Luke 11 14 we typically look
into first Samuel on Wednesday nights. We're gonna Depart from
that a little bit tonight for just probably just for tonight
and be again in first Samuel next Wednesday But I want to
look at Luke 11 14. I Want to go back a little ways
and remember remember a Sunday morning Where the Lord was talking
about he still was teaching them to pray and he said which of
you? Fathers if you have a child and he asked you for something
good We'll give him something harmful
Verse 13 if you then being evil know how to give good gifts unto
your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the
Holy Spirit to them and that ask him. And the reason I wanted
to read that is because look how just abruptly the subject
changes. And he was casting out a devil. He's teaching them concerning
prayer and concerning our relationship to him and how we're to pray
to him expecting the best. Because As we've seen so many times,
he that spared not his own son, how's he not going to give you
everything you need? The best thing for you at any
given moment. And then, and he was casting
out a devil. It just kind of struck me right away how it almost
seems to be mentioned in passing, doesn't it? The subject is changed
so abruptly, it kind of reads like, you know, if I was telling
you, you know, about my day today, And I said, yeah, we had to,
and none of this happened today, I'm just making this up. Yeah,
we went to Walmart, you know, had to get a few things there,
and we had to run by the bank, and deposit a check, and I won
$60 million in the lottery. Oh, and then we went to Andy's,
and I got this, This frozen yogurt, you wouldn't believe. You've
got to try one of these. You might say, wait a minute,
hold up. Back up to that part about the $60 million. I just
mentioned that. That would be kind of life changing,
wouldn't it? But I just mentioned it in Pat. Yeah, yeah. Just happened
to hit the lotto. No big deal. Well, this is way
bigger than that. Infinitely beyond that. And it just mentions it sort
of in passing. The scriptures state things very
matter-of-factly. The most monumental in the Gospels
especially. The reason that that's worth
mentioning is because it shows how the Son of God did incredible,
life-changing, monumental things just as a matter of course. That's
just what he did. He changed people's lives. He
changed people's eternities. from their perspective. He would just say a word and
a blind man can see now. He would touch a hand and somebody
that was dead would come to life. And here this poor wretch was
possessed with a demon that made it so that he couldn't speak.
And the scripture doesn't even really describe exactly how he
did it. Did he say something to him? Did he rebuke that devil
as he did in other places? Or did he just do it some other
way? We don't know, but we know what we need to know. It says
there, he was casting out a devil and
it was dumb. Caused the person that it was
in to be dumb, to not be able to speak. And it came to pass
when the devil was gone out. That's what we need to know about
it. He cast it out and it was gone. That's pretty simple, isn't
it? But here's the thing. When he
does something, it's done. It's done. He didn't make his
best effort. He didn't try. He doesn't try
anything. When he does something, it's
done. It's done completely. It's done from now on. He's not
like, you know, the chiropractor where you have to keep going
back and going back. When he does it, done. We come back because we love
him, not because we need more salvation. We got it all right
up front. But here's what I want us to
know this morning, this evening about that. this one who just cast out a
devil just almost it just seems like and I'm sure there's more
to the story but the way the scripture records it he just
went here and there just doing these incredible amazing things
just in passing he would just pass by he passed by and saw
a man which was blind from his birth and He spit on the ground
and made clay of the spittle and put it on his eyes and told
him to wash and he washed and came seeing. As he passed by,
it says, as he passed by, he passed through so many places. And those who he came there to
see were never the same again once he passed through. But here's
the thing tonight, he can save our children and our grandchildren
just like that, just like that. And he cast out a devil. And
he gave life and he raised somebody from the dead. He gave somebody
a new heart. Just whenever he wants to, wherever
he wants to. Notice the way that our Lord
described it in verse 20. But if I, with the finger of
God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon
you. Well, isn't that just... That's what happened. The Lord
Jesus Christ, with the finger of God, cast out a demon. The finger of God. Not even the hand of God. Not
even the arm of God. He didn't even have to stretch
out his arm. He didn't even have to. Just with a finger. That's
how the text kind of presents it, doesn't it? He just cast
out a devil. He said, I did it with my finger,
with God's finger. And that's just a picture now.
