OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM IS AMONG US WHEN WE SEE THE KINGDOM OF SATAN BEING PLUNDERED 

Matthew chapter 12 verses 22 - 30 says this;

22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, 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 abroad.

As the Lord Jesus ministered in healing and deliverance, His reputation grew among the people and they brought people with various afflictions for Him to restore.

On one occasion, a demonized man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus and when Jesus healed him, the man could see and speak again and these kinds of astonishing miracles caused the multitudes of people to increase in their esteem of the Lord Jesus.

The existing religious establishment felt threatened by the ascendancy of Jesus in the minds of the people and one of the prongs that was used to try to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ was to ascribe His power to His collaboration with the king of the demons named Beelzebub.

Jesus detected the thinking of the pharisees and countered their conclusions by showing them that it was illogical.

He asked them how the kingdom of Satan could possibly stand if Jesus was undermining the kingdom Satan by the power of Satan.

How could Satan sponsor the destruction of his own kingdom and expect to sustain his kingdom?

Jesus then asked the pharisees by what power their own sons were casting out demons. If they were claiming that Jesus was doing so by the power of Satan, were not their own sons doing the same? Jesus warned the pharisees that their own sons would judge them for falsely claming that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan.

Jesus pointed out to the pharisees that the more likely explanation of what was happening was that the demons were being evicted by the  Spirit of God which then clearly indicated that the kingdom of God was now in operation among them.

Jesus explained to the pharisees that in order to undermine the holdings of Satan, the owner of the holdings must be bound first and then one can enter and take what the strongman has secured for himself.

The Lord Jesus then revealed the polarized nature of existence where there is no neutral ground. Human beings are encamped in one kingdom or the other. If a person is not subscribed to the kingdom of God, one is automatically subscribed to the kingdom of darkness and subject to its mandates.

That is why Jesus said that if we are not aligned with Him, we are against Him because we are aligned with the kingdom of darkness by default..

If we are not actively working in His kingdom gathering in the harvest, we are, conciously or not, scattering that which is slated to be brought in with the harvest and we are undermining the kingdom of God. As verse 30 says;

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON IS WONDERFULLY FORETOLD IN THE SCRIPTURES

Matthew chapter 12 verse 15 - 21 reads this way;

15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

The establishment did not appreciate the challenge that the Lord Jesus represented to their religious dominance over the culture and began to consider ways to ruin Him.

Jesus, knowing their schemes, retreated from the towns and to avoid being tracked down by those who wanted to kill him, He warned His followers not to give away his location.

This was the fulfillment of the Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 - 4 which fortells that our Father  in heaven would declare over Jesus His son that with Him, He was well pleased.

The Spirit of God would then be placed upon Him.

He would bring His justice to the gentiles.

He would retreat to isolated places so as to have a low profile and not end up in brawls with the pharisees.

Any tiny ember of faith held by a person would be protected by Jesus and the Lord would not do anything to quench the small flame of faith.

This gentle and delicate handling of those with  weak faith  would continue to be practiced by the Lord Jesus until He gained the final and great  victory for the kingdom of God and gentiles abandoned their pagan ways and trusted in Him.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON RESCUED PEOPLE IN NEED EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK

Matthew chapter 12 verse 9 - 14 captures an amazing miracle performed by the Lord Jesus in the meeting place where religious people gathered.

Having just had a confrontation with religious leaders regarding the fact that His disciples were working on the Sabbath day picking grain to eat, the establishment figures began attempts  to entrap the Lord Jesus and so when He joined their Sabbath gathering, they asked Him a loaded question.

9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

The Lord invoked a principle where, in spite of the strict rules against working on the Sabbath, people in urgent situations like if theit sheep fell into a pit, they were permitted to reach out and grab the sheep to pull it to safety.

Jesus argued that if they felt that they could rescue animals on the Sabbath day, would it not be even more permisible to rescue human beings on a Sabbath day?

After asking the question, Jesus said to the man with the withered hand to stretch out his jand and in full view of the attendees, an amazing healing miracle occured and the man's hand was restored to the same condition as his healthy arm.

The religious leaders were offended by Jesus and they felt threatened by His accumen and so they put their heads together to plan how to destroy Jesus.

These plots ultimately culminated in the arrest and killing of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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OUR FATHER WHO MADE THE SABBATH FOR MAN AND NOT MAN FOR THE SABBATH

Matthew chapter 12 starts off with a confrontation between Jesus' disciples and the religious leaders of the time. 

What the religious leaders were objecting to was that the disciples were plucking the heads of grain to eat from grainfields even though this was disallowed on the Sabbath day of rest.

The complaint was taken to Jesus as an accusation against His followers for breaking the Sabbath. Verses 1 - 8 reads like this;

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 

2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 

6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

The Lord Jesus immediately turned to the scriptures to invalidate the charges of the pharisees against His people.

He referenced three scriptures to show the religious leaders that their contention was in error. 

Firstly, Jesus showed them that it was not unlawful to eat anything if a person was hungry,  where even temple bread, which was restricted and could only be eaten by priests in the temple of God, was eaten by David and his men when they were hungry.

Secondly, their contention that working on the Sabbath was unlawful was contradicted by the fact that the priests in the temple worked through the Sabbath and yet were not in contravention of the Sabbath. Jesus argued that if priests serving the temple could work on the Sabbath without breaking the law, how much more could Jesus' followers work on the  Sabbath when they were directly serving the One who was greater than the temple.

