A Demon Possessed Man Healed

Matthew 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.

Mark 3:22-30

Luke 11:14 - And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.

In Matthew, the one possessed with a demon is both blind and dumb, while in Luke, the person is only dumb, but in Mark there is no mention of a person at all.

Purpose - There is a difference in results.

I.    The entire point of these miracles leads Christ to teach (in parables: I don’t know how many Christ used) about is to teach about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. 

A.     Every blind and dumb person is not demon possessed. 

1.       Demon possessions can cause these things, as the Bible clearly states. 

2.       There are also physical causes of blindness and the inability to speak. 

3.       Some people are deficient in mental capacities, some are crazy and some are demon possessed. 

B.     There is a difference between the way Christ cast out demons and the way the Pharisees and Scribes cast them out.

C.     The scribes and Pharisees had used enchantments, which is the devil’s tool.

1.       Mark 2:12 - Christ cast out demons, which the people had seen before, but they had never seen demons cast out like Christ cast them out.

2.       Acts 19:13 - Some wandering Jews, who were exorcists, attempted to change their methods and cast out demons the way Paul cast them out.

D.     Enchantments in the book of Exodus.

1.       Moses performed the first miracle in the entire Bible, but Satan already had his dupes performing miracles.

2.       Ex. 7:11 - The wise men, the sorcerers and the magicians used enchantments to turn their rods into serpents.

3.       Ex. 7:22 - The wise men, the sorcerers and the magicians used enchantments to turn water into blood.  It should be noted they didn’t turn the blood back into water!

4.       Ex. 8:7 - The wise men, the sorcerers and the magicians used enchantments to bring frogs upon the land of Egypt, but they didn’t use their enchantments to cause the frogs to go away.  They couldn’t do that!

5.       Ex. 8:18 - The wise men, the sorcerers and the magicians used enchantments to bring lice, but they didn’t make any of the lice go away!

II.    Luke 11:17-20 – An explanation.

A.     Verse 17 – Christ states that Satan does not cast out his own demons any more than Christ will cast out his own spirit from believers or cast saved people back into being lost.

B.     Verse 18 – If Satan cast out his own demons or Christ cast out his own Spirit, that kingdom would not stand.

1.       Christ explains in the latter part of verse 18 why he makes this statement.

2.       Christ is drawing a straight line concerning who is able to cast out demons.

3.       He wants no one to declare that Satan casts out his own demons, or that Christ would cast out his own Spirit from believers.

C.     Verse 19 – The sons of the Jews practiced casting out devils, but they used enchantments and such, not the power of God.

1.       Mark 2:8-12 states, And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9  Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11  I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 12  And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. 

2.       The above verse makes it very clear that the method Jesus used to cast out devils and the method the Jews used is completely different.

3.       John Gill states concerning Luke 11:19:

By whom do your sons cast them out? by whose help? or in whose name?  for the Jews pretended to cast out devils, and to heal those that were possessed with them; which they did sometimes, by making use of the names of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and sometimes of the name of Solomon: Josephus {q} speaks of many in his time, who had this power of healing; and he himself saw one Eleazar, in the presence of Vespasian, his children, officers, and soldiers, cure many that were possessed of devils: and his method was, by putting a ring to the nose of the possessed, under the seal of which, was a root directed to by Solomon, and thereby brought out the unclean spirit; and as soon as the man was healed, he adjured the devil never to return more; at which time he made mention of the name of Solomon, and rehearsed the enchantments written by him: the said Eleazar, to give a specimen of the efficacy of his art, set a cup full of water upon the ground, and commanded the devil when he went out of the man, to turn it over, as a sign that he had left the man, and the devil immediately obeyed his order: now if these sons of theirs cast out devils, which they would not say were done by the help of the devil, or in his name, why should they ascribe the ejection of devils by Christ, to a diabolical assistance?

4.       His statement is confirmed by Acts 19:13, which states, Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 

5.       God will not have to judge the unbelieving Jews.  Their own sons will judge them because their sons know whose power they are using, even though they may verbally declare their power comes from God.

D.     Verse 20 – Jesus declares that the casting out of devils, the miracles, wonders and signs, the healings of many and various diseases proves beyond any reasonable doubt of spiritually reasonable men that he is indeed the Christ, the son of the living God.

III.    Compare Luke 11:19 - Christ knew He was casting out devils and healing people by the power of God.  This means that He knew that the Pharisees were casting out devils by the power of Satan and that Satan’s kingdom wouldn’t last.

A.     Satan is able to heal, but he isn’t able to forgive.

1.       Reader’s Digest published a story called, “Surgeon with the rusty knife” which deals with a common laborer who went into a trance and spoke with the voice of a dead French physician.

2.       While in this trance, he was able to perform many operations without sterilization, and healing took place almost immediately.

3.       Satan would do anything to cause the furtherance of his kingdom.

4.       He is like any common criminal, who will readily break all laws to commit his crime.

5.       “There is no honor among thieves.”

B.     Luke 11:19 - The Pharisees would claim their children was casting out devils, but I believe they were casting out devils by the power of Satan.

1.       Matt. 7:22 - Many will say they have done mighty works in the name of Christ, but Christ will say, “I never knew you.”

2.       Luke 9:50 - There were some that were casting out devils, but they followed not the disciples.  Christ said to leave them alone.

3.       Mark 2:12 - Casting out demons with enchantments.

4.       Acts 19:13 - Exorcism was prevalent.

IV.    Luke 11:21-26 is talking about the “guard of the soul.”  Phil. 4:7 - The Holy Spirit shall keep (guard) our hearts and minds when we go to God, thanking Him for all our troubles and asking Him to work things out His way.

