THERE IS MORE SAID IN THE PODCAST AUDIO THAN IN THE NOTES BELOW
TEXT: Matthew 12:22-37:
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.
23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
25 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:
26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
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.
30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
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Billy Graham said, “Those who reject Christ choose to follow Satan, and they will follow him right into his ultimate destiny, in spite of all that God has done to save them from the fiery abyss.”
In our first message we looked at the response to Jesus’ healing. We saw that while the common people asked among themselves if Jesus was the Messiah, the Pharisees accused Jesus of gaining His power through the devil. In our second message we saw how Jesus showed the absurdity of the Pharisees accusations. Jesus proved that He was of God. In our last message, we saw how Jesus showed that the kingdom of God has come.
Third, Jesus warns that there is no middle ground in this conflict. Matthew 12:30 says, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Where do you stand on Jesus Christ? Do you stand with Him, therefore believing that He is God, the Saviour sent to deliver us from hell and sin, the King of Kings, worthy of our worship and service? Or do you stand against Him, and oppose Him in order to raise up the will of humanity? Most people, when asked this question, will fall somewhere in between. They will say that they do not worship Jesus as God, but neither do they oppose Him as a threat. They may see Jesus as a good teacher, or as a prophet, or as just an ancient religious leader whose movement got lucky and became the largest religion in the world. Most people will say they are neither with Jesus or against Jesus. But in this verse, Jesus warns the people that there is neutrality in the war between the kingdom of God and the enemies of God. In every earthly war, there have been neutral nations that took no side, but not in this spiritual war. If you are not allied with Jesus, you are His enemy. If you are not one of the sheep that Jesus has gathered into His pasture, you are being scattered by the wolf that is Satan. There is no way to reconcile the will of God and the way of the world. There is no middle road between loving the Lord Jesus and setting yourself against Him. You either submit to the will of Christ or you are submitting to sin and Satan.John MacArthur said, “Jesus is saying, “I’m the King and I’ve proved it by My ability to control Satan’s dominion. And if I’m the King, then the kingdom is here.” And what does that mean? It’s available to you. Enter it. How do you enter it? By faith in Christ. And then He tells them you got to make a decision. Here He’s talking about salvation. And what He means here is very simple. There’s no neutrality. You either gather or scatter. You either say, “Jesus is of Satan,” or, “He’s of God.” And you have only those two options because you can’t deny His supernatural power. You can’t. And if you want to say He’s of Satan, then you have just said an absurdity and you’ve revealed your prejudice, because He went about doing good things and delivering people from Satan. You are prejudiced and you are absurd, and you reveal that at the bottom of it, you are rebelling against the reality of the kingdom that is here. Beloved, there is nothing you can do with Jesus Christ except to affirm that He is who He claimed to be. And there’s no middle ground. You can’t just say He’s a nice man, good teacher, moral fellow, religious leader. He is either of Satan or of God, and if you don’t want to stand with the absurd, biased, rebellious Pharisees, you’re left with the fact that He’s of God, and you can bring the whole thing down to this: “You’re either with Me or against Me.” Jesus is asking you whether you accept His authority as God and King of the world. If you do not accept that, than you are working with His enemies, whether you believe it or not. Jesus is not just another rabbi, prophet, religious leader, or moral teacher. He is not just a person who set a good example for others. He is the sign that the Kingdom of God has come upon earth. If you are not with Jesus then you are working against Him. You must make a decision about whose side you are on. If you are the side of Satan then you will be rewarded with an eternity of punishment in hell. If you are on the side of King Jesus, He will reward you with an eternity of bliss in heaven. You must make a choice. Whose side are you on?
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Now, if you are with us today and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, allow me to show you how you can place your faith and trust in Him for Salvation from sin and Hell.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at dw3@gospellightsociety.com and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry.
He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree.
He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.
BCNN1 WP 