Matthew 12:22-30

If you have a copy of the scriptures, if you

would open them to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew

Matthew 12 · chapter mention Matthew 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, and we'll be looking at verses 22

through 30 this morning. Before we begin, would

you bow with me in a word of prayer and ask God

to help us once more? Father, I'm thankful for

the ministry of music. Lord, I'm thankful for

the songs that we can sing that instructs us

in our faith. Lord, it's the song we just sang.

Lord, we cry out, how long, Lord? Lord, we long

for the kingdom to come in its fullness. We long

for our king to come. We long to forever be with

Christ, which is far better. So Lord God, with

the saints who at every age prayed, even so come

Lord Jesus. Father, I'm reminded this morning

as I stand here before your people that this

is a sacred task. I'm also reminded, Father,

that I will give an account before you for every

idle word that is spoken in the day of judgment.

Lord, I'm asking, please don't let these words

be idle. Lord, I know my words will profit nothing,

but your word, Lord God, allows us to grow in

our most holy faith. It allows us to be built

up in Christ. So, Father, would you help me to

preach the word and, Lord, to reveal the glory

and majesty and supremacy of your Son. May he

get the primacy, the preeminence. And, Lord God,

may we sink low this morning. Father, help us

to see Jesus, we pray. And it's in his name we

ask this. Amen. The text begins in verse 22.

Then one was brought to him, that is Jesus, who

is demon -possessed, blind and mute. And he healed

him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke

and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed,

and they said, Could this be the son of David?

Now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This

fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub.

the ruler of the demons. But Jesus knew their

thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided

against itself is brought to desolation, and

every city or house divided against itself will

not stand. 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? Therefore they shall

be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the

Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has

come upon you. For how can one enter a strong

man's house and plunder his goods unless he first

binds a strong man, and then he will plunder

his house? And then Jesus ends that. He said,

He who is not with me is against me, and he who

does not gather with me scatters abroad. Now

up to this point in Matthew's Gospel, there has

been a storm brewing. We've seen the clouds gathering,

it's been obvious. There will be an eventual

showdown between Jesus and the religious leaders.

That much is inevitable. There have been massive

crowds always following Jesus, and so far they're

uncommitted, yet they have remained curious.

They're curious about the Lord. But now we see

the religious leaders, and especially the Pharisees,

even more than the scribes. They have up to this

point been skeptical, but now they're hostile.

They're going to be hostile toward the Lord.

And today's text, really, we see the conflict

becomes unavoidable. There was a demon -possessed

man. The Bible says he's blind and mute. So this

poor man, he doesn't see. He can't speak. And

yet somehow he is brought to Jesus who miraculously

and instantaneously healed him. Imagine the man's

eyes. He's blind one moment. The next minute,

his eyes are opened, his tongue is loosed, and

the demon is gone. And it says the people were

amazed. They just witnessed such an incredible

event. And I was thinking about this, and I'm

not trying to be funny here at all. Imagine,

because in our culture, we know of Helen Keller.

Of course, she was blind, deaf, and mute. But

imagine if suddenly, one moment, she can hear,

she can see, she can speak. And we witnessed

that event. That's what they would have been

doing. So the crowd began to ask a really sensible

question. They said, could this be the son of

David? I mean, could this man right here, couldn't

he be our king? And on the other hand, you had

the Pharisees who also witnessed the same event.

They responded not with wonder, but with accusation.

They're saying, oh yeah, you saw a notable miracle,

but this man used demonic power to heal him.

So it was evident to all, including the Pharisees,

they could not deny a tremendous miracle had

taken place. But the issue no longer is about

the miracle, rather about the response to it.

There's now a new issue, and it centers around

a question of authority and kingdoms. And Jesus

looked at the Pharisees and he said, this miracle

that you've just witnessed, it proves the kingdom

of God has come and has broken into enemy territory.

In fact, in the scriptures, every time you see

Jesus casting out a demon, what was he doing?

He was binding the strong man and plundering

Satan's house one person at a time. Jesus was

reclaiming what rightfully belonged to God. Now,

the showdown that we see, it's not ultimately

between Jesus and the Pharisees. Rather, it's

between the Lord Jesus and the kingdom of Satan

himself. Now, I want to take a closer look at

this passage. But we have to understand the context.

