This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. If you have your Bibles, let's open up to Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11, we're picking up in verse 14. This is the reading of God's word. Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. And when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. But some of them said, he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. While others detest him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul, and if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me. And whoever does not gather with me scatters. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest. And finding none, it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first." This is the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we are so grateful for the Lord's day. And we're so grateful for your word. We're so grateful how you show us what to think. You show us how to view all of the world down to our very trials. And so we pray now that you would again show us what is going on. Give us your truth, build up your children, make us more fit for your service, more in love with our creator. We pray this in Jesus's name, amen. So, this far into Luke's gospel, things are becoming a little bit familiar, and that's good. That's good. You actually have here again a scene that we've seen somewhat before, haven't we? Jesus is casting out demons. We've seen that before. It seems like demons are opposing Jesus left and right. If we had a day-by-day log of Jesus's life during his ministry, I bet you this was such a regular occurrence. And every time they come out, he just defeats them effortlessly. And then at some point he says, I'm going to teach my disciples to do this. I'll authorize them to do this. He sends out the 12 and the 12 are casting out demons. He says, I can do one better. And he sends out 72 additional disciples. They too are casting out demons. And you have to picture this was such a regular occurrence in Jesus's ministry. And here we have another encounter with a demon. And so why? This is a question that's great to ask. Why is Luke giving us one more story about demons being cast out? See, I don't want you to ever get to a part in the scriptures and think, oh, I've read that before. I'll move on. Ask why? Why has Luke given us this story? We find our answer in the opposition that begins to take shape around his exorcisms. You see, in the opening breath, Luke moves quickly through the miracle. It's basically Jesus was successful and the crowd marveled. That's it. That's it for this time. There's not a whole lot of details here, but then, then there's criticism as well. And now you may not find that to be new either because lots of people are criticizing Jesus. But in verse 15, we see that not everyone is marveling at Jesus's work. Some people see him cast out a demon and they accuse him of casting out demons by Beelzebul. Now that, that's something a little bit new. Beelzebul, it's a fairly ancient demonic name and you can trace it all the way back to second Kings even. But this is the point. People are saying Jesus is not wielding God's power. Jesus is not wielding his own power. He's wielding a demon's power. In other words, he's basically practicing witchcraft. That's how he's casting out his demons. You see, this is the situation. There's a lot of people opposed to Jesus. And those who are opposed to Jesus are put into a more and more difficult position the more miraculous deeds he is performing. And so they can't deny that he's doing them anymore because it's just too obvious. So this is their solution. They blasphemously say that Jesus is just the tool of the devil. The power he has depends on a demon for its source. Now there's others in the crowd, other people full of unbelief as well. And Luke mentions them too. They're not so aggressive, but they're just as unbelieving. What's amazing, so it does not matter how much some people see and hear. They say, I still want him to perform another sign. I mean, think about that. You're there, you watch the man cast out a demon, then you're saying, I would really like to see a sign from heaven from you. What are you looking for at that point? What do you want? What would possibly solve this problem for you? And the answer is, it's not another miracle. But it's this unbelief, it's this atmosphere of unbelief that is the reason Luke gives us this story. As we get back into the text in verses 17 through 19, you will see how Jesus refutes their argument. Let me read the text for you again. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, which by the way, they want another sign and Jesus just decides to answer the question that's only in their thoughts. There's your sign, but that's not good enough for them. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul, and if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. See, Jesus makes two points, two straightforward points about the accusations that he is working by demonic power. The first argument is it just doesn't make sense. His first point is just, your guys' argument, your guys' accusations, they just don't make sense. He makes this point about a divided kingdom, and this is so true, it's basically a proverb. How is a kingdom supposed to survive if it turns against itself? Right? No one's really disputing that point. It's just too obvious. In general terms, dividing against yourself is a recipe for self-destruction. So Jesus says, if Satan's helping me defeat his demons, that is a kingdom divided. Every soul that Jesus is setting free would have been a soul that Satan fought to capture. Satan's not about to just undermine his own kingdom. So the first point is really pretty logical. Accusing Jesus of casting out demons by the power of a demon doesn't make sense. Second point, the second point he makes is just based on the idea of exorcism in general. Again, general thinking would be something like this. When a person of God delivered anyone from the possession of the devil, general thinking would be that's a sign that God is working through him. Right? Fairly reasonable assumptions here. So if someone goes in faith in the true God and casts out an obviously evil demon, that seems to be God's work. So Jesus is saying, I'm doing the same work as other Jewish people have done. So how are they doing it? How are all those guys doing it? This is his point. If it's God's work in them, it's God's work in me. Or you take it the other way, if it's Satan's work in me, it's Satan's work in them. And so when these people condemn Jesus, they condemn their own countrymen. And for that, their own countrymen would rise up in judgment over them and over their unbelief. So Jesus' argument, it just goes like this. Your accusations don't make sense, and your own countrymen would condemn you for even making these accusations. So verse 20, verse 20 then, Jesus says, you've got to deal with the other option here. Look at the text. