King of the Promise to David

Matthew 12:1-37
 

We have a lot of ground to cover today, and sadly being creatures bound by time, we are going to have to move quickly across our passage to get it all in today. So, I am not going to review, we are going to jump right in and begin.

Sabbath, or Shabbat, is a familiar topic to us. We know that every 7^th day was a Sabbath day and every 7^th year was a Sabbath year. As the 4^th Commandment of the Decalogue, or 10 Commandments, we know that it was an important day to the Jews. God told the Jews to “remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy.” But we do not understand it from the Jewish perspective. And to fully understand today’s passage, I think we need to understand a little bit about the origins of Sabbath and how it had changed and developed until the time of Jesus. Now, I will say that in my studies for this, I came across many people – Gentile, Messianic Jew, and Orthodox Jew – who argued that as the 4^th commandment, we should still honor it. We keep the other 9, why do not we keep the 4^th. I sadly do not have time to get into this today. I am not done studying this topic myself. But suffice it to say that something happened on the first day of the week that was so significant that the early Jewish believers were willing to meet on the first day of the week to worship, rather than the 7^th.
 
Alright, where did the Sabbath get its start? The Sabbath has roots all the way back to the beginning of time, to Genesis 2. The basis of our understanding of the Bible, the world around us, science, geology, and the fossil record stems from our understanding of the first 11 chapters of Genesis.  If we do not acknowledge that they are fact, we do not have a leg to stand on. I am going to say that again because it is vitally important. If we do not accept the first 11 chapters of Genesis as literal truth, we have no foundation for the rest of Scripture, our beliefs, or our worldview. In those 11 chapters we see, in no particular order, the answer to why Jesus had to die (Gen 2-3), the basis of marriage between one man and one woman (Gen 2), the answer to why are we here (Gen 1-2). We interpret the fossil record differently because we acknowledge a global flood that drastically altered the face of the earth (Gen 6-9.) We find out why there are so many languages (Gen 11). We see our relationship to our environment and why we are not tree huggers but we also aren’t going to go bulldoze the Amazon rain forest either (Gen 1-2). And, again, in Genesis 2, we see the foundations of the Sabbath.
 
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. – Genesis 2:1-3
 
We all know that God was not tired from His work. Isaiah reminds us in 40:28 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” The Hebrew word for “rested” in Genesis 2:2 is “shabath” (sha-vath’). It means “to cease or desist.” God stopped creating.
 
Then Scripture is silent about Sabbath until Exodus 16. Now, bear in mind, the 10 Commandments are in Exodus 20. So, this is before the Mosaic Law was ever given. This is where God gave instructions about manna. He told them to gather for each day just what they needed early in the morning. If they left any for the next day, it would grow worms and stink. If they waited too late in the day, it would melt. But on the 6^th day, God commanded them to gather twice as much as they needed, some for Friday and some for Saturday. In verse 23, Moses told the leaders of the congregation:
 
But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. ...he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'" So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none." On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day. – Exodus 16:20, 23-30
 
Then we come to the 10 Commandments of Exodus 20:3-17. The first four are commandments about man’s relationship with God, the final 6 are of man’s relationship to man. The fourth commandment that concerns us today is found in vv 8-11.
 
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. – Exodus 20:8-11
 
Here, God establishes that the Sabbath was to mimic the week He laid out with creation. Work 6 days and rest on the 7^th. It was a day to commemorate the act of divine creation, and therefore to worship God Almighty. God again made this point in Exodus 31:12-17 when He had to rewrite the tablets that Moses broke. Again, basing it off of His own actions in Genesis 2, God adds this time that the Sabbath “is a sign between me and you…that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.”
 
In Exodus 35:1-3, Moses told the people that they were not allowed to kindle a fire in their dwelling places on the Sabbath day. As you can see, God again commanded the Jews to take a Sabbath. It was a sign to the other nations around them. No other culture comes to a complete halt one day of the week.
 
But in Leviticus, God made a number of exceptions for the priests who were performing their duties in the tabernacle. The reason? Their work was directly related to the worship of God. In reviewing the law before allowing the Israelites to enter Canaan, God restates the Decalogue in Deuteronomy 5. But this time, He references their time in Egypt instead of creation. But the way He words it is unique. He is giving a purpose to the Sabbath.
 
