Great Reasons To Rejoice In The Lord Series

Great Reasons to Rejoice in the Lord

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 12:22-29

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared April 6, 2022)

BACKGROUND:

*Remember that here in Matthew 12, Jesus was in the second year of His ministry. This chapter reveals the vicious hatred that had poisoned the minds of the Christ-rejecting Pharisees. They started stalking Jesus, looking for any opportunity to accuse Him of doing wrong. (1)

*In vs. 9-14, the Lord went into a synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand. After that, the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him." Luke 6:11 tells us that the Pharisees were filled with rage to the point of madness that day. And all of that anger flowed out of their hardhearted rejection of Christ. They rejected the Lord in spite of countless proofs that He was the promised Messiah. That unbridled hatred would lead some of the Pharisees to commit the only unpardonable sin.

*Today's Scripture shows us another amazing miracle. It also reports on the Pharisees' unforgivable sin. But our focus is on three great reasons why Christians can rejoice in the Lord. Please think about this as we read Matthew 12:22-29.

MESSAGE:

*Are you rejoicing in the Lord today? In Philippians 4:4, Paul tells Christians to "rejoice in the Lord always," There he reminds us that Jesus should be our constant source of joy. And Paul stressed rejoicing 7 times in that short letter! (Scriptures listed below.) (2)

*Church: We can't always rejoice in our health or our looks. We can't always rejoice in our finances, our family, our jobs, or our grades. We can't always rejoice in our houses, our cars, our toys, or our accomplishments. But we can always rejoice in the Lord!

*It's important to remember that when Paul wrote those words he had been a prisoner of Rome, bound in chains, possibly as long as 4 years. Paul's only crime was telling the truth about Jesus Christ. And in Philippians 2:27, Paul told us that he almost had sorrow on top of sorrow.

*Paul could have been filled with bitterness, but he overflowed with the joy of the Lord. And we can too! Our hands are not in chains today, and we are tremendously blessed. But if all of that was taken away, we would still have God's grace, we would still have Heaven, and we would still have Jesus Christ!

*I like this story about Professor William Phelps. He taught English Literature at Yale from 1892-1933. One year, Dr. Phelps was grading tests shortly before Christmas, and he saw a note that a student had written next to a tough question on the test.

*The student had said, "Only God knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas." The professor returned the test with his own note under the student's comment. Dr. Phelps wrote, "God gets an A. You get an F. Happy New Year." (3)

*Great statement! "God gets an A." When our world is falling apart, and nothing seems to be going our way, God gets an A! Forever and always, God gets an A! He is wonderful all the time, so we can rejoice in Him all the time. And today's Scripture gives us three great reasons why.

1. FIRST: WE CAN REJOICE IN THE STRENGTH OF OUR SAVIOR.

*God gives us a small sample of the Lord's unlimited strength these verses. In vs. 22, "One was brought to (Jesus) who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

*It's shocking to realize that a demon could cause that much physical damage to a person. But no demon is stronger than Jesus Christ! The Lord can heal any disease, no matter how terrible, and no matter the cause. That's exactly what Jesus did here. And in vs. 23, "All the multitudes were amazed and said, 'Could this be the Son of David?'''

*In other words: "Could this be the promised Messiah? Could this be the eternal King of all kings?" The answer of course is "Yes!" Jesus was able to heal that blind and mute man, because He IS the promised Messiah.

*Jesus has the infinite power of Almighty God, because He is more than a son of David. Jesus is the Son of God. He is infinitely stronger than any demon, including the devil himself. The Lord tried to reveal this truth to the Pharisees later in this Scripture They had accused Jesus of casting out demons by the ruler of the demons. But in vs. 29 Jesus asked them, "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."

*Do you think we could bind the devil in our own strength? Never. But Jesus can do things that no one else can. Jesus can do things for us that we could never do for ourselves, and He already has!