He just needs a word. At times he just spoke a word. Or does he even need to speak? He just wants it. He just desires
it. He just wills it. And it's done. Now he cast out this demon because
it's mentioned sort of almost seemingly in passing. Let's not
just take it that way though only in the sense that we've
said in that the Lord can just There's no limit to what he can
do. You remember, on the way to healing, I believe it was
the centurion's daughter, on the way to healing her, the woman
with the issue of blood, or his servant, I believe it was, the
centurion's servant, the woman with the issue of blood came
and pressed through the throng and touched the hem of his garment
and he stopped and spoke with her and she was healed. He healed
on the way to healing. He saves on the way to saving. But let's take our time and look
at this now. He cast out a devil, a demon. And we've seen this quite a bit
in our studies in the gospel. Demons are real. We don't talk about demons a
whole lot except in the context of the word of God and how the
scriptures present them. We don't learn about demons by
watching movies. That's entertainment, that's
not teaching, that's not reliable teaching. But there is much in
the scriptures about demons, and they are frightening, they
are terrible. I think in many cases the Lord
lets people go, and I believe people in some cases are scarier
than demons. And maybe it's because of the
demons, I don't know. We see a lot in the word of God about
them and we're warned to be sober and vigilant because the devil
is our adversary. And he's looking to devour us.
He's looking for somebody to devour. He doesn't just, you
know, he whispers and things like that, but it's destructive.
He insinuates and he accuses, but these things, it's a devouring. That's the way the scriptures
Presented I want you to turn to first Peter 5 and also look
at the context of that well-known scripture. He walketh about As a roaring lion, but let's
look at the context of that and whatever the devil does That's
what his little demons do to his servants. They're all that
they're all on the same page First Peter 5 6 Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. I've
seen preachers rebuking the devil on a stage with thousands of
people listening to him. You know how you deal with the
devil? You humble yourself before God because God's the one that's
got to deal with him. You bow to God. You submit to
God and pray to God. That he makes and look verse
7 casting all your care upon him for he careth for you He's
clothed you as our brother read he feeds you and he protects
you from all of the evil in this world He prayed for you in the
garden in john chapter 17 in his high priestly prayer keep
them from the evil Cast it he cared for you now
look verse 8 be sober be vigilant Because your adversary, the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. He's
not playing games. He's looking to destroy. Whom
resist steadfast in the faith. Again, how do you resist it? Boy, by being strong. Boy, he's
not going to, you know, I'm not going to, you know, succumb to
his temptation. That's kind of how Simon Peter
talked just before he succumbed. and failed and denied his Lord. It ain't about your willpower
or your spirituality. It's about Christ. Believe on
him. Submit to him. Humble yourself
before him because he's your hope. He's the one that cares
for you. He's the one that protects you. Resist steadfast in the
faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world. We're in this together and the
Lord takes care of all of us. But the God of all grace who
has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After
that you've suffered a little while, he may let the devil take
a couple of shots at you. You may suffer. Paul said the
thorn in the flesh. The devil had something to do
with that, if you read that context, I'm pretty sure. Thorn in the
flesh. That thorn, it wasn't from a
rose bush. The word is a spear. A dagger in my flesh. But after
you've suffered for a little while, he'll make you perfect.
He'll use those things to mature you in the faith, establish you,
strengthen you, settle you. To him be glory. He'll either
tell Satan to go take a hike and not touch you, or he'll say,
okay, here's what you can do, like he did with Job. He got a pretty good shot in
it, Job, didn't he? Pretty good shot, but he didn't
do that without the Lord. Either way, to Him be the glory.
You see that? And dominion. He's got dominion
over you, over Satan, over everybody. He's calling the shot. That comforts
me. That comforts me. What's our
part in that? And only because he enables and
allows us and works in us to do it. Humble yourselves. Don't
rear up and say, I'm going to take on the devil. No, you're
not. Humble yourself before God and say, Lord, I'm in your hands. Now, we know that believers are
not immune to being affected and influenced by devils. In
Mark 8, 33, when the Lord turned about and looked upon his disciples,
he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou
savest not the things that be of God, but the things that be
of men. And Simon had just said something that any of us might
have said, you know, and might have thought that we were, you
know, glorifying him. Lord, this is not going to happen
to you. We're going to stop. We're not
going to let you be harmed, you know. Simon, it's the other way
around. He's taking care of you. He's
keeping you from harm. And we need to understand that.
And the Lord taught him that in a very memorable way. And he called himself, we're
susceptible to that. Demons cause people to be self-destructive. And look, we don't know what's
going on when the Lord's dealing with somebody else. We don't
know what's going on in us most of the time. So we don't know.
