All right, here's Matthew's account
of it, and it's interesting because it affords us a look at the sin
of blasphemy, blasphemy against the Lord and against the Holy
Ghost and such like. But in verse 22 through verse
30, Then was brought unto him one
possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him insomuch
that the blind and the dumb both spake and saw. And all the people
were amazed and said, Is not this the son of David? But when
the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast
out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. 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. And if Satan
casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then shall
his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out
devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they
shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you, or else
How can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods,
except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his
house? He that is not with me is against
me. He that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad. Now, I'd like for you to look
at verse 28 again. But if I cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. And you have that again in Luke
11 and verse 20 and we'll go there during the course of our
study. First of all, I'd like to take
a very quick passing look back in chapter 11 of this same Gospel
of Matthew. There, our Lord declares very
clearly that knowing God, whether it is in a natural way or particularly
in a saving knowledge is dependent upon divine revelation. Knowledge of God can be attained
only through revelation, that unless God reveals himself, none
can know him. The Lord said in Matthew chapter
11 and verse 27, no man knows the son but the father and no
man knows the father except the son and he to whomsoever the
son will reveal him. Now this follows the statements
in Matthew 11 verse 25 and verse 26, where the Lord gives what
some might seem a very strange sort of thanks. I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hid these
things from the wise and the prudent and has revealed them
unto babes." And then we ought to notice how it is and how it
is not. It is not said by our Lord, you
have revealed these things to the wise and the prudent and
hid them from babes, but the opposite. And in verse 26, Why
is that so? Well, because it pleased God. It seemed good in His sight. It was His good pleasure to act
in that fashion, after the counsel of His own will, as we read in
Ephesians chapter 1. And in Matthew 11 and verse 25,
Have we caught the two words there? These things. These things. He hath revealed
these things, and he hath hid these things. That is, their
meaning and their extent and of their nature. So what things,
then, is the Lord referring to in this particular place? descends
us back in Matthew chapter 11 at least two verses to chapter,
I mean to verse 20, verse 21 and verse 23. The mighty works,
the powerful deeds, but possibly even beyond verse 20 in that
chapter. His mighty work confirming him
to be the Messiah sent from God and mighty works that our Lord
did in the cities of Pisidia, Capernaum, Chorazum, and other
cities that he visited and favored them with mighty works. And we
see in verse 20 of chapter 11, then began he to upbraid the
cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they
repented not. They saw great works of power
from and through our Lord and those works of power were a confirmation
that our Lord was come indeed from God and for all Israel In
Acts chapter 2 and 22, he was a man approved of God among you
by signs, by miracles, and by wonders, which he did by him
in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know Peter says unto them. So, his mighty works. and his
mighty miracle confirmed both his doctrine and his person. For could any do these great
and mighty works except God be with him, as Nicodemus said in
John chapter 3 and verse 2. In fact, such mighty works were
signs of the kingdom. And that's where our emphasis
is going today. These great signs, particularly
the casting out of demon, were signs that the kingdom had come
among them. I mentioned Luke 11 and verse
20. Here's what we read. If I, by
the finger of God, cast out demon, then is the kingdom of God come
unto you, unquote. They saw with their very own
eyes and ears, the powers, the works, and the wonders of our
Lord. They saw the powers of the age
or the world to come. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 5,
through Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God did mighty works. And I might say in and under
the power of the spirit of God. Now let's look at that statement
in Luke 11 and verse 20, practically the same as we have in Matthew
12 and verse 28, but If I, with the finger of God, cast out devils,
no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. And the contrast is between casting
out devil by Beelzebub and casting them out by the power and the
finger of God. Those three accounts, again,
are in Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke chapter 11. And here's what
started it and led up to it. We read that the Lord healed
a blind and a deaf demoniac that was there in the synagogue. It
was a man that was possessed with a double evil, if you would. He could not see, he could not
talk, and he was possessed with an unclean spirit or a devil,
or a demon. Spurgeon described it as an extraordinary
case which exhibits a novel form of the handicraft of Satan, unquote. Deaf and blind and possessed
of a devil, what a miserable life the man must have endured. And yet, we read very simply
and quickly and powerfully, that the Lord exercised the evil spirit
out of this particular man. He opened his eyes and he loosed
his tongue so that he both saw and he spoke. The man could see
and he could talk. And from that action of our Lord,
we notice a double reaction of the people. This was always the
case. Some believed and were amazed.
