If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, would you join me in Luke chapter 11? Several weeks back, we began a study emphasizing within the gospel of Luke how often he, Jesus, within his ministry, references the kingdom of God. Throughout our study, we have witnessed that, we have listened in, even as Jesus specifically taught the disciples to pray, kingdom come. With this reality, you cannot pray kingdom come unless you are willing to say, my kingdom, go. Now this morning, undeniably, as we enter into this moment with Jesus, we are going to watch him perform a miracle of deliverance. His response to a demon is to free an individual and the crowd that is amassed around is going to respond to what Jesus has done. What we'll learn practically speaking is simply this, there's no neutrality when it comes to Christ. But I gotta be honest, this is a passage of scripture where you have to put on your thinking cap. How many of you are ready to work through a little logic on a Sunday morning? Not a good start. Two people. I'll do my best then to help you understand the Bible, though I'm not a priest, and I don't wanna be. They live a pretty rough life. Here in Luke chapter 11, we are witnessing the reality that we're living in an age where kingdoms intersect. Jesus on earth is an indication that the kingdom of God has come. Jesus makes certain those who listen to him know that. The kingdom of God has come nigh unto you. I believe beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus now is king, that Jesus is enthroned in heaven. But I also know that scripture teaches us that the devil now, with limited authority and power, is prince of this air. But the moment will come when Jesus will bind the devil and he will reign in fullness and now we find ourselves somewhat in the in-between. The writer of Hebrews has told us we have glimpsed the power of that kingdom which will come in fullness. In Hebrews 6, 5, he said we have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. That's kind of a strange phrase. We've tasted the powers of the world to come. What could he possibly be referencing? The life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Now Luke is telling us as Jesus is working his way towards Jerusalem and the cross, the crowds that are surrounding him are growing. By the time we end chapter 11, the crowds that are gathering are large in number. We'll start chapter 12 in verse one. So many people are around Jesus, they're stepping on each other. They're witnessing his miracles. They're watching his signs. They're listening to his radical teaching. And now we're about to arrive at a signature event. which is the conclusion of our series here, where Jesus will expose this reality, the differences between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. In effect, Jesus will draw a line in the sand and he will demand of all humanity to answer, whose side are you on? Luke chapter 11 is a special moment where Jesus will effectively say to the multitudes, it's time for you to make a decision. And though this happened in antiquity, the message remains the same for us. The provocation to decide is still in our hands. The biggest and the most urgent and the most practical implication from our study this morning is actually found in verse 23. Listen to what Jesus says. He that is not with me is against me. And he that gathereth not with me scattereth. Now in order for us to get to that practical implication, we've gotta work through this moment, we've gotta watch Jesus interact with both those that are for him and those that are against him and be driven to this moment of decision. But the reality will be clear, you cannot be neutral with Jesus Christ. There is no neutrality for anyone in dealing with Christ. Now Jesus has taught the disciples to pray in the beginning of chapter 11. He has exposed unto them the reality of asking our Heavenly Father in His heart to give us good things. As Jesus concludes this teaching on prayer and revelation of his heart, we arrive at verse 14 and read this. And he, that is Jesus, was casting out a devil. And it was dumb. How many of you have ever met a dumb person? Anybody? How many of you have ever met a dumb devil? Now what this is telling us is there's an individual who is possessed by a demonic power and the presence of this demonic entity has caused this individual to not be able to speak. They were possessed with a dumb devil and it came to pass when the devil was gone out, Jesus casts out this demon, the dumb spake and the people wondered. Now I'm gonna work through this because I want us to grasp this moment. Scripture's not just relegated to antiquity. These were human beings living out human emotions and taking in miraculous scenes. Jesus has taught the disciples how to pray. He's surrounded by masses of people. He casts out a demon. This individual who was not previously speaking is now speaking, and the people who witness this are wondering. They're amazed, they're marveling at what they have just witnessed. Now for the sake of our study and marrying ourselves strictly to the context of Scripture, what they have just witnessed is a demonstration of kingdom power. I referenced the writer of Hebrews who said, we have tasted the power of that kingdom which is to come. We've witnessed it within the pages of scripture. This is the power of the kingdom of God. And what Jesus does in this moment is he demonstrates with power very unique to him. And Jesus wasn't just demonstrating power to seem