Jesus vs. Religion Pt 2

And read verse 7 with me. He will drink from the brook by the wayside. Therefore, He will lift up His head. And Father, I do thank You that You have given us Jesus, Lord, the one who will ultimately rule. And Lord, that all of the things that we see happening in the world right now are simply the precursor to You coming and ruling and reigning completely. Lord, I thank You that we can rest in You as the King.

And Father, I pray that You would be with the time that we spend in Your Word this morning. Lord, that we would learn the things that You would have for us to learn. And that Your Holy Spirit would do the work that You see fit in our hearts and in our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12.

Matthew, chapter 12. Last week we started into a little bit of a series here in the 12th chapter of Matthew called Jesus vs. Religion. And we saw that the religious leaders had begun to come against Jesus. As a matter of fact, it started off with two main issues that both surrounded the Sabbath day. One of them was the disciples picking grain. Eating it on the Sabbath day, which they said was a violation of the Sabbath law,

which was not actually a violation of God's Sabbath law, only man's. And Jesus, of course, told them, I am the Lord of the Sabbath. And therefore, I have the right to interpret what the Sabbath looks like. But then there was a second issue that came up. The second issue had to do with healing on the Sabbath day. There was a man with the withered hand that was there in the synagogue on the Sabbath day.

And they said, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? And he, of course, said, well, if one of you has a sheep that's fallen, into a well, would you not do something to help that sheep out? He said, therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. And then he healed the man with the shriveled hand. And the way we ended the study last week was that it says in verse 14

that the Pharisees went out and conspired against him as to how they might destroy him. And so as Jesus stood against religion, religion stood against Jesus. And Jesus had made his stand, but the religious leaders of the day were beginning to reject him. So as we pick up from here, there's three things that we're going to look at in this next set of verses.

We're going to see how Jesus is going to withdraw and heal the multitudes. And then we'll move into another confrontation with the religious leaders. And so we pick up in verse 15, and this is what it says. But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there, and many followed him. And he healed them all and warned them not to tell anyone who he was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah.

Isaiah, the prophet. 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 proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A battered reed he will not break off, and a smoldering wick he will not put out until he leads justice to victory.

And in his name the Gentiles will hope. Now, the first thing we're going to look at is this. The first thing that we see Jesus do is, as they are looking for a way that they might destroy him, and of course we know the way they're looking to destroy him is they're looking to kill him, he immediately withdraws. Now, this gives us kind of an interesting point to be made, and that's that sometimes you have to know when to hold him, and sometimes you have to know when to fold him, right?

Because every now and then it's time to walk away. We don't necessarily need to just stand there and be abused. And Jesus, knowing that his time had not yet come to face death, his time had not yet come to face the cross, was completely willing to withdraw himself from the religious community so that he could reach out to those who were the true seekers. And so, as Jesus heard of what was going on and was aware of what was taking place, he withdrew himself.

But I want you to take note of who followed him. As Jesus withdrew himself, it says that many followed him. I think some of the translations say that multitudes followed him. Why? Because though the religious community had rejected Jesus, the common person realized, there's something about him that I need to pursue. Because the common person, the average person,

realized that he was one who could bring salvation. They saw his salvation at first, only through the healing that he performed. But they just knew that there was something about this Jesus that they needed to pursue. Something about this Jesus that they needed to follow. And so there's something interesting that takes place that says, many followed him, and it says, at the end of verse 15,

that he healed them all. Now, this is one of the few times, in the Gospels, where it gives an all-encompassing view of who all Jesus healed. In other words, there was no one that showed up that was in need of healing that Jesus did not at that time heal. It's one of the few times in the Gospels that it says that Jesus healed all who came to him. And of course, the healing spoken of here is a physical healing,

but it gives us that beautiful picture of what Jesus is able to do in our hearts with a spiritual healing. Because we know that the greatest miracle that Jesus performs inside of any one of us is the miracle of salvation and bringing spiritual rest. Restoration to our hearts. Because if I am healed physically, I will still always face the same problem, and the same problem that I will face is sin.

But if the sin problem is dealt with in my life, and I am healed spiritually, then it doesn't matter what you do to this body, because I know that my soul will be with Jesus eternally. And so it says, Jesus healed them all. But take note of how Jesus responded as he healed them all. He warned all of them that he healed. He said, don't tell anyone who I am. See what it says there in verse 16?

He warned them not to tell anyone who he was. Why did he do that? Well, in just a moment, Matthew's going to give us this prophecy from Isaiah. But remember, what are most of the people in the nation of Israel looking for at this time? Most of the people in the nation of Israel at this time are looking for a political leader. They're looking for someone who's going to set them free from the bondage of Rome.