We're in Matthew chapter 12. As I said, there

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

is an escalating, there's a rising tension between

Jesus and, in particular, the Pharisees. And

all began over Sabbath regulations when Jesus'

disciples picked some heads of grain and ate

it. But we also see that Jesus, in verse 8, he

said that he was the Lord of the Sabbath. And

then to prove that, in verses 9 through 13, he

heals a man with a withered hand. And that's

when this mounting tension reached kind of a

crisis point. Because in verse 14, we read this.

Then the Pharisees went out. They had just seen

Jesus do a notable miracle as well. They went

out and plotted against him how they might destroy

him. They wanted Jesus dead. And from that point

forward, there is now open public hostility between

the two. So now in our text this morning, verses

22 through 30, You see, there's tension once

again. Why? There's another man that Jesus healed,

which again provoked a response from the Pharisees.

Now this man was severely afflicted. Earlier

it was a man with a withered hand. One minute

his hand is maimed, the next minute completely

restored and whole. But this man was severely

afflicted. He's in terrible condition, just as

all captives of sin are. But he was possessed

by a demon. And this demon made it so that he

could also suffer physical maladies. This man,

we're told, he doesn't see. He cannot speak.

Because what we see is demon possession often,

not always, but often was associated with physical

affliction. It caused blindness or deafness or

muteness or lameness. When you see the demon

possessed in Scripture, though, I think we need

to look a little deeper. When you see a man who's

possessed by the demon, you see the goal of Satan's

kingdom, which is to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

There are various times we see many people in

the New Testament, especially in the Gospels,

who are demon -possessed. Sometimes they are

forced to act like wild animals. Other times,

they cut themselves and they inflicted self -harm.

Still others would walk around naked and live

in tombs. But there were others who had physical

afflictions as well. Some had seizure -like symptoms.

They would fall down and foam at the mouth. Others,

unable to walk. They would be bent over, couldn't

walk. And still others, they could not see, they

could not hear, they could not speak. Demon possession

was a horrible thing, but it was a visible witness,

a visible reminder of what life in the kingdom

of Satan is really like. If Satan gets to have

his way, it is a life of torture and fear, isolation,

suffering, darkness. Satan has always sought

from the very beginning to attack and destroy

God's creation, in particular his image bearers.

That is mankind. Satan loves to do that. This

is an aside. Let me just say this is not the

central point of the text. But I think this calls

me to think that what we see taking place in

our own culture I think is demonically inspired.

There's a movement you've probably heard about,

the furry movement. humans, adults, teenagers

alike, acting and wanting to be treated as if

they were animals. Now that's a sign of mental

illness. But I think at times, now listen, I'm

not saying all mental illness is, but I think

at times mental illness is also a sign of demonic

activity that lies behind mental illness. I think

we lose our Christian moorings, we see more and

more of this stuff. Even the gender confusion

and sexual fluidity that is rampant in our culture

is seeking to destroy that distinction between

male and female, between masculine and feminine.

That's a Satan. Wherever the gospel has taken

root in a society, humanity is elevated. God's

image wears their celebration. There's also a

moral sanity. But when a culture... loses its

Christian influence or its Christian distinctives,

you'll start to see it plunge headlong into darkness,

perversion, and confusion. People no longer able

to reason or think clearly. And friends, that's

where we are as a society today. When we don't

know what a man is or a woman is, that's a problem.

Now we go back to our text though. This poor

man, his life was one of misery and bondage.

Not just because he couldn't see and speak, but

because he was also tortured. There's a demon

living within him. But someone, on one day, brought

that man to Jesus. And Jesus completely healed

him. Instantaneously healed him. I mean, it's

amazing. The blind man's seeing and the mute

man is speaking. And it tells us, the text tells

us, there's this great crowd following Jesus.

They witness that miraculous event. And obviously,

when you see such a notable event taking place,

it's going to provoke reactions. It's going to

provoke many reactions. And Matthew tells us

that the crowds, the people, were amazed. It

means astonished. They're dumbfounded. I mean,

they're just stopped in their tracks. They can't

believe what they had just seen. I mean, it's

not every day that you witness a blind man and

a mute man being made whole. So what happens

in a big crowd? They begin to talk. And they're

talking amongst themselves. And they were wondering,

could this miracle mean that this man, Jesus,

I mean, is it possible that he's the son of David?

Of course, that's a title for the Messiah. Now

they weren't sure because Jesus did not come

as they had expected and he did not come as they

had been told the Messiah would come. You don't

see Jesus being aggressive. He's not military

-like. In fact, he's not uttered one word about

freeing Israel from under the occupation of Rome.