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. See, everyone can see that Jesus is wielding power. The critics, they tried to say it was demonic power, but Jesus just kicked that argument to the curb. So, what are they left with? They are left with the reality that this is truly God's power at work. That phrase, The finger of God, the finger of God. It's actually, it's a wonderful phrase because it points back to a time long ago. It points back to the Exodus. It points back to the Exodus. You might recall that Moses and Aaron show up and they have to begin casting down those plagues that God has given them upon Egypt. The problem for the first two is that the magicians are able to match them. The magicians too can turn water to blood. The magicians too can call up frogs. How about that for magic power? But when God sends gnats on Egypt, suddenly the magicians come up short. For whatever reason, that was one step too far for their powers. And so Exodus chapter 8 verses 18 and 19 reads like this. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce knots, but they could not. So there were knots on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. See, the magicians, their whole mission had been to do their best to deny that the power that Moses and Aaron was anything special. Great. You can do plagues. We can do plagues. We're not letting your people go. But at that point, even as they still remained opposed to God, even the magicians had to confess, this is God's power. This is a power beyond men. And so these are fitting words for Jesus to repeat, aren't they? He tells them that the power he wields is obviously the very finger of God at work. And if the power of God is being wielded among them, then they must see who Jesus really is. He is the king, exercising the power of the king. And we discussed this in an earlier passage, but where the king goes, the kingdom comes with him. When people were in the presence of Jesus, they were in the presence of the king and where they opposed the king, they opposed the kingdom of God as well. Jesus looks at them and he says, you have to do justice to your situation because the kingdom of God has come upon you. And like the Egyptian magicians before them, even their unbelieving hearts could not deny it. In verses 21 and 22, then Jesus gives this just glorious illustration of what he has accomplished in his power. Look at the text with me. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe. But when one's stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Okay, we'll build the picture and then we'll drive home the glorious truth. You start with the strong man. In the picture, the strong man, when he is equipped and when he is guarding his stuff, well, his goods are safe. That makes sense. You have an armed man watching the house. That house is going to be pretty safe. That's like the life motto of half of the people at Grace Community Church, right? I pity the man who tries to break into your house. You are going to be safe. Well, at least most of the time. He's safe unless there's someone stronger who wants to come in. And when the stronger one shows up, he overcomes the strong man. He defeats him so badly that he even strips off his armor. You picture that kind of fight, right? We don't go around wearing armor anymore, but you picture it. It's one thing. It's bad enough if you were to lose your weapon in the fight, right? You come home without your sword. You're going to be a little bit embarrassed. How much worse is it if you don't only lose your weapon, but you are in such a position that you lose your armor? Just picture the indignity of that for a soldier to come back not even with their armor. You were so soundly defeated that even your armor was taken from you. So here's the glorious part. In this context, the strong man is clearly Satan. The strong man is clearly Satan. It's a fitting description to call Satan strong. And whatever he guards is safe. Well, it's safe against most threats. But there is one much stronger than Satan. And it's Jesus Christ. See, Jesus is the one who has invaded the realm of Satan. You may remember when we talked about Jesus's temptation in the wilderness, that was back in chapter four. The temptation in the wilderness, it was a battle of champions. We talked about champion warfare. Each side sends their best and those two will decide the entire outcome of the battle. And so Satan gets sent forward representing the kingdom of darkness, the forces of evil. Jesus steps forward representing the very kingdom of God. And out there in that wilderness, Satan throws everything he's got. The most lethal of his attacks had any single one worked. I don't know that existence still is here. Yet Jesus parries every single one. And when he left that desert, Satan was defeated and by extension, all of Satan's forces. Revel in this moment for me, revel in the moment. Can you imagine how depressing that day would have been for the forces of evil? I mean, it has to be like the Philistines watching Goliath die. In that moment, When their champion is defeated, hope dies and fear sets in instead. Jesus defeated Satan. Jesus defeated the Prince of Darkness. And from that day forward, Jesus goes around just wiping the floor with Satan's minions. Praise God. Jesus is the stronger man. Satan is the has-been tough guy whose armor has been embarrassingly stripped off. I like to picture, whatever picture you have, take a serpent, serpent with Jesus' foot just on his head, not yet crushing it, just peeling back that armor from him. It's some holy kind of spite of picturing our chief adversary just humiliated. And then he has to watch as his possessions are being divided among God's army. