.

! I want to speak to you on the subject of war.

I'm not the wars that we remember as lots of anniversaries out there at the moment with wars.

But this war has outlived every other conflict through history.

Every other conflict compared to this war has been short-lived.

It has been small-scale.

But this warfare to which Jesus makes reference to in a kind of more expanded way here in Matthew 12 than in any other parts of the Gospel.

This war has been going on since the beginning of time.

And there's been no peace.

And it's intensified undoubtedly at the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world.

And in the course of his ministry.

One day it will end.

It will end at Jesus' return in glory.

And the consummation of God's purposes.

But this war covers the whole earth.

There is no corner of the world where this war is not being fought.

And there is not one of us this morning who is not involved in this war.

Because Jesus said, did you see it in verse 30?

Did you notice that?

That whoever is not with me is against me.

And he who does not gather with me scatters.

That we are engaged this morning in this conflict.

There is absolutely no doubt.

And the only question for you this morning and for me is which side are you on?

And that question is settled, Jesus tells us, by our commitment to him.

He who is not with me is against me.

And at the centre of this war that I'm describing is the church of Jesus Christ.

A little bit later on in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 16, we'll get there in a few months.

At Caesarea Philippi we'll read of Jesus setting out really what in many ways is the agenda for the rest of his ministry.

And what is Jesus' agenda this morning?

He is saying, I will build my church and the gates of hell, the forces of hell will not prevail against it.

Now you notice how Jesus is describing to the disciples what he is going to do in the world.

And beneath all the things that we read in the Gospels about Jesus, this is the underlying reality.

That Jesus first is going to build a church.

That is his fundamental business.

That is his number one priority for which Jesus came.

He came to redeem.

He came to call to himself, to gather to himself a people.

So he says, priority number one, I will build my church.

But secondly, he tells us, doesn't he, in that little statement, that the forces of hell are going to be combined to resist the building of this church.

Of his church.

The gates of hell is a description of the forces of evil and the powers of evil.

And the third thing tells us that resist as they may, they will not prevail.

That resistance by the powers of evil will not be successful.

On this occasion in Matthew 12 and verse 22, Jesus' discussion of this whole area of the ultimate war that is taking place in the world.

That puts all other wars, no matter how horrific, into the shade.

And the occasion which he discusses this is a contrariety with the Pharisees.

You'll remember from the reading that there is a demon-possessed man, who is 22, who is both blind and mute, and was brought to him and he healed him.

So that the man, without ever having seen a speech therapist, spoke.

And without having been to an optometrist, saw.

So wonderfully understated.

And Jesus deals with that man and his demon possession.

And as he does so, there are two opposing views of how he does it.

Two opposing views of how he casts out the demon.

And how he brings the man who could not speak to speak, and the man who could not see to see.

Verse 23, the first response is, and the people hazard a guess, is this the son of David?

That is, is he the one we've been waiting for?

Is he the one who was promised in the Old Testament, and the whole of the Old Testament has been building up to?

Is he the king?

King David's greatest son.

Is he the one descended from the royal line of David?

He is.

You'll remember that when Jesus makes his triumphant journey on that donkey into Jerusalem, what do they say?

They call upon his name, don't they?

And they say, Hosanna to the son of David.

That is, that they recognise at that point they're coming to the Messiah.

And here the people are asking, could it be?

Can this be?

Can this be?

Is this finally the one who we've been waiting for?

Because when the Messiah came, the whole world of the demonic would bow at his word.

And they would be dealt with.

The demons would be dealt with by his authority.

And so in verse 23, the people, all the people were amazed.

And say, can this be the son of David?

But in verse 24, there's a very different reaction.

The Pharisees dismiss what Jesus has done as the work of the prince of demons.

Beelzebul.

It's probably a word for Satan himself.

But when the Pharisees heard about what he'd done to the demon-possessed blind-moot man,

they said he's only done it by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.

The word literally means, I'm kind of lord of the flies.

It's only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow draws out, drives out demons.

Now this passage that was read, I'm sure as you can hear it being read,

raises all sorts of questions.

And it's very easy to miss, I think, the central thrust.

And more important than demon-possession,

and more important, even than I think,

the sin against the Holy Spirit,

against the Holy Spirit, which we read of in verses 31 to 32,

is this central theme of conflict.

The conflict between Christ and Satan.

And I want us to try and grasp four things this morning.

Four things that seem to be dominant in our Lord's teaching.