"'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. – Deuteronomy 5:12-15
 
So that you can remember that Yahweh your God brought you out from Egypt with His mighty arm, you are to rest one day of the week. Your God is a living, breathing God who is stronger that Pharaoh or any of his gods. You should cease from all your work to take a day to reflect on His provision for you and on His power as Creator. He built a day into the Jewish week for the Jews to spend worshipping, praising, and rejoicing in God Almighty.
 
But man got involved. By the time of Jesus, there were rules on top of rules about what was allowed on Sabbath and what was not. Now, by no means did I just take you on an exhaustive study of the Sabbath according to the Old Testament; but based on this, I think we have a solid understanding of what God intended for Sabbath rest. However, the Jews added to the Old Testament law, and held their new oral traditions in the same regard as Mosaic Law. We’ll see later today how the Pharisees treated these new laws as Mosaic Law when confronting Jesus.
 
In an effort to observe the Sabbath and perform no work, the Jews looked at the usage of the word translated “work” in English. To a Jew, it means “creative work, or work that exercises control or dominion over your environment.” That word is only used in the Hebrew Bible in reference to Sabbath and the building of the tabernacle. So, the rabbis concluded that any work involved in building the temple was therefore forbidden on Sabbath. They found 39 categories, and forbade doing any of them, or touching any implement that is used in performing these tasks.
 
For example, on the Sabbath, you could: 

• Only travel less than 1,999 steps, unless you put food that far from home at which point that place became an extension of your home and so you gained 1,999 more steps.
• Only lift something in a public place and put it down in a private place or vice versa, but not private, private or public, public.
• not lift something that weighed more than a dried fig
• throw something and catch in the same hand, but if you caught it in the opposite hand that was work
• not examine clothing lest you kill a lice
• not dye wool or wash anything
• not buy or sell anything
• Not light a fire or candle. In modern times, you can’t use anything electrical because that is the equivalent of fire. And you can’t drive a car because that is kindling a fire in the engine.
• pour cold water on hot water, but you could not pour hot water on cold
• not cook
• not bathe lest water wash the floor
• not move chairs lest they make a rut in the floor
• only use enough ink to write to letters. Not letters with multiple words, but actual letters like a, b, c, etc.
• Women were not allowed to look in a mirror lest they see a white hair and be tempted to pull it out.
• not sow, reap, plow, bind sheaves, thresh, sift, winnow, bake, grind, knead, wash or tie a knot

In the middle of the 1^st century after Christ, the Talmud was written. It was the codification of oral Jewish law, and devoted 24 chapters to things not permitted on the Sabbath. One rabbi is quoted as saying that he spent 2 ½ years studying one chapter and all of the minutia contained therein. It took more work on the Sabbath to avoid doing work so that the full intent of the Sabbath was lost.  It was even against the law to provide aid to an injured person except to prevent the loss of life. If you cut your finger on something, you were not allowed to bandage it until after Sabbath. The Pharisees even used this against Jesus. We will see this later as well.
 
Let us turn to Matthew 12. I wish I had about 3 separate series to deal with our one passage today, but I needed to explain Sabbath so we could understand the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees at the beginning of this chapter.
 
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." – Matthew 12:1-8
 
Our passage starts with Jesus and the disciples walking through a grainfield on the Sabbath. Now, there was nothing wrong with them walking a short distance. And it’s obvious that the Pharisees didn’t care much about the walking part because they were right there watching Him the whole time. Being hungry, the disciples began to pick heads of grain, and according to Luke they were rubbing the grain heads in their hands to get out the grain and eating.
 
In Deuteronomy 23:24-25, God allowed the Jews to hand pick food from the edges of the fields. They were allowed to pick grain with their hands, but they were not allowed to use a sickle or to take a bunch and take it home in their bag. They could pick what they needed for that moment. Remember, Jesus had nowhere to call home. He was traveling abroad as a poor man. So, the disciples are hungry and they being picking grain to eat.
 