So they're a little bit confused. In fact, as

we looked last week, it says Jesus came meek

and gentle. Verse 19. He will not quarrel or

cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the

streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and

a smoking flax he will not quench. Jesus didn't

fit the bill. He didn't fit the bill of what

they thought the Messiah would be. But, on the

other hand, they can't deny that this miracle,

this incredible, powerful miracle had truly taken

place. They also knew something. They knew that

when the Messiah came, they knew this much. His

arrival would also be marked by miracles. Because

that's what they had been taught. Isaiah 35 is

an example of that. Verse 4. Say to those who

are fearful hearted, be strong. Do not fear.

Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With

the recompense of God. He will come and save

you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened.

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. And

the lame shall leap like a deer. and the tongue

of the dumb, that is the mute, will sing. Ah,

the light is beginning to dawn. It's beginning

to shine for some in that crowd. Jesus is healing

the lame, causing the blind to see, the deaf

to hear, the mute to speak. Yes, this man may

be the Messiah. So the crowds remained curious.

The religious leaders were blasphemous. They're

strident in their unbelief. Now they begin to

realize we're losing our grip. We're losing our

hold on the people because Pharisees were men

of great influence and power. So they say they

knew. They're losing their hold on them. So they

begin to publicly denounce Jesus. Verse 24. When

they heard it, they heard about the miracle,

they said, no, no, no, hey crowd, you're wrong.

This fellow, this one. He does not cast out demons

by the power of God, but by Beelzebub, the prince

of the demons. So when the Pharisees knew about

this miracle, the people were wondering, is Jesus

the Messiah? They weighed in on the matter. They're

the experts, right, in the law. They flat out

denied that Jesus could possibly be the Messiah,

and instead they said his power came from Beelzebub.

Now you might be wondering, well, who is Beelzebub?

It's a good question. You first read about him

in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 1. And he was

a Philistine god and at that time he was called

Beelzebub. Beel was the god they always fell

into idolatry with. Beelzebub. The name means

lord of the flies. It can also mean lord of the

dung. It's the lord of filth. So Beelzebub in

history was a contemptible deity. Filthy, disgusting

idol. And because he is so detestable, when you

come to the New Testament, that name Beelzebub

began to be used as a synonym for Satan. So that's

what they're saying. Hey, listen, you want to

know how he's doing this? It's the power of darkness.

It's Satan's power. Now this is not the first

time the Pharisees had actually accused Jesus

of using satanic activity to perform His miracles.

You saw the same thing happen back in chapter

9, which we were in a few months ago. In chapter

9, it says, As they went out, behold, they brought

to Him, that is Jesus, a man, mute this time,

and demon -possessed. And when the demon was

cast out, the mute spoke, and the multitudes,

once again, they're marveling, saying, I mean,

we've never seen anything like this in Israel.

I mean, this is incredible. But the Pharisees

said, he cast out demons by the ruler of the

demons. Now on that occasion, chapter 9, the

Lord said nothing. He let them go. Now they repeat

the same thing in chapter 12, and this time the

Lord confronts them in their blasphemy. Verse

25. Jesus knew their thoughts. Of course he did.

You're not hiding anything from him. And they

said to him, he said to them, every kingdom that

is divided against itself, is brought to desolation,

and every city or house divided against itself

will not stand. So they're attributing this miracle

to the power of Satan, and the Lord is showing

them the absurdity of their accusation. Every

kingdom, every city, every house that is divided

will ultimately fall. It cannot stand. Now that's

true in all spheres of life. It's true in the

political public sphere. It's true in the domestic

sphere in your home. It's also true in the ecclesial

or the church sphere as well. When a country

goes to war with itself, it's going to be destroyed.

I mean, we can see this in our own nation's history

with the Civil War, and you see the devastation

that that caused, and we're still feeling some

of the effects even to this day. But what about

in the home? When a husband and wife stay divided,

their marriage will not survive. their marriage

will fail if they stay divided. Same thing in

the church. Sometimes you see a church and it

almost implodes from within. A church that remains

divided will come to ruin. The old adage is true.

United we stand, divided we fall. So Jesus then,

he's showing the Pharisees how illogical their

accusation was. The man who had been demon -possessed

already belonged to the kingdom of Satan. Satan

had that man in his grip. So if Jesus were working

for Satan, as they said, what advantage would

it be? It would be the height of absurdity for

Jesus to release that man from his bondage and

set him free. That would have meant that Jesus

was undermining Satan, whom they claimed to be

his boss. Think of it this way. Let's say you

are working for the mob. You have a rival gang

member in your custody. And you decide, I'm going

to free that man and let him go. Well, you're

no longer working for the mob. You're working

against the mob. I mean, the accusation is ridiculous.

