Matthew 53
Jesus Vs Religion (Part 4)
It always has been and always will be a heart issue!
Matthew 12:22–37 (NLT)
22 Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.
23 The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.
26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.
27 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.
28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
29 For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
30 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.
32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.
34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.
35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.
36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.
37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
So, we have beat up the church for the last few weeks, let's switch the focus to us as individuals for a minute. The church is made of up of fallen individuals and to get the church healthy it starts with each individual in the body of Christ taking a good hard look in the mirror!
The Pharisees were not always bad, were they??
24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
· No, they were not!
· Today, when most of us hear the word Pharisee, we conjure up images of hypocritical, narrow-minded, puffed-up spiritual losers. But in Jesus’ day, being called a Pharisee was a badge of honor. It was a compliment, not a slam.
· That’s because first-century Pharisees excelled in everything we admire spiritually. They were zealous for God, completely committed to their faith. They were theologically astute, masters of the biblical texts. They fastidiously obeyed even the most obscure commands. They even made up extra rules just in case they were missing anything. Their embrace of spiritual disciplines was second to none.[1]
But, along the way, they went from zealous to frustrated with others, and we can all end up there.
From Accidental Pharisees:
But as you press forward in your walk, it’s inevitable that you begin to notice that some people lag behind. And it’s at this point that your personal pursuit of holiness can morph into something dangerous: a deepening sense of frustration with those who don’t share your passionate pursuit of holiness.
This is the critical juncture.
If you allow your frustration to turn into disgust and disdain for people you’ve left behind, you’ll end up on a dangerous detour. Instead of becoming more like Jesus, you’ll become more like his archenemies, the Pharisees of old, looking down on others, confident in your own righteousness.
That, of course, is a terrible place to be.
But actually, it can get worse.
If you continue farther down the path of contempt for those who fail to keep up, you’ll end up in a place of arrogance. Fewer and fewer people will measure up to your definition of a genuine disciple. Inevitably, being right will become more important than being kind, gracious, or loving. Thinning the herd will become more important than expanding the kingdom. Unity will take a back seat to uniformity.[2]
· We can all end up there
· We need regular gut checks
· We need regular talks with our hey stupid friends
· We need the reality that we are far from perfect
· And that WE need a savior daily!
Jesus is still working on appealing to their common sense
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.
26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.
27 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.
· No one wants to tear their own house down
· No one wants to shoot themselves in the foot
· So what they claim makes no sense
28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
· Hello!
· Still trying to turn them around
· Still trying to get them to see that God is among them
29 For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
30 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
· And this sets up the next 2 verses
· The only unforgivable sin
· And it’s not what you think!
The unforgivable sin!!! (Scary Stuff)
31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.
32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
· blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is nothing more or less than the unrelenting rejection of His advances[3]
Close
it’s a heart issue, it was with the Pharisee’s and it is with us all.
33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.
· Who we are is not defined by what we say, it's defined by what we do!
James 2:18 (NLT)
18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
· When we find Jesus, truly find Jesus, we can’t help but change!
· What you do, how you act, tells the world what you truly believe!
34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.
· Your heart is a storehouse
· And in that storehouse we are either storing up good or evil
· The way we live
· The forgiveness we give or lack of it
· The mercy we show
· The compassion we show
· All is stored in the heart
· Your heart can’t be bitter
· Your heart can’t be full of hate and unforgiveness and produce good things!
35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.
· That’s why it says that to be forgiven we must first forgive
· So that we can cleanse the heart
· Get it pliable to be worked under God’s hand
36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.
37The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
· And someday we will all stand before God
· And we can either be forgiven now
· Deal with it now
· So that we can produce good fruit
· Or we can stand before God and be held accountable for it
· It’s up to us
So how is your fruit
· Have you checked the fruit you're producing?
· Is it good, healthy fruit?
· Or is it bad and in need of some work in the garden of your heart?
[1]Osborne, L. (2012). Accidental Pharisees: avoiding pride, exclusivity, and the other dangers of overzealous faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[2]Osborne, L. (2012). Accidental Pharisees: avoiding pride, exclusivity, and the other dangers of overzealous faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Thank you Pastor Chris. I appreciate the time & effort you put into the sermon each week!
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