The problem arose with the Pharisaical law. By picking the grain, rubbing it in their hands, blowing off the chaff, and picking out the good parts, they were reaping, threshing, winnowing, sifting, and preparing food. All of these were forbidden by the rabbis on the Sabbath. So, the Pharisees, who have obviously been following Jesus, start asking him “Why are you doing what is not lawful?” Where in Scripture is it unlawful to eat on Sabbath? Their issue was that Jesus’ disciples were blatantly breaking their oral law that they held as equal to Scripture.
 
Jesus’ answer was pretty harsh. His question to the religious leaders and experts in the Mosaic Law starts with “Have you not read?” Of course they had. Sadly however, they had read it and completely missed the point. He referred them back to I Samuel 21 where David, who was fleeing from Saul, came to the tabernacle asking for food. But the priest Ahimelech told him that the only food at the tabernacle was the Bread of the Presence.
 
The Bread of the Presence consisted of 12 loaves of bread that were baked fresh and replaced each Sabbath. *Gasp* Work was being done on the Sabbath! These were to be a symbol of the presence of God with the 12 tribes of Israel. The loaves were only to be eaten by the priests as part of their provision for food that God had built into Mosaic Law. But recognizing the basic need of a human being, Ahimelech gave the loaves to David. He recognized that basic human need triumphed over a ritual.
 
God allowed for the Jews to set aside rituals to care for the needs of others. In so doing, it would actually bring more glory to God than snubbing their noses at the hungry and going back to their service in the synagogue. Isaiah touches on this in chapter 1. God through Isaiah says He is tired of sacrifices. He calls their coming to the temple a “trampling of My courts.” He says to bring no more vain offerings. In verse 13, God said that He could not endure the iniquity found in the Sabbath and New Moon festivals. He would rather they be willing and obedient, showing true justice and mercy.
 
In verse 5 of Matthew 12, Jesus again asks “have you not read in the Law…?” This time He was referring to Mosaic Law, not Pharisaical law. This was a direct jab at their inflated view of their own religiosity. By asking how the priests could work and be guiltless on the Sabbath, He was trying to get them to understand the purpose of Sabbath. Yes it was rest, but purposeful rest – rest with the intention of ceasing your weekly work to focus on God the Creator and God the Rescuer.
 
But the Pharisees had put so many rules in place to protect the cessation of work that they could no longer see the intention God had for the Sabbath. Something far greater than the temple was indeed here. He quoted Hosea 6:6 “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” He desires a heart that is focused on Him rather than the outward expression of religion. The intention for the Sabbath was standing right there! He was talking with them! Speaking of Jesus in Colossians 1:16 Paul tells us that “all things have been created through Him and for Him.” The Creator who ceased on that very first Sabbath was standing before them in the flesh. But they were so focused on protecting a day of the week and a law that they could not see Him for the rules! What rules are we so focused on in our own religion that prevent us from worshipping God?
 
He concludes this encounter by making a strong statement. “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” I’ve explained before how the phrase “the Son of Man” was a Messianic title from Daniel 7. But the Greek word He used that is translated “lord” loses meaning in our English Bibles. The literal translation is “lord,” but it gives the idea of “he to whom a person or thing belongs,” “the possessor of a thing,” “the owner.” Jesus claims to own the Sabbath. He created it. He is the one who decides how the Sabbath is to be observed.
 
Last week, John read from C.S. Lewis about the 3 responses to Jesus. He is a lunatic, a blaspheming liar, or deity. By claiming to be the lord of the Sabbath, Jesus claims deity. It is very easy to blame the Pharisees and cast stones at them, but put yourself in their shoes. If someone claims deity now, we write him off immediately. We do not even listen to his foolishness. This is what the Pharisees did; only this guy kept challenging their authority. But there was something about Him that was different. Something separated Him from the others who claimed deity.  Look at verses 9-14 of Matthew 12.
 
He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--so that they might accuse him. He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. – Matthew 12:9-14
 
Whether this disabled man was a regular at the synagogue or whether the Pharisees planted him there is irrelevant to me. But the man’s hand was drawn up and deformed. The muscles were atrophied; his fingers were probably curled up into his palm making it nearly impossible to hold anything. But in an effort to be able to accuse Him of being a law breaker, the Pharisees ask if it is lawful to heal this man on the Sabbath. What kind of childish nonsense is this? According to their law, it was illegal. The man was not in a life or death situation. He would live for at least 24 hours, so it was work to heal him on the Sabbath. They knew He would heal the man. They wanted yet another reason to accuse Him of ignoring their laws.
 
