Well, this morning we're returning to our series through the Gospel of Luke. And so please do turn in your copies of God's Word to Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11, verses 14 to 26. Again, this is God's Word. Now, he was casting out a demon that was mute. 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, to test 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 watery 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. So in the reading of God's word, let us pray and ask for the Lord's help. Lord, we do pray now that you would send us your Holy Spirit to combat our fears, our doubts, our misperceptions, our understandings. We ask that the spirit of truth would lead us into all truth and sanctify us. making us more like Christ as we ever trust upon and hang upon Christ's every word. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. One of the key questions that the gospel of Luke seeks to answer is the question of who is Jesus? You may have noticed how throughout Luke's gospel, this is a reoccurring question as to who Jesus is. There's that reoccurring pattern of Jesus preaching, Jesus performing signs, and then there's some kind of a response. And we're shown the response of the crowds, the Pharisees, and sometimes even the disciples as to who they think Jesus is. And at this point in the gospel, we should have no doubt as to who Jesus is. Luke has led us behind the curtain, literally, in the temple as we eavesdropped in on Zechariah's prayer in the very beginning of the gospel. Then we heard the voice of the angel speak as he appeared to Zechariah. We listened to the songs of pregnant mothers who foretold the wondrous things that Mary's child would do. We heard the cry in the stable of the Holy One of God, born of the Virgin. We heard how Jesus began his mission, declaring the arrival of the year of the Lord's favor when he read Isaiah 61. And we received the testimony of the triune God first at Jesus' baptism, and then again on the Mount of Transfiguration, where the Father and the Spirit testified to the Son's identity and mission. And Jesus himself has been clear, hasn't he? He has continually demonstrated that he is who he says he is. He is the God of the Old Testament made flesh. He showed us this as he silenced the sea, something that only God can do. as he has cast out demons and how he fed the 5,000 with bread from heaven. Well, at this point, is there any doubt as to who Jesus might be? Is there any doubt that he has brought with him the kingdom of God on earth? And yet, In this passage, despite Jesus performing miracles left, right, and center, people make the most ridiculous and at the same time most blasphemous claim that, no, Jesus isn't a servant from heaven. Really, he is a servant of Satan. Well, Jesus not only dismantles their argument and shows how ridiculous it is, He also uses it as an opportunity to teach on the presence of his kingdom in the world, as well as to rebuke those who would reject him. Jesus' power over demons is the clear sign that his kingdom has come and that Satan's doom is sure. And friends, this was good news then, and it remains good news for us today. And it's words that we need to hear week after week after week, continually announced from the pulpit, words that should never get old to us. For left to ourselves, we would be fallen in Adam. We would be servants of darkness, bound in chains in his kingdom, subject to Satan's tyranny. Left in that state, we would be prisoners kept in darkness. But the good news is that Christ has come. And with him, he has brought the beginnings of his kingdom. His kingdom itself has broken in. And not only has Christ's kingdom broken in, but as Jesus tells us in this passage, Jesus has broken in, and he has bound the strong man, and he has released us, and he has made us into a people of his own possession. Let's consider then this three-part response of Jesus to his accusers. As he first speaks to the nature of Satan's kingdom, and then he speaks to the nature of his own kingdom, and then finally of the need to choose a side. So first he speaks to the nature of Satan's kingdom. Now whatever disagreement the different parties have in this passage, one thing that is not disputed by anyone in this passage is the reality that Satan is a real being and he exerts his power in the world. You see that right away, don't you, in verse 14, where this man is presented to Jesus, who has an unclean spirit, and this spirit has made him mute. And that's the nature of Satan's kingdom. It destroys and corrupts humanity. And in this case, it prevents this man from even being able to speak. We read this in verse 14. Now, he was casting out demons, he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and here we see him doing that very thing. He is undoing what the devil has worked in this poor man's life by restoring his speech to him. Jesus is assaulting Satan's kingdom and releasing this man from bondage. Well, this was an act. It was a very public act. It wasn't something that happened in private, and so there were a lot of people who were watching on. And so Jesus receives a number of responses. We're told one response is marvel. Some people saw this and they began to marvel. Now the word Luke uses here is ambiguous. It could be positive, could also be negative. I think based on the context, it is a little bit more negative than positive. Marveling is not the same as faith. We've seen that many times in Luke's Gospel, haven't we? Where Jesus does something marvelous, and people marvel, and what do they do? They kind of walk away and say, wow, he must be a really great teacher. He