They're looking for another judge in the same way that Gideon was a judge or Samson was a judge. They're looking for someone who's going to set them free politically from the bondage of Rome. Instead of looking for someone who is going to set them free spiritually from the bondage of sin. And you know what? I think we could very much equate that to the church in the United States of America today.

Because I think sometimes the church in the United States of America today, especially the conservative church, is looking for a political leader who is going to set us free from the bondage of a bad government. But we don't need to be looking for a political leader who's going to set us free from the bondage of a government. We need to be looking for the spiritual leader who is going to set us free from the bondage of the world. And we must, as the church, be careful to not act just like the nation of Israel and put all of our focus on the political leaders of this world because the political leaders of this world will come and go, but there is a Savior who will stand forever.

Because you see, my freedoms on this earth are worth nothing if I'm not eternally free in heaven. And so as these people are coming to him and being healed, he says, don't go tell anyone who I am because I don't want you to make me the leader that I'm not right now. And then Matthew gives us the little clue into a prophecy from Isaiah. It says, this was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet.

Notice what Isaiah the prophet, he says, 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 proclaim justice to the Gentiles. Isn't it amazing that when God, speaking through Isaiah, speaks of this, this chosen one, this chosen Messiah, how he refers to him? He refers to him as my servant.

Not my leader, not my king, not any of those kinds of things. Those are all true of who Jesus is. But when he talks about Jesus coming that first time, he refers to him as a servant. Why? Because what are we told in Mark chapter 10? For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. What a... What a beautiful picture of who Jesus is for us.

He is the suffering servant because that's who he came as the first time. And when Jesus came as that suffering servant, not only did he fulfill everything that the Messiah was supposed to do the first time around as the suffering servant, but it also gives us a beautiful example to follow because remember what Jesus told his disciples? If I as your leader have stooped down to serve you, how much more should you wash each other's feet? Right?

It's that example for us to follow. So this prophecy in Isaiah, first of all, points out that Jesus didn't come the first time as the conquering king. He came the first time as the suffering servant. The second thing that it says in verse 19 about this Jesus is that it says he will not quarrel nor cry out nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. Well, what does that mean?

It means when he came the first time, he did his work in quiet. He did his work where only the seekers could find him. I think that's an interesting point to be made about who Jesus is. Jesus was not one that needed a PR campaign. Jesus wasn't one that needed to make sure that all of the world promoted him and made sure that they spread his brand. Instead, he did his work in a very quiet way.

As a matter of fact, so quietly that he said, listen, let's just keep this between us, okay? Don't broadcast it in the streets. Well, that's the very opposite of what you would think Jesus would want, right? You see, if you've come as a leader, then aren't you going to make sure you tell everybody and make it known throughout the streets who I am? But that's not why he came the first time.

He came as that suffering servant. He did his work in quiet. But notice the next thing that it says about Jesus in this prophecy in Isaiah. In verse 20, it says, a battered reed he will not break off and a smoldering wick he will not put out. What does that mean? It means that when Jesus came the first time, he was very gentle with the broken. Jesus was very gentle with those who were broken.

If you know very much about a reed, they grow up in the swampy, marshy sort of areas, perhaps by the rivers. And they're really not good for anything. You can't build anything with it. You can't use it for firewood. None of those kinds of things. A reed is really useless. And if a reed becomes broken or bruised, it becomes even more useless, right? And yet Jesus takes those things that are useless

and he is very gentle with them. I don't know about you, but every now and then, if I was to look at my life, if I was to examine my life, apart from Jesus Christ, I would probably call it pretty, well, useless. I would call it pretty bruised and useless. And the rest of the world might look and say, he has nothing. But Jesus didn't look at me and say, he has nothing.

He looked at me and said, he's broken. I'm gonna take my time with him. And notice the second thing it says. It says, a smoldering flax, or a smoldering wick he will not put out. Sorry, flax is what's used in the New King James. A smoldering wick he will not put out. The wick came from the flax and it was only good for one thing to make the wicks of candles with.

And once the wick starts smoldering, it really isn't good for anything because it's no longer burning. And yet Jesus doesn't say, oh, it's good for nothing and just puts it out. He's gentle with it. Jesus is gentle with the broken. You see, when religion rejects Jesus, the broken become his followers. When all those that are elite begin to reject Jesus, you'll find that following Jesus

are all of the broken people. Kind of reminds you of what Jesus said in the last chapter, right? When he said, I'm so glad that you've hidden these things from the wise and the learned and you have revealed them to babes. You have revealed them to the gentle and the broken. All who are weary, let them come unto me. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart.

He's gentle with the broken. And then, of course, the last thing that we see in this Isaiah prophecy is that he is the savior of the Gentiles until he leads justice to victory and in his name the Gentiles will hope, of course, speaking of the fact that all of us would eventually become a part of the family of God through his grace. So Jesus departs, continues his work of healing, and we see this prophecy from Isaiah about exactly who this savior was, but Jesus isn't done dealing with religious leaders yet. And so we pick up the Bible, and we pick up in verse 22.