Jesus again responds with a question. Lifting a sheep on the Sabbath is against the law. A sheep weighs more than a dried fig. But, they would allow a person to show mercy on the sheep and rescue it. They had certain caveats to let themselves get around their oral law. In effect Jesus is asking them “Which is more valuable, a sheep or a man? If a man is more valuable than a sheep, I am allowed to heal this man.” With that, Jesus turned to the man and told him to open his hand, to stretch it out. I work with a man who due to a vehicle accident has a withered hand. He cannot open or stretch out his hand. Me telling him to stretch out his hand would be foolish and insensitive and could be seen as making fun of his disability. But, the man obeyed Jesus. He did not have to stretch out his hand. He could have not listened and kept his withered had. He had to have faith in the power of the Man standing before him. As he opened his hand, it was restored and was as healthy as his other hand. And the Pharisees hit the roof. Notice the wording of verse 14. They conspired against Him how they may destroy Him. Not just kill him, oh no. These guys were livid. Death was not good enough.
 
But all of this gives a different light to the verses from the end of last week. At the end of Matthew 11, Jesus said:
 
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." – Matthew 11:28-30
 
His burden, His yoke is easier and lighter than that of the Pharisaical legalism.
 
Matthew inserts a very interesting paragraph between this encounter with the Pharisees and the next one. Let us read it then I’ll explain what I mean.
 
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope." – Matthew 12:15-21
 
Jesus knowing that the Pharisees wanted to kill Him left the area, as anybody would. But Matthew said many continued to follow Him. He continued to heal but told those He helped not to make Him known. His time was not yet come, and He did not want the Jewish leaders to come after Him yet. I feel like we often gloss over Jesus healing people. We have heard it so much that we are desensitized to it. In all the Old Testament, there was never such a period of extensive healings as during the life of Christ. He continually healed all manner of illnesses and disabilities proving His authority over nature.
 
And Matthew said all of this was done to fulfill Isaiah 42:1-3. Matthew was demonstrating that Messiah would not come as an earthly king as the Jews thought. He would come with meekness and gentleness. He would not quarrel and stir up riots or revolution. He would be very gentle with a bruised reed. A reed is a hollow plant found beside rivers that were often turned into a small flute. Once bent or cracked it was useless. But Jesus in His tenderness would restore such a person to usefulness.
 
Isaiah 11 also has a similar prophesy that the Messiah would have the Spirit of God resting on Him.  To be quite honest, as many times as I have read the gospels, I’ve missed how many times the gospel writers make mention of the impact of the Holy Spirit on the life and ministry of Jesus. Keep that in mind as we continue on in Matthew 12.
 
Again, I could spend several weeks on this next passage and the implications thereof. I will just hit the highlights and try to say some things to prick your interest so that you can study it on your own.
           
Much has been said in recent years about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I know people who are concerned that they have committed it. I know of so-called “pastors” who have told their opponents that the opponent has committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because the opponent called out the preacher based on Scripture. I want to try to clarify that this morning and give you enough to be able to look at a particular movement that loves to use the claim of blasphemy against its opposition.
 
Let us look first at the context surround Jesus saying that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven for clarification. This verse gets taken out of context so much, but the context is key to understanding.
 
Then a demon-[possessed] man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And 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 age to come. – Matthew 12:22-32
 
A demon possessed man was brought to Jesus. Due to the demonic powers within him, that man had lost his ability to see or to speak. Based on the concordances I used, the man may have also been unable to hear. The Greek word was used to mean both “deaf” and “speechless.” But regardless, they bring him to Jesus who immediately heals him and frees him. Many of those around Jesus have the right response and being asking if this could be the Son of David, the Messiah.
 
As soon as the Pharisees caught wind of people starting to believe in Him as Messiah, they have to find a way to explain Him away. So, they say that He was only doing it by the power of Beelzebul. Who is Beelzebul? Some translations say “Beelzebub.” “Beelzebul” was a Philistine deity and meant “lord of the house,” but the Jews changed it just a little to “Beelzebub” meaning “lord of the flies,” or “lord of the dung.” They used both interchangeably to refer to Satan, which means the Pharisees just said that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Satan.
 