and others accused him of some evil. Number one, we notice the
reaction of the people in Luke 11 and verse 14. And the people
wondered, Matthew chapter 12 23 has it this way, and the people
were amazed and said, is not this the son of David? Can this be him? Is this the
promised one that we read about so often in the scripture? Who
else is there that could do such thing but the mighty one sin
of God into the world? And so they amused among themselves. Can it be him? It must be him. And yet they knew that an admission
of that publicly would put them in the crosshair of the wicked,
corrupt ecclesiastics of their day, their leaders. And so that
would put them on a collision course with the leaders of Israel. Then secondly, we notice the
Pharisees. Oh yeah, their ears ever open. their eyes ever attentive to
catch the Lord in some mischief or in some error that they might
discredit Him and entangle Him. But in Matthew 12 and 24, they
said this when they heard about it, when the news reached their
ear, their reply was, this fellow. Now that word fellow is an expression
of contempt toward our lord not this man or this teacher or this
prophet but this fellow doth cast out devil by beasel bub
and that alone the prince of devils you have it in mark 3
and 22. The scribes which came down from
Jerusalem said, he has Beelzebub and by the prince of devils cast
he out devils. Luke 11 and 15. But some of them
said he cast out devils through Beelzebub. Now, Beelzebub was
a very reproachful way for them to make a connection with the
Lord and to impugn the works, the name, the doctrine of our
blessed Lord. Matters here in relationship
unto Christ. First of all, this Beelzebub,
and secondly, what is called the sin of blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit. We have to look at both of those,
especially, as it is said by the Lord, to be an unpardonable
sin that rises so high that the blasphemy against the Spirit
of God has no forgiveness in this world or age are that to
come. First of all, let's look at and
identify Beelzebub that they speak about here. This name is
very likely the same name with Beelzebub that we find in the
Old Testament. 2 Kings, chapter 1. We notice that this name appears
there four times, and that Beelzebub is said to be the god of the
Ekrons, a people, a pagan people, that lives nearby. And most say
and agree that it means Lord of the flies, or bale of the
fly. Gill said that the name Beelzebub
means lord of a fly, a master fly, and old Jews being monotheistic
in their belief about God referred to such pagan gods as Beelzebub,
as dirty and filthy dung-hill gods. They considered this a
dung hill god in days of old, a god of filth, a prince of demon,
and associated with that god Baal that we meet with so many
times in the Old Testament. But then, They try to tie the
Lord to this dumb god as to his worth, saying, this fella does
not cast out unclean spirits, but by Beelzebub, the prince
of devils. Notice. They did not, for they
could not deny that our Lord had cast out devils. It was evidently
clean. This man was known and known
well and then was gloriously chained. So they could not deny
that our Lord had expelled a demon out of the man and so in their
mind they did the next best or the next most expedient thing
in order that they might defame him before the people and take
away his glory. And so they accuse him, yes,
of casting out a demon, but doing so in league with the filthy
fly god Beelzebub, a heathen deity. and what Gill called a
vile imputation. That the Holy Christ, they said,
had been a confederate and an instrument of the devil. What
blasphemy against our blessed son of God. And yet, this is
not the first time that they have laid this charge against
the Holy One of God. back in Matthew chapter 9 and
verse 34. On another occasion the Lord
cleansed a man there and the people said nothing like this
was ever seen or ever appeared in Israel. Matthew 9 And in Mark
chapter 2 and verse 12, when he cured the man of his palsy,
many said, we never saw it on this fashion. We've never seen
or heard anything like this at all. And so they took these unprecedented
works and wonders I call it a new day and a new time for Israel
in this one appearing among them. Now, of course, these things,
that is, the Lord's many and great works, kindle the thought
in so many of the common people that this must be, this is bound
to be the Messiah that God has promised of old. This must be
the one that Moses and the prophets wrote about. And the Pharisee
and the scribes and the rulers and the priests realized this,
that the people were leaning in that direction. And so the
blind and the corrupt ecclesiastics used their most poisonous rhetoric
against our Savior. their strongest language they
brought forth in order that they might squash such a notion among
the people that this is the holy messiah and so to defame him
and to degrade the person and the ministry of our lord they
went so far as to call him an emissary of the dung god that
was known in the old testament for there was already a bad taste
in the mouth of the Jew concerning Beelzebub from the Old Testament. Now, this the leaders had been
promoting for some time, that this is a madman. This is a demon possessed man
out of his mind at variance with Moses and everything that is