There's more here than I can deal with.

But four things about this particular fundamental war.

The first is, the competence in it.

Who are the competence in it?

That's a possible way of saying, who's fighting it?

Who's fighting it?

Who are the competence in this war?

Jesus speaks, as he, of two kingdoms sat against each other.

And at the end of verse 26,

when he asks the Pharisees,

he says,

if Satan casts out Satan,

he is divided against himself,

how then will his, Satan's kingdom, stand?

So the first competence

is the kingdom of Satan.

The other is in verse 28.

But if it is by the Spirit of God

that I cast out demons, Jesus says,

then the kingdom of God has come

upon you, or among you.

So you have two spheres of power

and rule.

You have the sphere in which Satan

is recognized as Lord

by his minions.

And then you have the sphere

of the rule of God.

And they are irreconcilably

against each other.

Set against each other.

And these two spheres,

these two kingdoms,

are headed by two princes.

The devil, well, verse 24,

he is the prince of demons.

He uses that language.

And Jesus is, by contrast,

he is the prince and saviour

whom God has highly exalted

according to Acts 5.

And so you have this conflict

between Christ and Satan.

And that is the underlying theme

of the whole of the Gospels.

And it's a vital thing

for you and I to cross.

What is happening

from the very beginning?

What is happening

at the start of Jesus' life?

The book of Revelation

tells us, for example,

that when Herod went

to slaughter the innocents

at the beginning of Jesus' life,

do you remember?

Kill all those baby boys

in Bethlehem.

But what was happening there?

That is an attempt

to destroy the one

who is coming.

That is an attempt

to destroy

the kingdom of God's kingdom.

Why did Jesus come?

Why are we told

Jesus came?

Jesus came to destroy

the works of Satan.

And that is how

the New Testament

describes what Jesus

has come to do.

The Son of God

appeared to destroy

the works of the devil.

And from the beginning,

right from the beginning,

there's this conflict.

So then you come

to the beginning

of Jesus' public ministry

where he's baptised.

And he's driven out

by the Holy Spirit

into the wilderness.

And there he summons

the Prince of Darkness

onto the battlefield

in the wilderness.

And he canvies him

and he beats him.

He experiences

the onslaught

of the devil.

And that is a thread

which goes right

through Jesus' ministry.

That at every crucial point,

what is our Lord doing?

He is engaging

in this ultimate conflict,

this ultimate war.

Between the whole world

of evil

and the kingdom of God.

That's why you find,

for example,

in that 16th chapter

when Jesus says,

I will build my church

and the gates of hell

will not prevail against it.

Almost immediately,

Simon says,

doesn't he,

Jesus,

the way that you're going

to build this kingdom

by dying the death

of a sin bearer

on the cross,

that is not an idea,

Jesus,

you want to entertain.

And Jesus immediately says,

do you remember

what he says?

Get behind me,

Satan.

Because Jesus recognizes

that the real issue

in the whole of his ministry,

and not only so,

it goes into the book of Acts,

doesn't it?

But the real warfare

that the church of Jesus Christ

is involved with

is that against Satan.

So think about chapter 5,

you're about Ammonia,

and Sapphira,

and they imperil the church,

don't they?

The church is at risk.

The church of Jesus Christ

is at risk of being eroded

with deceit,

and lies,

and hypocrisy,

and the apostles say to them,

do you remember what they say?

They say,

why has Satan

filled your hearts

to lies with the Holy Spirit?

And all the way through,

through you discover

that is exactly what is happening.

The competitors

are the kingdom of Satan

and the kingdom of God.

And they are headed up

by two princes,

the prince and saviour,

who is our Lord Jesus Christ,

and the prince of darkness.

And as the shadow

of the cross

comes

into sharper focus,

again,

do you remember,

Jesus speaks of it

to his disciples,

and he says,

the prince of this world

comes

and has nothing in me.

Now the sign

that the kingdom of God

has come

upon them

is that Jesus

is defeating

the minions

and the messengers

of Satan.

It is,

if I drive out demons

by the spirit of God,

verse 28,

it is by the spirit of God

that I cast out demons,

then the kingdom of God

has come upon you.

And so there's not only

two kingdoms,

and not only two princes,

we are every one of us

caught up in this world.

Not one of us.

And I want to press this

home to you this morning,

not one of us

is excluded from it.

You might not want

to accept that.

