Matt 12:15-30 Behold My Servant Whom I Have Chosen 3/7/2004 <->
My Beloved (Matt 12:15-21. Isa 42:1 -4,6-7)
#1. Is Not This the
Son of David? (Matt 12:22-23. Isa 35:5-6, 2Sam 7:12-16)
A Divided Kingdom (Matt 12:24-26. Rom
16:17, Acts 20:29-31)
#2.
The Kingdom of God Is Come Unto You (Matt 12:27-28. Luke 17:20-21, Col
1:13)
First Bind the Strong Man (Matt 12:29.
Rev 20:1-3. 12:12, 13:7)
#3.
He That Is Not With Me (Matt 12:30)
Casting Out Devils (Matt 12:27. Isa
55:11, 2Cor2:16, Matt 25:21)
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1
Please open your Bibles to the Gospel according
to Matthew 12:15 (2X). The title of our sermon today is, "Behold My
Servant Whom I Have Chosen" (2X), This Servant Is the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the Suffering Servant of Jehovah as He is portrayed
in the Prophecy of Isaiah. There are 10 servant songs in Isaiah chapter 41
through chapter 53. The passage in Matt we are considering today contains a
quotation from the 3rd servant song, which is in Isa 42. Last
week we already looked at jsa 42. As you know, the
sermon last week was about the healing of Blind Bartimaeus.
From the words we have found in Isa 42, we can conclude that all physical
healings that the Lord Jesus did were all types or pictures of
salvation. Today we are going to see another aspect of healing miracles
done by the Lord Jesus. The first bullet point I want to bring out is:
My Beloved (2X) (Matt
12:15-21, Isa 42:1 -4,6-7)
Mt 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from
thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them
all;
Mt 12:16
And charged them that they should
not make him known:
When Jesus knew that the Pharisees were out to
kill Him, He withdrew Himself from the area where the Scribes and Pharisees
were. He probably went to a deserted place, but "great multitudes followed
Him, and He healed them all" (2X). We do not know how many Jesus
healed here, but all who followed Him were healed. From these words we know that
there were many blind, and deaf, and dumb people who were healed, and many
withered hands were made whole. Pity the Scribes and Pharisees; they did not
know what they were missing. But, in this context, God says in verse
17,
Mt 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the
prophet, saying,
Mt 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen;
my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will
put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Mt 12:19 He shall not
strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
Mt 12:20 A bruised reed
shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment
unto victory. Mt 12:21 And in his name shall the
Gentiles trust.
Now, this is a rather puzzling statement.
Verse 17 says literally, "In order that it might be fulfilled that spoken
through Isaiah the Prophet"; and then followed the quotation from Isa
42:1-4. How do the preceding verses lead to this conclusion spoken
by God through Isaiah the Prophet? Verses 15 and 16 speak about healing many
people from their infirmities. But neither Isa 42:1-4 nor Matt 12:18-21 speak
about physically healing people. We must remember that God does not lie.
Isa 42:1-4 and Matt 12:18-21 make this statement: "Behold My Servant
whom I have chosen, this is the Christ; don't look any further, the
Deliverer of Jews and Gentiles is here". The only way this statement
fits the context of verses 15 and 16 is if all the healing miracles Jesus did
among the multitudes that followed Him, were healings of body and
soul. Jesus must have healed their bodies and saved their souls,
so that
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verses 17-21 agree that the Christ only could do this.
Moreover, Isa 42:6-7 agree that physical healings are not in view, but
spiritual healing and delivering people from bondage to Sin and Satan. Let me
read to you what Isa 42:6-7 say,
Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness,
and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a
covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Paraphrased this is saying: God gave
His only begotten Son for a covenant to His people. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the spiritual light to the nations, His elect among the
nations. Those that were in spiritual darkness He brings to the light, so that
they can read and hear the Gospel and be saved.
Isa 42:7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the
prison, and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house.
But the Lord Jesus never delivered any prisoners
from prison. This must refer to delivering people from their spiritual
bondage. Therefore, the beginning of this verse, "To open the blind
eyes" must also refer to opening the spiritual eyes of people who are
spiritually blind, and who will then be saved.
