The Gospel of Luke (50) Controversy with the Pharisees 12/31/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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There are two great dangers to the biblical doctrine of God's grace.

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One being legalism, and there are books in the New Testament that address that directly, like Galatians and the

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Book of Romans, Matthew probably is gospel. The other great danger, of course, is the danger of licentiousness, turning the grace of God into a license to sin, and that was another problem that the churches of the first century had to address, and the

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Lord raised up his half -brother Jude to pen the Epistle of Jude that addresses this problem.

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And it's a great problem in evangelicalism, where people think that because they're saved by God's grace, it doesn't matter how they live, and God corrected that heresy in this epistle.

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So let's listen to Pastor Jason read it for us, and then pray for us. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the

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Father, and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

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Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, for certain people have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our

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God into sensuality and deny our only master, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe, and the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.

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Just as Solomon Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

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Yet in a like manner, these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

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But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said,

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The Lord rebuke you. But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.

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Woe to them, for they have walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.

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These are hidden reefs at your love feast, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves, waterless clouds swept along by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted, wild waves of the sea casting up the foam of their own shame, wandering stars for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

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It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying,

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Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

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These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires. They are loudmouth boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

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But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, in the last times there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions.

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It is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the

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Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our

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Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt, saving others by snatching them out of the fire.

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To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only

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God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever.

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Amen. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for this passage.

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And Lord, we thank you for its encouragement that even though the world is getting worse and worse, and even those who profess to be

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Christians are often becoming worse and worse. Lord God, you reign over all.

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And so, Lord, we pray that we would do just as this text says, that we would keep ourselves in the love of God, that would keep our eyes fixed upon the

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Lord Jesus Christ and his will, not our own. We pray, Lord, that you would do a work in each one of our lives, that we might look to you, that we would look past the temporal and look to the eternal.

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We pray that we would keep our eyes fixed on Christ, where he is seated, at the right hand of God.

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Lord, as we continue our worship this morning, we just pray that we would hear your truth, that we would be convicted, and that we would be changed.

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We pray for Pastor Lars, that you would give him clarity of thought and voice. We pray that the words that he proclaims, they would convict and that they would change.

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And so, Lord, we ask you for your help in these things. Thank you,

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Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. I normally send out our sermon notes every

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Sunday morning. We have about 355,

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I think, now. I know everybody doesn't read them who receive them, but I hope that many do.

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Anyway, I discovered after I arrived at church here, I must have sent out the wrong note. And so, I don't think anybody got their sermon notes today rightly.

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I'll send them out this afternoon. And if any of you do not receive them weekly via email or let me know, give me your email address and I'd be happy to add you to our list.

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Well, here we are in Luke 11, where we left off recently. We diverted last week because of Christmas.

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We've already addressed the first 13 verses of this chapter, Luke 11, in which our

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Lord taught his disciples on the subject of prayer. His teaching culminated in assuring his disciples that the

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Father would grant them readily the most important prayer they could ask of him. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we're to pray to our

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Father that he may give us the Holy Spirit. Verse 13. And this matter moved us two weeks ago to examine more carefully the gift of the

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Holy Spirit that God the Father gives us through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Before us now is verse 14, through the end of this chapter, 41 verses, actually.

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We have a collection of events that may fall under the heading, Controversy with the

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Pharisees. They're progressing on their way to Jerusalem, where Jesus would suffer and die, and the conflict increases.

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There are four sections to these many verses. First in verses 14 through 26, which we'll address today, the issue of controversy is the authority of Jesus.

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And then second, in verses 27 and 28, which is the shortest of the four sections,

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Jesus speaks of the importance of hearing and obeying the word of God that he taught them. And then third, in verses 29 through 36,

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Jesus addressed a request for a sign in order to prove his identity.

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Of course, he refused to grant their request. Rather, he exhorted them to respond to the light that they had already received.

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And then in the fourth section, verses 37 through 54, which is the longest of these four sections of these verses, we read of Jesus criticizing the

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Pharisaical religion in their emphasis on secondary matters, while passing over that which mattered most, which was the prophet's teaching regarding the coming of the kingdom of God.

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So we're going to be here a few weeks, working through the remaining verses of Luke chapter 11.

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We'll read these verses this morning, Luke 11, 14 through 26, which recounts our Lord's controversy with the

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Pharisees regarding the nature and source of his authority. And he was casting out a demon, and it was mute, and so it was when the demon had gone out that the mute spoke, and the multitudes marveled.

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But some of them said he cast out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.

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Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.

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If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say,

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I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?

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Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

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When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.

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But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils.

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He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

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When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest.

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Finding none, he says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.

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And then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter and dwell there.

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And the last state of that man is worse than the first. This first of four sections in this passage of our

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Lord's controversy with the Pharisees has been described as the Beelzebub controversy, understandable.

