Matthew 12
COMMENTARY:
: 15 But when Jesus knew it, HE withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed HIM, and HE healed them all. (402 “withdrew” [anachoreo] means to move away from a place in another direction, go away, take refuge, or retire for privacy.)
DEVOTION: There is a time to confront and a time to withdraw. Jesus knew that it was not the right time to confront the Pharisees again. HE had answered their questions and stated what the Word of God taught regarding what should be done on the Sabbath and what shouldn’t be done on the Sabbath. HE was the LORD of the Sabbath and always did what was right. HE was not concerned with the traditions of the Pharisees.
We need to know when to confront and when not to confront people. It is a gift that is given by the Holy Spirit to every believer through our prayer life. Too often we run ahead of God with our ministry of confrontation.
We need to confront others regarding their wrong beliefs in the right time and in the right manner. Jesus always did it perfectly because HE was God. HE always had HIS timing right. HE was bold sometimes and at others HE went slower.
Remember that the disciples wanted to stop some people who were doing things they thought they shouldn’t and Jesus told them that if they were not against HIM they were for HIM.
As disciple’s wisdom should be our greatest goal when we are thinking of confronting or withdrawing from an issue. Our attitude has to be right. Our love has to show through what we are saying and what we are doing.
CHALLENGE: Jesus was even kind to those who were enemies to HIS ministry at times.
: 32 And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgive him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (863 “ forgive” [aphiemi] means to become pardoned, to remit, send away, cancel a debt.)
DEVOTION: As a young believer in a Bible School I was asked if someone had committed the unpardonable sin. The Bible teaches that there is an unpardonable sin. It is a sin that will never be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come.
The individual was someone who used God’s name in vain even after he had accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. He was still trying to learn how to live the Christian life. One of the problems throughout church history is that many who say a prayer to accept Jesus Christ are never followed up with good teaching in the Word of God. Many think that the Holy Spirit will do all the teaching they need if they attend a church that preaches the Bible. This doesn’t happen as often as people think because some who have said the prayer didn’t really know what they were doing.
Instruction is important right after someone becomes a believer and needs to continue until they die. Some churches are good at having good Sunday School classes and pastors who teach the Word. Most today do not.
Now back to the question of the unpardonable sin. It is attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil. It is denying the Holy Spirit HIS place in the act of salvation. The Holy Spirit enters an individual at salvation. HE gives directions to the individual.
The Pharisees were saying that Jesus was acting through the power of Satan. They were giving glory to Satan for the work of God. They were saying bad things about the work of the Holy Spirit.
The only unpardonable sin is rejecting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. The Pharisees didn’t believe in Jesus and didn’t want anyone else to believe in Jesus. They were not going to heaven unless they changed their mind. If they didn’t they were going to spend eternity in the lake of fire with their father the devil.
The religious leaders as a whole rejected Jesus Christ and HIS ministry. They told people HE was serving the devil. They are going to answer for their actions.
CHALLENGE: They might think the same of us when we try to teach that there is only one way to heaven. All false religions teach that there are many ways to heave.
: 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (692 “idle” [argos] means free from labor, at leisure, lazy, slow, without thought, careless, ineffective or barren.)
DEVOTION: This chapter is full of testing of Jesus by the Pharisees and scribe. They wanted to condemn HIM. They wanted to find a way to put HIM to death. Jesus knew these things.
HE warned the Pharisees that there was a judgment day coming. They wanted signs that HE was truly the Messiah but they would not accept the signs. HE gave examples of who would come in the last days to judge that generation. IF there is no life after death than these individuals would have been gone from any years but they were going to judge the generation living in Jesus day.
Jesus continued to heal and they accused HIM of curing people by the power of Satan. HE explained that a kingdom divided would not stand. HE told them that HE healed by the power of the LORD. HE also warned that if they continued to give Satan credit for the LORD’S work they would commit blasphemy that would never be forgiven. They were producing evil fruit. Those who produced evil fruit would spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Finally, Jesus is warning people that individuals have their words recorded by the LORD. HE is warning that there is a day of judgment coming. HE wants us to think before we speak. Those who are followers of the LORD need to think before they speak. There are words that should not come from the mouths of those that follow the LORD.
We tend to say many careless things in our lives. We tend to say things that we shouldn’t when we are angry. We tend to be lazy in thinking through our words to others. Conversation is a hard thing. We sometimes try to fill in silent spots instead of letting there be silence. We think that because we are forgiven all our sins when we follow Christ that we don’t have to worry about judgment.
One of the things that God hates is gossip. Those who have a tendency to say things about others to hurt them rather than encourage them is a sin. God has given us the responsibility to be encourages of others. When we get together we are never to have a gossip session about someone in our church especially the pastor or his staff. If they have some things that they are not getting done there should be a spirit of grace. Also those who think things could be done better should volunteer to help see that they are done better.
Remember that the Judgment seat of Christ is for Christians. Our works are going to be placed in a fire and only the gold, silver and precious stones will last through the fire. We will receive crowns according to the things that last. If we spend our time saying careless and thoughtless things to others – these will be burned. Most of us would rather hear from the LORD: “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
Also, remember that our tongue is a deadly poison. Please help each other to keep our tongues in check and only say what will encourage others. The Holy Spirit is working in the lives of those who need to grow in the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Ask someone if they can tell that you are a Christian by the vocabulary that you use. Words used to your wife. Words used to your children. Words used when you gather with friends. Words you use in church. Words you use in the workplace.