must be some kind of prophet of some sort. It's rare, if it happens at all, that people marvel and conclude that this is the Son of God incarnate. Well, that's one response. Another response is from another group within that crowd who demand even more signs. You see that in verse 16. While others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. Well, there's a number of loaded terms in that sentence, isn't there? Notice how they're testing Jesus. There's that word test again. Whose word is this? Satan's word. Recall how Satan in the wilderness, Luke tells us, tests Jesus. And here, and we saw it with the legalistic lawyer who tried to test Jesus through a kind of a battle of the wits. And now we see it here again as the crowd is testing him. Another word we find here is seeking. The crowds are seeking in order to test him. They're seeking a sign from heaven. I know it's been a couple of weeks, but imagine that I preached the previous passage last week, and remember, what is it that Jesus tells us we're to seek, using that same word, seek? The Lord. We're to seek the Lord, and we're to pray, and we're to ask for his spirit, and God promises that those who ask, seek, and knock will be given the Spirit from our generous and gracious Heavenly Father. Like Mary, the right response to Jesus is seeking, again that word seeking, the good portion. That is the right response. Instead, however, they are seeking not Jesus, not the Spirit, not the Father, they are seeking signs. They want Jesus to perform for them. Jesus is their circus act to satisfy their curiosities. Well, so far, not so good, but it does get worse. The worst response that Jesus receives of all of the people in that crowd is the accusation that Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Satan himself. Verse 15, but some of them said, he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. So they're accusing Jesus that he's working according to the power of Beelzebul. The title Beelzebul or Beelzebub goes back to a description of the Canaanite god Baal or Baal. And then over time, this title was attributed by the Jews to Satan, the prince of the demons. And thus, they're accusing Jesus as being in league with the devil. And notice the nature of their accusation. It's not just that, oh, well, Jesus is possessed by a demon, right? Because, I mean, sometimes, you know, people are forced to do things they don't want to do because they're possessed. Maybe that's what's happening with Jesus. No, they don't say that. They say that Jesus is in the service of the devil. He's a minion of the devil. He's their henchman. Well, Jesus doesn't allow an accusation like that to go unanswered. Now, he never outrightly denies the accusation. Instead, what he does is he shows how ridiculous and how illogical that accusation is. He does so first by showing how it just doesn't make sense for a kingdom to be at war with itself. The nature of Satan's kingdom isn't that it wars with itself. He says that in verse 17 and 18. 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, I cast out demons by Beelzebul. His point is that if Satan is in the business of casting out his own demons, then his kingdom is divided. It's in a state of civil war, and such a kingdom cannot last very long. Is this really how Satan's kingdom operates? Has every clash between Jesus and Satan somehow been part of Satan's grand master plan, his grand strategy to take over? Of course not. Of course not. It's preposterous. We've seen Jesus do battle with Satan time and again. We've seen Jesus do battle with Satan in the wilderness, where Jesus is starving, he's exhausted, he's weak, he's got two hands tied behind his back, and he still whips the devil. He beats him easily. We saw Jesus still the sea and then come across the sea as the divine warrior who comes from the sea, landing in the Gadarenes. And this demon that terrified everyone and terrorized this poor man of the Gadarenes, Jesus defeats him easily, casting legion into the abyss of the sea. After seeing all of that, I think especially for us to hear this accusation of Jesus is ridiculous. No, Jesus is very clearly Satan's enemy and not his servant. Satan is not out to destroy his own kingdom. Very much the opposite. What he is out to destroy is humanity. He terrorizes humanity. And we've seen him, haven't we, carry out that tyranny. Recall that poor boy possessed by a demon and forced to throw himself into a fire, self-harm by this demon. And the poor father had to watch by with tears as his son would have seizures and throw himself into the fire. Remember the man of the Gadarenes who was dehumanized and made to run around naked like an animal. And now even this man in our passage who had been a mutant, unable to speak. No, Satan is a real enemy of humanity. Satan is not a mythical figure dreamed up by superstitious ancient people who lived before electricity. Satan is very real and scripture attests to the reality of Satan's existence and his power in the world. And while his power is limited, he's not the yin to God's yang. He's not the equal but opposite of God. No, he's a created being. And yet nonetheless, he is powerful and he is dangerous. Scripture says he is the accuser, the tempter, the god of the sage. He's the father of lies, the murderer from the beginning. He's filled with malice and hate. He hates everyone made in God's image. But not only does he hate humanity because we're image bearers, he especially hates the bride of Christ. She is the special object of his malice and schemes and wrath. Satan tries to tyrannize the church and Christians in at least three ways. First, he does so through