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As the Lord was making progress in his journey toward Jerusalem, the conflict he encountered increased in intensity between himself and the religious leaders of Israel.

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His presence, his preaching, his popularity were a threat to them. Increasingly, the people were looking to him rather than them, and they did not like that.

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They desired to be in authority and to be regarded most highly by the people, and so they sought to discredit

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Jesus publicly, openly. When Jesus did good, they accredited what was done to the fact that he was in league with demonic forces.

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Here we see a demon exorcism performed by the Lord Jesus, which should have led all to praise

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God and approve to them the legitimacy and credibility of the Lord Jesus. Instead, it resulted in some bringing accusation against him, which resulted in this conflict.

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If the Lord Jesus could be reacted to in this fashion in the face of the good he did for the people, let's not be surprised when people react to us when we make every effort to represent

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Christ before them. Some may and will, thankfully, respond favorably to us and our witness, but others will react negatively, rejecting our witness.

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It can be expected, and perhaps it could be said that to the degree that some will respond favorably to you will be to the degree that some will oppose you.

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I think of the evangelist Mordecai Ham, who looked like a little mousy accountant, frankly, in the early 20th century, and it said whenever he went into a community there was either a revival or a riot, and he'd stir the people up in his evangelistic preaching.

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He did have one person come to Christ who made an impact, Billy Graham was converted,

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I understand, under the preaching of Mordecai Ham. While the Lord Jesus used his charge against him to reveal that there was more taking place than just a difference of opinion or a conflict of personalities between himself and his opposers, there was a spiritual battle being waged between himself and Satan, and the outcome was certain, of course.

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He, the Lord Jesus, would stand as the victor, having defeated Satan, and as a result he would free his people, rescuing them from the dominion of the devil to whom they had been subject.

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So let's begin to break down these verses. First, verses 14 through 19,

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Jesus shows that Satan, in other words Beelzebul, could not be the cause of the deliverance of the man who had been mute.

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Now it's interesting to note the shift of themes or emphasis from verse 13 to verse 14 and following.

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Verse 13 concludes the theme of the Holy Spirit as the good gift of the Father. Verse 14 begins an account regarding evil spirits who are under the authority of Satan.

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That's why I didn't want to address this last week being Christmas weekend, frankly. Well the emphasis is first on the

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Holy Spirit in verses 1 through 13, and then emphasis is given to the devil, verses 14 and following.

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I, Howard Marshall, wrote of this from the theme of the Holy Spirit given by the Father to those who ask for him.

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The subject turns to that of evil spirits who are under the control of Satan. Quite a contrast.

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And J .C. Ryle sought to draw even a closer connection between our Lord teaching his disciples to pray and him casting the demon from this man, thereby enabling him to speak.

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The connection between these verses and those which immediately precede them is striking and instructive.

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In the preceding verses, our Lord Jesus Christ had been showing the power and importance of prayer.

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In the verses before us, he delivers a man from a dumb devil. The miracle is evidently intended to throw fresh light on the lesson.

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The same Savior who encourages us to pray is the Savior who destroys Satan's power over our members and restores our tongues to their proper use.

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In other words, pray. Well we first read that of Jesus casting out a demon that was met with unbelief, verses 14 to 16.

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The initial conflict is seen as some among the observant crowd questioned even challenged the legitimacy of Jesus' authority to cast out a demon from a man who had been rendered mute.

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Here again, these verses, and he was casting out a demon and it, the demon was mute.

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So it was when the demon had gone out that the mute spoke, the man spoke, and the multitudes marveled.

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Some of them said he cast out demons by bills above the ruler of the demons. Others testing him sought from him a sign from heaven.

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Take note that the demon was mute and this demon controlled the possessed one so that he too was mute.

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And when the mute demon was cast out of the man, the man was able to speak. The reaction of most people present was amazement.

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The multitudes marveled, everybody marveled that a miracle took place was evident to everyone present that couldn't be denied.

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They all marveled. But if the Jewish leaders are to retain their spiritual dominance of the people, they would need to provide an ungodly reason for what everyone had witnessed.

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We then read in verse 15 of the reaction of some of the multitudes, some of them said he cast out demons by bills above the ruler of the demons.

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Now Matthew's account of this event tells us that it was the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees who made this charge, who leveled this charge against Jesus before the multitudes.

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Luke doesn't say Pharisees in this verse, specifically he does later in the passage.

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These Pharisees made the accusation that the miracle performed by Jesus was satanic in nature.

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The multitudes would have to decide for themselves which was true. Was this due to the power of God or the power of the devil?

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It's been rightly said the incident shows that Jesus' hearers must choose between good, Jesus, the spirit, and God's kingdom, and evil,

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Satan and his demons. And so it's been said the accusation seems to have been whispered among the people by the

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Pharisee emissaries from the capital, Jerusalem. The words of the charge were evidently not addressed to Jesus.