People are just naturally self-destructive too. But demons cause us to be
self-destructive and repulsive and unapproachable. Like the
madman of Gadara. He's an example of that. He was
possessed with demons and nobody could even come anywhere near
him. I know some people that are pretty close to that. Pretty
close. At other times, the demons are
subtle. They deal differently with different people. They're
subtle and wily and seductive, like in the Garden of Eden. If
Satan had come like a monster, I suspect Eve would have run. But the way he came, she didn't
run. In John 13, 27, and in Luke 22,
3, both, we're told that Satan entered into Judas Iscariot.
Judas then betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ Sold him for 30
pieces of silver Went into despair cast those 30 pieces of silver
down said I've betrayed the innocent blood and went out and hanged
himself There's one case All right case
study number two Simon Peter in Luke 22 31 the Lord said Simon
Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you he had Judas and
Clearly he entered into him and absolutely devoured him. Did
he not? It was all downhill wasn't it?
It was all downhill. Simon Satan hath desired you
that he may sift you as wheat. But I've prayed for you that
your faith fail not. And when you're converted, strengthen
the brethren. You're not only not going to
be destroyed, but I'm going to use you to strengthen my other sheep. Encourage them and teach them.
Be an example to them. You're going to stand up and
accuse the Jews who had the power to kill Simon. He said, you crucified
the Prince of Life. He wasn't denying the Lord that
day. But Simon did deny the Lord and
he was tried. He suffered for it. He wept bitterly. It was a deep wound in his heart. But he was granted repentance
and he was restored on the beach when the Lord walked with him
and said, Peter, do you love me? Three times he asked him. It didn't end the same way it
did with Judas because the Lord said to Simon, I prayed for you.
There's the difference. The intercession the representation,
the righteousness, the sin offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the difference. And we know from the story of
the madman of Gadara and from the text that we'll look at here
in this study soon, that our Lord is in complete continual
control of Satan and all of his demons, every last one of them. He uses them for His glory and
He uses them for our good. And that's comforting. Christ
is our comfort and our refuge in that, as we read there in
that. Humble yourself under Him, to Him. Submit and believe on
Him. Resist in the faith. Faith has
one object. And then the text says that the
dumb spake. In that first verse there where
we read, the dumb spake. The Lord, you
know, he healed all manner of diseases and he opened blind
eyes and deaf ears. But this is singled out here,
I believe, in another account of this same event. It says that
this same man was blind and deaf. as well as dumb. Typically being
deaf and not being able to speak go together because that's why
a lot of times you're unable to speak because you can't hear
and therefore you can't pronounce things. You have no point of
reference. That's not always true but I
believe in another account that that's true. This is singled
out here and I believe for a good reason. We're able to speak because the
Lord gives us a voice. And what shall we say? What shall we say? God's given
us a voice. What are we going to say with
it? Paul said in Colossians 4, 6, let your speech be always
with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought
to answer every man. You know how you ought to answer
every man? With grace. He just told us, didn't he, with
grace. Grace in the way that you talk. Grace in what you talk
about. Grace in your heart, in your
desire for whoever it is you're talking to, to be blessed of
the Lord. Grace. Turn to Psalm 107. Let's
look at this one together. Psalm 107. 1 through 9. The Lord has opened our mouth. Why can we speak? Same reason
this man could. The Lord gave him a voice. By
whatever means he's done so, he gave us a voice. Look at Psalm
107, verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. For his mercy endeareth forever.