temptation. He tempts us to sin by making sin look appealing, by telling us there won't be any consequences, by tricking us into thinking that it will fulfill us and it's what we need, just like he did with Eve in the garden, presenting the fruit to be eaten as something desirous, as if it held for us a better life than what God had promised to Eve. He tyrannizes us through temptation. Secondly, he tyrannizes us through deception. Satan is called the deceiver, isn't he? He's called the liar. And again, just as with Eve in the garden, he casts doubt on God's word. He deceives us. Did God really say that? Are you sure? Okay, maybe he said it, or maybe some prophet of old said it, but is it true? Did he mean it? Really, a place called hell? You believe that backward doctrine? Surely not. Come on, we're moderns. While the Holy Spirit leads us into truth, Satan is the unholy spirit who seeks to lead us into doubt and cause us to deny and turn our backs on the historic faith of the church expressed through our creeds and confessions. The third way Satan tyrannizes us is through accusation. Satan is always accusing God's people so that after he tempts us to sin and we sin, well then he plays a different card. the one who is the accuser of the brethren. He then leads us to doubt our justification. Surely, Christian, if you can still use that name of yourself, you've sinned too many times. Really, Christian, that sin again? Oh, God won't be pleased with you this time. Really, you want to confess that one? I wouldn't. And so he causes us to doubt our standing before God. He causes us to, instead of seeing the ugliness of our sin and turning to the majesty and merits of Christ, to instead see the ugliness of sin and then turn even deeper within. These are the primary weapons he uses. I'm sure if we made a list we could find more, but these are the primary ways he attacks the church and he attacks us as Christians through temptation, deception, and accusation. Make no mistake, Satan is a real enemy of the church and of the Christian. In a moment, Jesus will liken him to a strong man. Jesus pictures Satan like a warlord. Think of these cruel and wicked warlords of Africa who press children into being their boy soldiers. Or think of the leader of a drug cartel. These are men who are cruel and violent, and they surround themselves with compounds and thick walls, and they're vicious henchmen. That's who Satan is. And whatever limited power he possesses and wields, he will wield it to the detriment of our souls. Luther was right when he said, did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing. We're not the right man on our side. Without Christ, make no mistake, we are weak. We are defenseless. By ourselves, Satan is stronger than us. But thank God there is one who is stronger, the right man on our side. That's the nature of the kingdom of Satan. Well, secondly, then Jesus goes on to explain the nature of his own kingdom. Jesus continues to show just how utterly ridiculous their accusation is that he's in league with the devil. In verse 19 he says, and if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. Now there's some maybe differences of interpretation on what this might mean. But at this time, it's clear that God had given authority to other true believers and those who followed Christ within Israel to cast out demons. Think back to the time when Two of Jesus' disciples encountered a true believer who was casting out demons, and they tried to stop him. Point being, there were other ways God was at work through Christ in Israel at that time. And I think Jesus' point here is to say, well, if I'm casting out demons by the power of Satan, well, how is it that others are working to cast out demons? How can anyone cast out demons? Are we all just servants of Satan? And thus, these examples judge your argument to be illogical. Well next, Jesus argues that the exorcism of demons, far from being evidence of Satan's kingdom, is in fact a manifestation of his own kingdom. It is evidence that Christ's kingdom has broken into this world. Now look at verse 20, he says, But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. So far from being evidence that Jesus is Satan's servant, no, his exorcisms demonstrate he is working by the finger of God. What do we mean by the finger of God? Children, how many fingers does God have? Of course, if you say 10, that's wrong. It's a trick question. You know from your catechism that God doesn't have fingers, right? He does not have a body like man. God is spirit. And so it's not speaking of a literal finger coming from the sky or something like that. No, rather the finger of God is language that is a reference to Exodus chapter eight, which we read earlier. As you recall, God was working through signs and miracles in order to deliver his people from bondage in Egypt. And after that final, well, after that one sign of the gnats in particular, the Egyptian magicians tried to perform that, and they couldn't, and thus they affirmed that, no, no, Moses and Aaron, they're not performing tricks like us. This isn't a sleight of hand and a card up the sleeve. No, this is the very finger of God, something more powerful at work in the world. And so in Exodus 8, it was by the finger of God that Pharaoh's tyrannical power over the Jews was broken. God, by his finger, was liberating a people for himself, making them into a new kingdom. And likewise, Jesus is saying that his signs also come from the finger of God. No, Satan is not the source of Jesus' power. He's not one of Satan's lieutenants. His power comes from the same place that Moses and Aaron got their power. His source is the power and authority of God that he has as the son of God. And therefore, these signs that he's performing is evidence that God's finger is at work and that God's kingdom has come. And just as God, through Moses, delivered his people from physical bondage, now in an even greater way, Jesus is freeing his people from spiritual bondage to be a people for himself. Jesus goes on now to illustrate the deliverance of his kingdom. with the imagery of a strong man. We read that in verses 21 to 22. 