powerful, it was always a declaration of the fact that he was who he said he was, and he's backing with miraculous authority this reality, the kingdom of God is here. In fact, in John chapter two, when Jesus performs the miracle of turning the water into wine, we read this, this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. Jesus did not just turn water into wine to furnish this wedding feast with new wine. He was intentionally manifesting His glory. If we were to back it up a chapter in John chapter one, we read this in verse 14, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus was constantly declaring that he was who he said he was, and these miracles were demonstration of kingdom power. People obviously respond in verse 15 after that one group wonders, we read this, but some of them said, he casteth out devils. Through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. and others tempting him sought of him a sign from heaven. Whenever God moves his cause forward, the opposition makes an equal attempt to impede it. Jesus has just put on a display of kingdom power, and many that were in the crowd wonder, they marvel, they're amazed. You can hear the oohs and the ahs, And there is a segment of them that are there, the Pharisees. Luke doesn't tell us it's the Pharisees that say this, but Matthew in his mirrored account tells us, yes, it's the Pharisees who stand forward and say, hold on. The only way you're able to cast out devils is because the devil himself, Beelzebub, the chief of the devils, because Satan himself is empowering you. And there were others still that shouted out in effect, yeah, prove that you're actually from heaven. Give us a sign that you're actually from heaven. Imagine people being so blind that they couldn't distinguish a work of God from a work of Satan. But already we're entering into this. It's a little bit of a complex passage, no doubt, but we're already grasping the impetus and the relevance for us. There's no neutrality when it comes to Jesus. Kingdom power pushes us to a decision. You either wonder and you marvel or you blaspheme and you reject. You either recognize it is what he says it is as truth, or you deny it and you try to rid yourself of it. There's no neutrality with Jesus. Now the Pharisees who are gathered here recognize they have a problem on their hands. It's one thing to argue with his teaching, and the religious leaders were trying to do that. But it's another thing to deny his power, and so they're working hard to get that done. The Pharisees fighting against it, Jesus knew their motivation. Show us a sign that you're actually who you say you are. Jesus will tell Pontius Pilate in a few days from this, Jesus will say, I always taught in the temple. Everything that I did was public. All of my miracles were done out in the open. You've seen what you need to see. I think it's interesting. Jesus is not gonna capitulate to this group of people. In fact, he'll come back in verse 29 and he'll say this of them who demand a sign when the people were gathered thick together. He began to say, this is an evil generation. They seek a sign. They want to manipulate me. They want me to do their bidding. Listen, when Jesus was on trial, he goes before Herod and Herod makes fun of him and he mocks him because Herod really wanted to meet Jesus. And when Jesus is brought into his presence, Herod in effects wants Jesus to do a magic trick and Jesus refuses to do Herod's bidding. When Jesus is hanging on the cross, the religious will stand out there and they'll say, yeah, you're so powerful, you can heal others. How about you rescue yourself from the cross? Jesus isn't into doing their bidding. They're asking him for a sign. They're trying to manipulate him against the will of his father and Jesus refuses. But what Jesus does instead is he responds with some logic. He wants them to draw some conclusions based on what they have just seen and what he has just said. Now that's where the work comes in for people who attend church. We recognize that Jesus has just manifested kingdom power. Jesus is pushing all this mass of people to understand there is no neutrality with Christ. You have a decision to make. Either you are with me or you are against me. It was a definite revelation of the kingdom of God, but there were Pharisees who were there who said, no, this was the power of Satan. So verse 17, Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. How many of you have ever seen the house divided flags out in our area? One spouse is NC State, the other Chapel Hill. Anybody ever seen that? Where I'm from, it might be Virginia Tech and then all the people that Virginia Tech works for, UVA. That was a joke. Any UVA-ers in here? Any Hoos? We got a couple. Yes, sir. Got a few. Used to have a joke growing up for James Madison. Anybody from James Madison? Uh-oh. All right, just for you, this was our joke in high school. JMU stood for Just Missed UVA. Went to JMU. Have you heard that? Once or twice? From a who? A house divided. We understand the concept behind this. We know what this means and Jesus is using logic with a mass of people to draw them to a moment of decision and in effect what he has just said is this, you don't really believe that Satan would use me to deliver people that he himself has taken captive, do you? You don't really believe that Satan intends to divide and destroy his own house, do you? You're so desperate to explain away my divine power that you're talking nonsense. Why would Satan empower me to