A Divided House Cannot Stand

Introduction: Do you agree with the statement:

A Divided House Cannot Stand

This is true of America. One article I read was entitled: America’s deepest partisan divides are getting deeper. Another article was entitled: Could the United States be headed for a national divorce? One quote from that article states, “The US is now more divided along ideological and political lines than at any time since the 1850s.”

54% of strong republicans and 40% of strong democrats believe that it is very or somewhat likely that there will be a US civil war within the next ten years.

23% of Americans support their state seceding from the Union.

And what are the issues that divide us?

· Gun laws.

· Environmental concerns - Global warming.

· Abortion – killing the unborn child.

· Power of Federal government.

· Border/illegal immigration.

· Education.

· Morality – everything from LGBTQ to Transgender.

· Presidential election of 2020.

The article written by Bruce Stokes concludes with these words, “American’s friends and allies need to understand that the United States has become a Disunited States. There is effectively two Americas – and they are at war. They are fighting over social, political, and constitutional issues, and over what role the US should play in the world. The 2024 US election is just another battle in this war.[1]

A Divided House Cannot Stand

This is true of the Church/Christianity. A divided Church cannot stand. Unity within the Church is essential. People must learn what is and isn’t important. Christians must contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, but not be contentious towards one another. It’s possible to disagree agreeable!

The following words are attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo (335-430),

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity,”

A Divided House Cannot Stand

This is true of marriage/family. Married people must walk together in agreement. Jesus must be at the center of their relationship and home life. Selfishness must be put to death. Having a love for God must be a priority.

A Divided House Cannot Stand

This is true of businesses, friendships, and even sports teams.

Now, as we approach this fourth section of Matthew 12, we read that Jesus heals a man who is demon possessed. Next, the Pharisees accused Him of healing the man through the power of demons. Then Jesus teaches them the truth about a divided house. And finally, Jesus instructs them about being on His team.

I. The Healing – 12:22

22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

Then one was brought to Him

Our text doesn’t say who brought this man to Jesus. Some suggest that it was the Pharisees. It is believed that they brought him to see what Jesus would do in this type of case. The man brought to Jesus had three major problems:

1. He was demon possessed – he didn’t control himself.

2. He was blind – he couldn’t see.

3. He was mute – he couldn’t speak.

Jesus healed this man completely. He was made whole from head to toe. Demon was gone (probably to the pit), his blindness was gone, now he could see, and his tongue was loose, and he could speak. Our text says,

“so that the man both spoke and saw.”

Thank God for the healing power of Jesus Christ. This healing demonstrated clearly that Jesus came from God. His power to heal was His authentication.

II. The Amazement - 12:23

23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

The crowd of people were amazed. The Greek word “amazed” literally means, were besides themselves, overwhelmed, or astounded. This words is in the imperfect tense which means, the people were continually amazed. These people were blown away by what they witnessed with their eyes. You see, unlike the blind man, they saw what took place. This was not a small miracle. It was a God-sized miracle! Jesus opened the eyes of the blind.

The People knew that when the Messiah would arrive that He would do miracles (Isaiah 35:5), and so we have the question, “

“Could this be the Son of David?”

Notice that they did not say, “This is the Son of David.”

Again, people understood that the Messiah would come through the line of David. They had an expectation. This is what the prophets through the ages had been proclaiming. The multitudes were wondering if this could be the Messiah, but they weren’t sure. I have read that “the syntax, however, indicates that the question was asked with some doubt.”

It should have been obvious!

III. The Accusation – 12:24

24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

As a kid we had a little song we would sing that had the following stanza in it, “Second verse, a little bit louder and a little bit worse.” Well, we have already witnessed the number of times the Pharisees had attacked Jesus Christ. Remember, they were looking for problems. They wanted to destroy Jesus Christ. This was their end goal.

The Accusation

In Luke 11:16, we read,

“Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.”

And in Mark 3:22, it reads, “the scribes”. So then, when the scribes and the Pharisees heard what Jesus had done, they immediately claimed that He didn’t do it through the power of God, but through the power and authority of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. Thus, they were claiming that Jesus cast out demons by the authority of the chief demon, the head of the underworld. They couldn’t question Jesus’ power, but they did question His source.

The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary has the following to say about, BEEL´ZEBUL (be-elʹze-bul), a heathen deity. Believed to be the prince of evil spirits (Matt. 10:25; 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15–28). By some Beelzebul is thought to mean ba˓al zebel, the “dung god,” an expression intended to designate with loathing the prince of all moral impurity. It is supposed, at the same time, that the name Beelzebub, the Philistine god of flies, was changed to Beelzebul (“god of dung”) and employed in an approbrious way as a name of the devil. Others prefer to derive the word from ba˓al zebul, the “lord of the dwelling” in which evil spirits dwell. The fact that Jesus designates Himself as “master of the house” would seem to indicate that Beelzebul had a similar meaning.[2]

My thought here is simple: That’s CRAZY!

