Good morning. Before I read, I will ask God's blessing because as you know, this is not a thing I do frequently and I very much need God's blessing to make this useful for you. So please join me in prayer. Father in heaven, as we do worship you, we do so humbly and gratefully. Humbly because we know we are not worthy, that we are sinners, and yet gratefully because even now as we repent of our sin, we know that in Christ you forgive us, that we have a hope that transcends all of the good works that anyone may choose to do with the expectation that you would somehow accept it. Our work is acceptable because of the blood of Christ. And so we ask that your spirit would be here today, that you would bless me in preaching, that this message would be a blessing to all who hear, and that you would be glorified in it. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Matthew chapter 12. Picking up in verse 22, I'll read 22 through the end of the chapter. Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and he healed him so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed and were saying, this man cannot be the son of David, can he? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, this man casts out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons. And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 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 the house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. 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, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good, and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words, you will be justified And by your words, you will be condemned. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it. because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater than Solomon is here. Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself. And they go in and live there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation. While he was still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to him. Someone said to him, behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you. But Jesus answered the one who was telling him and said, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, behold my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. Credit here, I heard this sermon or a sermon like this. In June, I was down in Western Pennsylvania, and Jeff Stuyvesant preached a sermon with this title. And I take notes, and I went to him afterward and said, I want to preach this sermon sometime. Would that be all right with you? He said, absolutely fine. So credit to Jeff, naturally. He did a fine job, if you've heard Jeff preach, he's a very good preacher. So I'll do my best. This passage, this passage as we begin here. Let me point out that this passage is part of a section of text that actually starts in chapter 9 and runs here through the end of chapter 12. And the focus of this section is on the newly constituted Israel, the new family of faith. So the things found early in this section show up again later. There's strong parallelism throughout this, and if you read through this yourself, I think you will find much of it. I hope to bring them out today. I'm going to try to bring them out today. One of the disturbing things that Jesus teaches in this section is that the gospel, and so I'm referring to an earlier part of this three chapter section. The gospel, the good news, good news that it is, can actually divide families. And he talks about how a man will be divided against his, against his, a son against his father, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, that families can be torn apart by this good news. The irony of it is that biological families don't need the gospel to divide them. They often do a pretty good job on their own. But it is true, when a person comes to faith and others in the family do not, such that one in the family loves Christ and the rest maintain a deep-seated hatred for him, for that is what it is. It is then that we see families divided. Let us consider some of the particular passages in this larger section. Looking at chapter 10, verse 21 and following, In 1021, brother will betray brother. The result of the gospel, brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. And children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And the reason stated is stated plainly, you will be hated by all because of my name. Or look at at chapter 10 verse 24. Those who maligned Jesus will malign the members of his household. And then in verse 34 of chapter 10 the same theme continues. Jesus says, do not think that I come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. Jesus' household. And then look at chapter 11, verse 25. Here Jesus says that the son reveals his father to infants. In other words, we are the spiritual orphans snatched from the strongman's house referred to in chapter 12 verse 25. This is where this is going. Infants, spiritual orphans who now belong to the household of God through faith in the son. He reveals it to those who didn't even seek him. That would be us. Now, I am pointing out that these verses and the division that the gospel brings, out these verses and the division that the gospel brings, because here at the end of this larger, this three chapter section, we see them come together. in a way that's quite encouraging for us. You see, the traditions of the scribes and Pharisees claimed that the signs had the actual properties of the things signified. This larger section, and our passage that we consider today in particular, corrects the view that the Jews of that day would be able to claim God's favor even while they rejected the Christ. We have three points today. We'll look at the dismantling of God's house, of the house as it had been constituted. We'll look at the reconstruction of the new house, and we'll consider the character of the children of that new house. So now, the dismantling. The question is asked in chapter 12, verse 23, if I can find it. Verse 23, can this be the son of David? And yet the Pharisees attributed to Satan that which was done by the Spirit. Pagans who heard it believed, but God's own people wouldn't listen. Looking back to 10 verse 12, we find Jesus's instruction to the disciples in evangelism. This is a key part of this. They are to greet the house, and if it is worthy, give it your blessing. