How To Be A Strong Church

Secular -

Pastor David loved two things almost as much as his congregation: catchy church signs and golf.

One Saturday, he was out on the local course enjoying a beautiful day when he realized he was going to be slightly late getting back to church to change the weekly sign.

He rushed over to the church property and quickly slapped up the vinyl letters for the new message. He was in such a hurry to get home before his wife that he didn't double-check his work.

The next morning, the church deacon chairman was the first to arrive, and he stared in horror at the new message for the week. He immediately called the Pastor.

"Pastor David! What on earth is that sign supposed to mean?"

Pastor David, sipping his coffee, replied, "Oh, it's a good one! It says: 'IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SIGN, THIS IS IT!'"

The chairman cleared his throat. "Well, that's not quite what it says, Pastor. You appear to have run out of the letter “G”, and it currently reads: 'IF YOU ARE LOKING FOR A SIN, THS IS IT!'"

Historical/Cultural Context -

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 12:22–45 NKJV

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. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” 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. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 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. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Be United, Trainable, Produce Good Fruit & Listen To Jesus.

Life Point- Be United & Trainable

Exegetical -

Matthew 12:22–30 BSB

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see. The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

Homiletical -

So now a demon possessed man is brought to Jesus and he is deaf and mute. It says he healed the man. Meaning that He drove out a demon that was causing his symptoms.

The crowd is like, this Jesus could he be the Son Of David? In other words could he be the Messiah? The long awaited one.

Why were they so amazed?

Because to drive out a demon before Jesus did it with a word was unheard of. There was an elaborate ceremony that took hours or days. Sometimes the demon never left.

The pharisees, of course, not liking Jesus to begin with because of his teaching and healing on the Sabbath accuse Him of being in league with the Devil. Specifically the demon known as beelzebub. The prince of demons. Which also means the lord of the flies.

Jesus knowing their thoughts.

People ask does Jesus know what I am thinking? The answer is yes. Remember your private thoughts aren’t so private when it comes to God. He knows all. He is omniscient. Meaning He knows all things.

He says it makes no sense. The Pharisees are crazy. Because Satan driving out Satan would be stupid with a capital S.

Why would the Kingdom of darkness do good?

It would make the kingdom divided and it will fall.

You know this is the same kind of things with churches. I love that this church is so united.

If you go into a church and you notice that there is division amongst the people, is that church growing? Or is that church dying.

No one wants to be apart of a church that isn’t united. I don’t care if you have 4 people or 400 people. You will not find people that say to themselves “I think I will go to this church, the are so split, unorganized and filled with gossip that I want to be apart of that.”

Jesus also talks about a strong man and binding him up.

This reminds me of a couple situations that can destroy a church. You tie the pastor’s hands so much he can’t do anything or you get the leadership of the church so focused on problems and fires that need to be put out that they can’t train people to reach the lost. Our job as the leadership team is train you for the work of the ministry.

Ephesians 4:11–16 NKJV

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

This talks even more about being united and growing and doing the job that God has for you to do.

Notice my job is to equip you for the work of ministry.

Sometimes that looks like an air craft carrier and I am the guy with the lighted sticks telling everyone which way to go. Sometimes my job is to refer you to the right department or individual where you can work in your ministry that God has given you.

Sometimes that looks like teaching and preaching.

Sometimes that looks like counseling and praying.

Life Point - Produce Good Fruit

Exegetical -

Matthew 12:31–37 BSB

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come. Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure. But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Homiletical -

Jesus starts by telling us that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven.

That’s good news right there folks!

But there is one sin that is not forgiven. That is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you something, if you are worried you have done this, then you haven’t done it.

No saved person is going to blaspheme the Holy Spirit

So what is this sin? It is attributing Jesus’ miracles to that of the devil. How do i know this? Because context is king. That is what the subject of this scripture is about. We just got done talking to Pharisees who blasphemed the Spirit and His work with Jesus.

Jesus’ miracles, which is the Holy Spirit’s movement, are sacrosanct.

Then he starts talking about trees right? Good folks bring forth good fruit and vice versa.

We find this in Galatians

Galatians 5:22–26 NKJV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

He calls them a brood of vipers. Dangerous is brood of vipers you want to stay away from them. So you must stay away from the Pharisees and their false teachings.

Then he says you will be required to give an account on the day of judgment and by your words you will be acquitted and condemned

Now we are told in the book of Revelation that there are 2 types of judgments. One is for the believer and one is for non-believer.

The believer’s judgment is called the Bema seat of Christ. It is here that the believer will be judged. You are saved already but rewards will be assigned here. What did you do with Jesus?

The other is the Great White Throne of Judgment. If you find yourself here, it’s already over for you. From here the unbelievers will be cast into hell.

So I say as Galatians told us, let us walk in the Spirit and produce good fruit.

Life Point - Listen To Jesus

Exegetical -

Matthew 12:38–45 BSB

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here. When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”

Homiletical -

Today we have people who will give you false signs and wonders. Jesus on the other hand when they asked for a sign told them no sign will given. Only a wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign.

Do signs and wonders happen, sure they do. But are they flashy and happen all the time? I am not convinced they do. I mean Jesus just healed a man on the Sabbath and cast out demons and still they seek more proof. How much more do they need?

We have the word of God and Cannon of scripture. How much more do people need?

So don’t go seeking signs and wonders. They can happen when God decides to make them happen. A great wonder to me is that we make it through a month where there is more month than money and yet God has deemed it good that we make it. Praise God.

A sign for me is when we pray for someone to be healed and when all the doctors say they shouldn’t make it, they make it through.

The greatest wonder for me is when someone comes to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior of their life!

Jesus condemns this generation and tells us how much worse the unbeliever will have it than those that came before Jesus came to earth. Because He is God and is greater than all the Old Testament prophets and people of the past. Why? Because one who is greater than all of them is here and they didn’t listen to Him.

Folks if we do nothing but come to church and sit in a pew and that is it, then we aren’t listening to Jesus. Because in His great commission he said to go and tell others. Are we listening to Jesus today? We don’t have programs at church just to have programs. The church is to grow the Christians and reach the lost. That is it’s mission. That is our mission. Ask yourself, are you fulfilling that mission?

Life Principle– Be United, Trainable, Produce Good Fruit & Listen To Jesus.

Call to Action – altar call….