It is,

I think,

completely absent

in pretty much

nearly every evangelistic book

that is published

at the moment.

But we are either

in one army

or the other.

There is a total

mobilisation

of the world.

And we are either

in Christ's army

or we are in

Satan's army.

Because Jesus says,

he who is not with me

is against me.

There is no middle ground,

there is no sitting

on the fence.

And we are all

of us caught up in it.

Not only,

the second question

that arises,

not only are we,

not only are we

who are the competence,

but secondly,

what is the sphere

of this war?

Where is this war?

What is the sphere

of this war?

Well,

in a more general sense,

it is wherever

the church of Jesus Christ

is being called out

and being built up.

From verse 22,

you have the power

of Christ,

the power of Christ

invading the kingdom

of Satan.

And he calls this man

out of the kingdom

of Satan

into the kingdom

of Christ.

Because Jesus

is here

engaging in his

great work

of creating

a new people

of God.

And the Pharisees

at that point,

when they see

what Jesus has done,

they cry out,

this is the work

of Satan.

You could not get,

could you,

more naked

opposition

than that.

And note,

it is at this point,

it is in the world

of established religion.

it is in the world

of churchy-anity.

You ask any

contemporary

with Jesus

in the street,

where would you find

the world of religion?

And they would have

pointed you

to the Pharisees.

And they would have

said,

they represent

the world of religion.

But yet,

you could not have

found more naked

opposition

and more hostility.

And so let me just

say this in passing,

that the Pharisees

attributing

to Satan

the work of Jesus,

that is the essence

of blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit.

It's specific.

It is looking

at the work

of the Lord Jesus Christ

and what he has done

and what he is doing

and saying,

that is the devil.

And that's the essence

of it.

I might say a word

on that later.

That is the essence

of what we're talking

about when we say

blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit.

Let me apply this.

Where are we likely

to find this opposition

today?

Where are we likely

to find ourselves

engaged in this

kind of warfare?

Well,

wherever we are involved

in seeing the church

of Jesus Christ built,

and I hope you realise

I don't mean a building,

literally,

but seeing the body

of Christ built,

that will certainly

attract opposition.

That's why,

isn't it,

when Jesus,

as it were,

took the field

in his public ministry,

when he was born

and entered it

upon his ministry,

there is this huge

increase

in the activity

of the demonic.

It was because

Jesus

was standing there

as the one

who has come

to destroy

the works

of the devil,

that he drew

out the demonic.

And that is why

there is more

demonic activity

there at that point

in scripture

than at any other time.

let me try

and press in more.

When you're engaged

in building

the church

of Jesus Christ,

wherever,

however,

whenever,

in whatever capacity,

you will find

that people

will be hindered

in coming to

repentance and faith.

You will find

that people

will be hindered

in spiritual growth.

and they will be

hindered

in Christian service.

Do you remember

the Apostle Paul

he writes,

I had intended

to come to you

so often,

but Satan

hindered me,

he said.

You will find

that people

will become

confused

about the truth

and will have

so many

into their minds

doubts about it.

And it's happened

from the very

beginning of time.

You will find

that people

become alienated

from each other

and the conflict

becomes very personal.

I often see

in church life

a petty

and stupid

conflict

between people.

I can tell you

numerous examples,

I can think of a church

I know well,

and the church

suffered great hindrance

and loads of problems

because two leaders

in the church

fell out.

One of them

had discovered

the other one

taking his place

in a particular activity

and he resented

it deeply.

It turned into

turf war,

a power struggle,

resentment.

They avoided

each other,

they spoke politely

or coughing tea,

but they spoke

more often

against one another

behind each other's

back.

They went into

a huff

with each other,

there was a cold

war,

there was no

harsh words,

no public blow up,

just avoidance.

I know it's

possible,

I think,

to go to those

men and say to

them,

will you please,

please,

please grow up

and will you

stop being so

stupid?

But actually

there was something

very sinister

behind it

because what

happened is

it put people

off the church

and it put

people off the

gospel

and it

puts people

off the

Lord Jesus.

And that's

why when you

have little

silly falling

out in church

life,

when you have

that sort of

thing going

on in church

you must realise

it's not just

a human

phenomenon.

Because Paul

says we wage

war not against

flesh and blood

but against

principalities

and powers.

And that is

the kind of

realistic place

where the war

is waged.

And no wonder

Jesus says

he put things

right with your

brother and

sister,

get things

right and

then come

and make

your offering.