Then we move on to another crowd, and another
place and another time, but now it was in the presence of the Pharisees. And
here the crowd says,
#1. Is Not This the Son of David? (Matt 12:22-23,
Isa 35:5-6, 2Sam 7:12-16)
Mt 12:22 Then was brought
unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and
dumb both spake and saw.
Mt 12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the
son of David?
Here is a victim of a devil, a victim of one of
the fallen angels. Angels were created to minister those who shall be
heirs of salvation. But fallen angels will do all they can to hurt human
beings. Of course, they cannot touch those who have been saved, but they can
still torment all the unsaved in the world. Is it not amazing that there
are scores of people in this world who worship Satan in one way or another?
They have no idea that Satan and all his fallen angels intensely hate
every human being. It is stupid to worship a god who hates you. Here was a man who was blind and dumb, but his blindness and his
inability to speak were not naturally induced; they were of supernatural
nature. The Bible does not disclose how people could know that this blindness
and dumbness was caused by the devil, but they did. The Lord Jesus cast
out this devil. Can you see how out-casting this devil is a picture parallel
to salvation? The formerly blind man is no longer spiritually blind. He can
see Jesus and he can see Jesus in the Scriptures. The formerly dumb man could
now speak and glorify God by declaring what God has done for him. Yes, he
became an instant witness. Is it not amazing that all this was
prophesied in Isaiah? Let me read to you from Isa 35:5-6,
Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of
the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Isa 35:6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the
tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in
the desert.
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And just like in the previous event, when Christ
healed all in the multitude who followed Him, here too
the crowd came to the same conclusion that the great multitude came to: Jesus
must be the Messiah. They said, "Is not this the son of David?"
And do we connect that the son of David must refer to the Messiah whom they had
in view? Put a sticker here in Matt 12:23, and please turn in
your Bibles to the Prophecy of 2Sam 7:12 (2X). In this chapter, 2Sam 7,
David expresses the desire to build a house for the Ark of the Covenant, which
is still housed in a tent in Jerusalem. Then God sent the prophet Nathan to
David with a glorious message, which we read in 2Sam 7:12-16 (2X),
2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy
bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his
kingdom forever.
2Sa 7:14 I will be his
father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity,
I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of
men:
2Sa 7:15-16 But my mercy
shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before
thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever
before thee: thy throne shall be
established for ever.
Who is God speaking about in these verses? Many
commentators think that God is speaking about Solomon. But that is impossible,
because in this brief passage of 5 verses the word "for ever" occurs
3 times. Solomon's kingdom was not established "for ever". But
God cannot lie. When God says "for ever". He means
what He says. Therefore, this king and this kingdom must refer to the kingdom
of Christ. Only He can establish a Kingdom that lasts "for ever".
The kingdom of Solomon was only a faint shadow
of the spiritual Kingdom that Christ was going to build. If I may paraphrase what
God, in this passage of 2Sam is saying. Is that, from the seed of David
shall arise the Messiah, the Christ, who shall be
King. And He shall build a house for the Lord and that house shall last forever,
because His Kingdom shall last forever. Since the house of the Lord,
and the Kingdom where that house will be located, will last forever, it cannot
be located on this earth, since this earth shall be
destroyed on the Last Day. Therefore, God is referring to
a spiritual house, the Body of Christ, which is
the Temple of God. And God is referring to a spiritual Kingdom, the New
Jerusalem which is above, not the Jerusalem which
is on this earth. But the Jews did not understand that. They believed, and they
still believe, that the Messiah would establish an earthly kingdom and
drive the Romans into the sea. And this should put
us on our guard that we do not fall into the same trap. We should be very careful
in avoiding those doctrines which teach that Christ will come again to
establish an earthly kingdom for a thousand
years here, on this sin cursed world. The Bible does NOT teach this millennial kingdom of Christ. This kind of thinking was generated about 200 years
ago. It is an innovation, which gained worldwide
acceptance by the footnotes in the Scofield Bible.