IV. The Instruction – 12:25-29

25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

What do we learn from the next five verses? Again, we are going to discover that Jesus schools the Pharisees – the teachers needed to be taught! Jesus will walk through their flawed logic and will arrive at a very different conclusion - TRUTH. Here is what we have in our text:

· Jesus knew their thoughts – 12:25

Once again, we see the Omniscience of Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:15). He knows all things. Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. This shows us clearly that the Messiah was standing in front of them.

· A kingdom or house divided cannot stand, but shall be brought to desolation – 12:25

A divided family will not stand but shall be brought to desolation. This is one of the reasons we have so much divorce in our country. Want to be spared from divorce? Follow Jesus Christ together as a couple.

A divided Church cannot stand but shall be brought to desolation. Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18). But the problem I see is that it’s not the gates of hell that attack the Church, it is often the very people within the Church that cause division. This is one of the reasons we see new churches springing up in the same cities.

Someone penned,

“To live above, with saints we love, that will be glory. To live below, with the saints we know, that’s quite a different story!”

A divided nation cannot stand but shall be brought to desolation. We need to be praying for America. We need to pray for a national revival.

A divided friendship cannot stand but shall be brought to desolation.

A divided business cannot stand but shall be brought to desolation.

The word “desolation” used here means, to lay waste, come to naught.

· If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself, his kingdom will not stand – 12:26

Satan is the leader of the underworld (the world of the demonic) and he would NEVER fight against himself. Satan knows his end goal. He knows that a divided kingdom cannot stand, so why would he cast out demons? He wouldn’t.

Here is Satan’s end goal according to Jesus. We read in John 10:9a,

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

Satan would never turn on himself. His kingdom would crumble if he did so.

· If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons casts them out? – 12:27

Jesus turns their accusation back upon them. They accused Him of healing the man by the power of Satan. So, Jesus asked them,

“by whom do your sons casts them out?”

Now, that hit home. You probably could have heard a pin drop. The Pharisees probably developed a knot in their throats. How would they answer Jesus?

They don’t!

Jesus continued…

· But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you – 12:28

In Luke 11:20, Jesus said,

“But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

And it has. Jesus the King stood before them. Don’t forget that Matthew’s Gospel is all about the King and His Kingdom.

You have got to love verse 29,

Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

This verse tells us that Jesus Christ is STRONGER than Satan.

“Matthew 12:29 presents Jesus as a divine warrior (Isa. 49:22–25). He does not serve Satan; he conquers him. Satan does not authorize Jesus; Jesus wields authority over Satan. Jesus enters Satan’s realm not in stealth but through the front door, in direct confrontation. The imagery supposes that Satan is strong, but that Jesus is stronger. He invades Satan’s domain, ties him up, and plunders his goods, including the men and women held in his thrall. Jesus’ arguments prove that God has entered the world with power in Jesus’ mission.”[3]

This brings us to my final point in this sermon.

V. The Surrender – 12:30

30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

What is the bottom-line teaching from this section of Scripture? I believe that the truth that rings out loud and clear is quite simple. It is this:

· He who is not with Me is against Me.

Either you are on Jesus’ team, or you’re on the other team. Either you are a saint, or you’re an aint. Which is it for you? What say ye? There is no middle ground. Have you fully surrendered to Jesus Christ. Does He have all of you?

David Platt wrote, “Neutrality towards Jesus is impossible.”

Charles Swindoll writes, “That day Jesus drew a line in the sand and said to the wavering crowd, essentially, “Now it’s time to choose. You’ve seen the miracles. You’ve heard the excuses of the Pharisees. You’ve heard My teaching. You’ve heard their senseless explanations. There’s no neutral ground. You’re either with Me or against Me.”[4]

· He who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

Do we understand these words? Jesus is gathering around Him all those who will make up His eternal family. Followers of Jesus became the early Church. What about us, are we gatherers? Are we seeking to gather as many people as possible to make up the Kingdom of God, the Church? If we are not gathering, then according to Jesus we are scattering abroad. I don’t want to be guilty of being a scatterer.

Question: Who in the last year have you been instrumental in leading to saving faith in Jesus Christ?

Conclusion: So, what are the spiritual truths that we can walk away with today? There are nine of them. They are:

1. Hurting people come to Jesus. Are you hurting my friend?

2. Jesus has authority and power over all disease and demons.

3. People will always be amazed by the work of Jesus Christ.

4. Pharisees will always finger point and deny God’s authority and power.

5. Demonic activity is real, and we must know our enemy.

6. Divided kingdom and houses will not stand.

7. God’s Kingdom was among those in this text, and it is among us today.

8. The strong man must be bound, before you can plunder his house. This is where the idea comes from when people pray, “Bind Satan”.

9. We are either for Christ, or we are Antichrist. We either help gather, or we are responsible for scattering.

[1] https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/02/could-united-states-be-headed-national-divorce [2] Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). In The new Unger’s Bible dictionary(Rev. and updated ed.). Moody Press. [3] Iain M. Duguid, ESV Expository Commentary [4]Charles Swindoll, Swindoll Commentary on Matthew 1-15