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These men could not deny the reality of the work of healing, so they tried to suggest that the great healer had dealings with some great evil angel whom they call from some old

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Jewish tradition Beelzebub. In 2 Kings 1, 3, we read that this idol deity was the god of Ekron.

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The name implies lord of flies. It was very likely worshipped in the low -lying cities of the seacoast of Philistia as a god who would likely avert the plague of flies and insects which infested that locality.

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Of course, Beelzebub is one of many names for Satan. Here he's described as the ruler of the demons.

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Two weeks ago, we spoke of some detail, quite some detail about the Holy Spirit, and we might similarly say a few words today about the evil one,

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Beelzebub, or the devil, even though it's unpleasant to do so. We might first consider the names in the

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Holy Scriptures that are ascribed to the devil. Of course, there is Satan. I don't know how many years ago

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I started, I just refused to capitalize the S on Satan, so I always have to counter my spell checker and put in a lowercase

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S. I just refused to show any kind of dignity to him if I can do so. Well, Satan means, of course, adversary, enemy, or opposer.

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It's used 18 times in the Old Testament, 36 times in the New Testament. Jesus said,

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Rebuke Peter for having expressed Satan's lies. Away with you, Satan, for it's written you shall worship the

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Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Satan is God's enemy, and his opposer, as he also opposes the people of God, and so he desires to deceive, to scandalize, confuse, destroy the will and work of God in the world and the lives of God's people.

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Of course, he's referred to as the devil. This title means slanderer. It's the second most used name in the

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Bible for the evil one. Devil is used 35 times in the New Testament. When we seek to denigrate someone in the eyes of another or others, when we slander, we're doing what is notable of the devil.

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He seeks to divide and alienate people from one another. He promotes anger, discouragement, distancing from people to other people.

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Then third, he's described as the evil one. John wrote, we know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power, authority of the evil one.

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This describes his nature. His nature is opposite of God. The word

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God, by the way, our English word God, originally derived from an old English word, the good. There is no goodness in the evil one, whereas God is holy, the devil is evil.

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The devil is morally bad, wicked, he is evil. He's also called the father of lies.

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Jesus said to the Pharisees, you are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do.

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He was a murderer from the beginning, does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it.

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All lies are of the devil. He is an enemy of the truth who seeks to corrupt, destroy, distort the truth.

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Fifth, he's ruler of this world or God of this age. Jesus said in John 14, I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me.

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Paul wrote of the unconverted among whom the God of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God.

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A non -Christian cannot see the truth and the relevance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior because the devil has blinded them to that.

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It's impossible for them to understand until God turns on the lights, 2

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Corinthians 4. The same God who said let there be light is shown in our hearts revealing to us the truth, the reality of Jesus Christ as our

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Lord and Savior. The devil rules over all unbelievers and over all political and economic powers of the fallen world system.

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He's the God of this age. He's the prince and power of the air, Ephesians 2 verse 1 and 2 speaks of God saving us out of the realm and power of the devil.

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You he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air.

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The devil was our Lord. The spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, all non -Christians, the devil is working in them because he controls them.

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He is a ruler over myriads of fallen angels who do his bidding in history and his attempts to defeat

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God's purposes and his people. Seventh, he's described as the tempter.

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Matthew 4, 3 we read of Jesus in the wilderness, the tempter came and said to him, if you're the son of God, command these stones to become bread.

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As one wrote, Satan is a tempter by nature. He tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the garden.

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He tempted Christ to not obey God's will in the wilderness. He tempted Judas to deny Christ and Ananias to lie about the amount of money he gained from selling his land.

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He tempts husbands and wives to be unfaithful in marriage. He tempts the Gentile nations to rebel against Christ.

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The devil is the tempter. When you're tempted to sin, it's probably the devil at work.

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And then of course, he's called the serpent. We read of Paul's warning to the church at Corinth, but I'm afraid of you just as the serpent deceived

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Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

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This speaks of course about the devil's subtlety and his trickery. He is a slyer and sneakier than we are readily able to recognize him in his ways unless we are informed of his wiles.

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And frankly, not a lot of people are aware of his wiles. And then of course, here in our passage of Luke 11, he's referred to as Beelzebul or Beelzebub.

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Speaks of his unclean nature, he's Lord of the Flies. And so the Pharisees were attempting to pick a very demeaning, degrading, defiling description of Jesus by saying that he was empowered by Beelzebub.

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Apollyon, as mentioned in the Revelation, it's the Old Testament term, Hebrew, perhaps

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Aramaic term, Abaddon, and the New Testament Greek equivalent is Apollyon, where we read in the

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Revelation, of course, of that great battle that is waged against Apollyon.

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He's a king over an army of demonic beings, locusts, and that name means destroyer.

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And then he is the dragon, Revelation 12, 9. So the great dragon was cast down, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world.