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing. Take back your blessing of peace. You don't get it. You don't get that peace if you're not worthy. That is to say, if the house rejects, we'll find that, it'll come. Jesus has greeted the house of Israel. And in today's passage, we find their response. They are not worthy. In 25 and 26, Jesus notes that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And he rejects the assessment of the religious leaders as inconsistent. He concludes this train of thought in verse 43 through 45 by pointing out that the house of the Jews is being swept clean. but if they continue to reject the clear working of the Holy Spirit among them, they will end up in an even worse state. So then, the house of faith, the establishment of the house of faith. How does this come about? John the Baptist. John the Baptist preached, preached, came and preached the coming kingdom and Jesus What did Jesus say? Believe in the coming kingdom. Repent. The kingdom is at hand. He said, notice he describes the kingdom in this passage, specifically in this section that we just read, he describes the kingdom, the city, and the house as parallels. The kingdom of God. The city of God. The house. They're the same. This is God's household. And then here in verses 27 and 28, he declares that the kingdom has come. I should say, notice that he describes the city house and the kingdom city house, and then he's describing how there is a house that can't stand. And so the dismantling of the old house is taking place here in verses 27 and 28. He declares that the kingdom has come. They thought they had a kingdom. Jesus said, now it's come. He says, if by Beelzebul, if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. There it is. It's the new house is needed for the plunder. for the plunder that he would take from Satan. Why? What? Us, the means of our deliverance, our death, and resurrection, the facts of which Jesus was gradually making clear in his preaching. And the plunder is his disciples, those who hear and respond, not in unbelief or criticism, as the religious leaders did when they saw such work, but in faith. And so what is the character of the children of the household? In chapter 12, verses 33 through 37, and again in verse 50, we find the description of the inhabitants of the new house. The character of the children is consistent with that of the master of the house. The fruit is consistent with the tree. Our good, our good is what we have from Jesus, that which he has said and did. Yes, unlike him, we still sin. However, we obtain his righteousness as our fruit by trusting in him. And so we have this righteousness by faith and such is how we become members of the household. It is by responding in faith to the call to repent and believe. And that's why he concluded by saying his disciples are his mother and brothers and sisters. And so the new household the new house, and the new household. So then, what does all this mean for us? The Jews rejected the Christ, attributing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit. The old house, kingdom, has been abolished. It was an evil and adulterous generation. that Jesus confronted and rebuked. In verse 45, he concludes that their last state will be worse than before. And yet he is not only preaching about those who reject him. There was the old and now there is the new. He was preaching destruction and he was preaching building. The new house, kingdom, has been established. The household is made up of those who do not reject the Holy Spirit, but gather with him by proclaiming the good news that Jesus is Lord. So, what was the message Jesus preached? It was repent and turn to God in a new way. Those works are insufficient. That kind of righteousness does not suffice. We are to trust no longer in mere outward obedience, but to put our faith in the new Lord, the one who would truly deliver us from the just sentence of death for our sins. What sins? Oh, they knew the commandments. And so do we. They are. There's only one God. Worship no images. Stop using the Lord's name in vain and frivolous ways. Keep the Lord's Day. Honor those in authority over you. Do not murder. Avoid all sexual sin. Don't cheat or steal. Speak the truth only and always. And finally, be content. God has blessed you. Be content with the way in which God has blessed you. Repent means to truly turn away from these sins. And salvation is only by trusting in the sacrifice of Christ as our means of deliverance from the punishment due us for those sins we have already committed. Live a life that reflects the new reality that we have been redeemed into a new household, the true Israel of God. That is us, if we are among those who hear the message and respond in faith. So then, go and sin no more, and the blessing of peace be upon you all. Please pray with me. Father, this is encouraging indeed. You have said that your kingdom would last forever. The Jews of Jesus' day were presuming that that meant them. And so when Jesus proclaimed a gospel, they rejected, they thought with presumption that he would go away and leave them with your kingdom, how wrong they were. For you have taken the kingdom from them and given it to your son, who is worthy and has established an undivided household that will last forever. And so we worship you and praise you and thank you for revealing these truths to us as little children, even though you hid it from the wise. And so we ask that you would bless us in your house, make us fruitful, bearing fruit worthy of the tree from which we are, the tree of which we're a part, the vine into which we have been grafted, and grant to us to be a blessing to the world around us, bringing good news, even though it bring a sword. And so thank you. Care for us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.