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and he is succeeding. See, it's important that we don't underestimate Satan. After all, he is described as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But, oh, just as important is that we don't overestimate him. Because the stronger man came and the strong man was defeated. Satan is and was no match for Jesus. Evil is no match for good. Jesus is the stronger man who came once and he came once in strength too great for all the powers of sin and evil. And he promises to come again in even greater strength still. Christians, we do not dread the defeated strong man because Jesus the stronger man is our triumphing champion. And so the question, it doesn't just end there. You see the question that Jesus will end up leaving us with in verse 23 is which side are you on? Whoever the text reads, whoever is not with me is against me. And whoever does not gather with me, scatters. See, the victor is clear. There's no one who can look at that desert and say, I think, I think Satan might've won on points. The victor is clear. The question is whose side are you on? Whose side are you on? In verse 23, Jesus makes a comment that he's made elsewhere back in chapter nine. And it's this, you'll hear Brian and I make this point with some regularity. There are only two sides. There are only two sides to this war and every person, every single person in this room and everywhere else is either with Jesus or against him. They gather to him or they run from him. And every single person must decide which side they are on. And there's no neutral here. Neutrality is a great delusion of fallen humanity. It's the attitude that says, I'm not ready to give my life to God, but in the meantime, I'll just kind of be neutral. I'll just be neutral. We say we'll make up our minds when we are good and ready. And in the meantime, I'll be neutral. It's not how it works though. God doesn't give that option. Even if you've got the most spiritually sensitive person in front of you, just saying, Oh, this Bible stuff is so interesting. It's so compelling. These things you believe the community you belong to is just so vibrant and loving. I'm just still though, just making up my mind about Christ. Even that person is actually opposed to Christ. Even then. And see, if that's still you, if that's still you today, then without Christ, you have to know you are an enemy to God. And without Christ, God is opposed to you. You can never be neutral. Neutral is actually not possible. You are either with Christ, trusting Christ, following Christ, living for Christ, or you are not with Christ. Either your champion is Satan, the defeated strong man of this age, or your champion is Christ, the stronger man who won the victory. There is no such thing as neutrality. And attempted neutrality only results in disaster. That's what you see in verses 24 through 26. I'll read them for you one more time. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and finding none. It says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds a house swept and put in order. And then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first. So Jesus describes an unclean spirit that leaves a person. And so that person for the time being is demon free. No longer living under the oppression of the demon. The demon, however, goes around and doesn't find anywhere else to go. So decides that it will return to where it came from. And when he returns, he finds that nothing else has taken his place. So he decides he'll bring some of his fellow demons with him. And if that person ever knew sorrow with one demon, oh, how much worse is it going to be with seven more? So what went wrong in this picture? Well, here's where you need to be clear. Freedom from a demon is not the same as freedom from sin. Put it all together, the stronger man may have kicked the demon out of the house, but apparently the stronger man wasn't invited to stay. See, this is a neutrality kind of mistake. Jesus, wow, thanks for casting out that demon. Good luck with your ministry. This is a neutrality kind of mistake. But if the stronger man doesn't stay, what's to stop the demon from coming back? To have a demon cast out actually means very little if the stronger man doesn't take up residence in the liberated soul. Now, you can broaden that point. I think you can broaden that point for any sin that we battle. whether it's pride or lust or anger or despair. See, a one-time victory, it's not enough. We don't need a vacation from our sin and our brokenness. We need deliverance. We need full and final and total freedom. And neutrality is just biding time for the next spiritual disaster to come. But the one who trusts in the Lord is safe. You see, if you will repent of neutrality, if you will throw neutrality to the wind, if you will instead give it all to Christ, and then you will have all of Christ. You will not have a half salvation or a half redemption. You will have a full and final and total salvation. The guilty will be pardoned. The oppressed will be set free. No demon and no sin can reign where the savior abides. There is now no more slavery for those who have been set free by the blood of the lamb. Children of God, believe, believe that there is one stronger and he is stronger than the forces of evil. He is stronger than the forces of this world. He is stronger than the evil that abides in your own heart. Believe in the stronger man, cling to him and he will set you free. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the stronger man, our Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you for his victory. We thank you for the hope that we have no longer enslaved to our lusts, the lusts of this world, the sins of this world, the slavery of the evil one. How good it is to be free. Father, we pray that you would continue to rescue. We pray that you would set free those today who are just acting neutral. Lord, put your hand heavy on their hearts. May they shake in fear at the idea of remaining neutral. May they flock to the only one in whom there's safety. Lord, we thank you. for the stronger man, Jesus Christ. It's in His name we pray. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.