Praise him. Thank him. Be grateful unto him. Pray to him with thanksgiving
and let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Whom he hath redeemed from the
hand of the enemy. Is that what happened to this
man that the demon got cast out of? Redeemed him from the hand
of the enemy. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. God gave me a voice. God gave me a heart. I'm here
tonight to worship him because he worked in me both to will
and to do of his good pleasure. I have something to sing about
because he shed his precious blood for my sins and he's the
subject of my song. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. I have a message to preach because he's given me his book
concerning his son and we preach Christ crucified because that's
God's message to sinners. And gathered them out of the
lands from the east and from the west, verse 3, from the north
and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of
their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way,
that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness. Look what God did for them. They
ought to say something about it. Isn't that what he said there? Oh, that they would praise him,
that they would say, look what God did for us. We talked about
the madman of Gadara a moment ago. You remember what the Lord
Jesus told him? He said, Lord, I'm coming with you. And he said,
no, go home and tell your friends what great things the Lord has
done for you and had compassion on you. Oh, that men would do
that. For his goodness and for his
wonderful works to the children of men, for he satisfieth the
longing soul and filleth the hungry with goodness. Those that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, he said, they'll be filled. I
found it to be true. If you're hungry and thirsty
after Christ, you're going to have Christ and never hunger
again. Turn to Hebrews 13. Hebrews chapter 13 from the Old
Testament to the New. Hebrews 13, 12. Wherefore Jesus also, that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without
the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Let's go outside
the camp of this world, shall we? Because this world, we're
not staying here long anyway. Isn't that what he said? Let's
just go with him and deny this world. And this world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world by him. God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom this
world is crucified unto me and I unto this world. So let's just
go without outside of this world. We have to work and we have to
live in this world. That's fine, but spiritually
speaking, What do we have in common with this world? Let's
just go outside the camp with him. We don't have any continuing
city here anyway. We're not going to be long here
anyway. We seek one to come. By him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Now listen, he's saying
offer sacrifice, but he's saying offer the sacrifice of praise,
not anything else, not a blood sacrifice, not an atoning sacrifice. It's by him, by him let us offer
the sacrifice. By who? Verse 12, the one that
sanctified us with his own blood. He offered the sacrifice that
makes us one with God. He offered the sacrifice for
our sins. This is just a sacrifice of thanksgiving. And even that's by him who offered
his precious blood unto God. But let's do that. The fruit
of our lips. The sacrifice of praise to God
continually. Has he opened your mouth? I know
a lot of people that can talk, that can't do that. So in the realist sense of the
word, they're dumb. If you can't praise God, you'd
be better off being completely mute. Because everything that
comes out of your mouth is an affront to God. But He, spiritually
speaking, He opens our mouth and we continually offer the
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving unto him who bore our reproach and shed his precious blood for
our sins back to our text verse 15 verse 15 but some of them said
he casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils
now think about what they're saying The Lord shows it to be
real foolish to say, but even just on the surface of it, it's
foolish, isn't it? Think about this. The Lord just cast out
a devil that had made this man dumb. And it sounds like some
of the ones who saw it happen had some devils of their own,
doesn't it? I don't believe the only devil there that day was
the one in that mute man. Doesn't sound like it, does it? And we don't know, as I said
a while ago, we don't know if they were actually possessed
or if it was just their own demonic nature because our nature is
a whole lot like the devil's. We're of our father the devil
by nature. We're the children of wrath even
as others. So it could have been either one that caused them to
say what they did. But think about how evil and
how foolish it was what they said. Evil because who would
think Think about this scenario. Who would think that a devil
being in a man one minute and that devil being gone the next
minute was a bad thing? Who would think that that was
a bad thing? I'll tell you who. Some folks who hated the one
who did it. That's who. Who can say, well,
this man's possessed with it. Oh, wait a minute. Now he's not
possessed with the devil. Who would say that that's a bad thing?
Somebody who hates the one who did it. That's it. You think
about this These people hated the Lord Jesus Christ so much
that no matter what he did They were going to find a way to turn
it into a bad thing. No matter how good it was We might be able to relate to
that if you were We don't want to hate anybody do we but dadgummit
we kind of do sometimes don't we It's hard not to hate some
people And it doesn't matter what they
do. It taints everything they do, doesn't it? You just think
they had an evil motive. Well, this is a whole lot deeper
than that. They hated the Son of God because of who He was.
And nothing, He couldn't do anything right. And that's what evil is
at its core now. Hating the Son of God. This is
the condemnation that light came into the world. He is the light
of the world and we loved our darkness and hated God's light,
hated his son. And what they said was foolish.
It was evil because they said it because they hated the son
of God. And it was foolish for the reason our Lord gave them.
Satan doesn't cast out Satan. It's patently idiotic to say
that he would, to suggest it. But something being plainly absurd
never stopped a sinner from believing it. I mean, you think about the
absurd things that are believed in most places that call themselves
churches. Absurd. You sit there and you
think, how can somebody, how can even just, I mean, I know
that we're idiots by nature, but how can an idiot even believe
that? Just a natural idiot. How can
they believe that? I'll tell you why. God sent them
strong delusion that they should believe a lie. It's absolutely
incredible, isn't it? But don't let it be too incredible
to you that you can't see yourself there. Because that's exactly
where we would be if not for His grace. But you see some of the craftiness
of the devil in this here too. How do you discredit something
so good? I mean he went around doing wonderful
things and nobody could deny that they were wonderful. How
are you going to discredit that? How are you going to discredit
Devil being cast out of somebody as a bad thing By attributing
evil motives to it. That's how that's what they did
and slandering the one who did it They couldn't deny that it
was a wonderful thing that But they slandered the one that they
they assigned an evil motive to it. He's doing it in the name
of Satan and This is not good he's doing. It looks good. It
always looks like a wonderful thing. Everybody's all amazed
and everything. Oh yeah, he cast out a devil. But be careful now.
