"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. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 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. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
After Jesus had healed the man who was possessed by a devil, the Jewish leaders accused Him of using the power of the devil to heal. Jesus quickly demonstrated the absurdity of their claim with this analogy, "a house divided against itself cannot stand". This meant that if one applies his/her own strength (Satan) to defeat his/herself (Satan), that one is doomed from the beginning.
In the second portion of this lesson, Jesus makes it clear that before one takes on any enemy, that one must first demonstrate his/her power over that enemy. In this case, Jesus was proving that the power of God, through Him, could and did, overcome the enemy, even Satan himself.
Jesus further explained that if He had indeed cast out the devil by the power of Satan, the healing would have served no purpose at all, other than to promote Satan.
Then Jesus said the following, "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.". This meant that by His demonstrating the power of God through the healing, He was proving that good was being done and that the Messiah had indeed come in power, and was standing among them.
The next portion of this lesson, Jesus tells us that the sins of all mankind can be forgiven with one exception, that being the blasphemy or rejection of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Jesus explained that a "corrupt" tree would always bear bad fruit, while any "good" tree would always bear good fruit. This meant that the healing of the the man who was possessed, could not have come from the power of Satan because it was not a "corrupt" act. The fact that what Jesus had done made the man's life better, the healing in itself was proof that it had come for the loving power of God.~
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