A Kingdom Divided
22. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
23. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
24. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
25. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them. Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
A Kingdom Divided
Matt. 12:22-25
As was His usual custom, Jesus went about healing the sick. For I explained to you that He couldn’t stand to see sickness, for sickness if not of the kingdom. Because of His nature, when Jesus sees sickness, He heals it.
I believe that Jesus was trying to show the people and the Pharisee included that we were moving into a GRACE era, and that we were moving away from the LAW. Yet they were unable to see what He was doing. I need to tell you today that God is doing some things in our lives, but we are unable to see them.
Jesus had plucked corn on the Sabbath, He healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, and now one who is blind and dumb is brought before Him. These Pharisees, these religious leaders was just waiting to see Him do something that they might accuse Him.
Jesus healed this man, and the Pharisees, when they heard it, they said that this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Jesus being the King and Conqueror that He is, knew their thoughts, and He began this teaching.
Before I go into Jesus teaching, I must say that one of the greatest weapons Satan has in his arsenal is division. Satan knows that if he can divide he can conquer. In every attempt that he made in the Bible, his method was first to divide and then deceive. He wants to bring division first between you and the God that you serve, and then he will deceive you by his many tactics.
Those of you that’s been around a long time, I know you’ve seen churches torn and crippled by cliques, power struggles, malicious talk, and the club syndrome. You do know what the club syndrome is don’t you. Those folks who are up to no good, will try to get as many as they can to join their club. See, they are pulling you away from the very God that you are serving. The only other thing that they have to do is deceive you.
The church should be a place where there are no power struggles, no gossip or strife.
But, that’s not the way that Satan wants it to be. He wants to infect and affect the church with his many evil ways. And it’s sad to say, but I do think he has succeeded.
Two of the most potent weapons in Satan’s arsenal are the tongue and the self-willed heart. We must be on guard against these problems within our individual lives, and the life of the congregation.
Let talk about these weapons of Satan today, let’s see if these things have indeed creep into our congregation, and therefore is causing us to have A Kingdom Divided.
The Tongue
James says that the tongue is an untamable evil. It is a small but yet evil organ the man have yet found to secret to control it. He says, “Even the tongue is a little member and boasts great things”. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! Solomon has a few things to say about the tongue in Proverbs.
Proverbs 6:16-19, These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devised wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Paul has a few words to say about the tongue.
Ephesian 4:29-32, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be king to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you”.
If anyone among you things he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
Peter have a few things to say about what we say, 1 Peter 3:8-9, “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing”.
I’m just reading all of this, and while I’m reading I’m just wondering, for those Christians folks that we have here, spiritual leaders just like the Pharisees were, how can we accomplish anything, how can we move to bigger and better things when we are condemning one another with our tongue.
How can we expect to go to Heaven when we are divided from the very God that we are to serve down here one earth.
Strife
If you look in the dictionary and look up the meaning of strife, you will find that it means, bitter and sometimes violent conflict or dissension. That word dissension means difference in opinion. You means to tell me that, as Christians, we can’t disagree without falling out?
You can’t have a difference of opinion with me, without coming to hate me. You’ve got to be so bitter against me that you don’t want nothing else to do with me, but yet and still you really believe in your heart that you are on your way to heaven.
Solomon says, “hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins”. That’s why I’ve been telling you all the time that I’ve been here, if someone do you wrong, just love them. The bible commends us to do good to those who despitefully misuses us.
Watch yourself, when you get to big and there ain’t nothing that will let you love one another, because the Bible also says, “Pride comes before a fall”. I’ve been blessed by reading the Proverbs, and Solomon says in chapter 20:3, “It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel”.
I don’t know about you, but that spoke to me, any fool can start something, be wise enough to keep some peace. A person who ain’t got no sense at all can start some mess.
Ain’t it time that we recognize our failure? Ain’t it time that we really be about our Father’s business? Ain’t it time that we began to be the church that God so desires us to be?
I wonder who was Christ really talking too when He said, “O generations of Vipers, How can ye, 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”. Was He talking only to Israel, to the Pharisees who trying desperately to tear down what God wanted built, or was he talking to us.
Church folks, those who are operating outside of the camp. Those who are building little cliques and different group who are trying to do your own little things. Are you equipped, are you prepared, are you on your way to heaven, if Christ should come back to get you today?
The only way for us to get pass these thing and move on to something bigger and better is for us to recognize our heart failure.
And I believe that our biggest problem is not knowing the God that we serve.
I believe that we’ve lost contact with the creator.
I believe that we are divided from the Divine.
I believe that there is somebody here today that needs a heart transplant.
I believe somebody here need to get hooked up, with the great healer.