It says this. Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and he healed him so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed and were saying, this man cannot be the son of David, can he? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, this man casts out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. Now, the next thing that we see

is this story of Jesus healing a demon. A demon-possessed man. And we kind of see the scene or this place of healing set. Notice where it says a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus. Now, we don't really know who brought him to Jesus. Some have said, oh, it must have been the religious leaders that brought him to Jesus to test him.

I can't go along with that because it feels the opposite of what the religious leaders would have done. The religious leaders would have rejected this guy because of how broken he was. I believe he had some really good friends that brought him to Jesus. If you challenge me on that, I'm willing to concede. But that's what I think. I think some wonderful friends brought this man to Jesus.

But notice this guy has three problems. The first problem is that he's demon-possessed. In other words, he is spiritually destroyed. He is spiritually broken. But notice the second thing about him. It says that he was mute. In other words, he couldn't speak. Do you know that when you can't speak, what can you not cry out for? Jesus. At least in that day and age

because Jesus was physically walking around amongst us. The beautiful thing now is you can be as mute as anybody in the world and you can cry out to Jesus in the quietness of your heart and he will always hear. But this man, physically speaking, was unable to even cry out to Jesus. And of course, he was blind. He was unable to see where he was going. We don't know what caused what,

but we know that this man was about as broken and far from the Lord as you can possibly be. And he was brought to Jesus. What does it say Jesus did? Now, I think it's kind of interesting. I want to spend just a moment talking about this healing because, well, we'll want to jump immediately into the next part, which is important. It's the entire reason that the story is being told.

But I don't want to be like the Pharisees and completely throw out the beautiful thing that Jesus does for this man. Because in one little sentence, we're given an amazing miracle that you and I would sit in awe of today. Notice what it says. Verse 22. A demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus and he healed him so that the miracle that the mute man spoke

and saw. You see, in just a minute, the religious leaders are going to criticize Jesus for what he did. As a matter of fact, they're going to call Jesus demonic in the things that he does because of what he does at this point in time. But what Jesus does for this man, I think, is one of the more beautiful miracles that Jesus performs because this guy is as far from anything that is good that you can imagine in his life.

Not only is he demon-possessed, spiritually broken as far as anything is concerned, but he also has no way to cry out and he can't even see where he's going. I don't know about you, but before I came to Jesus, I could probably kind of relate to that. I was spiritually broken. I felt like there was nothing I could say to cry out to Jesus and I was just wandering my way around trying to find where I was going and failing at every turn.

And then stepped in Jesus. And when Jesus stepped in, he healed me. And when he healed me, not only did he heal me spiritually, but he gave me eyes that I could see and as you know, he gave me a mouth to speak with. Like, we know. Anyway, but that's what Jesus does, right? When he heals us, he heals us completely. He doesn't just make us whole again. He gives us eyes to see what's really going on.

Not just eyes to see this physical world, but eyes to see spiritually what's really happening in the world. You see, those of us that are really following Jesus, those of us that have our eyes on the word right now, when we see these things going on in the world, yep, they may bring some fear every now and then, but our eyes are being opened to say, whoa, you're really doing some things here. And we can start seeing some spiritual things going on as all of these physical things are taking place in the world. Why?

Because Jesus has given you eyes to see. And not only has he healed you spiritually, not only has he given you eyes to see him and all the things that are going on, but he's given you a mouth to speak with. What does that mean, Ryan? It means he's given you a story. He's given you a story to tell. See, I think sometimes we do the world a great disservice by keeping the story of what Jesus has done

in our own hearts to ourselves. See, Ryan, I don't have a crazy testimony. My testimony is this. I was lost. Jesus saved me. I wasn't like some drug addict. I wasn't some criminal. I wasn't any of those things. I just have this very simple testimony. May I tell you that the most simple of testimonies is still the most powerful of testimonies because it doesn't matter how much decay

had already set into your dead body. What matters is that you were dead and now you're alive. The world needs to hear that story. I don't know why I felt like the Lord told me to go into this as much as he did, but I feel like I'm supposed to because, brothers and sisters, we need to become a church that gives out the truth of who God is. And the best way that you can give out the truth

of who God is is by telling people how Jesus has changed your life. You may not be able to go into all the Greek and the Hebrew. You may not be able to tell every single prophet to see. You may not be able to understand everything that the Word has to say, but you know this. You were dead and now you're alive. And the world needs to know that. And so he heals this man

and he now can see and he can speak and he's made whole again. And notice how the crowds respond. All the crowds were amazed and they were saying, this man can't be the son of David, can he? Now I want you to take note of the spiritual perception of the crowds. Now the world is a place of the dead. The word crowds there could also be translated common people.