But remember three things: First, this is a Roman Catholic
doctrine; stay away from it with a ten-foot pole. Second, our
forefathers were 3/7/2004 Matt
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saved without this innovation; what is good enough for
them should be good enough for us. Third, the fact that the majority of
the Christian world goes after this innovation should make this doctrine, of
the millennial reign of Christ, suspect of great error. Let us now return
to the Gospel according to Matthew 12:23 (2X). The Jews had heard of
what God said in 2Sam 7:12-16. That is why they believed that Messiah
would be a Son of David. That is why the crowd was amazed, and said, "Is
not this the Son of David?" And by these words they were saying,
"Is not this the Messiah?" The Pharisees heard this and they
were filled with envy. To justify their anger they came up with the theory of:
Mt 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they
said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but
by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Mt 12:25-26 And Jesus
knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is
brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not
stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against
himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
The Pharisees were convinced that Jesus
was indwelt by Satan, or had made a contract with Satan. It was not because
Jesus had committed any heinous sins, or Jesus had preached that people should
worship Satan. They were convinced that Jesus was in league with Satan because
Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. They had their explanation of
how Jesus could cast out a devil from a man who was possessed by the devil. The
Pharisees did not know that they had already committed blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit. Their conviction, that Jesus was in league with the Devil,
made it impossible for them to become saved at a later time. The Lord Jesus
exposed the logic of the Pharisees as being full of holes. He used this
historical event to utter an important doctrine. He said: "A divided
kingdom shall not stand; it will fall". This is a principle that
applies to the situation at hand. Even Satan would know this principle. It was
not possible that Jesus would be in the camp of Satan, and, at the same time,
would damage the camp of Satan by casting out devils left and right. Jesus
said, "Every city or house divided against itself
shall not stand". The Roman Catholic Church understood this principle
many centuries ago, and that is why they hold to the doctrine that all
Catholics must believe that the Pope is their head and he is Christ's
representative here on earth. This is a false doctrine, but this is what unites
them as a denomination. And this is why they hold a tight control over their clergy.
Mark my words, "Every church divided against itself
shall not stand". If we are not united in what we believe, if we are
not united in our efforts in reaching the world with the Gospel, if we are not
united in our worship practices and in the necessity of being here, and if we
are not united in our resolve to love one another as Christ has
commanded us, if we are not united in all of these things, our church shall not
stand, but it will be destroyed for sure. This is the principle God has
used throughout the centuries to make churches flourish and to make them
disappear. This is the principle God uses in these last days, to reduce
gradually the number of faithful Christians, as
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we are drawing closer to the end. And even though
it is God's plan to set the stage for the apostacy of the last days, and people
will fall for the wiles of the devil, still God urges us to remain faithful.
Let me read to you from Rom 16:17,
Ro 16:17 Now I beseech
you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the
doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
This is not a command to the Pastor only, or to
all the Elders only. This is a command from God to every one in the
congregation. "Mark them which cause divisions and offences". This
is everyone's obligation to their church and in obedience to Christ. And let me
also read to you from Acts 20:29-31,
Ac 20:29-30 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves
enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of
your own selves (2X) shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw
away disciples after them.
Ac 20:31 Therefore watch,
and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every
one night and day with tears.
Normally, people from the outside do not
destroy a church. A church is destroyed from within. Acts 20:30 says,
"of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things". We cannot imagine that people would do such
dastardly things. But it happens. Only God knows who they
are, and we will know it usually too late. Then we read in the Gospel
according to Matthew,
#2. The Kingdom of God Is Come Unto You
(Matt
12:27-28, Luke 17:20-21, Col 1:13)
The Lord Jesus says to the Pharisees in Matt
12:27-28,
Mt 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your
children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your
judges.
Mt 12:28 But if I cast
out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
What
did Jesus mean when He said, "the kingdom of God is come unto you?"