He's deceiving you. He's a devil himself. That's
the way they did this. He could have gone around tossing
$100 bills to people and they would have figured out a way
to make it a bad thing. It didn't matter what the Lord did. They
hated him. That's people's problem. They
hate him. They hate his gospel. They hate
his law. They hate his grace. They hate
his people. And we need to understand that. I love the way the Lord called
them on it. In John 10 31. Let me read you this. It's another place, but boy,
how it applies to our text tonight. John 10 31. Then the Jews took
up stones again to stone him. They're sitting there, picture
this, they're standing around him, the son of God, standing
there, having taught them, having done miracles, wonderful thing. And they're picking up rocks.
And they're about to use them. And Jesus answered them, many
good works have I showed you from my father, for which of
those works do you stone me? You think that caught him off
guard? You've heard that before, so you're not like going, wow,
what a thing to say, maybe. But wow, what a thing to say. For which of those works do you
stone me? He never did anything that wasn't wonderful and beautiful
and right and perfect at exactly the perfect time. He said, which
one of those things? Let's be specific about it. Was it when I healed that lame
man by the pool of Bethesda and said, rise, take up your bed
and walk? Is that why you stoned me? Was it because I broke those
five loaves and the two fishes and fed a multitude with them?
Or is it something else? Let's pinpoint it. What have
I done that makes you hate me so much? And I'll tell you this, these
people refused to acknowledge and praise the Lord Jesus for
what he did. And they rejected what he said
because they hated him. You already said that, Chris. Yeah, but I'm going to say something
else. They did it because they hated
him. They rejected everything he did. They put an evil motive
on it. They assassinated his character when they couldn't
find anything else. They hated what he did. They
hated everything that he said. Because they hated him. And do you know when you'll honor
the Lord Jesus Christ and believe him? Believe what he says and
rejoice in what he says? When you love him. That's when. When you love him. You think
about that with me. It's not about what makes sense
to you or what doesn't make sense to you. Although when the Lord
has mercy on you, his gospel will make sense to you. It will.
But it's not about that in the beginning. I know people to whom
the gospel makes perfect sense, and they know it's right, but
they still reject it because they hate the Son of God. You
know anybody like that? They know what you're saying
is right. You can sit there and show it to them in the scripture,
and they can't refute it, and they'll still deny it. You know
why? Because they hate Him, and you'll bow to it when you love
Him. That's the difference. Remember
Agrippa? Paul said, I know you believe
this Agrippa. Do you know why? He said, almost you persuaded
him. Do you know why he wasn't persuaded all the way? Because
he hated the Son of God. That's why. And if the Lord never had mercy
on him, it's because the Son of God hated him too. You mark
it down. It's mutual. But once you love him, that's
the difference. Peter do you love me? Then feed
my sheep. That's when we're going to serve
him. That's when we're going to do what he said. That's when we're going
to bow. That's when we're going to obey. That's when we're going
to rejoice in his gospel. When we love him. It's going
to boil down to that now. Salvation in the eternal aspect
of it boils down to Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated
and Salvation in the experience of it boils down to do you love
me? Do you love the Son of God or
do you hate him? Mark it down If you love him you're gonna
serve him if you love him you go worshiping if you love him
you're gonna rejoice in him and Verse 16, and others tempting
him sought of him a sign from heaven. Now think of the blindness
of this. He just cast a devil out of somebody. And I'm sure there was evidence
of that. The Lord typically did these miracles on people that
everybody knew. Everybody knew that man was blind
from his birth. His parents, everybody knew it.
And I'm sure there were a lot of people standing there could
testify this fact, this fella can't say a word, he can't speak,
and the Lord casts a demon out of him. And they can't deny it,
and what do they say? We need a sign from heaven. What?
