SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/9/2022 9:38 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Accusation Was Rebellious”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
12:28-30
Message of the verses: “28 "But if I
cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or
how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless
he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 “He
who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.’”
Now
we want to begin with what is found in verse 29 “29 “Or how can anyone enter
the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the
strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” Now as we look at this verse I don’t think
that it is hard for us to understand that Jesus is speaking about Satan, but
because of the dullness of the Pharisees’ hearts they could not see this, or
should I say because of the hatred that they had for the Lord who was causing
them to lose some of their power over the people that they could not see
this. We know that Jesus healed sickness
and disease, which were brought upon mankind by sin, which, in turn was brought
and promoted by Satan. He also raised
people from the dead, which was also a consequence of sin and it was indirectly
the work of Satan. “14 Therefore, since
the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the
same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of
death, that is, the devil,
15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all
their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives
help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be
made like His brethren in
all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make
propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:14-17). Now we see that Jesus cast out demons, which,
as He had just pointed out, was in obvious opposition to Satan, (why would
Satan cast out his own demons?) Jesus
even forgave sins, something that Satan could not and would not do. MacArthur adds “Every detail of what He
taught and did corresponded to the teaching of the Old Testament
Scripture. And although the scribes and
Pharisees often charged Jesus with opposing and violating their man-made
traditions, they could never convict Him of committing sin or of teaching
falsehood (John 8:46).”
We
have seen in verse 29 that Jesus used a figure of a thief who planned to rob a strong
man’s house while the strong man was there.
We can be sure that the thief knows that unless he first binds the
strong man that he has no chance of being successful and, in fact, risks being
arrested and seriously beaten in the process of stealing from the strong man.
Here
is the point that Jesus is making according to MacArthur “Haven’t I
demonstrated before you and all of Israel My power over Satan and his kingdom
of evil, darkness, and destruction?
Haven’t I demonstrated beyond all doubt that My authority is higher than
Satan’s. Haven’t I cleansed people of
every kind of disease and freed them from every kind of demonic control and
oppression? Haven’t I demonstrated My
authority over both sin and death? Haven’t
I rescued souls from hell? Who could
have such power and authority but God Himself?
Who but God could enter the very house of Satan and successfully bind
him and carry off his property? I have
shown you that I can defeat Satan and a legion of his demonic hosts at
will. How could I be any other than your
divine Messiah?” I have to say that this
quotation truly helps me make sense of what Jesus is talking about in these
three verses.
MacArthur
goes on to write “The deathblow to Satan was inflicted at the cross and will be
actualized in the future; but even before that ultimate victory, Christ
repeatedly demonstrated His unlimited and unhindered power to thwart and bind
Satan. Christ also committed that power
to His disciples, and when the seventy returned from their mission Jesus ‘said
to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning’’ (Luke
10:18). Satan is presently still
powerful, but his power is limited, his doom is sealed, and his time is short.”
Let
us look at verse 30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not
gather with Me scatters.’” We see here
that Jesus next made it clear to the Pharisees that there is no neutral ground
as far as a relationship to Him is concerned, but unfortunately as we will
learn in the Scriptures that we see only two Pharisees who came to believe in
Christ, that was Nichodemus and Saul of Tarsus. Here is a point that we all,
and I mean all need to learn and that is that people don’t need to oppose
Christ in order to be against Him; it is only necessary to actively interfere with
His work in order to be one who scatters; it is only necessary to not gather
with Him. It is true that the person who
does not belong to God is the enemy of God as seen in Romans 3:10 “As it is
written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;” the person who is not a child
of God through Christ is a rebel against God.
I have always been taught that there are only two kinds of people in
this world; the ones who know Christ and the ones who do not know Him. The point is that you are either with Him or
you are against Him. MacArthur concludes
“It is both spiritually and rationally impossible to accept Jesus as a kind
man, a good teacher, and a great man of God—and nothing more. Only God has the right to claim for Himself
the honor and authority Jesus claimed for Himself; and only God has the power
over disease, sin, demons, Satan, and death that Jesus both claimed and
demonstrated.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: In this section I have seen the great power
of Jesus demonstrated even though He did not at this point heal anyone or raise
anyone from the dead, but He demonstrated His power in the very Words that He
spoke.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust in my life today that Jesus Christ has
defeated Satan.
2/9/2022 10:26 AM
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