Isn't that great? You know who Jesus used the most often? Who Jesus used the most often was common people. That's not to say God can't use learned people. He can't use well-educated people. Paul was one of the most well-educated men in the world at his time. Some of the guys we heard speak down at the conference were some of the most well-educated men I've ever listened to.

God can use the well-educated, but you know what? God loves to use, common people. And all of the common people in the crowd, not the religious elite people, but all of the common people in the crowd were beginning to say, wait, could this be who the scripture was talking about? Could this be the guy that we're supposed to be looking for? Isn't that great? Why?

Because God has chosen to hide these things from the wise and the learned, those who are wise in their own eyes. And he's chosen to reveal them to babes. He's chosen to reveal them to common people like you and me. All the common people respond by saying, man, could this be? But take note of how the religious leaders respond. But when the Pharisees heard this,

they said, this man casts out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. Now, if this were a dramatized reading, at this point in time, it would go, bum, bum, right? In a really long, drawn-out sort of way. Could this be the end for our hero? Because they have just done a really dangerous thing right now. Because all of the religious leaders, all of the ones who should have

known the scriptures as well as anyone and known that when the Messiah comes, he would set the captives free, cast out demons, he would heal the mute, he would bring sight to the blind, that he would do all of the things that Jesus not only just did there, but has been doing his entire ministry, they should have been paying attention to that. But here's the problem. They were paying attention, but he wasn't who they wanted him to be. He wasn't the Savior they were looking for.

Therefore, as much as they were paying attention, and as much as the Holy Spirit was making it abundantly clear that this Jesus was the Savior of the world, that this Jesus was the Messiah that they were supposed to be looking for, they still rejected him. Why? Because he wasn't the Savior, the Savior that they wanted. It's going to be important for us to pay attention to in just a minute when Jesus rebukes them for what he calls this potentially unforgivable sin.

Well, so as Jesus deals with these guys, we have seen this healing, and now Jesus is going to confront the religious leaders. Jesus confronts these religious leaders, and so we pick up in verse 25, and this is what it says. And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, any kingdom divided, divided against itself is laid waste. And the 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? If I, by Beelzebub, cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property

unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house? Now, what we're going to see is Jesus is going to do two things as he confronts these religious leaders. The first thing he's going to give is a defense. The second thing he's going to give is warnings. And so his defense is really threefold. The first thing he says is, a house divided can't stand.

Notice what it says. And knowing their thoughts, which by the way, this doesn't necessarily prove that he's Jesus, because whether you realize it or not, this can happen for you too. And it's not some magic trick, but it's the fact that the Holy Spirit can give what's called a word of knowledge. It's an amazing thing because when the Holy Spirit is at work in someone's heart, they can say, I know exactly what's going on here.

And you can go, whoa. Or sometimes when I'm giving a message, someone will say, it's almost like you watched my entire week take place and you just spoke to it. And I'll say, I'm not that good. The Holy Spirit just gives out the truth, right? Because the Holy Spirit knows how to speak into people's hearts and into people's lives because he knows their thoughts.

And so it says in Jesus, knowing their thoughts said to them, any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How will his kingdom stand? He says a house divided can't stand. The logic that they're using right now is what we would call illogical.

It doesn't make sense. Jesus gives them a very logical moment. He goes, now wait a second. If I'm casting out demons by Beelzebub, then it's a divided house. Satan would not do that. He would not decide to divide his own house. He said a house divided can't stand. We're watching that happen, by the way, in real time, are we not? Different story. He said a house divided against itself

will not stand. It's an illogical argument that you're using. It doesn't make sense. But then the second argument that he uses is this. He says, if I, Beelzebub, cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. Oh, this one hits just a little bit harder, doesn't it? This one kind of hits home for the religious leaders.

He says, okay, but here's the second thing. First of all, that doesn't make sense because a house divided can't stand. But second of all, there are those amongst your ranks who claim to be able to cast out demons. If I'm casting out demons, through the power of Satan, then how are you guys casting out demons? He says, I tell you, those people will be your judges.

And then, of course, the third argument that he uses is the argument of authority. He says, but if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. How can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property? Unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. He uses the argument of his own authority.

He says, but if I'm casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the very authority of God has come upon you. Then the very kingdom of God has come upon you. He says, those things, first of all, don't make sense. Second of all, your own sons will stand in judgment against you because if I cast them out by Satan, then how do they cast them out? But third, you have to admit

that if I then am casting them out by the Spirit of God, then the very kingdom of God is among you. Then the very authority and power of God is among you through me. He goes on to give an illustration. He says, or look at it this way. Verse 29 of the New American Standard says, or how can, but the idea that's given there is, let me have you look at it another way.