As soon as Jesus revealed that He knew their thoughts, they should have immediately known that they were wrong and dealing with no ordinary man. If someone starts reading my thoughts and continues the conversation my thoughts started, I am going to figure out who this person is. The text said in v25, “Knowing their thoughts.” He immediately explained how foolish their statement was. It is pretty common knowledge that a house divided against itself cannot stand. One side will lose. Why would Satan cast out his own demon? Jesus’ power clearly has to be from God.
 
Jesus continued by asking if He cast out demons by Satan’s power, then whose power did the Pharisees disciples use. The historian Josephus wrote that the Jews tried weird incantations and formulas to exorcise a demon. In Acts 19, Luke wrote of a group of itinerant Jewish exorcists who were disciples of the chief priest Sceva who heard about the apostle Paul’s success in casting out demons. So, they decided to try “to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ The demon responded “Jesus I know, and Paul I know…but who are you?” Then the demon possessed man proceeded to attack 7 men at once so that they ran out of the house naked and bruised. The Pharisees were ok with exorcisms by their own people within their religion, but as soon as Jesus started it, they assumed He was demonic.
 
Jesus did not need the rituals or the incantations or the weird formulas, by the power of the Spirit He commanded the demon to leave. He goes on to say that if He in fact did exorcise the demon by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God was present. I found it interesting that Jesus admits that He did not cast out the demon by His own power. He used the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
Jesus continues on with His rebuttal of the Pharisees. How can someone plunder a strong man’s house without first binding the strong man? By the blindness of their hearts, the Pharisees could not recognize that what Jesus had done was in direct opposition to Satan, to rescue the soul of the demon possessed man, Jesus first had to bind the strong man indwelling him, and then He could free that man’s soul from the bondage of sin. In so doing, He was showing that His power is greater than that of Satan.
 
Jesus has proven that He is greater than physical ailments and disabilities. He has proven that He has power over the supernatural. What response do we have but to assume that He is deity? Based on v 30, if we are not with Him, we are against Him. And if we are not gathering with Him, we are scattering. We are either bringing people to Him, or we are pushing them away. There is no middle ground. We cannot be neutral toward Christ.
 
Now come the verses that have been so misused, misunderstood, and misinterpreted. Notice verse 31 begins with a “therefore,” or in some translations, “because of this.” Because of the Pharisees attributing the works of the Holy Spirit (v28) to the works of Satan (v24), Jesus says that any sin or blasphemy can be forgiven. You can blaspheme Jesus and be forgiven; you can blaspheme the Father and be forgiven. But the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. That is a harsh statement. It is no wonder that people are afraid of it. So, what is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? According to Matthew 12 and Mark 3, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the hard hearted, absolute defiance of the work of the Holy Spirit to include attributing His acts to Satan.
 
What is the work of the Holy Spirit? I am going to list just a few. First, the true work of the Holy Spirit exalts the Lord Jesus Christ (I John 4, John 14, 15, and 16). Second, He manifests the love of God – love for God and His people. He regenerates the unbelieving heart (John 3). He assures us of salvation (Rom 8). He sanctifies (Eph 5). He authored Scripture (2 Peter 1).
 
So, the Holy Spirit drove the demon out of the man, and the Pharisees argued that Jesus did it by the power of Satan. Why did the Holy Spirit drive the demon out? He did it to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ and to bring that man to a right relationship with his Creator. But even today, there are people still people who attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan. For example, I think it goes without saying that in this church we believe in the sufficiency of scripture as taught in Scripture, but, in the charismatic movement, they fight it tooth and nail because it goes against their message of God still giving specific revelation to believers that we know do not line up with the Bible. The following statement was written by a former seminary professor. To avoid smearing the name of the school, I have omitted it, but suffice it to say that you would know the school if I said it.
 
“The sufficiency of Scripture is a demonic doctrine. In order to fulfill God’s highest purpose for our lives, we must be able to hear His voice, both in the written word and in the word freshly spoken from heaven. Satan understands the strategic importance of Christians hearing God’s voice, so he has launched various attacks against us in this area…One of Satan’s most successful attacks has been to develop a doctrine that teaches God no longer speaks to us except through the written word. Ultimately, this doctrine is demonic, even though Christian theologians have been used to perfect it.”
 