You see the

nasty campaign

that's going

on in

Laudet,

the church

where I

preached last

week,

against them

being able

to buy

this land

that has

all the

sophistication

of a

kind of

modern

secular

world.

It's not

very hard

is it when

you come

to a passage

like this

to see

behind that

is a

personal

enemy.

But just

notice a

more specific

help that

Jesus deals

with.

It's worth

studying on

its own

from verses

25 to

28.

That Jesus

is saying,

and I think

this is so

helpful,

that it's

often a

battle for

the mind.

So verse

25,

Jesus

known

their

thoughts.

He said

to them,

every kingdom

divided against

itself is

laid waste,

and no

city or

house divided

itself will

stand.

And if

Satan casts

out Satan,

he is

divided against

himself.

How then

will his

kingdom

stand?

And if

I cast

out demons

by Beelzebub,

by whom

do your

sons cast

them out?

They were

saying,

weren't they,

they were

saying,

you are

casting out

demons by

the power

of Beelzebub.

the prince

of demons.

So it

was the

devil

casting out

the devil.

Jesus

says,

this is

utterly

irrational.

It's like

having a

rowing team

with eight

rowers,

and four

are in the

boat,

four are

rowing one

way,

and the

other four

are rowing

the other

way.

What happens?

It's just

nonsensical,

isn't it?

And so it

is with the

devil,

casting out

the devil.

Jesus

points out

that it

is utterly

irrational.

You see,

the

unreasonableness

of the

whole realm

of Satan's

thinking.

It's so

often striking

isn't it?

How can

the kingdom

divide it

against itself

sound?

If Satan

is casting

out Satan,

then the

whole kingdom

is going

to collapse,

which is

manifestly

not done.

He's pointing

out to them,

isn't he,

the utter

irrationality

of so much

of what the

devil does

in our

mind.

And we

need to be

aware,

don't we?

We need to

be aware

when something

is so

ridiculously

irrational,

like the

transgender

movement,

like so

much of

what we

hear from

the

K-lobby,

we need

to recognise

that behind

that.

It's not

flesh and

blood.

We must

be careful

of the

sinister,

irrational

way the

devil begins

to invade

our minds

and oppress

us.

Here's the

third thing,

competence in

the warfare,

the sphere of

which it's

fought out,

and thirdly,

the strategy

of Christ

in this

war.

It's

compared in

verse 29,

to entering

the house

of a strong

man.

It's a great

illustration.

You've a

strong man,

and then an

even stronger

man who

comes and

ties him

up before

carrying off

all his

possessions.

But when

somebody comes

into a

strong man's

house,

who has

lots of

gold,

and lots

of possessions,

well, the

person breaking

in needs to

be stronger.

Not to

deal first

with the

possessions,

but to

deal with

the strong

man himself.

And Jesus

is clearly

describing himself

as he is

saying,

I'm stronger

than the

strong man.

I'm the

one who

comes in

and I

bind the

strong man

by spoilers

goods.

And that

of course

is in

so many

ways the

way that

Christ deals

with the

kingdom of

evil.

When he's

in the

world,

what is

he doing?

He's not

tinkering with

the odd

demon here

or there.

We've

missed the

point,

and that's

our whole

focus.

No, he

goes to

the

headquarters

of evil,

to the

strong man

himself,

and what

is Jesus

doing on

the cross?

He is

disarming

Satan.

He's

defeating

him by

his death

on Calvary.

So listen

to how

Paul puts

it in

Colossians

2.15.

He has

disarmed the

powers and

authorities,

and he's

made a

public spectacle

on them,

triumphing over

them by the

cross.

Jesus'

strategy is

to deal

with the

prince of

darkness

himself.

And what

has happened

by the

cross and

resurrection

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ?

Well, it's

this, it's

that Satan

has been

defeated.

He's not

yet been

destroyed.

That will

happen, won't

it, when

Revelation 20

is fulfilled,

and Satan

will not only

be defeated,

but destroyed

and cast out

forever.

But Satan

is defeated

now, and

we need to

recognize that.

There are

these two

great errors

that churches

make in this

connection.

One is the

error of

ignoring Satan

and laughing

at him.

You think of

this kind of

horn-headed,

fork-carrying,

spiky-tailed

monster that

really is a

laughable

figment of

imagination,

a cartoon

character.

Will God

help you

if you

think it's

that?