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He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And so this describes his fierce and ferocious nature that he is the persecutor of the

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Lord's people. Now, I don't want to get into our understanding of the

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Revelation, but I don't think this is talking about a future seven -year tribulation period. This is speaking about the devil was cast down from his former position of authority uncontested by the

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Lord Jesus when he ascended and took the throne of God as father in heaven. And when it says that the devil was cast down to the earth, this is his state and his work in this current church age.

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And he's deceiving and persecuting the people of God. He is the dragon.

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J. I. Packard gave a good description of this evil one and of his work in this fallen world.

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And I recommend this little book. It's simply written.

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It has dozens and dozens of subjects and categories. It's entitled

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Concise Theology and it is a guide to historic Christian beliefs.

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And this was a few words he gave with regard to his little chapter on the devil. Satan's deceptive cunning is highlighted by Paul's statement that he becomes an angel of light, disguising evil as good.

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His destructive ferocity comes out in the description of him as a roaring, devouring lion and as a dragon, as he was

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Christ's sworn foe. So now he is the Christians, always probing for weaknesses, misdirecting strengths, and undermining faith, hope, and character.

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He should be taken seriously for malice and cunning make him fearsome, yet not so seriously as to provoke abject terror of him.

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For he is a beaten enemy. Satan is stronger than we are, but Christ has triumphed over Satan.

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And Christians will triumph over him too, if they resist him with the resources that Christ supplies.

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The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Acknowledging Satan's reality, taking his opposition seriously, noting his strategy, that is anything provided it be not biblical

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Christianity, and reckoning on always being at war with him, this is not a lapse into a dualistic concept of two gods, one good, one evil, fighting it out.

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Satan is a creature, superhuman, but not divine. He has much knowledge and power, but he's neither omniscient nor omnipotent.

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He can move around in ways that humans cannot, but he's not omnipresent, and he is an already defeated rebel, having no power, but then

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God allows him in being destined for the lake of fire. Amen.

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Packard. Richard Baxter wrote a very extensive book on practical

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Christian living. He wrote back in the 17th century. It's entitled A Christian Directory.

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I have a copy of it, two columns on a page, very, very, very small print, and it's over 900 pages in length.

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Just about every kind of situation you can face in this world as a Christian, he deals with.

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In detail, and gives biblical prescription for it, and so I was reminded this week of his section dealing with Satan, and I wish

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I could have only, I wish I could have given you more than what

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I have, although I feel somewhat guilty of the length of this, but I thought I would put it before us just to give us a more full context of what we deal with.

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Under this grand direction, he's given instructions to Christians, grand direction number nine, spend all your days in a skillful, vigilant, resolute, and valiant war against the flesh, the world, and the devil, as those that have covenanted to follow

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Christ, the captain of your salvation. He deals with each one, how you deal with the flesh, how you deal with the fallen world, how you deal with the devil.

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And so, these are some of his words that he set forth on how the

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Christian is to deal or understand the holy war we wage against the devil, and so these are

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Baxter's words. In opening to you this holy war, I shall first show you what we must do on the offensive part, and then secondly on the defensive.

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First our offensive arms are to be used, first against the power that sits in within us and all its advantages and helps, for while Satan ruleth and possesses us within, we shall never well oppose him without.

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Secondly, against sin and others, as far as we have opportunity, we should be fighting against sin and others.

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Against the credit and honor of sin in the world, as the devil's servants would bring light and holiness into disgrace, so Christ's servants must cast disgrace and shame upon sin and darkness.

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I think of the book written a couple of years ago, which is a prescription put forth by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, live not by lies.

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When you're faced with a lie, don't go with it, don't agree with it, confront it.

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It may result, it will result in conflict and difficulty, but that's how Christians are to live in a fallen world, and Solzhenitsyn knew all about that.

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Against all the reasonings of sinners and their subtle fallacies whereby they would deceive, against all the passions and violent lusts which are the causes of men's other sins, against the holds and helps of sin as false teachers, profane revilers, ignorance and deceit, only take heed that on this pretense we step not out of our ranks and places to pull down the powers of the world by rebellions, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

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And so there he pulls back, you know, those Christians that may, you know, want to be quite militant in their arms and whatnot.

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That's the offensive part. Secondly, as to our defense, the ends of the tempter which must be perceived are these.

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In general, his aim is at our utter ruin and damnation and to draw us here to dishonor

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God as much as we can. But especially his aim is to strengthen the great heart's sins which are most mortal and are the root and life and spawners of the rest, especially these.

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So he's dealing with sins of the soul. Ignorance which is a friend and cloak to all the rest, error which will justify them, unbelief which keeps them off all that should oppose them, atheism, profaneness, unholiness which are the defiance of God and all his armies, presumption which emboldened them and hides the danger, hardness of heart which fortifies them against all the batteries of grace, hypocrisy which maketh them serve him as spies and intelligencers in the army of Christ, disaffection to God and his ways and servants which is the devil's colors, unthankfulness which tends to make them unreconcilable and unrecoverable, pride which commandeth many regiments of lesser sins, worldliness or love of money and wealth which keepeth his armies in pay, sensuality, voluptuousness, our flesh -pleasing which is the great commander of all the rest.