Just think about that statement. Satan is arguing for the sufficiency of Scripture? Why would he do such a thing? What in the world could be his end goal from that? The charismatic movement claims that prophets are still getting messages from God. They all want to speak like a prophet, but no one wants to be an example like the Biblical prophets. Jeremiah was commanded to disrobe and lie on one side for many days, and then God told him to roll over to the other side for just as many days. Ezekiel was told his wife would die the next day, but he was not to mourn her. Hosea had to go and redeem his wife from her life of sin numerous times. I wish I had the time to delve into this more, but be very careful of the false prophets in the charismatic church. As John wrote in 1 John 4, test the spirits to make sure they are from God. Many of the New Testament epistles and even Jesus warned of false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing.
 
But the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can also be a complete refusal to believe. In 1 John, the apostle described it as “the sin unto death.” John MacArthur describes it this way:
 
“[The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit] not only reflected unbelief, but determined unbelief – the refusal, after having seen all the evidence necessary to complete understanding, even to consider believing in Christ…It reflected determined rejection of Jesus as the Messiah against every evidence and argument. It reflected seeing the truth incarnate and then knowingly rejecting Him and condemning Him.”
 
Back to our passage in Matthew, Jesus continues his explanation of how we can know if the works we are seeing done are of the Holy Spirit. He said:
 
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." – Matthew 12:33-37
 
As I was studying for this, one pastor said when he and his wife first got married, they moved into their new house in the winter. There was a tree in the backyard that they disagreed as to the type. She said it was a peach tree. He was certain it was an apple tree. He had grown up around apple trees; it had to be an apple tree. But they had to wait for summer to identify the tree. She was right. Once the tree began to bear fruit, it was obvious to all what type of tree it was. It was a peach tree.
 
I was in a discussion this week, and after I made a statement, someone said “that’s a very Christian thing to say” and threw Matthew 7:1 at me. “Do not judge lest you be judged.” At no point had I said I was a believer. I simply reminded the other person that we can tell a person by his fruit. I made a judgement statement about someone based on the fruit I saw in their life. This other person made a judgement statement based on the fruit I bore.
 
Jesus got upset with the Pharisees here. A tree is known by its fruit. There is no way that with all the good he had done that anyone could assume He was from Satan. The venomous thoughts they spoke were evidence of their wicked heart. The tree is in the heart. The fruit comes out in our words and in our lives.
 
Let’s not get confused by verse 37. Our words are not going to revoke our salvation. They also won’t earn us salvation.  We are saved by faith by God’s grace. We will have to give account for our words. The tongue is a sure fire window into the heart of a man. In Proverbs 6, God gives us a list of 7 things He hates. 3 out of those 7 relate to the tongue. James says the tongue is a fire and hard to control.
 
We covered a lot of ground, but I want to take a minute to try to wrap this up with applications. I do not want to just pump us up with theological truths and not help us figure out how they relate to our daily life.
 
First, Jesus is lord of the Sabbath. He alone is worthy of our praise! Why? Well to start with, He created us. I’ve said this before, out of all the things He created, we are the only being that God manually formed. He spoke all the others into existence. Man he formed and breathed His own breath into. Secondly, we should praise Him for His salvation. He saved us out of our own Egypt, our own sin by His mighty hand and outstretched arms. He bound Satan and plundered his house for us. Someday soon, He will permanently bind Satan in the lake of fire.
 
Second, Jesus is Messiah. He was prophesied about from old. Starting in Genesis 3, God’s plan was to redeem His creation. Jesus was that Messiah, and He cares for people. John says that all the books in all the earth could not contain all the works that Jesus did in His time here. We serve such a good God!
 
Third, while there is a sin with no hope of forgiveness, I truly doubt any of us today have committed it. If today you have realized that you have never believed that Jesus is Lord and that He is God who made a way to redeem us, we would love to help you overcome that.
 
Finally, like trees, people are known by their fruit – fruit to include our speech. We need to make sure that our speech is seasoned with grace. People should easily know if we are Christians by our fruit and especially our words. It is easy to live a “good life;” it is a lot harder to control the tongue.