How can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property? Unless he first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house. It's a great question, is it not? If you're going to rob the house of somebody who's much stronger than you, you must first subdue that stronger man, bind him up, and then you can do whatever you want to. I've watched enough Criminal Minds episodes

to know that that's the case, right? I can attest to the fact that this is true. It's no different when it comes to dealing with spiritual things. He says, let me tell you another way. I had to first go in and bind the strong man because I am stronger than the strong man. I have more authority and power than Satan, therefore I can bind him, and I can plunder his house

by setting someone free from the power of the enemy. Now, Jesus did this because he was the very son of God, but he also did it because he lived a lifestyle of prayer. Remember, there's going to be another time that comes when the disciples try to cast out a demon and they can't do it. When they can't do it, Jesus comes down and says, oh, you of little faith, and he casts out the demon.

And later they come to Jesus and they say, why couldn't we cast out this demon? He said, because ones like this only come out through prayer and fasting. The idea given to us there in that scripture is these only come out through a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. You see, if I want to bind the strong man, then I must first do so by living a lifestyle of prayer, and then I can do the work that God calls for me to do.

And so, he gives, first of all, his defense. His defense that it would be illogical for him to do it that way. His defense that their own ranks would show that that's not the way that he did it. And his defense that if that's the case, then he has the authority to do so. But now he comes to the warnings. We pick up in verse 30 and it says this, he who is not with me is against me.

And he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good, and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be forgiven. By your words you will be condemned. Now as Jesus finishes up his confrontation, this confrontation with the religious leaders, he does so by giving them four warnings.

He has shown how ridiculous it is that they've made the accusation that he casts out demons by the power of Satan. And now he begins to warn them about the condition of their heart. And in these four warnings, there's things for us to pay attention to, I believe, as well. The first warning he gives is this, he who is not with me is against me. He who is not with me is against me.

Now, Jesus is very interesting because Jesus requires an answer. There is no such thing as neutrality when it comes to Jesus. All of the world will have to make a decision about what they're going to do with Jesus. I think I've shared with you before, I listened to David Jeremiah teach one time, and as he was teaching, he was talking about having a conversation with someone on an airplane, and he said, this person was very famous, and if I told you their name, you would know exactly who I was talking about, but I told them I would protect their anonymity, and so I won't tell you their name.

He said, but this person had all kinds of debates for me when it came to faith. And so we talked for a long time about faith, and he said, finally I realized I couldn't get anywhere by arguing, so I just started asking the same question over and over again. But what are you going to do with Jesus? But what are you going to do with Jesus? Because when it comes right down to it,

everyone is going to have to make a decision about what they're going to do with Jesus. There is no simple, neutral ground where you say, I'm Sweden on this one. I'm just not going to make a decision. I'm not going to choose sides, because what we have to realize is, a non-decision is a decision. If I say, well, I'm just not going to do anything with Jesus,

then you've chosen what you're going to do, and you've chosen to reject. And as we've pointed out lots of times before, passivity turns into opposition. If you're passive about the things of Jesus, eventually you will begin to oppose the things of Jesus. And brothers and sisters, you know as well as I do, those of us that are born again, the longer that you push away the things of Jesus, the harder your heart gets.

And the harder your heart gets, one of two things is going to end up happening. Either one, the harder your heart gets, the worse it has to get broken. And some of us know that that's the case, because some of us have been broken very deeply, even though Jesus says, now heal this very greatly. Or if you push away Jesus long enough, the hardness becomes so hard, the gospel simply fails to penetrate.

And it's not because there's a failure of the gospel, it's because there's a rejection of your heart, a settled rejection that begins to take place. And brothers and sisters, we need to pay attention to this in the lives of the people that we care about. So first of all, if you're here this morning and you're still neutral about who Jesus is, you're still neutral and on the fence about how you feel about the Savior, then I'm telling you, you only have so many times left. You only have so much time left.

And I don't say that to be overdramatic, I say that to be very honest. Because as I've said before, if I've learned anything over the past year, it's that none of us is guaranteed tomorrow. But if you're here this morning and you have people that you know, that have not made a decision about who Jesus is, it might be time to start getting a little bit bold with those that we care about and say, but what are you going to do with Jesus? Because he's very clear in his word.

He who is not for me is against me. Jesus warns these religious leaders of this. Why? Because they were not only finding themselves in a place where they were not justified, thus for Jesus, but they're finding themselves in a place where they are very against Jesus. And so he warns them about this neutrality in their lives that is going to end up turning into opposition

in their lives. And so he gives them this warning. He who is not with me is against me. But the second warning that he gives is maybe a little bit starker, a little bit harsher, and a little bit harder to explain. He warns them about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You ever have those places in Scripture where you're like, I just don't want to talk about this.