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For selfishness is the devil's lieutenant general which consisteth chiefly in the three last named, especially in pride and sensuality.

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Some think that it is outward sins that bring all the danger, but these twelve heart sins which

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I have named to you are the twelve gates of the infernal city which Satan loveth above all the rest.

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The problem is in here. Our greatest problem is not the sins out there, it's here.

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And it's pretty well accepted in common for in church, we can talk about the sins out there in the world and whatnot, but the problem lies here, isn't it?

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That's our main fault. And then he speaks about the matter grounds of the devil's temptations are these.

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The devil first worketh upon the outward sense and so upon the sensitive appetite.

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And so he shows the cup to the drunkard's eye and the bait of filthy lust to the fornicator and the riches and pomp of the world to the covetous and proud, the glutton tasted the sweetness of the dish which he loveth, stage plays and tempting sports and proud attire and sumptuous buildings and all such sensual things are the baits by which the devil angleth for souls.

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And thus he first saw the fruit and then tasted and then did eat. Thus Noah and Lot and David sinned, thus

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Achan saith in Joshua 7, I saw, that is the garment silver and gold,

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I coveted, I took them. The sense is the door of sin. Second, the tempter next worketh on the fantasy or imagination and prints upon it the loveliest image of his bait that possibly he can and engage at the center to think on it and to roll it over and over in his mind, even as God command us to meditate on his precepts.

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And third, next he worketh by these upon the passions or affections, which fantasy having inflamed, they violently urge the will and reason and this according to the nature of the passion, whether fear of hope, sorrow or joy, love or hatred, desire or aversion, but by none doth he work so dangerously as by delight and love and desire things sensual.

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And hence he proceeded to infect the will upon the simple apprehension of the understanding to make it inordinately cleaved to the temporal good and to neglect its duty in commanding the understanding to meditate on preserving objects and to call off the thoughts from the forbidden thing, it neglected to rule the thoughts and passions according to its office and natural power.

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And then after that the devil corrupts the understanding itself, first to omit its duty and then to entertain deceit, lies, to approve of evil and so the servant is put into the government and the commanding powers do but serve it, reason is blinded by sensuality and passion and becomes their servant and pleads their cause.

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Man had an insight into not only the human heart but the devil's ways.

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Well, let's return to our text in Luke 11. We read of others who tested

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Jesus upon him delivering this mute man from the demon that had possessed him, where the

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Pharisees accused Jesus before the crowds as enabled by the devil to heal the man, there were others who sought to challenge him in more subtle ways.

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Verse 16 records, others testing him sought from him a sign from heaven.

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Now, Jesus later dealt with the matter seeking a sign, we'll get there. But here we read that these people were also testing him just as the others who had accused him of being in league with the devil.

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These people were just as unbelieving as the Pharisees. This may be a more subtle challenge but it's just as insidious.

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Did not Jesus just show his authority over the devil by casting out this demon and making this man well? Their challenge was not a sincere quest for truth but a challenge born from sinful unbelief, show us a sign from heaven.

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And secondly, Jesus shows that Satan or Beelzebub could not be the cause of the deliverance of this man who had been mute, he reasons with them.

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So, verses 17 through 19, this is how the Lord dealt with unbelievers.

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But he knowing their thoughts said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and a house divided against a house falls.

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If Satan also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub and if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out and therefore they will be your judges.

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These others implied that the performing of an exorcism was not sufficient evidence to authenticate his divine authority, they wanted a sign from heaven.

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We read in verse 17 that Jesus knew their thoughts, he knew that they were not sincere seekers of truth.

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Of course he never turned away one who truly wanted to learn, to understand but he knew these people were not desiring the truth and so he dealt with them accordingly.

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But further because he knew their thoughts and the way they thought, he was able to take each one of their reasons for rejecting him and dispel them as void of substance.

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Jesus Christ knows your thoughts, my thoughts. I don't know that that's all that comforting, frankly.

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He knows whether you love him, you desire to please him, to grow in your knowledge of him, to live in conformity to his will.

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May the Lord grant grace to each of us to grow closer to him and seek him more fervently and faithfully.

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Jesus responded to his accusers with two arguments and a stated conclusion. The first argument that Jesus gave shows that their accusation of him was contrary to common sense.

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He essentially said that the devil had more sense than to conquer his own work. So Jesus said every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and a house divided against a house falls.

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Notice there are two parts to this argument separated by a semicolon or should be a semicolon.

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The first is that Beelzebub, the ruler of demons, would never work counter to his purposes and intentions.