the truth. Consider, for example, in John
7 and verse 20, when the Jews or when Jesus accused the Jews
of trying to kill him in verse 19, See verse 25 also of that
chapter. They said in John 7 and verse
20, you have a devil. Who is trying to kill you? Who is it that is trying to put
you unto death? Then what meaneth the stones
in their hand if they have no intent of trying to put our Lord
to death? Stones in their hand in John
8 and verse 59, John 10 and verse 31. Then again in John 8. and
48. Are we not right in saying that
you are a Samaritan and have a devil? Both of those things
are joined together. You are a Samaritan and have
a devil. That he viewed the Jew through
the eye of the Samaritan, denying them to be the true children
of God. And so they said to him, well
you're a Samaritan in your belief and you are of the devil. In John chapter 10 and 20, and
many of them, meaning Jews said, He has a devil. He is mad. Why do you listen unto him? This was after he declared himself
to be sinless in John chapter 10. Declared himself to be the
good shepherd of the sheep who gives his life from them. to
be him who had the authority from God to lay his life down
and to take it up again in the 10th chapter. And so now they
said, we're right. We know you're a madman. Until
finally, their animosity, their great animosity against the Lord
rose so high that they actually linked him to Beelzebub, calling
him an instrument of that fly and dung god revered by the ignorant
pagans of old time. That his works were not through
Jehovah. They were not from the Father
God. They were by, through, and done in the power and the aid
and the assistance of Beelzebub. Now the Lord does not let this
go unchallenged in this place in Matthew chapter 12. And he
refutes their claim by several reasonings. And you have them
in Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke chapter 11. A, in verse 25 of
Matthew chapter 12, he shows the folly that Satan would cast
out himself. It is folly to think that Satan
is divided. For he said, look, no house,
no city, no country, no kingdom can endure once it is divided
against itself. That makes me worry about America. Boy, we are divided right down
the middle. But B, in verse 26, it follows
them. that if Satan casts out Satan,
as you accuse me of doing, then Satan is divided. Satan is in a war with himself,
and that is unreasonable. He's fighting against himself,
if that be the case, and will, by such, destruct and destroy
his kingdom. And then see, in verse 27, If
I, as you say, cast out devils by Beelzebub, then by whom do
your Jewish exorcists cast them out? For there were exorcists
among the Jew who claim and perhaps did cast out devils. And so the
Lord said, look, if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom
do your sons or children cast them out? See Mark 9, 38, Acts
19, 13 through 14, where there were evidently exorcists among
the Jew. Now would they admit what they
admitted of the Lord, that the Jewish exorcists did so by Beelzebub
as well. No, then they will wind up judging
and accusing you for your position and your statement. And in verse
28, If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, Luke said, the
finger of God, in the name of the Father, as one come from
God, as the Messiah, then it follows that the kingdom of God
is come unto you. Again, Luke 11 and verse 20. If I cast out demons by the finger
of God, no doubt, the kingdom of God is come unto you, now
particularly the casting out of demons and binding the strong
man and spoiling of his house." Think about the words of the
Lord in conjunction with his death. In John chapter 12, if
you want to turn there with me, there's a few verses that I'd
like to read and they are, first of all, verse 23 and verse 24. Jesus answered them saying, the
hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Now jumping down to verse 31
of John 12, verse 31 through verse 33. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And if I be lifted up from the
earth will draw all men under me. This said he signifying what
death he would die. Now, this describes far-reaching
effect of the death of our Lord as the hour of his dying drew
near. And he lists, and we read it,
a three-fold effect from that death that he would die upon
the cross. They are, again, number one,
the judgment of this world. Now comes the judgment of this
world. Possibly this present evil world
of Galatians 1 and verse 4. In other words, the judicial
process of the world was decided by the death of Christ. Who shall
rule? And that was decided by the dead. Then number two. The prince of
this world is cast out. The evil usurper. of the system
of this world shall be cast out. For neither has the world before
ever been judged or Satan's head bruised so thoroughly as by and
in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. the prince of this world
cast out. And the third thing that we see,
I will draw all unto me. Not all without exception, but
all without distinction. The Gentiles just had sought
an audience with the Lord in verse 20 through 22, and this
has somewhat to do with that. But let's go back to the blasphemous
charge of the Pharisees and the scribes that Jesus cast out devils
or demons or unclean spirits through the power of Beelzebub. And let's get the meaning here