How does the King-dom come unto us? What
is the Kingdom of God, and When does it come unto us? The Lord Jesus
answered these questions in the Bible. He said in Luke 17:20
Lu 17:20 And when he was
demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered
them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Lu 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo
there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
The Pharisees were interested in hearing When
the Kingdom of Messiah shall be set up on this earth. But the Lord Jesus
did not answer their question. Instead He answered them by indicating What the Kingdom of God is. It is not an outwardly observable kingdom,
but it is a Kingdom that is within us. The Kingdom of
God is within the souls of all those who have become saved on this
earth, and it is within the souls of those who
already have gone to heaven. Therefore we can see that the Pharisees,
who hated the Lord Jesus, and who have blasphemed against God the Holy Spirit,
would stay outside the Kingdom of God. Since they are
"without Christ" in their hearts, they are "aliens
from
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the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world". These same people
were convinced that they were first in line to enter the Kingdom of God. And so
it is today with many Christians all over the world. They are convinced that
they are first in line to enter the Kingdom of God, but they have failed to
test their beliefs on what God says in the Bible. It is absolutely essential
that we check the whole Bible to see if we agree with every thing there. And if
there is anything in the Bible that does not agree with a doctrine that we
hold, then that doctrine has to go, because God does not lie. This is
the only way we can be sure of our salvation. How does the Kingdom of
God come upon us? God answered this question in Col 1:13,
Col 1:13 Who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son:
The Lord Jesus Christ, through the operation of
His Holy Spirit, has made us "Born Again", or "Born
from Above", by which He has delivered us from the power of darkness.
It means that He made us willing to believe the whole Bible, and believe
"the Bible Only", and He gave us a fervent desire to do those
things that are pleasing in His sight. When that came to pass we know that
"God has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son".
God did that because Christ has already paid our ticket into the Kingdom of God
by suffering and dying for us on the cross, about 2000 years ago. Christ not
only purchased our souls there on the cross, but He also had to:
We read now in Matt 12:29,
Mt 12:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's
house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will
spoil his house.
Here is our parable! Do you remember that I
was going to preach on parables? Here in verse 29 the Lord gave us a
parable. What does it mean? The strong man represents Satan. Before
the cross there was no problem. Everyone in the house of Satan was at peace
with himself, because Satan does not like to stir up his own nest. The goods of
the strong man represent people. Please turn to the last prophecy in the
Bible, to Rev 20:1 (2X). It is contrary to nature that Satan reigns. But it
is the just punishment of God that Satan reigns over man on earth, until
someone stronger than he will have arrived. Therefore it was promised that a Redeemer
would come from heaven who will redeem us from the power of Satan. He had to be
stronger than Satan. And so, the parable teaches us that there would be a
violent struggle. Christ will plunder Satan's house, and spoil his goods,
but first Christ has to bind Satan. How does Christ bind Satan? Let us read
that here in Rev 20:1-3,
Re 20:1-2 And I saw an
Angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And
he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and
Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Re 20:3 And cast him into
the bottomless pit and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should 3/7/2004 Matt
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more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed
a little season.
Who does the Angel from heaven represent? The Angel
represents Christ Himself, because He only has the key to the Bottomless
Pit. At the cross Christ purchased the right to bind Satan, so that Satan would
no longer frustrate the evangelization of whoever God wants to save. Satan was
bound with cords of stupidity and he was cast into the Bottomless Pit. From Rev
12:12 we understand that the Bottomless Pit is this earth. The 1000 years
are symbolic for a long period of time, more than 1970 years, because
that is how long Satan has already been in this Bottomless Pit. Remember that
this was written in a parable, so that we do not take the 1000 years as
a literal period of time. But, at the end of this prescribed period of time,
Satan will be loosed for a little season. What does that mean? It means that
his blinders will be taken off and he will again be as powerful as he was
before the cross. It means he will make war with the saints and will overcome
them, as Rev 13:7 indicates. It means that this is the Final Tribulation
Period when the Great Apostacy will hit churches all over the world. Let us
return now to the Gospel according to Matthew 12:29 (2X). Christ has been spoiling
the house of Satan for 1970 years. How does Christ do this? God chose to
work through people. Christ appointed His people, whom He has redeemed at the
cross, to function as His ambassadors in this world. This is how Christ spoils
the house of Satan. What a great honor that we can serve Him in this capacity.
But those who do not want to serve Him as ambassadors show by their actions
that they do not want Christ to reign over them. That is why Jesus said in
verse 30,
#3. He
That Is Not With Me (Matt 12:30)
Mt 12:30 He that is not
with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
This is how Christ spoils the house
of Satan. Are you in the army of Christ, or are you not? It is evident
that all those whom Christ purchased at the cross will be soldiers in His army.