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As one commentator wrote, Satan performs his evil work by means of the demons who are his subordinates.

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It is therefore unthinkable that he will take steps against them and deliver their human victims from their accursed domination.

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For then it would mean that he was resolved to work against himself, to destroy his own work which he performs through his underlings.

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It's nonsensical. And then the second part is a little more difficult to understand clearly, but his second part shows that their reasoning was contrary to common sense, was his statement that a house divided against a house falls.

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A more literal translation might be as the ESV renders the phrase, a house divided against a house falleth.

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However, the word divided is in italic in the ESV, which means that it is not in the original

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Greek text. Literally, the Greek reading carries a simple idea, house or household upon household falls.

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Well, that can be understood in one of three ways. First, every household divided against itself falls, and that's reflected in a few translations.

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Secondly, say in the time of civil strife, one house falls upon another.

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In other words, one household is attacking another, civil disruption, war.

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Or third, house after house collapses, and that simply means that one house collapses and falls upon another, collapsing like dominoes.

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The second meaning is more likely, for the devil to desire or cause one house of his fall to fall on another house belonging to him, to cause it to collapse is unreasonable.

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Why would the devil do that? And so their accusation is contrary to common sense.

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And I believe, by the way, all error, if you examine it closely, is illogical.

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And everything that truly is logical is of the Lord. Jesus is the eternal

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Logos, you know, from which we get the word logic. But then Jesus gave a second argument.

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He further reasoned that their accusation was contrary to common belief. Contrary to common sense is also contrary to common belief.

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Verse 19 reads, and if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? And therefore they will be your judges.

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Who are your sons that cast out demons? Apparently there were Jewish men that performed exorcisms of demons in the days of our

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Lord's ministry. Acts 19 .13 seemed to suggest this, and some of the itinerant

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Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits.

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Of course, they failed miserably, but the idea, it seemed like this was this class of good doers who were exorcists.

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Now today we hear much about exorcism of demons. It's a worldwide phenomenon, more in third world countries, but more and more in our nation as we are becoming more and more primitive, as it were.

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And there are many YouTube videos that purport to be recorded exorcism. I don't encourage you to search for them.

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I don't think it's good to view them. Roman Catholicism claims to have an office of exorcists who are priests in the

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Roman Catholic Church dedicated to this ministry so -called. They argue that they're casting out demons authenticates them and the

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Roman Catholic Church to be legitimate, the true church of Jesus Christ. Well, we would respond, the scriptures reveal the fact that there will be people who claim to have exorcised demons in this life who will be damned by the

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Lord Jesus on the day of judgment. Jesus himself said these words, not everyone who says to me,

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Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of my father in heaven, true faith leads to obedience and discipleship following Jesus.

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Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? There'll be preachers damned on that day.

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And then here, cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name.

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And I will declare to them, depart from me, you workers of iniquity, you practice lawlessness. I never knew you.

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Just because someone can cast out a demon in an exorcism or claim to have done so does not validate that person as of God and does not validate that denomination as of God, has no clear evidence of that fact.

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Of course, regarding Jesus, it does so. And this is affirmed when he was present, the promised kingdom of God had arrived and was present and was being manifested.

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And his casting the demon out of this man proved it. So we see next, the true and right conclusion from Jesus, delivering this man from Satan is that the kingdom of God has arrived and is present in Jesus Christ.

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I could have gone off on this, I still am tempted to do so, but I'm not going to. Some suggest that Jesus is only offering the kingdom to the

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Jewish people, but because they rejected him as their king, this promise of the kingdom was postponed until the second coming.

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No, Jesus is saying the kingdom has arrived. And the fact he was casting out demons proved this.

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Well the result of our Lord's reasoned response to his detractors was evidence. Jesus declared in verse 20, if I cast out demons with the finger of God, I didn't have time to go into the finger of God, but that draws our attention to God working through Moses, the finger of God, back in the days of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt.

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If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. In other words, if Jesus' exorcisms had been carried out by the power of God, then they constitute evidence that the kingdom of God has arrived.

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It wasn't an offer, it was a declaration. If Jesus does not cast out demons by Beelzebul, then the alternative is that he does so by the finger of God.

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And so, then, the correct consequence which should be drawn is that the kingdom of God has appeared.

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The gospel is the gospel of the kingdom. First verses of Mark's gospel. Wherever sin is being conquered and God is served, the presence of the kingdom of God is evident.

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The point is that the kingly and saving power of God is drawn near to the hearers and is there for them to grasp, and the proof that it's near to them is that its power has been evidenced in the lives of other people, namely in exorcisms.

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The kingdom of God, long promised, has now arrived in the person of Jesus Christ. Then our

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Lord revealed the spiritual war between himself and the devil, verses 21 -22.

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So after our Lord dismissed the accusations of his detractors, he spoke of the spiritual warfare in which he was engaged with the evil one.