of blaspheme. What is it to blaspheme? That's
a terrible sin as we read about it in the New Testament. A single
out sin of excess. Well, the word means to speak
evil of sacred things. To blaspheme is to speak evil
of sacred things, to revile, to speak with contempt, to slander
what is religiously true in fact. And the worst blasphemy, of course,
is to defame the majesty, the God of heaven, or the Son, or
the Holy Spirit. As the Jews blasphemed the Lord's
Christ in saying, you did that by the power of Beelzebul. Now, let's see the distinction
which the Lord makes between one blasphemy and another, such
as Matthew 12 and 31. Watch this. All manner of sin
and blasphemy shall be forgiven. Now blasphemy is forgivable in
other words. But the blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. Again, in the 32nd
verse, blasphemy against the Son, the Son, Christ Jesus, shall
be forgiven. Watch it. Whosoever speaks a
word against the Son, it shall be forgiven. But whoso speaks
against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven. Neither in this
world are the one to come. You may remember that under the
Old Testament mosaic law, blasphemy was a sin punishable by death. In Leviticus chapter 24, you
have an occasion of that in verse 11 through verse 16. So let me
make the distinction. Common blasphemy, I guess is
what I'll call it, is forgivable. In 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse
13, Paul owns that before Christ called him, he was a blasphemer,
that he blasphemed. He blasphemed that holy name
of Christ. He blasphemed the gospel. He
blasphemed the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the church and
the people of God. Paul owns that. He was at one
time himself a blasphemer, and I dare say we have all been in
that condition. Not only that, but in Acts 26
11 he said he compelled others to blaspheme. He caught the Christian
and he compelled them under the threat of death to blaspheme
against the things of God. When he was a terrorist against
the Christian church and Christ. And the Jews carried their blasphemy
against Christ all the way to the cross. In Luke 22, 65, let's
hear a few words attached to Mark's account of these things. I'm going now to Mark chapter
3 and verse 28 through verse 30. Verily I say unto you, all
sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies
whithersoever they have blasphemed. But he that shall blaspheme against
the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. And watch verse 30, because they
said he hath an unclean spirit. So let's bring the statements
together one more time, please. Matthew 12, 28. And Luke 11 and
verse 20. In Matthew 12, we have two if
clauses from the Lord. If I cast out demons by Beelzebub,
Satan is divided. Verse 28, on the other hand,
if I cast out devils by the Holy Spirit, Luke said, the finger
of God, then another thing is true. If I do this by the action
of the Holy Spirit, by the finger and the power of God. Now we
see this expression, the finger or the hand of God, in the Old
Testament so we can understand its meaning. Luke, I'm sorry,
Exodus chapter 8 and verse 19. When Moses brought the plague
of lice upon the land of Egypt, Pharaoh's magicians said, this
is the finger of God. The hand of God is upon us. The wrath of God is upon us. We read in Psalm 8 in verse 3,
the heavens over the work of God's fingers, God's power. This refers to the power of God
in his works and in creation. Now, if Christ cast out demons
by the Holy Spirit or by the finger of God, then has the kingdom
of God come upon you. It has appeared. Devils are not
cast out by other devils stronger than themselves. Devils are cast
out only by the supernatural power of God. Now the only point
of the Lord is, it is ridiculous to think that Satan is casting
out Satan, that he will destroy the foundation of his own kingdom,
that he will divide and weaken his very own kingdom in such
a way that he would tear it asunder or rent it in two by being against
himself and casting out himself. But if the Lord's Christ did
cast out the devil by the power of God's Spirit working through
him, then it establishes him as the Messiah sent from God,
and that he has laid the foundation of his kingdom among his people,
which Gil equates with the gospel dispensation. Now, both John
and Jesus, the Lord, declared the kingdom to be at hand when
they began their ministry. John said, the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. And the Lord said much the same
thing. As he opened his ministry, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John in Matthew 3 and 2, and
Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 17. John Gill wrote in
Matthew chapter 12, quote, I'm turning to Mark chapter 1
in case you'd like to follow along and I'll be reading verses
27 through, 21 through 27, Mark chapter 1, just a minute for
you. And it said, they went into Capernaum
and straightway on the Sabbath He entered into the synagogue
and taught. And they were astonished at his
doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority and
not as the scribe. And there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, let
me alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who you are. The Holy One of God. Those are the words of a demon.
