Sermon Tone Analysis

OPEN WITH WORTHLESS VIDEO

Open with demonstration of pouring water slowly from a 1 gallon jug into a smaller cup and how it will eventually spill over if I keep adding to it.

This is what we call a “spillover”.

The actual definition of “spillover” is this - an instance of overflowing or spreading into another area; an unexpected consequence, repercussion, or byproduct.

I will come back to this issue of “spillover”, a little later in the sermon!

This morning, there is particular passage from the Bible that I would like to read with you.

It is, for most of us, a very familiar passage and a very familiar situation that took place during Jesus’ time on earth.

Would you please turn in your Bibles with me, to the gospel of .

This situ

Now, we just read this whole story together and even though I am going to go over, briefly, most of the story for clarity, I am predominantly, going to be addressing the last 5 verses in this passage for the main point of the lesson.

This is a very familiar scene in the life of Jesus, as well as in our own current day and age.

It is the clashing of religion with the TRUTH and authority of Jesus the Christ and the Kingdom message.

You see, Jesus was constantly being attacked verbally (and eventually, physically), for His bringing and proclaiming the TRUTH of who He was and what He was sent to do.

And this is where we find Jesus in this story in Matthew’s gospel; being attacked by the religious heretics, the Pharisees.

In this passage we find Jesus doing something that He did quite often in the gospels; He was healing and restoring and delivering, all of the oppressed and burdened people everywhere that He went.

By the time that we get , we have already read of Jesus raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, casting out legions of demons, calming the waves of the sea with His voice, restoring the paralytics, healing the blind and deaf and mutes and all manner of sickness and disease, as well as His amazing teachings on the Mount.

So, this account in , is not the first time that the religious zealots had heard of, or encountered a miracle of this man from Galilee, named, Yeshua!

They were quite familiar with Him at this point in time and they were QUITE tired of Him coming in and disrupting their power and status as the religious leaders for the people!

And so, as soon as Jesus heals/delivers this man, the people are beginning to ask themselves a very important question.

A question in fact that leads to an even more important answer.

The question that they were starting to ask amongst themselves, was, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”

And as important as it is to ask yourself this question at some point in your life (“Is this Jesus really the Son of God and the Messiah”, a question that we must all, in fact, ask ourselves), it is the answer that we produce from our hearts to this question, that determines the course of this life and even more importantly, the life that follows!

So, the Pharisees see and hear the people asking this question amongst themselves and they recognize that their time of power and authority is quickly coming to an end.

Jesus was raining on their little parade!

So, what did they do?

They, like many of us when we act like little spoiled children because things aren’t going our way, they quickly lashed out and spoke out of jealous anger!

In doing so, they, produced a lie to try and deter and derail the people from this line of logic!

They said, “Well, no wonder he can cast out demons.

He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”

And it was there, at that moment, that their eternal fate was sealed!

Jesus responds to their accusation with swift and sure repudiation that was driven, as were all of His comments, by Godly wisdom.

He quickly lets the Pharisees and all of the people present, know that if He was casting out devils by the assistance and the power of the devil, then Satan’s kingdom was divided and thus about to collapse.

There are only two existing kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

It was so far fetched and ludicrous to even say that the devil’s plan to destroy God’s kingdom, was to create division and mutiny within his own kingdom!

In order to stop the advancement of God’s kingdom and the gospel message, satan devised a plan to cast out his own workers and split his forces in all directions!

Makes perfect sense, right?!

Jesus doesn’t stop there either, he dismantles every shred of the Pharisees ridiculous statement, through His Godly wisdom, as opposed to their natural and even satan driven logic.

I say satan driven logic, but Jesus had had other dealings with the Pharisees.

And in one specific situation, He told them this, as we see in ,

So, in this verse we can see that Jesus dealt very sternly with the evil schemes of the religious leaders, because they were trying to deceive and stop others from coming to the TRUTH and acceptance of the Gospel/Kingdom Message that Jesus was bringing everywhere that He went.

Jesus reminds these religious zealots that their own “sons”, or exorcists, went around supposedly casting out demons and that they were good with this and embraced it.

They considered this good, even though some historians, such as Josephus, recorded some bizarre and almost mystical methods employed by these Jewish exorcists, to cast out demons.

So, Jesus reminds the Pharisees that they said that the ability to cast out demons comes from Satan himself, and yet their own sons, whom they approve of, were doing the same thing; casting out demons!

Then, Jesus tells them, that their sons would pass judgement upon them, for saying this, since it meant that they were also using the devil’s power to cast out demons.

This would turn out pretty embarrassing for the Pharisees if the very ones whom they accepted and supported came back and openly criticized them for what they had said.

TALK ABOUT A HOUSE DIVIDED!