And it was for Jesus as well. It's baseless.

And it falls by lack of merit. But it's important

to point out something. Jesus does agree with

the Pharisees on one thing. Satan has a kingdom.

Look at verse 26. If Satan casts out Satan, he's

divided against himself. How then will his kingdom

stand? Satan has a kingdom. It's organized. There

are various rulers. There are powers structured

within it. Now here's the problem. Our modern

culture, anytime you start to mention Satan,

they're like, ooh, the boogeyman. Our modern

culture is too sophisticated, supposedly, and

too educated to believe in Satan or to believe

in demonic powers. Now they'll believe in UFOs.

They'll believe that man's a woman and woman's

a man. But they will not believe in demons or

in Satan or in demonic power. But the word of

God, clearly affirms both. So must we. I'll give

you one verse. It's in Ephesians 6, verse 12.

Ephesians 6:12

You and I, we don't wrestle against flesh and

blood. Listen, friends, your political opponent,

the one who wears the opposite badge, they're

not your enemy. But against principalities, against

powers, against the rulers of the darkness of

this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness

in the heavenly places. That's where the fight

is ultimately taking place. So if we take Jesus

and his words at face value, that means there

are only two kingdoms in this world. There's

the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

The kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.

And there's a real battle, a real war, intense,

that's taking place between these rival kingdoms.

But the good news is the battle is not between

equal powers. God has no opposite. This is not

Star Wars theology. We don't have yin and yang

or light and darkness. That's not how it is.

God has no opposite. Satan is not God's opposite.

In Psalm 103, verse 19, it says, The Lord, that

Psalms 103:19

is Yahweh, Yahweh has established his throne

in heaven and his kingdom rules over all. God,

the triune God, is almighty creator. And all

others are creatures who have been created by

him, including Satan. Satan's not the opposite.

But he does have a kingdom. But it's an illegitimate

kingdom. It's fraudulent. It's counterfeit. And

what it's doing, it's seeking to usurp God's

authority through the power of deception. That's

his power. So the battle, really, it's about

rebellion. First, beginning in heaven with Satan's

rebellion, and then on earth with mankind's rebellion.

So this battle is really about a rebellion against

God's rightful rule and God's work to reclaim

what belongs to him. But all people live in one

of two kingdoms. If you are not in the kingdom

of God, then by default, you're in the kingdom

of Satan. You say, no, I'm kind of neutral. There

is no neutral third kingdom in which you can

live. It doesn't exist. When you were born, As

a child of Adam, you were born into Satan's kingdom.

And you must be born again into God's. In Adam,

we are all born guilty and separated from God.

Which is why we need a second Adam. And that

is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus defeated the

kingdom of Satan at the cross. Colossians chapter

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

2, it says Christ, quote, disarmed. Principalities

and powers. He made a public spectacle. He made

a fool of them publicly. I love that. He trounced

them, if you will. Hebrews 2 .14. It says, even

as the children have partaken of flesh and blood,

that's us, that's humanity, so he himself, that

is Christ, likewise shared in the same, flesh

and blood, that through death he might destroy

him who had the power of death, that is the devil.

So you find again this battle. That's a battle

between the two kingdoms. It is real. It is intense.

But the end is never in doubt. The end is not

in question because Satan was decisively defeated

through the death, burial, and resurrection of

God's Son. So God's kingdom has already prevailed.

It will ultimately triumph in the end. Now look

at the text, verse 27. Christ says, but if I

cast out demons, if that's what you're saying

by Beelzebub, But well then tell me, and you

answer my question, by whom do your sons cast

them out? They're going to judge you. See, Jesus

is not the only ones who's casting out demons

in that day. There were some disciples of the

Pharisees who also performed some exorcisms.

But the Pharisees recognized those as being legitimate.

And so Jesus poses a question. Well tell me,

if I'm performing exorcisms by the power of Satan,

what authority are your own disciples performing

them? He's showing them their hypocrisy and their

bias. He says, they will be your judges. Because

the Pharisees believed that their own disciples

could literally, legitimately cast out demons

by God's power. But Jesus, who did the same thing,

they said was illegitimate and satanic. And he

said, they'll be your judge. There was no reason

for the rejection of Jesus' miracles other than

jealousy. That's what's fueling all this. The

Pharisees are jealous of Jesus and his authority.