I don't want to teach that. Or I don't want to try to explain that. Or I don't want to try to understand that because it's really hard to understand. Welcome to today, right? That's kind of what this section of Scripture is because there are certain points in the ministry of Jesus where he says things that all of the commentators agree. We're not fully sure exactly what this means.

But it's definitely a stark warning. So I'm going to give you the best of my understanding of what this means, and then hopefully bring a little bit of comfort to some hearts, but perhaps a challenge to some hearts as well. He warns them about this. Notice what he says. Therefore I say to you, verse 31, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people. So far, so good.

But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. So far, so good. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him. Either in this age or in the age to come. Now, as we solve this, I think the first thing that we must do is look at the direct context of what Jesus is saying.

The direct context of what Jesus is saying has to do with the event that just took place. Jesus cast out a demon. The religious leaders accused him of doing so by the power of Satan. If you will, they just attributed the power of the Holy Spirit to the power of Satan. They said, your works are being done in a satanic or a demonic way with demonic power. That's the direct context of this blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit. That has caused some people to say, well, you can't commit this sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit today because Jesus isn't physically walking the earth today. Therefore, you cannot blaspheme the Holy Spirit because you can't attribute the works of Jesus Christ to Satan. And I could probably go with that, except that I feel like there's something deeper at work here.

Because if we think about what the role of the Holy Spirit is, we must pay attention to what it tells us in the Gospel of John. Do you remember what it said that the Holy Spirit would do? Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will testify of, do you remember this? Me. He will testify of Jesus. Therefore, all of the things that Jesus did, he did by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Why? Because they were a testimony to who he is as the Messiah. Therefore, I think that this blasphemy of the Holy Spirit goes a little bit deeper than just the, simple attributing of Jesus' works to the power of Satan like the Pharisees were doing. I think we get into a deeper aspect of a settled, willful rejection of Jesus. Because the Holy Spirit had made it very clear

to the Pharisees who Jesus was. He made it clear through the actions that he did. He made it clear through the prophecies that he fulfilled. He made it clear through the life that he lived. He made it very clear to them exactly who Jesus was. And you can see that, these Pharisees don't have a question who Jesus is, but he has affected their livelihood. And they are now envious of him.

Therefore, though they know who he is, they are willfully rejecting who he is. This kind of goes with what we just talked about. The more that the Holy Spirit reveals to you the truth of who Jesus is, and you don't make a decision about it, you are rejecting, you are willfully, and in a settled way, rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit. You are committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Because you're saying, I know it's Jesus, but I'm rejecting that it's Jesus. I'm going to attribute that to the enemy. I'm going to call evil good, and good evil. That's my personal take on what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. It is that, it's settled willful rejection of the Holy Spirit's revealing of who Jesus is in our lives. If you've ever been around a person

who has rejected the work of the Holy Spirit for so long, and it's almost like there's a glazed over look about them when you present the truth of the gospel to them. Maybe they were at one time tottering on what they were going to do with faith. They were close to coming to faith in Jesus Christ, but they just said, I can't do it. I want to do what I want to do.

They may not have used those words, but that's what they meant. They just reject that work of the Holy Spirit, and all of a sudden there's a hardness that begins to form on them. A hardness that almost just seems impenetrable. It's a scary thing to see in someone's life. There are many who believe that part of the reason why Nero went crazy was because Paul had the opportunity

to present the gospel to him, and he rejected it. And that it was after that that his hatred of Christians grew so great. Now, there are some people who will find themselves asking the question, if you're overly introspective like me, have I committed the unpardonable sin? Have I blasphemed the Holy Spirit? Listen, if you care, you have not. If you find yourself concerned about that,

you have not committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to tell you that this warning goes out to everyone, and even some of these religious leaders who perhaps are rejecting Jesus right now still found themselves in a place where their sins were forgiven. How do you know? Well, I'd like to tell you about a guy. This guy's name is Saul.

You know him as Paul the Apostle. And if you know anything about Paul the Apostle, you know how did he feel about Jesus. Well, he hated Jesus. He hated everything about Jesus. As a matter of fact, some believe that he very well could have been a part of the Sanhedrin that cast his vote. He cast his vote against Jesus.

And yet Paul finally came to a place where he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

And so from this, we get the understanding that Jesus requires a decision, and that decision is very, very important. And so he warns them, beware because you are in dangerous territory with what you're doing right now. And again, when it comes to all these things, I say the same thing. You stay as close to Jesus as you can possibly stay and let him know that you're not.

Let him sort everything else out. I get asked every now and then, do you think that you can lose your salvation? My answer's always the same. You stay as close to Jesus as you possibly can and it'll never become a problem. You just continue to confess all of your sins when they come up and it'll never be a problem. So, he then gives them a third warning. He says a tree is known by its fruit.