Thirdly, Jesus scolded the pharisees because of their haste to indict His followers of wrongdoing when the scriptures clearly taught that God desired mercy over sacrifice. To falsely accuse the servants of the Lord of the Sabbath of breaking the Sabbath  to the Lord of the Sabbath Himself was an aggriegious error by the religious leaders.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON INVITES US TO HIMSELF

In the concluding verses of Matthew chapter 11, Jesus, having set an exceedingly high code of moral conduct for those who wish to operate in the kingdom of God, assures the people that no matter how difficult achieving these things seem to be, anyone who comes to Him would find rest for their souls because He is gentle and lowly in heart and the demands He places on those who go to Him are easy and the responsibilities he gives them are light.

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

The standards of the kingdom of God set be Jesus in this chapter and the preceeding chapter are far above our capacity to fulfill them but Jesus nonetheless says that they are achievable because, if we full heartedly pursue the kingdom, God Himself intervenes to help us to attain these standards by giving us everything we need to do so as Mathew chapter 6 verse 33 says;

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING

Nov 4th 2024, the progression of prophecy lands on verse 4 of Isaiah chapter 19. 

The enemy of our souls will try to shore up His failing operations and will the whole organization will be given into the hands of a harsh and cruel leader.

1 The burden against Egypt. Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.

2 “I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers.

4 And the Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them,” Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

5 The waters will fail from the sea, And the river will be wasted and dried up.

6 The rivers will turn foul; The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up; The reeds and rushes will wither.

7 The papyrus reeds by the River, by the mouth of the River, And everything sown by the River, Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.

8 The fishermen also will mourn; All those will lament who cast hooks into the River, And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.

9 Moreover those who work in fine flax And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;

10 And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?”

12 Where are they? Where are your wise men?

Let them tell you now, And let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived; They have also deluded Egypt, Those who are the mainstay of its tribes.

14 The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst; And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt, Which the head or tail, Palm branch or bulrush, may do.

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OUR FATHER IS ONLY KNOWN BY THE SON OF GOD AND THOSE TO WHOM THE SON REVEALS HIM TO

Mathew chapter 11 continues in verses 25 - 27 where Jesus, having explained the hazards of having the truth presented to people who then reject it, continues on to thank God the Father for His strategy of concealing the great mysteries of the kingdom of God  from the elite people of society but revealing  them to the unsophisticated people. 

The access gates into the knowledge of the kingdom of God are regulated by criteria set by the Father and the societal uppercrust is automatically screened out and only by exceptional intervention of God are any people from these higher strata let into the fold. This is why Jesus said in Mark chapter 10 verse 25, that it was harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than a camel to go through the eye of a needle and that all things are possible with God if exceptions were needed.

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 

The Lord Jesus then reveals more gates that regulate access into the kingdom of God.

Jesus has been given all things pertaining to the administration of the kingdom of God and at that point in time, Jesus' status as the Son of God was only known by the Father. In the same way, the Father was only known by Jesus the Son of God.

The knowledge of the Father is revealed only to those who Jesus, by His own authority, choses to reveal Him to and thus, the access gates to the knowledge of the kingdom of God are generally regulated by the restrictions placed on the  elite and then more specically, by those whom Jesus hand-picks to have access to that knowledge.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT IS COMMENSURATE WITH REVELATION

Having just spoken to the people about their propensity for rejecting the servants of God who were sent to them, Jesus, in Matthew chapter 11 verses 20 - 24, rebuked the cities in which He had done great miracles and yet had found excuses not to turn back to God.

20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

In this passage, the Lord Jesus revealed the operation of a relative scale of judgement in the kingdom of heaven that is pegged to the level of investment that is sunk into the territory for the redemption of its people.

Tougher measures of judgement were allotted to the cities in which many great signs were done for them to witness and yet did not repent and turn to God.

The cities in the time of Jesus like Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, had been visited by Jesus and great miracles had been performed there but instead of taking the miracles as gracious invitations to repent, these cities judged and scandalized Jesus for doing miracles on the Sabbath day and for eating and drinking and associating with outcasts. They formulated excuses to diminish the significance of the message that was brought to them.

As a case study, Capernaum, a city near the sea of Galilee, had these miracles, among many others, occur within its vicinity;

• Healing of the man with the withered arm
• Healing of the woman with the issue of blood
• Raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead
• Delivering a demoniac in the synagogue
• Healing of Peter's mother-in-law
• Healing of many people who came for help

Because of the many miracles that occured there, the Lord Jesus singled out the city of Capernaum as an example of a city that would suffer great judgement.

He had chosen Capernaum to be the epicenter of His ministry which elevated it in prominence before heaven and yet it would fall into Hades because the people did not repent inspite of all the miracles that were performed there.

Jesus compared the city of Capernaum to the ancient city of Sodom saying that Sodom, a lawless city in the time of Abraham, would have repented and been spared from destruction if the people had seen the same miracles that the people of Capernaum had seen.

The opposite end of this sliding scale represents the people who, with almost no leading and no attesting miracles, repented of their sins and cried out to God for mercy. 

The city of Niniveh, for example, had a reluctant prophet named Jonah sent to them  and he merely crossed from one end of the city to the other warning of a coming judgement and yet, in response,  the whole city, including the king and the animals, were cloaked in sackcloth and ashes and they repented for their sins before God.

Mercy was shown to Ninevah on account of their unreserved reaction to the lean presentation by Jonah.

This sliding scale of judgement can be manipulated by regulating the amount of revelation that the people are exposed to.

Mark chapter 4 verses 11 - 12 captures this in action where Jesus explains to His disciples why He spoke in parables;

11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”

The disciples were in the kingdom and it was for them that the mysteries were revealed but for those outside the kingdom, these mysteries are hidden in parables lest they understand and turn and their sins are forgiven.

If, however, they receive the greater understanding and do not repent, they are subject to greater judgement and would have been better off not being exposed to the knowledge prescribed for those already in the kingdom of God.

Amen.

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