They're jealous of his growing popularity among

the people. And basically, he's posing a threat

to their system. They stood to lose their standing

in the community, and they could not tolerate

that because their idol was they loved the esteem

of the people. But all that was being transferred

to Jesus, and they're not going to take that.

So these hypocrites, the Pharisees, the religious

leaders, the teachers of the law, were willfully,

volitionally, Blind to the truth. What truth

is that? That the kingdom of God had come in

Christ. Look at verse 28. That if I cast out

demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom

of God has come upon you. So he's confronting

the Pharisees with this conclusion that they

refuse to even consider. That instead of being

a pawn of Satan, Jesus had brought... the kingdom

of God to them because he was the king whom God

sent. Now what should have been obvious to all

was that Jesus was indeed performing great miracles,

but he was doing so by the power of God's spirit.

And if they were being done by the power of God's

spirit, that meant the kingdom of God is here

with us. Notice the text. I want you to notice

this phrase. The kingdom of God has come upon

you. It's so important that we get this. Notice

what Jesus said. He did not say the kingdom of

God will come. Not future. He said it had come.

It's already there. The kingdom of God had come

because the king from God had come. Jesus was

very clearly claiming to be the king, the Messiah

of Israel. His miracles, which were done by the

power of God, were proof. Clear proof that the

long -awaited age of the kingdom, the thing they'd

always prayed for, had dawned upon them. The

kingdom of God had arrived and it was overpowering

the kingdom of Satan. Look at verse 29. Jesus,

how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder

his goods unless he first binds that strong man

and then plunders his house? So he's using the

illustration. He's picturing Satan as a strong

man. who had a house, and there were treasures

in that house. Satan's house was his domain,

his rule. We could even say his kingdom. But

what was the treasure, the goods that were in

his house? People, souls of men, living in bondage

to him. Christ came to plunder his goods, meaning

Christ came to rescue and deliver people, in

particular his people, out from under the kingdom

of Satan. But before Christ could plunder the

house, he says he had to bind that strong man.

He had to bind Satan. Where does that binding

take place? Decisively at the cross of Calvary.

And he's saying if you want proof, the healing

of this blind, mute, demon -possessed man showed

that Christ was the stronger one who was able

to bind Satan. Satan's help was before Christ.

He has never been a match for the Lord Jesus,

and he's still helpless before him today. God's

growing his kingdom, folks. The gospel right

now is being preached throughout the world, all

the nations. Disciples are being made from all

the nations, like Matthew 28 tells us to. How?

By being taught the gospel and being baptized,

having the name of the blessed triune God placed

upon them in holy baptism. And this kingdom,

It's advancing right now throughout the world,

and Satan is powerless to do anything about it,

much less stop it. He can't do it. But I want

you to notice something. The Lord Jesus didn't

just preach the kingdom of God, although he did

that. He demonstrated it. What's he been doing?

Healing sick people, casting out demons, setting

captives free, and even forgiving sin. His miracles,

all these miracles that we're seeing, they're

signs. Don't lose sight of that. They're not

to simply wow the crowds. They're signs pointing

to the fact that God's reign, God's kingdom had

broken into this present world. The darkness

is being pushed back. Now there are many today,

friends of mine, some, who preach that the kingdom

of God has not yet come, that it is only future.

They believe, and this is what they believe,

that Christ offered the kingdom to Israel. Israel

rejected it. So this kingdom then is placed on

pause until the time when Jesus comes again.

But that's not the way the Bible presents the

kingdom of God. It shows it's present even now.

The kingdom, the kingdom of God was inaugurated

at Christ's first advent, particularly through

his death, burial, and resurrection. By his death

and resurrection, sin and death were conquered,

but a new creation began at that moment. Before

then, there were primarily Jews and Gentiles,

but now in Christ, that distinction is taken

away, and there is a new creation, a new humanity

in Christ. That's what Ephesians is all about,

folks, that all those distinctives that formerly

kept them apart are gone away in Jesus. Ephesians

2, 14 and 15. For he himself, that is Jesus,

is our peace. Who has made both Jew and Gentile

one. And he's broken down the middle wall of

separation and no longer dividing them. Have

abolished in his flesh the enmity. That is the

law of commandments contained in ordinances.

All the ceremonial laws are done away with. So

as to create in himself one new man from the

two. Thus making peace. But it didn't stop there.

