Matthew 12:24-30

"But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. (25) 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: (26) And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? (27) And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. (28) But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. (29) 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. (30) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad."

I pray the Reader to observe in these verses, several weighty things. First: the testimony here given to Christ's Godhead. Jesus knew their thoughts. A thing impossible had he not been God. All the Churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts. Revelation 2:23. Secondly.--Observe the several persons of the Godhead mentioned in the casting out of devils. Jesus saith, if I by the Spirit of God cast them out. I; that is, God the Son, The Spirit; that is, God the Holy Ghost. And God; that is, God the Father. Thirdly.--When Jesus, in answer to the blasphemy of the Pharisees, who ascribed his work of casting out devils to the power of Beelzebub, saith, by whom do your children cast them out? he did not admit the thing, as if any, in reality, had cast out devils among them, for it was impossible: but the Lord took occasion to reprove them on their own principles. Magic was an old practice, Exodus 7:11; Numbers 24:1. And even after Christ's return to glory, we read of exorcists. Acts 19:18. But the dispossessing devils, was the prerogative of Jesus only. 1 John 3:8

But when the Reader hath paid all due notice to these things, I would beg his attention yet a little further, to what the Lord Jesus hath here said, of the kingdom of Satan. It is a point rightly to apprehend, of great importance, in the doctrines of the Gospel; and no child of God should be ignorant of it.

That Satan hath set up, and maintained an empire of sin, in the every heart of man, is a truth too certain to be questioned, and the awful effects of it, too well known to be denied. Holy Scripture, gives many sad relations of it. In fact, it was the setting up this kingdom against God and his Christ, for which the devil and his angels are said to have been cast out of heaven, and to have left their own habitation. Revelation 12:7; Jude 1:25. At his expulsion from heaven, he seduced our first parents, and in them involved the whole of their posterity in the fall. And from that hour to the present, it is he which worketh in the children of disobedience. Hence the several names by which he is known: the Great Dragon; that old Serpent, the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; the strong man armed; the Prince of the power of the air; the God of this world; and whose vassals are led captive by him at his will. Revelation 12:7, etc. Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Timothy 2:26

Now the whole purpose and design of the Gospel is directed to overthrow this kingdom of Satan, and to introduce and restore perfect order, among all the works of God. Hence it is said, that for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8. And hence we find the Lord Jesus entering upon this service, immediately on his entrance into his ministry. First, by his own personal conquest over him on the cross. Hebrews 2:14; Colossians 2:15. Secondly, at the conversion of his members; when, as in the scripture, the stronger than the strong man armed, even Christ's, cometh upon him, destroyeth all his armor, and divideth the spoils. In every single instance of the saving conversion of a soul to God, this may be said to have been wrought, when that soul is translated from the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of God's dear Son. John 16:7; John 16:7; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 4:4. And a complete victory is promised to the Church in the end. 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 16:22. Thirdly, there is a promise also of another triumph of Jesus, when a more signal display of victory will be shewn, in the Lord Jesus setting up a kingdom in the earth, before the day of judgment, and when Satan's power will be shut up and restrained. Revelation 20:1. And, finally, at the universal judgment, the total and everlasting destruction of Satan's kingdom will take place. See Revelation 20:10, etc. Such are the views scripture holds forth of these momentous truths!