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And so our Lord gave a comparison of his ascendancy and victory over the devil. Devil is one who invaded, conquered, and supplanted the owner of a great palace.

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Jesus is the conqueror of the palace. Our Lord will defeat the devil to save his people from their spiritual bondage to him.

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And so we read, when a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.

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They're secure. When a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his foils.

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What may be concluded from our Lord's words is that when one of Satan's victims is released from his bondage, it indicates that he, the master

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Satan, that is the devil, has been overcome. What Jesus was declaring is that though Satan had reigned over his subjects, the fallen people of the world, the

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Lord Jesus had come to overcome him and taken from him those who had been bound by him. Jesus Christ is the stronger one who overcomes the devil as powerful as he had been over the world.

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And the word of God teaches, of course, that when Adam and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden, they plunged the whole human race into sin and into subjection to the devil.

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Having fallen from their prelapsarian, or before they fell into sin, submission to God and their creator as their king, they changed loyalty from God to the devil.

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The devil was their Lord. The devil had instigated a rebellion and he won to himself all of humanity.

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The history of redemption through the biblical story is the record of God reclaiming and recovering his world from its fallen and lost condition, restoring them to himself as his people and he as their

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God. And he accomplishes this through the unfolding mediatorial kingdoms and ultimately the mediatorial kingdom of Jesus Christ.

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In order for our Lord to populate his kingdom with free, loyal, obedient citizens, he had to rescue and deliver them from the devil out of his kingdom.

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The reign of God and people's lives is due to the fact they've been taken out of the realm of the kingdom of Satan and placed into the kingdom of God.

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That's what happens at conversion. And so this happens in every instance of a sinner becoming a true

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Christian. Paul wrote of Christians in his epistle to the Colossians, he has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son.

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If you're a Christian, you are in the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God over which

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Christ is king. Satan is very powerful. Jesus compared him here to a strong man who defends his house or perhaps household.

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Satan's house has fallen humanity. Paul wrote that all Christians before God had intervened to save them by his grace had been under the control of Satan as we read.

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They were his subjects and you he made alive, Paul wrote, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, all the world, according to the prince of the power of the air.

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You're doing the devil's bidding and the devil's bidding is to get you to do your own will.

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When you serve yourself, you're in actuality serving the devil. People think they're free by doing whatever they want to do.

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No, that's how the devil would have you serve him. He's a spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, all non -Christians among whom we all once conducted ourselves in the loss of our flesh.

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We were all there fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind were by nature children of righteousness as the others, but God, he took the initiative.

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He took action who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us that love in Christ from eternity, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace, you've been saved, raises up together, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

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That means that you're enthroned with Jesus Christ. He's sitting on the throne. You are in him in union with him.

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You are enthroned with Christ as a Christian. Satan is powerful and he'll not willingly lose any of his subjects.

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Anyone rescued from his kingdom must be delivered from him by the force of one greater than he. Jesus declared here in Luke 11, 21, 22.

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He was that one, the promised king over the kingdom of God that was invading the world and taking captive those who had been captive to the devil.

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He led captivity captive again. Jesus declared when a strong man, fully armed guards, his own palace, his goods are in peace.

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But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils.

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And we know from other portions of scripture, it was through our Lord's faithful obedience, both active and passive, that he won the favor of his father who rewarded him with all authority in heaven and earth.

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Jesus declared that in Matthew 28, 19 or 18.

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Peter declared Christ's ascendancy in this way, for Christ also suffered once for sin, just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

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Being put to death in the flesh, made alive by the spirit who's gone into heaven is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him, all angelic beings, including the devil and the fallen angel.

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All the angelic beings are now subject to King Jesus. This includes the devil and all the hosts of fallen angels that followed him.

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It was at the cross where our Lord encountered his severest hardship. Yet it was here that he gained his victory.

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When Jesus was speaking these words in our passage, he knew the terrors that lie before him. He would be cursed by the father on behalf of his people.

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The father would make him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

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And when he became sin for us, he was crushed under its load on his cross. The burden of prospect of his cross bore down upon him until blood flowed from his brow as sweat flows from from ours.

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But thanks and praise be to God that he did not draw back, but rather he gave us back to the whips, his face to be bruised by those who smote him.

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It was in deep pain and agony, he atoned for our sins. And in doing so,

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Jesus deposed Satan to his death. Satan's head was bruised. Jesus coming out of the grave was highly exalted above the devil.

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And now the possessions that were the devil's has become the spoils of Jesus Christ. And he, the

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Lord Jesus, takes from the devil's realm whatever he chooses. And the devil is powerless to prevent him from doing so.

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And that's why the gospel has gone out into the nations of the world, because he's bound the devil who can no longer deceive the nations as he once did.

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And although Satan does not surrender his subjects willingly, he does so he does so in every case that the

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Lord issues the command, release him and the devil has to obey. Now, it's important to note this fact in the scriptures, there is never a hint of an eternal dualism between good and evil.