divide his kingdom? Don't be absurd, that's what Jesus says. Then Jesus starts us down a little vein of thinking in verse 19. Here's what we read. And if I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges. Now this is an easier sermon if that verse isn't in there because we must answer this. Jesus looks at the Pharisees and he says, you have those that go out there, And with formulas and incantations, they make effort to do exorcisms. So if you're saying, based on what you have just seen happen here, that what happened here is by the power of Satan, then you must answer, then who do your sons do their exorcisms by, whether they win or they lose? You say, what in the world are you talking about? There's a few times we get to laugh at people in the Bible. This is one of those moments. We actually get to look at a group of people and watch them fail and we'll laugh. In the city of Ephesus, in Acts chapter 19, here's what we read in verse 13. 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 preaches now you grasp what's happening here they are using incantations and imagining that all they have to do is say the name Jesus whom Paul preaches and this demon will do their bidding verse 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. So here we have seven sons of one of the chiefs, one of those Sanhedrin members, doing this. Verse 15. And the evil spirit answered and said to these seven, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, But who are you? Wouldn't that be a little humbling for these guys? Seven on one, they think they are the ones empowered, they're enduring him by the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches to come out, and even hell itself says, yeah, who in the world are you? Now here's where we get to laugh at them a little bit. Verse 16, and the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. That's funny. That's Bible funny. Because these vagabond Jew exorcists lose. And Jesus recognizes, though this is happening in the future in Acts from this moment in Luke chapter 11, this was going on and Jesus is saying, use logic. Answer this question. If this is the power of Satan, it would be absurd that this demon would do my bidding. Your own sons of your religious institutions are out there trying to use incantations and formulas and they fall flat on their face. So which is it? If I'm doing this and it's the power of God, you have to be aware that I'm sovereign. If I'm doing this and it's the power of Satan, it's absurd and if they're doing it and failing, then God can't do it. He's using logic to bring them to this moment. In other words, your own disciples, your own spiritual descendants will help you grasp this. It's not the power of Satan, and here's where we really find ourselves. But if it is actually the finger of God, then all of you have a decision to make. Verse 20, that's what Jesus says, but if I, with the finger of God, cast out devils, then there can be absolutely no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you. You have to decide. Are you one who marvels and wonders or are you one who blasphemes and rejects? You have to understand logically it makes no sense that this was a demonstration of satanic power, but rather this was a unique demonstration of the power of the kingdom of God. And if that's the case, and if this was the finger of God, then you must logically understand the kingdom of God is here and the power of God is in your presence. You have a clear decision to make. That's what Jesus is saying. You're in the presence of the true king. You've just witnessed a demonstration of the power of my kingdom of light over the kingdom of darkness. But since you understand capitulating to that reality means I have right to be your king, you want to deny the obvious. And then Jesus uses an illustration, and Jesus says this in verse 21. When a strong man, armed, keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusteth and divideth his spoils. By now everybody that's in the multitude and strictly within the context of Luke 11 understands that the strong man Jesus references is the devil. And that one that is stronger than he has arrived on the scene and it is the only begotten son of God, Jesus. He is pushing them into a tighter and tighter space where they have a decision that they must make. You have just witnessed a demonstration of kingdom power. And the kingdom of light is stronger than the kingdom of darkness. And there is an expiration date on this power. And you who are watching and witnessing and listening have no choice. There's no neutrality. You must make a decision. That's why he states in verse 23, he that is not with me is against me. And he that gathereth not with me scattereth. One wrote this, you know what Jesus is saying here. He's saying, look, what you have in front of you at this moment is a demonstration of the hand of God, but it's more than that. You have the Lord of the kingdom performing the very demonstration as if to say, I am the physical, tangible incarnation of the finger of God. Connect the dots. Because of who I am, isn't it time for you to decide who you are? Are you my follower or not? And we can sense the squeeze of pressure that the Pharisees and the observers would have felt in that moment. But due to the inspiration of Scripture, though we sit here in 2025, the same press is upon us. Jesus is saying, though now it is in word, you must by faith believe that this existed, and you now have witnessed this demonstration of kingdom power, that