But the

other extreme

is that there

are people,

aren't there,

they become

more Satan

conscious than

God conscious.

And the

whole balance

and the

emphasis in the

New Testament

is that in

Jesus Christ

there is

victory not

only over

Satan,

but over

Satan and

all his

kingdom.

There's a

beautiful

illustration of

this in the

Old Testament

tucked away.

Let's think of

that lovely

little story of

Elisha's servant

at Dothan.

And Elisha's

servant comes to

his master and

he sees,

outside their

little bungalow,

he sees the

host of the

Midianite army

surrounding the

whole of the

mountain.

He sees the

enemy, he sees

the horses and

the chariots,

and Elisha

says to him,

he says,

more are they

that are for

us than be

for them.

Elisha's servant

goes back out

and he looks

back at the

mountainside and

it's filled with

the horses and

the chariots of

the enemy and

he runs back to

Elisha and he

says to Elisha,

will you not

look at reality,

man?

And Elisha

prays to see,

he prays,

Lord,

open the

mountain's

eyes.

And then

the young man

goes back

outside and

he opens his

eyes and

when he opens

his eyes,

well, God

opens his

eyes,

he sees that

the mountain

is full of

the horses

and the

chariots of

the Lord.

And there

are more

of the horses

and the

chariots and

the angels

of the Lord,

more of

they that

be for us

than they

that be for

them.

God's victory

was glorious

that day.

The apostle

John says,

greater is

he that

is in

you

than he

was in

the

world.

Now

that's the

strategy of

Jesus.

Therefore,

he's dealt

with our

foe,

with our

enemy,

and so

Martin

Luther

says,

a word

shall

quickly

slay

him.

Last

thing,

what's the

final outcome

of this

war?

What's the

final outcome

of this

war?

Well,

the indication

is given

in this

illustration

is given

in verse

22.

The casting

out of

every

demon.

The final

outcome is

simply

foreshadowed

again and

again through

the gospel.

That it

will be at

the coming

of our

saviour

when Satan

will not

only be

defeated,

but destroyed.

And so

the last

issue is,

I think for

you and I

this morning,

is we've

got to

decide

whose

side

you're

on.

Because

whether you

like it

or not,

we're all

engaged in

the fight

this morning.

how do

I know

we're on

the right

side?

Well,

Jesus

gives you

three

indications.

Verse 30,

the first

is by the

commitment we

show.

The second

side,

the sign

we're on

the right

side is in

verse 33,

it's the

fruit that we

bear.

And the

third is in

verse 34,

following the

words that we

speak.

Let's take

them in

reverse order.

You will

know them

by the

words they

speak.

Verse 34,

you brood

of vipers,

you bunch

of snakes,

how can you

speak good

when you're

evil,

for out of

the abundance

of the

hearts the

mouth speaks.

He goes

on to speak

about the

significance

of the

tongue,

and the

words we

speak,

and the

things we

say.

Why?

Well,

because the

words we

say are

an index

of our

heart.

And so

remember that

every time

this week,

when you're

tempted to

let a

careless,

Christless,

godless

word out of

your lips.

That by

your words

will you

be

acquitted,

and by

your words

will you

be

condemned.

Secondly,

it's a

fruit we

bear,

verse 33,

I either

make the

tree good

and its

fruit bad,

or make

the tree

bad and

its fruit

bad,

for the

tree is

known by

its fruit.

How do

you know

inside your

arm?

By the

words you

speak,

by the

fruit you

bear in

your life,

in terms

of character.

And here's

the last

thing,

which in a

sense is

the first,

it is by

your

commitment

we

shall.

Look at

verse 30.

Whoever is

not with

me is

against me,

and whoever

does not

gather with

me,

statters.

And the

evidence of

being on

the Lord's

side,

and the

evidence of

being on

the Lord's

side is

that we're

with him.

And so

can I

ask you to

imagine this

morning that

the Lord

Jesus Christ

is walking

around this

room,

and he

goes round

chair by

chair,

through the

whole of

the gathering

and he

says these

five words,

he says,

with me

or against

me.

He stops

in every

chair,

with me

or against

me.

because that

is the

issue,

nothing

matters more

than the

level of

our

commitment

to Jesus

Christ.

Nothing.

And how

the war

goes here

in this

place,

which will

largely

depend upon

that.

And may

God help

us that we

would have

such clarity

in our

lives,

that nobody

could possibly

mistake which

side we're

on.

Let's

pray.