Since, logically, the Pharisees were not going to admit that their own people were employing, or using the devil to cast out demons, Jesus then uses that opportunity to announce to the Pharisees and all who were present, about a certain TRUTH and a reality that many people were awaiting.

Jesus states that if He were casting out demons by the Spirit of God (and since that was in fact the case), then the kingdom of God was already in their midst and before them!

The long awaited Kingdom of God was established on earth and they didn’t even realize it!

You see, the Pharisees were always asking for and demanding a sign from Jesus, and there it was.

A man who was given the authority and power by God to control the forces of darkness, as well as ALL manner of sickness and disease and even death, itself; that would be the ultimate sign that kingdom of God was present!

And to make this a more demonstrative statement to them, Jesus then says, “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.

“

Jesus was saying to them that they would not and could not deny His authority to cast out devils, (they had already attested to by their statement about His power) and they as well as many, many other Jewish people, and even some gentiles, had openly witnessed and attested to His power and authority!

So, Jesus was then saying, “Not only can it not be argued that I am casting out devils from people, but I am saying that I have invaded the kingdom of Satan and that I am stronger than he is and have bound him so that I can take from him what he has been holding onto!

Jesus was letting everyone know, that He and His authority given to Him, had rendered Satan powerless and unable to resist!

And many people believe that this “binding” of the strong man (A.K.A. Satan), actually began in the wilderness when Jesus trampled all over the devil’s feeble efforts to tempt and allure Jesus.

Just as the devil had been doing to other men and women for millenniums!

From that point forward, Satan knew that he had lost his authority, because up to that point and time in history, no human had EVER been able to withstand him and his power of temptation!

Just as James tells us in James chapter 1, that we are tempted, because of our own desires.

And thus, this eventually leads to sin.

Well, when it came to Jesus, His desire was to do the will of His Father!

So for Satan, there was no temptation that would lead to sin from that kind of desire!

IT WAS SPIRITUAL CHECKMATE!

Jesus then makes a statement, that was just as much for the Pharisees and every man and woman present who could hear Him that day, as well as for everyone who would ever read it from the Bible after!

He said, “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.”

You see, Jesus cleared the air and the ambiguity about neutrality and taking sides between the Kingdom of God and kingdom of darkness!

There is no neutrality; you are either working with and alongside of Jesus in spreading the gospel message, or you are working against Him and with the devil!

And with this statement, Jesus makes a sobering declaration for all who would ever reject the TRUTH of Holy Spirit and the consequences that come with it!

Jesus says that every sin and blasphemy committed can be forgiven.

(Through true repentance, of course).

However, anyone who blasphemes, or speaks against the Holy Spirit, will never be forgiven; whether in this life or in the age to come!

Jesus makes this statement, in response to the Pharisee’s accusation of His using the devil to cast out demons.

You see, the Pharisees, the ones who were supposed to be the teachers of the law and ones who were in charge of getting God’s word to the people, they had witnessed first hand, the displayed power of God, in Jesus the Christ!

They had heard the living Word of God speak and witnessed the LOVE of God through Him and tasted the goodness of the Father through His only Son.

And this was brought through the empowering presence of Holy Spirit as He operated in the life of Jesus and Jesus moved under His divine instruction!

And having witnessed and experienced the amazing presence of the Messiah, they denied the work of Holy Spirit and said that it was really the work of the devil!

This was and still is, unforgivable!

If someone makes a statement about the Lord out of ignorance and then later comes to know the TRUTH and repents, he/she will be forgiven.

However, if someone knows and has been shown the truth and rejects the work of Holy Spirit while having this knowledge, then they have become unreachable!

You are not just talking about someone who is struggling with the reality of the TRUTH and good and evil.

You are talking about someone who has witnessed the TRUTH and denies it for so long that they get to where they can longer recognize it!

This person is no longer forgivable.

This is why Jesus said what he said to the Pharisees.

They knew very well of God and His word and His ways; yet they were so cold and calloused and wrapped up in their own world, that they didn’t even recognise God’s presence when it was manifest right before their eyes!

Not only did they deny the presence of the Holy Spirit, but they called His work, the work of Satan!

Attributing God’s divine power to the devil, is a mistake that they will never, ever forget.

For all eternity!

Jesus was accused of BLASPHEMY by the Jews, because of His claim to being the Son of God and for that reason, they were going to stone Him.

Jesus said to them, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Jesus was saying that the Father was operating in Him and this ultimately came through the presence of Holy Spirit.

And for this reason, many came to the TRUTH and believed in Him.

Yet, many rejected the TRUTH and became unable to receive it or even recognize it!

THEIR HEARTS WERE FULL OF EVIL AND THUS HAD NO ROOM FOR THE TRUTH!

It is here that we come to the main point of today’s lesson.

In verses 33-37, we read, “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.

You brood of snakes!

How could evil men like you speak what is good and right?