Have you ever felt that way when you're trying to preach that
you're trying to teach somebody what God said? And you just said
something that should end the whole argument, and then they
say something that makes you realize they ain't seen or heard
a single thing you're talking about. That's what happened here. Where were they when he cast
the devil? Where were they when he healed the man at the pool?
Where were they when all of these miracles? A sign from heaven always want
to see something more something they've got to be It's always
got to get a little more spectacular, doesn't it? The religion that
this represents it's always gets a little more ridiculous doesn't
it because if they've got to be you know The old ridiculous
stuff becomes old hat after a while. So they got to break new ground
on ridiculous to stay entertained and to stay impressed. Now the reason may be too in
this that they may be seeking a sign. These may have been influenced
by the ones who are saying he did this by the power of Beelzebub.
He's casting out devils by the devil. Maybe these ones who are
seeking a sign are saying prove to us that this is from heaven.
They say we want a sign from heaven. We want to see, you know,
what they're saying, you know, prove to us that what they're
saying is not right. But this is not done in a good way. What
they're seeking this sign, it says they did so tempting him.
You remember what the Lord said to Satan himself in Matthew chapter
4? Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God. So this is not an honest inquiry
on their part. But whether them seeking a sign
had anything to do with what these others were saying or not,
our Lord answers both groups. And I'm sure it wasn't two distinct
groups, but you know what I'm saying, two things are mentioned
here. Some accused him of being a devil himself, and some said,
we want a sign. Our Lord answered both issues.
Not only did he refute the ones who accused him of being from
Beelzebub, and we'll see how he did that in a minute, Lord
willing, but he answered the one seeking a sign in verse 20.
Look at verse 20 again. If I with the finger of God cast
out devils, then no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. You want a sign? If you saw and
knew what just happened, you wouldn't need anything else.
no doubt there'd be no doubt that the kingdom of God you just
watched God cast a demon out with his finger and you're looking
for a sign you need to see what who he is
and what he's already done I mean you remember when they said Lord
just tell us plainly he said I told you the problem wasn't
that they needed more the problem was they couldn't see what was
standing right before their face I just cast a devil out with
the finger of God. There's your sign right there. Verse 17, but he knowing their
thoughts said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself
is brought to desolation and a house divided against a house
falleth. If Satan also be divided against
himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I
cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out
devils, By whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall
they be your judges. Some of them had children that
were gifted of the Lord to cast out devils. And he knew their,
notice first of all, it says he knew their thoughts. He knew their thoughts. Do we
live our lives with the constant realization that the Lord knows
all of our thoughts? I can answer that for you. No,
you don't. Because I don't. And I suspect
you're a lot like me. But think about that. It's kind
of terrifying in a sense, of course. But it shouldn't be for the believer.
Because when our thoughts are something that we wouldn't want
the Lord to know about, we shouldn't be thinking, it's still a comfort
to the believer to know that he knows them. It still comforts
me even when they're not good thoughts. Why? Because we trust
Him. He's the one who knows my thoughts
is my God. He's the one, the omniscient
one. He's the one that I trust and He doesn't judge us based
on our thoughts or our deeds. He judges us in mercy based on
Christ and what He's done as our representative and said as
our representative and thought. as our representative. I know
his thoughts toward us because he revealed them. They're thoughts
of peace and not evil. That's what he said. But here's
what we want. Second Corinthians 10.4. Listen.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. That's what I want. Do I always
do that? No. But I desire that and I pray
for it. Notice how that the Lord reasons
with them and shows them how illogical and impossible what
they're saying is. My first thought was why did
he bother giving them a detailed explanation to these idiots at
all? You know, they're clearly his
enemy. Why did he sit there and explain to them how that that
can't happen if Satan is divided again? No house divided against
itself is going to stand. Why did he even bother? Why didn't
he just say, get away from me? Well, why didn't he say that
to us? Why didn't he say that to you and I when we came begging
for mercy? We didn't deserve it. And I believe
in this crowd. You reckon there was a sheep
or two in this crowd? Luke was there. He wrote about
it. I suspect some of the other disciples
were there. You might think, but wait a minute,
Chris, that the true disciples of the Lord wouldn't need this
explanation because none of them would ever entertain or give
any credibility to what these accused our Lord of. Yeah, you
think so? John the Baptist, after walking
with the Lord and knowing the Lord for some time, when he was
in prison, he sent a messenger to the Lord saying, Who we're
looking for? Are you he of whom it's written
or do we look for another? Are you he who should come? You
wouldn't think he'd say that either. Not John. Not the greatest
man born of a woman. According to the Lord himself. I know this, our Lord says all
that he says for the edification of his sheep. He wasn't trying
to talk children of the devil into being children of God. I'll
tell you that. He said it for his sheep. Now the principle that our Lord
uses to refute these foolish haters of him is one that also
applies to the kingdom of God. And we rejoice in that principle.