Notice what he says in verse 33. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. This is not the first time Jesus has brought up this. He brought it up in the Sermon on the Mount and now he brings it up to these guys. And I think when he says this,

he says it in two different ways. First of all, he's speaking of himself. He says either make the tree good and the fruit good, or make the tree bad and the fruit bad. He says you have to make a decision when it comes to me. If the fruit that you're seeing come from my life is good, then you have to say, I'm good. But if the fruit that's coming from my life is good,

but if the fruit that's coming from my life is evil, then you have to say that I'm evil. And of course, we know that the fruit that came from Jesus' life was very good fruit, so we would have to say, he's good. Apple trees always produce apples, therefore you look at that and you go, it's an apple tree. How do you know? Because it just gave me this apple. Because orange trees don't give apples.

That would be weird. Not even in California, right? They always just give the same thing. A tree is known by its fruit, but not only was this true of Jesus, but this is true of these religiously. Because with these religious leaders, they needed to pay attention to this warning that a tree is known by its fruit. And if the fruit coming from their life was evil,

like calling Jesus possessed by Satan, then maybe the tree is evil as well. You see, one of the greatest proofs of who we are as believers in Jesus Christ is the fruit that our life produces. I can say it all that I want to, but even if it's not true, eventually that fruit will show itself in the life that I live. It will show itself by me loving God with all of my life and me loving others as myself.

He says a tree is known by its fruit. Now, the last warning that he gives is this. He says words reveal character. Words reveal character. Notice what he says in verse 34. Verse 34. You brood. You brood of vipers. Man, I love this because Jesus gets rambunctious with it, right? He is not trying to be a nice guy at this point in time. He calls them a brood of vipers.

When's the last time we heard that phrase used? You remember? John B., right? Old John the Baptist called them a brood of vipers. When they all came out and he was baptizing people, and instead of when the religious leaders came out, he wasn't just like, oh, great, we've got the religious community here too. Guys, look at all the special people just showed up.

No, the religious leader showed up and what did he say? You brood of vipers. Who warns you to flee from the judgment to come, right? He didn't pull any punches with anything he said. Neither does Jesus. You notice Jesus never called the common people brood of vipers. You notice he never called the broken people brood of vipers. He never had anything bad to say to them.

Why? Because he was gentle with the broken. But with those who thought that they were already okay, he didn't mind calling it like it was. As he finishes this up, he says, you brood of vipers. How can you being evil speak what is good? You brood of vipers. You brood of vipers. You brood of vipers. You brood of vipers. You brood of vipers. You brood of vipers.

For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. That's a dangerous statement for me to pay attention to, isn't it? Perhaps a very important statement for me to pay attention to. Because that which fills my heart often overflows from my mouth. It's impossible to hold back who I really am forever. It's impossible to hold in who I really am forever. Because I can show up,

and I can, put all of the right show on. I can try to say all of the right things. I can have all of the note cards. But eventually the note cards go out the window, and who I really am comes out of my mouth. Who I really am comes flowing from me like sewage from a sewer sometimes. And I'm reminded that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Not to speak about politics too much, but, have you ever, noticed when politicians have to pause for a really, really, really long time when they're talking? Have you ever wondered why that is? It's because they know that from the overflow of their heart, their mouth is about to speak. And they better stick with the note cards. And you and I aren't always up in front of a group of people like that,

where we have the note cards that we use. But where is it that the real you comes out? Where is it that the overflow of your heart, begins to speak? Oh sure, you may put on all the right show here. You may put on all the right show in front of the right people. But eventually you'll get around the guys. When you get around the guys, it starts to come out. Or,

I got around the, you know, you get around all the ladies, and well, I don't have to try to impress anybody, and all the real truth comes out, and all of the gossip, and all of the garbage comes out. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. He says, how can you being evil speak anything good? Because what's in your heart, it's coming out through your mouth.

He goes on from there to say, the good man out of the good treasure, of, excuse me, the good man brings out of his good treasure, what is good. Now, this is why we have to change what comes into us, and what we meditate on. That's why in the book of Philippians, we're told whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is holy, whatever is of a good reputation, if there be anything praiseworthy, think on these things. Why?

Because we're storing up good treasure in our heart. The more that I'm putting the word of God into me, the more that I'm putting the truth of who God is into me, the more that I'm meditating on who God is, the more good things are gonna come out of my mouth. Why? Because I am storing up good treasure in my heart. But if all of the things that go into me are constantly evil,

then what's gonna end up coming out of me? Constantly evil stuff, right? We're in this discussion, and with my oldest daughter right now, I'll embarrass her, and I'll embarrass her second service, too. Somebody put this meme up. It said, just remember when you're the child of a pastor, anything that you say can and will be held against you from the pulpit. So anyway, it is what it is.

