Pharisees, Demons and the Kingdom of God - Part 2

Matthew 12v28

22^nd June 2013

Last week we were looking at:

Matthew 12v22-28
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, 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 Beelzebub, by whom do your people 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.

This week, let's just look at the last verse, in which Jesus tells us that He drove out demons by the Spirit of God - the Holy Spirit. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to defeat evil spirits. The Holy Spirit is far more powerful than any demon. John wrote to Christians that:

1 John 4:4b
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

When Jesus was baptised, He was filled with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:13-17, see also Luke 4:18a) and, from then on, He was able to perform miracles and cast out demons by that Holy Sprit, and this proved that the kingdom of God had come. You'll remember that John the Baptist (in Matthew 3:2) and Jesus (in Matthew 4:17) said that "The kingdom of heaven is near" and you might remember that I wrote in an earlier column that the meaning of that phrase is not that the kingdom has almost come; it's that the kingdom has come, and is near. A better translation is "the kingdom of heaven has come near". Jesus says it more clearly (for us) here, "The kingdom of God has come among you". The kingdom of God is here NOW.

The fulness of God's kingdom is not here - it's coming day-by-day. What we see now is not as glorious as what we will see one day, but it is REAL. God's rule is here. God's Spirit is here. Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick by the Holy Spirit. When John sent his followers to ask if Jesus was the Messiah, in Matthew 11:3 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." The kingdom of God is definitely, demonstrably, here.

And when God sent the Holy Spirit on the church at Pentecost, He made it possible for every Christian to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and He distributes spiritual gifts amongst us, so that the church can continue to drive out demons and heal the sick.

The fact that the Kingdom of God has come among us is demonstrated - proved to be true - every time someone is born again through faith in Jesus Christ, and every time the church sees a miracle. There are some people who don't believe in miracles, but you've got to wonder why. Miracles occur in thousands of churches up and down the country. I think the problem is threefold:

Firstly, some people can't believe in miracles because miracles don't fit into their world-view. They have a scientifically-based understanding of the world and struggle to believe in anything that's not scientifically provable. Most science proceeds by repeatable experiments, and miracles are, by definition, not repeatable experiments.
Secondly, some people don't believe in miracles because they prayed for something that didn't happen. But that only proves that a particular miracle didn't happen. It doesn't prove that no miracles happen.
Thirdly, some people don't believe in miracles because to believe in miracles would require them to believe in God, and believing in God, if we have any integrity at all, means living the way God wants us to live. Some find it easier to dismiss the evidence for God than to obey Him.
And fourthly, as 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. " There are many people who just can't see what's in front of their face, because Satan - Beelzeboul - is preventing them from seeing. There is a spiritual war going on for the soul of every man, woman and child.

All this was going on for the Pharisees. The idea of Jesus as the Messiah didn't fit into their world-view. They didn't believe in Jesus because he wasn't the sort of Messiah they wanted. And, because they couldn't deny that the healed man could see and speak, they accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, as a way not to believe in Jesus. If you don't want to believe in Jesus, or in miracles, there are lots of ways you can choose to deceive yourself, if you really want to. And the Enemy of your soul will help you to avoid believing, if that's what you want.

Jesus is the Son of David. He brought the kingdom of God to Earth. He sent His Holy Spirit to the church so we could continue the work of the kingdom of God, and His love and power are available to everybody who will receive them. And, as Isaiah prophesied:

Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever...

Will you choose to believe in Jesus, or will you choose not to believe? Will you receive God's kingdom or will you reject God? Will you ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit or will you try to live without Him?

At the end of the day, there are only two sorts of people: disciples and Pharisees. Which will you choose to be?