A.     Verse 21 speaks about every individual, who tries to take care of himself, protecting his own palace.

1.       No person is strong enough to stand against Satan.

2.       No person is strong enough to stand against God.

3.       The only way a person can be captured by God or Satan is that he must be conquered, while he stands with his weapons.

B.     There can be rehabilitation without Christ.

1.       AA without Christ leaves a person empty.

2.       Drug rehabilitation without Christ leaves a person empty.

3.       Courts today take the Bible out of schools, but put them into prisons!

C.     Satan can give his type of salvation, which comes without conviction of sin, or forgiveness of sins.  This is called “Easy Believism.”

1.       Believe in Christ with no conviction of sin.

2.       Sign on the dotted line.

3.       Telling people they’re saved.

D.     When Satan performs a work of healing or cast out a demon, the price paid by the individual receiving the healing is much greater than if Satan had left him alone.

1.       At first, there is great relief because the preset condition is rectified, but very soon, the individual is unable to find any rest for their thirsty souls.

2.        They return to their former way of life, but there is no peace for them in their former sins.

3.       Therefore, they begin to commit things that are seven times more wicked than they where doing.

4.       Matt. 23:15 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

E.      When Christ heals or cast out a demon, the results are always good.

1.       John 8:11 - Jesus told the woman taken in adultery, “…go, and sin no more.”

2.       Luke 19:8 - When Zacchaeus was saved, he immediately gave half of his goods to the poor and promised to restore to any man four times what he had cheated him out of.

3.       When Christ saved us, He gave us eternal life, peace beyond description, grace without end, faith for time, and a vision of eternity.

4.       Christ has made us unsatisfied with our present way of life, but has given us great satisfaction in trusting Him for all our needs.

5.       When Christ saves a person, they lose the desire of their former lifestyle, and do not want to return to it.

6.       The last state of the saved person is at least one million times one million times one million times (put whatever number her you want to put) better than it was before he was saved.  [1]

V.    Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.  [2]

Matt. 12:31,32, 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.  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.

We must state at the very beginning that the unpardonable sin and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the same thing.  As for the "sin unto death" (I John 5:16), I seriously doubt it is the unpardonable sin for a saved person can sin unto death, and only a lost person can commit the unpardonable sin.

There is also a difference between an unpardoned sin and an unpardonable sin.  There are many unpardoned sins which will be forgiven when asked, but there is only one unpardonable sin.

What The Unpardonable Sin is not

1.       It is not any sin against men.  All sins (these are more correctly stated to be "trespasses") against men (murder, rape, adultery, stealing, lying, etc.;) can be forgiven.

2.       It is not any sin against Jesus Christ.  A person can deny all the doctrines of Christ and still be forgiven, according to the text.

I have been very disturbed to hear a great many preachers preach that the unpardonable sin is rejecting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.  This theory is false for it teaches that as soon as a lost person rejects Christ, they have committed the unpardonable sin and are doomed to an eternal hell!  I believe it is safe to say that practically nobody was saved when Christ first dealt with them concerning salvation.  We were all saved only after repeated dealings by the Holy Spirit.  Of course, if a person rejects Christ until he dies, his sins are unforgiven, but this does not mean he has committed the unpardonable sin.

Jesus makes it very clear that sins against Himself, and some sins against the Holy Spirit, shall be forgiven.  It is a particular sin against the Holy Spirit that will not be forgiven.

3.       It is not any sin against the ten commandments.  Christ died on the cross to save sinners from the curse of the law, Gal. 3:13.

4.       It is not any sin against God the Father.  The text says, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men".

5.       It is not every sin against the Holy Spirit.

a.       I Thess. 5:19 - The Holy Spirit can be quenched,

b.       Eph. 4:30 - The Holy Spirit can be grieved.

c.       Acts 7:51,52 - The Holy Spirit can be resisted.

d.       All of these sins can be forgiven, if the sinner will only ask.

What the Unpardonable Sin is

According to the text, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (the unpardonable sin) is attributing a work of God to Satan, or attributing a work of Satan to God.  Blasphemy is to speak injuriously (in particular against the Holy Spirit).

Please notice that every blasphemy is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

1.       Acts 13:45, the Jews at Antioch contradicted and blasphemed those things spoken by Paul.  In verse 46, Paul states they had put the gospel from them, judging themselves unworthy of everlasting life.  The Bible does not state they committed the unpardonable sin.

2.       Acts 26:11, Paul compelled the believers to blasphemy, or to speak injuriously against Christ, probably something like Peter who denied Jesus three times.  Peter did not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit or lose his salvation, and these believers didn't either.

3.       Rom. 2:24, Paul tells the Roman church that they have caused the name of Christ to be blasphemed among the Gentiles, yet this sin can be forgiven if they will only ask, I John 1:8-10.

4.       I Tim.  1:13, Paul says that before he was saved, he was a blasphemer, but he obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Conditions under which the Holy Spirit is Blasphemed

1.       There must be an unmistakable work of the Spirit.  Our text clearly indicates that a miracle had been performed which the Jews could not deny.  They knew God performed this miracle, but accused Jesus of casting out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.

2.       There must be a knowledge that the work is of God.  In I Tim.  1:13, Paul obtained forgiveness of blasphemy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief, but these Pharisees were not ignorant.  Thos.  Goodwyn, one of the Puritans, says that two things are necessary in committing the unpardonable sin: "Light in the mind and malice in the heart."