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We reject that Gnostic idea as though good and evil are co -equal principles in eternity.

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There's never a hint that Satan thwarts the purposes of God. Rather, we see God as sovereign, who allows men in their sin to be born under Satan's realm.

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And when people live their lives in a self -directed existence, they're doing Satan's bidding. But thanks be to God, he determined to save a people out from under Satan's dominion.

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And so he comes against the devil, conquers him, delivers his own from out from out from under the realm of of the devil's kingdom, bringing them into his own.

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Well, then this passage concludes and we have to conclude. Jesus challenged the people before him to come to join him in this blessed kingdom of God.

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Jesus declared, he who is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters.

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There's only two ways in this spiritual battle and you're going to be on one side or the other.

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There's no no man's land. There are only two spiritual kingdoms in this world.

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There's a spiritual kingdom of the devil into which all the human race are born subjects. You're there.

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You're a subject of the devil unless the Lord Jesus sets you free. And there's a kingdom of God promised to come through the

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Old Testament, brought into realization through Jesus Christ, whom the father is exalted as his son, the king over his kingdom.

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And throughout this kingdom age, Jesus Christ continues to snatch out of the devil's kingdom the souls the father gave to him before creation.

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And yet we need to realize there's always a present reality, but a not yet sense about the kingdom of God.

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And you've got to keep that in balance. Are you going to get yourself into trouble? The kingdom, his kingdom, has not yet been manifested in its fullness.

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Which will not take place until the second coming of Christ in all his glory. For example, then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom.

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Prepared for you from the foundation of the world. In Jesus sharply distinguishing those who are with him and those who are against him, he's pressing upon all people everywhere who hear these words to decide, respecting their loyalty and devotion to him.

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Will you acknowledge Jesus Christ as God, the father's son, whom he has made king over his kingdom? Or will you continue to live for yourself, thinking that you're free to do and live as you please, when in actuality the devil is your

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Lord? The Lord Jesus made known that mere moral reform or to repent of some sins will never bring salvation.

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People must do more than purpose to live moral lives. They must purpose to live in and for the kingdom of God under the submission of King Jesus.

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As Jesus said in verses 24 and 26, when an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he's clearly alluding to the

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Pharisees here and he'll hit on them directly later. Goes through dry places seeking rest, finding none, he says,

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I'll return, find my house from which I came. When he comes, he finds it swept, put in order and he goes and takes with him seven more spirits, more wicked than himself.

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And they enter and dwell there. And the last day to that man is worse than the first. Those self -righteous

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Pharisees in control of Judaism at the time who were fighting against Jesus and keeping the people under their dominion were seven times worse than the prostitute in the street or the drunkard who would enter the kingdom before they would.

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And that was their moral cleanup, as they thought. Christianity is not to be equated with moral reform.

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Merely a removal of evil is not enough. Apart from being rescued by the Lord Jesus, being brought into the kingdom of God, the effort to escape

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Satan's control is futile. Lord himself must perform an act of deliverance and only he can.

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He alone is stronger than is the stronger man to deliver his people than the devil is strong to keep them.

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Only Jesus Christ can give a new heart, give his Holy Spirit, whereby he conquers the reign of sin and Satan in the life.

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And so it's evident the Lord Jesus was giving a veiled rebuke of Pharisee ism and religiosity.

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They thought themselves clean, but in reality, they were seven times worse than the worst sinner in the street and in their pride and arrogance, reason, tradition, religion and ceremony, they thought themselves safe.

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In reality, they were secure possessions of Satan. In conclusion, although we

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Christians are currently citizens of the kingdom of God, in another sense, the kingdom is yet to be inherited by us.

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It's promised to us. It's a certainty. We're heirs of the kingdom. In Christ, thankfully, and to those who persevere and overcome through faith, through a life of faith in the

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Lord Jesus, the promise is given that he or she will sit down in his throne and rule in the kingdom, the everlasting kingdom, just as Jesus overcame and sat down in his father's throne and commenced to rule.

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And so may we look to him and seek the grace from him that will enable us to withstand our foe and stand with him one day.

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Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, our father, again for your word and Lord, we're so grateful for living in this side of history when we see these things realized, our

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God accomplished through your son, our Lord Jesus. And so we are people, our

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God of faith with assurance and confidence, our God, Jesus Christ is the victor and he's controlling history and as wicked as this old world is and is increasingly becoming, we thank you, our

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God, that you have saved us. You have delivered us out of the kingdom of Satan and our destiny is glorious.

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Help us, our God, to live in faith and live in peace and assurance, knowing that we're citizens of the kingdom and that one day we'll stand in your presence and we will be exonerated from sin on the day of judgment.

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And we will be then, of course, perfected in our holiness and be like Christ when we see him for who he is and as he is, for we pray these things in Jesus name.