I am who I said I was, so you have a decision to make. Are you my follower, or are you not? There's no neutrality when it comes to Christ. This debate rages on in our world. In verse 23, Jesus makes it plain. You're either with me, working with me to gather my followers, or you're working against me. And Satan is scattering and destroying. Jesus is gathering and he's building, which means we must make a choice. And if we choose to make no choice, then we're actually choosing against Jesus. This pressure is very real. It's time to decide. I find it of interest that Jesus in this moment does something that's a reality for every age of believer. Our era, the New Testament era, and even in the Old Testament. There was a moment in time when Elijah in the Old Testament defeated the prophets of Baal. And in defeating the prophets of Baal, he looked at the children of Israel, and he, in effect, said to them, you have to decide. Are you going to follow idols, or are you going to believe in the true God? And his verbiage is beautiful, for he says this in 1 Kings 18.21, and Elijah came unto all the people and said, how long halt ye between two opinions. If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him, and the people answered him not a word. Indecisiveness on spiritual matters of faith will always create a spiritual imbalance. The word that he uses there, halt, can be understood as a limp or a stagger. What he is depicting is literally someone who is intoxicated, who is staggering from side to side, unable to keep a straight course. In essence, you cannot walk straight unless you have made up your mind that God is the only true God and he rules as sovereign, not just in heaven, but in your life. What he says goes. He demands your reverence and you give it. The same picture occurs in James when James says this, a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. When you only live halfway for Jesus instead of making a decision to live fully for him, you'll stagger through life. The reality that exists in Luke 11 still exists for us now. You're either following God or you're following Baal in the Old Testament or Beelzebub or religious structure in the New. You either belong to the kingdom of darkness or you belong to the kingdom of light because you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and been quickened by the Holy Spirit and adopted into the family of God, translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. But you can't be both places at once. You are either in this moment walking as a child of light, you're walking as though you are already at home in heaven, representing the kingdom of God, or you're a believer who's desperately trying to go back. and relive your kingdom of darkness days. And Jesus says it doesn't work like that. You're either emulating the kingdom of darkness or you're walking as a child of light. You're either gathering followers by good deeds or you're scattering and destroying them by working against me. Neutrality. No such thing. Neutrality is lack of belief. Jesus is asking you and Jesus is asking me. Are you with me or are you against me? It's a strange little passage of scripture to walk through because we have intersecting the culture of the day of Jesus and the religion of the day of Jesus and we have a miracle lumped in there but the press is all verse 23. Are you with me or are you against me? Jesus is king. Jesus is who he said he was and he is now on the throne and he will tell the disciples in the upper room I will come and get you and he looks at you and he looks at me and says now you have a decision to make Either you believe me or you don't. Either you're in the kingdom of light or you're in the kingdom of darkness. And though some of these are lofty theological principles, practically speaking, it's simple. He knows your thoughts, He knows your heart, and He knows it's time for you to decide. On Palm Sunday, they all gathered and they shouted, Hosanna, and they laid branches. as Jesus rode in on a beast. They were literally saying salvation has come and they were announcing him as king. So many people gathered in Jerusalem during this Passover week that the religious, the Pharisees, assumed their exact verbiage within the Bible is the whole world has gone after him. The entire world believes in him. And in a matter of days, many of those same voices that shouted Hosanna are going to stand outside of Pilate's hall and they're going to shout, crucify him, crucify him. And though they waffled on how they felt and what they believed, nothing changed for Jesus. For when He rode in, He was King. And when He hung on the cross, He was King. And when He was laid in the tomb, He was King. And when He resurrected from the tomb, He was King. And when He ascended, He is King. And here and now, He is King. And the decision, the reality for you and me is, what do you do with that truth? Thanks for listening this week to the Graceway Baptist Church Podcast. For more information about our church and our ministries, head on over to our website at gracewaycharlotte.org. We are a church located in South Charlotte. We are growing and our ministries are doing big things for Christ. If you're looking for a way to get plugged into what we're doing, email us at info at gracewaycharlotte.org. Also, stay in the loop with everything happening by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Our handle is GracewayCharlotte. Thanks again for listening to the Graceway Charlotte podcast. We'll see you next week.