Matthew, Chapter 12

Matt. 12:22-32

Matt.12:22 "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: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 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. 30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."

After having accused the Lord and his disciples of breaking the Sabbath, then the Pharisees accused the Lord of casting out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Beelzebub is another name for Satan and is defined as "dung god." The Lord responded to them by showing the utter foolishness of their accusation. He said, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" If Satan were casting out Satan, then he would be divided against himself and he would be causing his own kingdom to fall. History has recorded for us the accuracy of the words of Jesus. When a kingdom is divided it will ultimately fall from within. When a house is divided against itself, that house will fall. Thus, the accusation that Christ was casting out devils through the prince of the devils was utterly foolish.

Next, the Lord turned the accusation back on the Pharisees: "if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges." The Lord showed us that if the prince of the devils had the power to cast out devils, then by whom did the children of the Pharisees cast them out. Therefore, there own children would be the judge that would find the accusations of the Pharisees false.

"But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." After having proved the absurdity of their accusation, the Lord went to the only viable means by which he cast out devils, and that is by the Spirit of God. Since Jesus was casting out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God had come unto the children of Israel. Rather than rejoicing that the kingdom had come, they were hurling wicked and false accusations against the Lord.

"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." The Lord is the one who entered into the strong man's house (Beezebub) and spoiled his goods (cast out devils). It was necessary that Christ be stronger than Satan (which of course he is as the Son of God) and then binds him. Satan was bound in that he is unable to stop any of the works of the Lord or to keep him from accomplishing what he came to do.

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." The Lord pointed out to us that these religious leaders of the Jews were not with him, but against him. Since they were not gathering with him, they were obviously scattering abroad. It is important for us to understand that many religious leaders of the day are just like the Pharisees of the bible day. They are opposed to the true religion of Jesus Christ, even though they fain to be a part of it.

"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." The word, blasphemy, means evil speaking or railing. The Pharisees had blasphemed against the Holy Ghost. They had accused the Lord of having cast out devils by Beelzebub. They had equated the work of the Holy Ghost to the work of Satan.

The Lord said that the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost would not be forgiven men, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Misunderstanding of this statement has caused great worry in the hearts of some of God's children when they think that they may have committed blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. When considering the application of the Lord's statement there are a few fundamental truths that we should hold fast:

1. All of the sins of the elect are forgiven them: Rom. 8:33 "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Thus, every sin that the elect ever commit is covered by the blood of Jesus and is forgiven by the God of Glory.
2. None of the sins of the non-elect are ever forgiven them before the bar of justice of a Just and Holy God. The wages of sin is death. Since Christ did not die for the non-elect, their sins are not forgiven. Not even one of their sins is ever forgiven by God.
3. The word translated world in the above passage is "aion" meaning age.
4. If what is meant by "neither in this world, neither in the world to come" is the time world we now live in and the eternal world to which we go after this time world is over, then we may conclude that it would be impossible for one of the elect to commit the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
5. If what is meant by "neither in this world, neither in the world to come" is the "law age" and the "gospel age" then it has application to the Jews under the law and to God's people in the church. Under the law to blasphemy the Holy Ghost would result in the person being taken out and stoned to death. There would be no forgiveness there. In the church if a person blasphemed against the Holy Ghost by denying the works of the Holy Ghost, then he would be excluded from the church and not be taken back into membership. This also would amount to no forgiveness of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost by the church.

Since I have struggled with the meaning of this in the past, I will leave it up to the readers to determine which of the above is the application.

Matt. 12:33-35

Matt. 12:33 "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."

Several times in the scriptures the Lord has pointed out to us that only a good tree can bring forth good fruit:

1. Matt. 7:17 "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
2. Luke 6:43 "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes."
3. Luke 3:9 "And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."
A man must be good in order to do good. You cannot do good unless you are already good. Good fruit only comes from a good tree. Likewise, good works only come from a good man. Only the Lord can make a man good. He does this through the new birth. When the Lord causes a man to be born again, he then possesses a good nature by which he can do good.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance and meekness. A person must first be born of the Spirit before he can bear the above fruit in his life.

Before a person is born of the Spirit he possesses only an evil nature and can only produce evil fruit. The works of the flesh are "adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like." This is the only fruit that a person can bear before he is born of the Spirit.

The Lord called the generation of the Pharisees and Sadducees a generation of vipers:
1. Matt. 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
2. Mat 23:33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
3. Luke 3:7 "Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

A viper is a poisonous snake. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were like poisonous snakes and the only works they could prduce came from an evil heart and were, therefore, evil works.