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. I don't know about you, but I remember reading this many times as a child and really struggling to understand its meaning. Jesus is likening himself to a burglar, someone who breaks into people's houses, beats them up, ties them up, and takes their stuff. Jesus is likening himself to a home invader. This is a rather strange comparison. Is that what's happening here? Well, it's important that we understand the analogy that Jesus is drawing. Well, first, this is not a normal house that Jesus is describing. Rather, it's a palace. So think of a walled compound that's well defended. It's a small fort, if you will, with walls and towers and gates and lookout posts and guards. Second, whose palace is it? Well, it's the palace of the strong man, who is, of course, Satan. This is Satan's compound that he has guarded and locked down, and there in the compound, he has taken what is not his. He is the strong man who was found by force. He's taken captives, captive people who do not belong to him. And if this people are to be freed, a stronger man must come along and defeat him. The stronger man must come and violently attack and overcome him and strip him of his weapons and armor and then take the spoil. The language that Jesus uses here in this illustration is deliberately militaristic. And it's deliberately violent. And so as we consider the scene, no, Jesus is not a cat burglar. No, Jesus is not one of the wet bandits trying to break into a suburban home during Christmas. No, Jesus here pictures himself as a divine warrior. He is the strong man. He's not breaking in through a window that was left with a crack open or a back door that wasn't locked properly. No, Jesus is breaking in through the front door. He's kicking that door through his hinges and he's coming in. to put it in contemporary terms. Satan is here pictured like a terrorist leader, hauled away in his filthy compound, guarded by his sadistic henchmen. And in that compound, he's taken men and women and children against their will, and he's holding them hostage, and they're terrified, and they're bound and gagged. Jesus is the SEAL team that busts through the front door, kicking the door off its hinges, and takes every one of those terrorists out with headshots. He puts them down, and he liberates the hostages, and he takes them out of there with him, and he brings them to safety. That's the imagery he uses. It's violent. But remember, Satan is the terrorizer of humanity and of God's people. He is the strong man. But in Jesus, we have one who is stronger. His kingdom has broken into this dark world. He has violently attacked the kingdom of Satan. The Apostle John tells us the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. That's what Jesus came to do. He came, as Genesis tells us, to crush that serpentine skull beneath his feet. And that's exactly what he accomplished. Through his ministry, and ultimately through his death and resurrection, he defeated Satan, so that now Satan is bound, constrained in his power, and best of all for us, we have been taken from his bondage, and we have been made free. We know whose house it is. We know who the strong man is. We know who the stronger man is. What about the spoil? What does the imagery of spoil represent? What is the reward that Christ takes from this house? Well, this language is often used to speak of Christ's people. There are some passages that allude to this more clearly than others, but especially in the Old Testament, in the prophets, in language that refers to the covenant of redemption where the son is given a mission The father responds and promises the reward of a spoil of a people for his own possession. Listen to Isaiah 53 verse 12. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession. for the transgressors. And thus, in Isaiah, who or what is the spoil? We are. We are the spoil. We are the reward, the liberated captives that Christ receives and takes for himself. And yet, the great wonder of redemption is that Christ accomplished this, not by coming with an army of angels from heaven to slay the evil one or the evildoers. No, how did he do this? Isaiah tells us he receives the spoil because he has poured himself out, he has poured his soul to death, and he has paid for the sins of the transgressors. As Isaiah says, he receives the spoil because he poured himself out. Satan's ultimate defeat and our salvation comes as a result of Christ's sin-atoning sacrifice on the cross. And so believer, rejoice that if you are in Christ, you are not in the grip of Satan. At times you may feel like you are. At times when you sin in ways that you think you never could. At times when those old sins of the past that you thought you had beaten for good claw their way back into your life. At times when you're sinned against and you respond in ways that you never thought you would. And it can feel like we are still in chains. We are still under Satan's dominion. But let this text remind you that no, you have been freed. Christ has broken in. He has bound the strong man. He has beaten and bruised him. He has defeated