Jesus is raised from the dead. But the glorious

Lord Jesus, he ascended into heaven, and there

he was coronated. He was crowned King of Kings

and Lord of Lords. And then he entered into his

session. He took his seat at the Father's glorious

right hand. And from there, right now, he is

ruling from heaven until his enemies be made

his footstool, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians

15. Now, if you're wondering, well, the kingdom's

not here in its fullness. That's right. It's

not yet fully consummated. That is future. And

that will take place when he returns again. But

there can be no doubt that right now the kingdom

of God is already present. Let me show you two

verses. Colossians 1. He has delivered us from

the power of darkness and conveyed. Has delivered

and conveyed. That's past perfect. Or present

perfect, excuse me. He's already done this into

the kingdom. You've been conveyed. You've been

transferred into the kingdom of the son of his

love. Now notice, in whom we have redemption

through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Your

sins have already been forgiven. You have already

been transferred into the kingdom because it's

present now. Notice Paul says already you're

in the kingdom of his son. 1 Thessalonians 2

.12 That you would walk worthy of God who calls

you present. He is calling you into his own kingdom.

It's the church. It's ministered by word and

sacrament on this earth into his own kingdom.

So we find a truth here. The kingdom is already

present, not yet fully consummated. It's here

in seed form. Now you're saying, well, how do

you know the kingdom's not yet fully consummated?

It's what we were singing in that last song.

Because right now we still see sickness. We still

see death. We still see injustice in this world.

None of that will be in the consummated kingdom.

but it is here in seed form. The work of redemption,

it's complete. At Pentecost, the Spirit of God

came in His fullness. He is now indwelling believers.

The light is shining. Darkness is being pushed

back. The kingdom will come in its glorious fullness

when Christ returns and He restores all things.

He's made all things new, which is why we're

still praying. It's good to pray this. I hope

that you pray this often. We still pray as did

all the saints in all the ages who also prayed

that glorious prayer thy kingdom come. Even so

come Lord Jesus. Usually at the end of every

Lord's Day worship at the very end after we take

communion I end communion with those words even

so come Lord Jesus. That's our hope. That's the

blessed hope. He's coming. The kingdom's here.

We're living in it. We're being mediated by his

word. He's ruling over his church through word,

through sacrament. We're here. We're in the kingdom.

And yet we're longing for the kingdom when it

comes in its fullness and there is no death and

there is no sorrow and there are no more tears

and there is no more pain and there are no more

tearful goodbyes. Oh, Lord, make that come. But

right now we wait. So you're saying, well, now

what? What's our marching orders as we close?

Friends, understand the kingdom is not coming

someday. It has come. But true safety, if you're

here today, I want you to understand something.

True safety is found in the kingdom of God because

those who enter it live under the protection

of a king stronger than any force of evil. The

Lord Jesus, he has already invaded the strong

man's house and bound him. Now, Satan is still

operational in the work. Don't read too much

into the words there. But since the kingdom has

come and Jesus is king, there's one thing you

can't do. You can't remain neutral concerning

him. You're not given that option. You're saying,

well, I haven't made up my mind. No, God did.

Verse 30. Jesus said, he who is not with me is

against me. There's no net neutrality here, right?

He who does not gather with me scatters abroad.

There's no choice here. See, the demands that

Christ, our king, places on those who would enter

his kingdom is that you repent of your sins and

you confess and call upon him as Lord and Savior.

That's the demands of his kingdom. He's king.

He sets the terms of entrance. You repent of

your sins. You confess him as Lord and call upon

him as Savior. Jesus demands a decision. He's

calling for a response even today. So the question

that I think that all of us have to answer is,

and this is true for each of us here, will you

submit to this king, God's king who has come,

or will you resist him, reject him, excuse him

away, as did the Pharisees? May God open your

eyes to the truth of his glorious son. Let's

pray. Lord, we are so very thankful. God, for

your word, I'm thankful for King Jesus, Lord,

that we have a hero who has triumphed, a forerunner,

a trailblazer who has gone before us and who

has done all the work, Lord. We ride in the kingdom

on his coattails. Lord, there's nothing we could

bring. We can't offer you, Lord, our flimsy rags

of what is a pseudo -righteousness, Lord. They

would be rejected, and rightfully so. Lord, we

come by the way of Christ, by the way of the

blood, by the way of the cross. Thank you for

the Lord Jesus, Lord. Our hero, our captain,

our savior, our lord, our king. Lord, it is with

the greatest joy that we as Christians confess

Christ as Lord. Your son, Jesus of Nazareth,

is Lord of all. God, thank you for that. May

we live under his kingdom in a way that brings

glory and honor to you. We pray this in Christ's

name. Amen.