The King Declares War

The King Declares War

“But if by the Spirit of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”  (Matthew 12:28)

In the twenty–second to thirty–second verses of Matthew twelve, we are faced with one of the greatest contrasts in the Bible.  God Almighty arrays Heaven and Hell in one scene and lets us look at the two.  He demonstrates that His ways are not our ways and that His thoughts are not our thoughts.  We see that His ways and thoughts are, indeed, above ours, as the heavens are high above the earth.

We see too that He was at war with Satan, but that He was perfectly able to overcome that sinister power.  He had effectively bound "the strong man," Satan, and thus He was able to release the poor demon-possessed man from the clutch of the devil.  What a word of joy this is to every sin-bound soul!  You who know what it is to feel the claims of sin, there is salvation for you! Christ Jesus the Lord has come to earth.  He went to the cross and died, so that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14).  This was why He took a human body: that He might be nailed to the cross, that at Calvary, by the wisdom and power of God, there should be the eternal answer to the problem of your sin, and that Satan might be forever deprived of his power over those who come to God in Christ.  There are many of us who can testify to the personal experience of this victory that is ours in Christ.  We know that our Lord has bound the strong man and thus has been able to come into our lives and do His victorious work.

The conclusion of this incident is amazing.  Christ knew that His person and work had produced a crisis that would admit no compromise.  There might be some place for argument in a comparison of scarlet and vermilion, but there can be no hesitation when it is a contrast between black and white.  This is the Lord’s stern declaration: "He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad" (Matthew 12:30).  This is a call of war.  In times of peace, governments can afford to be benevolent and to allow the expression of soap-box opinions that are subservient to national unity.  But when war has been declared there is only one thing to do - every nerve of the nation must be steeled to the tasks of war.

Dr. Barnhouse urges us to fight with our King because His enemies are already defeated.  How willing are we to fight and how ready are we to fight.

Further Reading: Matthew 12:22-32