him. And Christ has liberated you. You now belong to Christ. You are not possessed by an unholy spirit to do evil and wicked things with your body and your mind. But instead now you are filled with what? The Holy Spirit, to live as a sanctified people, However much you struggle, know that the Spirit is at work in your life. Though we still face the tyranny of the devil as he tries to tempt us, deceive us, and accuse us, remember above all things that you belong to Christ. Satan has no hold for you in this life or the next, because now in body and in soul, in life and in death, you belong to Christ, your Savior. Well, after speaking to the nature of Satan's kingdom and the nature of Christ's own kingdom, Jesus asserts our need to choose a side. He does so by first stating the principle and then giving an illustration. The principle is this, verse 23, very simple. Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not gather with me scatters. So Jesus here is essentially turning the tables. They're accusing him of being on the side of the devil. He has made clear, no, no, no, I am not on the devil's side. We are two different sides. And actually, it's not about which side I'm on. It's about which side you're on. And you are the ones who need to choose a side. Whom do you serve? Those of you who marvel and seek signs and make these accusations. Are you for me or are you against me? This is a question that the word of Christ poses to all of us who are here today. When it comes to our relationship with Jesus, there is no neutral ground. We cannot choose to be like Switzerland or even Ireland in the Second World War. We must choose a side. You are either for Jesus or you are against him. Now compared to life in other countries, it is much easier to go by the name Christian in this country. And it's not uncommon for those who want to have nothing to do with the church to still want to play the sort of, I have a relationship with Jesus card. This is a conversation I've had with many people, and I'm sure you've had this conversation, too, where they say, well, I don't go to church, I don't read my Bible, I don't spend time with Christians, but I know I'm good with Jesus. I've got a personal relationship. I know that we're good. I think many political conservatives, especially, seem to want to leave some room for Jesus. They want their flag-draped cross and their pledges because, well, that's just being a good American, isn't it? This is just cultural religion. And Jesus says it doesn't save. It doesn't save. And Jesus goes on to show us why it doesn't save. He gives us an illustration in verses 24 to 26. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking some 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. Well, what's this all about? Certainly those who are maybe fascinated, overly fascinated with angels and demons will get excited about a verse like this. But Jesus' purpose in giving us this illustration isn't for us to go off and write handbooks on demonology. No, his purpose, perhaps not surprisingly, is to reinforce the principle he just laid down in verse 23. That unless you are for me, you are against me. Remember the context, the people around him are begging for signs. And here they have witnessed the sign of exorcism and they like it and they want more and more. Jesus makes the point that even if you are a recipient of this sign and you are freed and liberated from a demon who's possessing you, Jesus' point is that unless you are then filled with the Holy Spirit, this is of no value to your soul, even a sign like exorcism. In other words, a little moral improvement on the outside, a little political conservatism, a little outward cleaning up of our lives is not ultimately what we need, and it is not what will save our souls. What you need, dear friend, is to trust in the stronger man who is Jesus Christ, Surrender your life to him, repent of your sin, believe his promise that he has died for sinners, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. You need to choose his side. How do you do that? You do that by falling down before the Lord and not making a case for your own goodness, but instead acknowledging your own moral bankruptcy, saying, Lord, forgive me. I am a sinner. The only thing I have to bring to this relationship is my own sin. I need you to forgive me. I need your Holy Spirit. And the good news, the good news of this passage is that God freely offers this salvation to all who ask. Whereas Satan is a cruel and oppressive tyrant who gives snakes and scorpions and evil spirits, Christ is the giver of eternal life, and God is the father who gives good gifts, who gives the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask, seek, and knock. But dear friends, have you turned to Christ? Have you chosen him? Have you received the Holy Spirit? Have you experienced the forgiveness of sins and the freedom that can only be known in the kingdom of Christ? Dear friend, trust in Christ. Turn to him today and find in him a stronger savior. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you that you are the giver of good things to those who ask. And so, Lord, again, as Jesus has taught us to pray, we ask that you would give to us as we come to you asking, seeking, knocking. Give us your spirit. Fill us with the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth, who sanctifies us, who assures us that we are children of the Father. Lord, cause us to focus our eyes on Christ. And for whoever here who may not know you, Lord, we ask that they would choose your side by the spirit who might fill them. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.