If the house of God were divided against itself, it could not
stand, but it's not. Because of our Lord, because
of the bond and the unity that we have in Him. 1 Corinthians
1. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all speak the same thing. Isn't it amazing? We'll have five preachers this
year at our conference. You know what they're going to
say? All are going to say the same thing. They're going to
say it in a little different way, a little different personality. But they're going to say exactly
the same thing. And it'll be the same thing that we're saying
tonight. And that there be no divisions among you, but that
you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment, the same reckoning of things. Isn't it amazing this
hadn't blown up years ago? I suspect the grace of God had
something to do with it. That we don't hate each other
by now. For it hath been declared unto
me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every
one of you, you sayeth, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos,
and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. And then he asked this pointed
question, is Christ divided? Is Christ divided? No, of course
he's not. Was Paul crucified for you, or
were you baptized in the name of Paul? Christ is our bond. He gets all the glory. And that
way we're all on the same page, aren't we? Isn't it a blessing to be united
and to have this unity in Christ? We're out here in this place
and with so many around the country. We go and we know that we believe
the same things and we say the same things. We rejoice in Him
alone and we know that we have that fellowship with others who
we fellowship with all over the place. But look at verse 20,
I've just got a couple minutes left. But if I, with the finger
of God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon
you. The finger of God. David said,
Lord, when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the
moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that
thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest
him? Why would the one who can cast out a devil or create a
universe with his finger, why would he have anything to do
with a wretch like me? God Almighty beckons or dismisses
demons with the same finger he made the universe with. And as
the centurion in Matthew 8 said, all he has to do is speak the
word and sinners are healed. He speaks, he moves a finger,
he wills it. And he said, the kingdom of God
has come upon you. If I, if I'm standing here, and
I with God's finger, if this finger right here is God's finger,
then God's kingdom has come unto you. The kingdom of God's a person. That's pretty clear here, isn't
it? He said, if I do this, if my
will is the finger of God, then you're looking at the kingdom
of God. It hasn't just come to earth, it's come to you. It's
come right where you are. When you see the King, you know
the kingdom has come to you. I love the words here that our
Lord said, no doubt, no doubt. Our Lord left no doubt as to
who he was. If there be any that don't believe,
it's because they're blinded by the God of this world. The God of this world has blinded
their minds. There was no doubt. He left no
doubt whatsoever. May there be in our minds tonight
no doubt. Doubting Thomas. That's every
one of us by nature. You can just insert your name
right there. Doubting every last one of us. What did he say? Why did he get that name? He
said, I will not believe. All the disciples are saying,
we were with the Lord, we saw the Lord, he met with us. I will
not believe. And what was the cure for that?
The Lord Jesus said to him, be not faithless, but believing. What is it that he would have
us to have no doubt about? What was he talking about when
he said that to Doubting Thomas? Reach hither thy finger. Behold the print of the nails
in my hands and behold my side and be not faithless. Look to
Christ crucified and believe. No doubt God's son died for my
sins and rose again, no doubt. He laid down his life for his
sheep and by the power with which he laid it down, he was able
to take it up again. And by his grace, I have no doubt
about that. I have no doubt. He laid down
his life for his sheep and he redeemed every one of them with
his precious blood, no doubt. He said to these people in our
text, if you just watched God with his finger cast out a demon,
then no doubt you're looking at the one who made the universe.
You're looking at the one who controls everything and everybody.
What manner of man is this that the winds and the waves obey
him, that demons obey him, that life and death is in his hand? No doubt he can save whoever
he wants to. No doubt if he will, he can make
me clean. Or someone that I love and want
more than anything in this world for them to be clean. He can
make them clean, no doubt. Is there any doubt in your mind
about that? No doubt he can if he will. His hand is not shortened
that it cannot save. And none can stay his hand. or
saying to him, what doest thou? No doubt he can. Let's find out
if he will. Let's find out. He said ask. Ask. Well, I pray that the Lord
will bless it to our hearts. Let's bow together.