But we're having this discussion about music, and I, having grown up in the church, and my parents not letting me listen to secular music as a kid, sort of rebelled in high school, and I listened to a lot of things that I shouldn't have listened to, and I still struggle with that because I like good music. But every now and then, if I listen to things that are not God-edifying, I go, ugh. It kind of makes you feel a little bit yucky on the inside, right? Because eventually, all that stuff starts to kind of pour all over your heart.

So every now and then, my daughter, hey, I want to listen to some of my music. Okay, that's fine. If I'm listening to it with her, sometimes it can give us a good discussion point. And so I'll let her listen to some of it, but we were driving up to Kansas City, and we were listening to my daughter's playlist, the songs that she kind of likes that all her friends like.

And about halfway through, we just said, dude, we got to switch this thing, man, because I can just only take so much. I like some of it, too. I like to play some of my really good 90s music for her, what I consider the best era of music. Anyway, I like to play some of that stuff for her, but even with that, eventually, I just go, man, I got to switch over to something, something that glorifies God, because eventually, what comes out of your mouth is because of what's coming into your heart, and that music, man, it goes straight to your heart.

That's why songs get stuck in your head. Have you ever noticed that, right? It is a small world after all, right? You're welcome. You're welcome.

So what kind of treasure are you storing up in your heart? He says, the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, but the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. And these religious leaders were in danger of becoming only those that brought forth evil, because that's what they were storing up, in their heart. And he continues on with this.

He says, but I tell you, verse 36, that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned. Okay, another sobering verse, right? Like, all of a sudden, all of the things I struggle with, like the words that come out of my mouth, get attacked in this section of scripture.

He says, He says, everyone will have to give an account for every careless word spoken. That word careless means useless or idle, right? All of the idle, careless, useless words that come out of our mouth. We'll have to give account for all of those things. Every now and then, I think, I should probably talk less. Maybe that's the right thing to do, is just talk less.

Why? Because by your words, you will be justified. Oh, wait a second. What do you mean by your words, you will be justified? I'd point you to what it says in the book of Romans, chapter 9. If you believe in your heart, Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. That's the idea. By your words, you will be justified.

Who are you confessing as your Lord and Savior? Well, by that, you'll be justified. But also by those words, you will be condemned. You see, by the same words that I could confess that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, by those same words, I could deny him and deny that he is my Lord and Savior. You see, words... words reveal character. Well, let's wrap up this section with a couple of final thoughts.

A couple of final thoughts that I think kind of encapsulate everything that we've talked about here today. It's twofold. Number one, Jesus came for the broken. Jesus came for the broken. We saw it in the word from Isaiah that a bruised reed or a smoking wick he won't put out and he won't cast off. But we also saw it in the way that he handled this man who had been demon

possessed and was mute and blind because of it. Jesus was so gentle with him. And as the common people, as the crowds gathered themselves around Jesus, he healed them all. Why? Because he's gentle with the broken. And if you're here this morning and broken is who you are, which by the way, I think as believers in Jesus Christ, we never stop being broken. Matter of fact, the safest

place that we can be is broken before the Lord. Just know that he is always so gentle. With the broken. But in the process of Jesus being gentle with the broken, we come to the second thought. Jesus requires a decision. Jesus requires a decision. You have to decide what are you going to do with Jesus? We have to really decide it every day. Because even when he's our

Lord and Savior, we still have to decide, am I going to follow him today or am I going to follow my own selfish things? Jesus requires that decision. And every day I have to recommit. I'm going to follow Jesus with all of my heart today. I don't have to get recent. I'm going to be saved every day. Once I'm his, I'm his. But every day I make that decision. I'm going to follow Jesus with all of my heart. And I'll let God's grace take over from there.

Jesus requires that decision. Let's all stand. As we come into this new week and as we draw a little bit closer to Easter, my prayer is that the truth of who Jesus is will continue to marinate within our hearts and that we will take that truth, spread it to the people that are around us. Father, we come before you and just thank you for the truth of who you are. Father, I thank you that

you are so patient with us. You are so gentle with us. And yet you require that we decide what we're going to do with you. And so, Lord, I just pray that you would draw us near to you. And Lord, as we make that decision for ourselves, that we would take that truth and spread it to the people that are around us. We just thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Wash over me. As deep as the sea. He's like a river. Wash over me. Worship your majesty. I worship your hope. Jesus, my every. Entrench the eye. Worship your wake out. Come now. You've done it before. Lord, send revival. Lord, send in your spirit. Heaven break out. Come now. Heavenly Father. God, I just pray that you go with us today, Lord. Send your Holy Spirit with us, God.

And just work in us mightily and work through us mightily, God. God, we are hungry and thirsty for you, God. And we need you, Lord, more than ever, God. I just pray that you'd just bless us as we leave here today, God. And we love you and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. You guys be blessed.