There is where we can serve Him. But to all those who do
not want to serve Him as witnesses for Christ will God say, "It
was your duty to assist Me, and to give Me your hand in establishing the
Kingdom of God. Whoever has not assisted
Me has in fact given heed to Satan's advice, and belongs to My enemies". And
so, Christ could say, "He that is not with me is against me".
The Lord Jesus promised that those who do not fight the good
fight with Him shall be scattered. Why will they be scattered? Anyone
who has tried to bring the Gospel to family or to
friends knows that, in order to witness, we have been driven
to read and study the Bible more carefully. Thus, when we present the story of what
God has done for us, we are the first ones to benefit from
and to be edified in this endeavor. But when we are not
constantly in the Word, our faith becomes rusty and we will be easily
frightened. An example is given in the Acts
of the Apostles, chapter 8:1 (2X), where after the stoning of Stephen a
persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem. Then the
believers "were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the Apostles". Why not the
Apostles? I guess because they 3/7/2004 Matt
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were more brave and more knowledgeable in the Scriptures, and so they
decided to stay and let God be their Defender. But those who were scattered
were now actively preaching the Gospel. Now they were forced to witness and
tell their story. Then God made their work fruitful and the number of
Christians was greatly multiplied. Wonderful providence! This leads me
to say a few things about:
Mt 12:27 And if I by
Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?
Therefore they shall be your judges.
The Lord Jesus indicated hereby that the descendants
of these Jews would be casting out devils. Would they be saved people?
Yes, because Jesus said, "they shall be your judges". On the
Last Day the believers shall be judging the unsaved together with Christ. Jesus
was talking about descendants that were saved. Should we be in the business of exorcism,
which means casting out devils? It depends on what we understand by casting out
devils. We should not try to cast out devils like Jesus did. Devils are fallen
angels who are immensely more powerful and more clever than we are. When we
meet people who are possessed by a devil, normally we would not be able
to tell whether they are possessed or not. For example, at the last Passover
meal, Satan, the prince of the devils, came and indwelt Judas Iscariot. Yet no
one of the other Apostles knew that Satan had entered Judas. It was simply not
observable on the outside. Only Jesus knew what was going on, because He is God.
Therefore we must leave the out-casting of devils to the Lord Jesus.
But there is another way of casting out
devils. Unsaved people are as bad off as people who are possessed by a devil;
they are both on the way to Hell. When we bring the Gospel to someone and the
result is that this person becomes saved, we have been instrumental in
casting out the devil that was in that person. We have not cast him out; the
Holy Spirit has cast him out, but we have the honor of being the instrument
through which God the Holy Spirit has exorcised a devil. Therefore the Lord
Jesus said that He cast out devils by the spirit of God. To proclaim the Gospel
of Christ crucified is actually casting out devils by the Spirit of God. But
this privilege is only reserved for us when we have been saved. How would
you like to be employed by an Employer who approves of everything you do on
the job? All you need to do is show up for work; your Boss is the President of
the company. He will give you the tools you need, He will train you for the
job, and He will let you experience an adventure. Every day will be a different
adventure. Is that not exciting? And your Boss will immediately approve
whatever you decide to do during each adventure. This is what God says in Isa
55:11.
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of
my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it.
You may have guessed it already. Your Boss is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He leads you in each adventure. Whatever you
say will be "the Word that goeth forth out of His mouth". God
has His elect marked for salvation, and all the others have
been passed by. Whenever we witness we will be 3/7/2004 Matt 12:15-30 / Behold My Servant Whom I
Have Chosen Page 9
instrumental in accomplishing God's purposes, whether it be for
salvation or for condemnation. To the one we will be a "savor of life
unto life", and to the other we will be "a savor of death unto
death" (2Cor 2:16). We will be instruments of the providence of
God. Come and join us in this exciting employment. The pay is excellent. We
could receive no greater reward than the smile on the face of Jesus when He
says, "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the
joy of thy Lord" (Matt 25:21). AMEN. Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.
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