: 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister and mother. (2307 “will” [thelema] means desire, pleasure, choice, inclination, purpose, or intent.)
DEVOTION: All of us have certain desires for our life. We all are gifted in an area where we can find employment. We are all given choices regarding our future spouse. We all know where we want to be in five years or ten years or beyond. We have plans that we are working on for ourselves and our family. It is natural to have purpose in our life.
God has a purpose for all those who are genuine followers of HIM. HE gives special instructions to the twelve disciples regarding what the Christian life is supposed to look like to the outside world. The disciples wrote books of the Bible after HE left this world for heaven. They gave us examples of what God wanted us to do.
At the beginning of Jesus ministry his brothers were not followers of HIM. They thought HE was wrong in HIS actions. None of them became followers until after HIS death. Two of them wrote two of the books of the New Testament: Jude and James.
So when they came to Jesus on this occasion it was not to help HIS ministry but to probably ask HIM to come home and stop causing problems with the religious leaders of the day.
We are to be doing the will of the Father today. HE showed us what that was like with the life of Christ. Christ gave us an updated version of the commands of God. We are to love the LORD our God with all our heart …. We are to love our neighbor. These are the two commands that HE restated in simple form, so that, there was no confusion.
Worship is our first responsibility. Our worship is to be centered in the LORD Jesus Christ. Our prayers are to be to the Father through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the name of the Son. All three persons of the Godhead are involved in our worship and prayers.
Fellowship is part of our worship. We are to fellowship with God and our fellow believers. The problem is that there are people in our churches who are not genuine believers and we have to watch who we fellowship with because there are people who want to take us further away from the LORD rather than closer. The Holy Spirit can give us discernment if we ask HIM.
Work is another characteristic of those who are doing the intent of the LORD with their lives. Our first responsibility is to serving the LORD in our family. God wants us to raise our family in HIS Word and in a Bible believing church. Our family needs to be there to worship the LORD on a regular basis. Each Sunday and other days that help our family grow in the LORD should see us in a local body of believers. Our family should see us reading the Word of God regularly. It should be an example of how important you consider the Word of God.
Our next area of work should be through the local church where we volunteer to reach others for the LORD. Each person receives a gift from the Holy Spirit for service in the local church. If we are not using our gifts then the church will suffer. All are called to reach their neighborhood and friends to the LORD.
Then we enter the workplace and give a testimony for the LORD by our dedication to doing the best we can to show people that Christians are hard workers. Should the workplace take top priority? NO!! Too often our time is spent trying to get ahead rather than serving the LORD. Many have regretted not serving the LORD when they could when they were younger. Many wait until retirement to serve. It is never too late but think of those you could have reached earlier for the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Go into the presence of the LORD and ask HIM how you can better serve HIM in your home, church, and workplace. Set some goals each month.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Sabbathverses 1, 2, 5, 8, 10-12
House of Godverse 4
Shewbreadverse 4
Priestsverses 4, 5
Templeverses 5, 6
Synagogueverse 9
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Lawverse 5
Isaiah spoke about Jesusverses 17-21
Jonah given a signverses 39-41
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
Fatherverse 50
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
Jesus verses 1, 15, 25
Son of manverses 8, 32, 40
Lordverse 8
Servant verse 18
Chosen oneverse 18
Belovedverse 18
Son of Davidverse 23
Master verse 38
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Holy Spirit in Jesusverse 18
Spirit of Godverse 28
Holy Ghostverses 31, 32
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Godverses 4, 28
House of Godverse 4
Kingdom of Godverse 28
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
devil – evil angels (only one Devil/Satan)verses 22, 24, 28
Evil angel – Beelzebub/another name for Satanverses 24, 27
Satan – evil angelverse 26
Unclean spirit – evil angelverses 43-45
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Gentilesverse 18
Gentiles trust in Jesusverse 21
Men of Ninevehverse 41
Queen of the southverse 42
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Traditions against Bibleverse 2
Commoners eating showbreadverse 4
Profane the Sabbath verse 5
Condemn the guiltlessverse 7
Accuse Christverses 10, 14
Sinverse 31
Blasphemyverse 31
Blasphemy of the Holy Spiritverses 31, 32
Evilverses 34, 35
Condemnedverses 37, 41, 42
Adulterous generationverse 39
Wicked verse 45
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Disciplesverses 1, 2
Blamelessverse 5
Mercyverse 7
Healingverses 10, 13, 15, 22
Do well on Sabbathverse 12
Servantverse 18
Chosenverse 18
Victoryverse 20
Trustverse 21
Gatherersverse 30
Forgivenverses 31, 32
Goodverse 35
Justifiedverse 37
Does will of the Fatherverse 50
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Phariseesverses 2, 14
Davidverse 3
Counselverse 14
Elijah (Esaias) – prophetverses 17-21
Jesus mother and brothersverses 46-50
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Day of Judgmentverse 36
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