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace and come out of
him. When the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a
loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed insomuch
that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? What new
doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth
he even the unclean spirit, and they do obey him. You have this
also in Luke 4, 31 through 37. It's early in the public ministry
of the Lord. He tells his apostle, and he
enters into Capernaum, into a synagogue on the Sabbath day, there with
the people, a man with an unclean spirit. known no doubt by all,
taunted the Lord as he was there in the synagogue. And the Lord,
and look what he said to him, you are the Holy One of God,
you are the Son of God, have you come to torment us before
our time. Now, the reaction of the demon
in Mark 1.24. They knew the Lord. They acknowledged
Him to be the Son of God. And you have that again in Matthew
8 and 9, Mark 5 and 7, and Luke 8 and verse 28. And Acts 16 and verse 27, that
demon-possessed woman said to Paul, these are the servants
of the Most High God. And Paul cast the demon out of
the young lady. Then the reaction of the people
to the expulsion of the unclean spirit in Mark 1 and verse 27,
they were amazed. astounded beyond measure at what
they saw and what they heard from the blessed Lord. They never
saw it on that wise before, never in their life had they experienced
anything in Israel from any of the leaders or the men of God. And they began to debate the
matter in their mind and between each other. What is this? Is
this a new doctrine? Is this something new? One with
such authority? that even the unclean spirits
are obedient unto him, much, not just diseases, not just deformities
as is so often the case, but unclean spirits, demons, devils
themselves, impure spirit. Now time is fleeting, so let's
turn to Matthew chapter 12 again, where we had a couple of parables
there from the Lord, also in Luke chapter 11. And in both
gospels, the two parables follow the Lord's words. If I cast out
demons by the Spirit or the finger of God, then the kingdom of God
is come upon you. Number one, is the parable of
the strong man armed in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 29 and Luke
11, 21 through 23. A strong man armed. Number two is the parable of
the unclean spirit, Matthew 12, 43 through 45, who goes out,
dry places, returns again. Now Satan is the strong man armed. and he guards his palace. He
keeps his goods. He holds wretched souls in his
misery and captivity. His palace is fortified as much
as possible. His power is extensive. His captives cannot escape and
they cannot overpower him in their own strength. It takes
one stronger than the strong man, Luke 11, 22, who can bind
the cruel strong man, disarm him, and then spoil his house,
take his goods, free his captive, overthrow him, dispose him from
his power. Now all this had just been demonstrated
when the Lord cast the devil out of a man in Matthew 12 and
22. He was possessed with the devil.
He couldn't see and he couldn't speak. And in Luke 11, 14, He
was casting out a devil. Matthew 12, 22 says he healed
him, and then he delivered the man from the devil that held
him. Because a stronger one had overcome
the devil, bound him, and taken away his armor, liberated his
captive. You know, Isaiah 53 might speak
of this. It says that the Lord's righteous
servant will divide the spoiled with the strong. In the battle,
kings took the spoil of their defeated rival. Now the Jews
blasphemy was not only against the Holy Christ, but against
the Holy Spirit as we read, for to reject Christ is to do despite
to the Spirit of grace. Hebrews chapter 1029, the Jews
said Jesus had an unclean spirit. Mark 3 in 30, but it was the
Spirit of God working in the Lord that cast out the demon. Now I'll close with this, that
these great signs and particularly the overcoming of demons attested
Christ to be the Holy One sent from God. Great miracles Moses
did as signs and credential. Great miracles Elijah and Elijah
did that they came from God. So with the apostle and so with
Christ. Had Christ come without these
great signs, miracles, and wonders, they would not have believed.
Nor would they have believed Moses without him. So that these
signs and wonders and miracles have their place of attestation
in the work of God and particularly in Christ. Now they're not needed
now. These signs are not now and they're
not needed because we have nothing new. We have no new revelation
to bring before. We have nothing new to bring,
nothing at all, never will have. There never will be something
new that needs these things again, but they were useful in supplementing
the truth about the Lord, the apostles, and the great men of
God.