I have to, but the Lord, we're
just going to read what He says and make a few comments. Let's
read beginning with verse 14 through verse 26. He was casting
out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass when the
devil was gone out, the dumb spake. spake, and the people wondered. Some of them said, He casteth
out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of devils. The others,
tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 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 ye say, 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. But if I, with the finger of
God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come unto
you. When a strong man armed keepeth
his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than
he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his
armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that
is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with
me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone
out of a man, He walketh through dry places, seeking rest and
finding none. He saith, I will return unto
my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth
it swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh to him
seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter
in and dwell there. The last state of that man is
worse than the first. The Lord was casting out a devil,
verse 14, and it says the devil was dumb. Could not speak. The man or woman does not give
the gender of the person, does it? But whoever it was, it was
dumb. That is, they could not speak.
Now the Lord cast out devils. This was a miracle He performed
more than any other. It's recorded more than any other
that He cast out devils. Because there are so many. Then and now. There's so many.
Our Lord said many false prophets have gone into the world. And
Martin Luther wrote that psalm, that song, Though this world
with devils filled threatens to undo us, we will not fear,
for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. This is
no fairy tale. Like Simon Peter said, this is
no fable, this is the truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ deals with
this, demons and devils. He spoke of Satan more than anyone
else spoke of him, because he knows. We can't see these evil
spirits, these principalities in power. Paul said we're not
wrestling with flesh and blood. but with principalities and power,
spiritual wickedness in high places, rulers of the darkness
of this world. That's what the Scripture says.
They're very, very real. Very real. We have very real
enemies, unseen enemies. This is not religious fiction,
this is fact. And they're formidable foes. mockingly talks about their demons,
don't they? I've got my demons and you've
got your demons. Not knowing what they're saying. They do indeed have demons that
control them. He's called the God of this world. If you look around at our world,
you'll clearly see it. under the influence of a dark
force. Look at what people are doing,
literally doing to themselves. It's very clear to us, isn't
it? Now, here's a fact. Here's the
fact of the matter. Salvation. Jonah 2.9. Did anyone
read Jonah 1 and 2? I hope you did. If not, we're
going to read it together. Salvation. is of the Lord. Only Christ can and must, only
stronger than He can remove these demons. It's a fact. I know it
from experience. And I've seen it. I've seen it.
We can't see them, but we can see the effects of them. He does.
Our Lord does. And they know Him. And they fear
Him. One time, the devils, remember,
they were in that man, that demoniac, and they said, well, you know
who you are. You're the Son of God. Are you come here to torment
us before it's time? Well, this person had this dumb
devil, and that's common. And the Lord cast out this dumb
devil so that the dumb spake this person who could not speak.
Man speaks alright. He speaks a lot. He's a very
talkative creature, isn't he? Proud, boasters, high-minded. But man only talks about a few
things. He talks about the world, he
talks about things, and the thing he loves to talk about more than
anything else, himself. Man cannot, man will not, speak
of God. God does not accept to use his
name to cuss with. Oh my God. Isn't that right? The mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. That's what the scripture said. Isaiah, Romans. Man cannot, will not speak of
God, speak of the truth. Words like wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, those are not in his mouth. Not in his heart. Man is a dumb creature. Man is a dumb creature. Stupid. Professing themselves
to be wise, Romans 1 says, they became fools. The fool has said,
no God. How dumb and how stupid is man?
He says there is no God. He fancies himself to be some
kind of God. And God is not in all his thoughts,
the Scripture says. God is not in his thoughts. Man
thinks about a lot of things. Man talks about a lot of things,
but God's not one of them. But God. I was. I was wise in my own conceits.
You know, I was a child of the 60s and 70s. You know, we were
the enlightened generation. Oh, we had so much wisdom. It's
not funny. And I thought I was so wise,
you know, in the Eastern mysticism and Buddhism and Hinduism and
all that. I had the answers. My dad didn't preach that old-fashioned
gospel. Poor old man. But God first showed
me what a fool I am. Struck me dumb. Put my hand on
my mouth. And then He let me hear the truth.
You know the truth makes you free. Free from dumb devils. Free from being a dumb devil. That's what made me think of
him. What did this man say? What was
the first thing he said? I know what he said. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Or, first thing
Jonah said when the whales vomited him out. Salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is by grace. Unto him
that loved me, unto him that washed me from my sins is his
own blood. Unto him. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. That's what
our loosened tongues employ. Ye blind, behold your Savior
come, and leap ye lame for joy. That's what he said. I know what
he said, because I said it. And still say it. Verse 15. Matthew
and Mark say that it was scribes and pharisees that said he cast
out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of devils. The scribes
and the pharisees, these religious fellows, who themselves were
filled with devils, like today. They pretend to cast out devils,
but they're full of it. They're doing his work. That's
what the scripture says, doesn't it? Satan's ministers have transformed
themselves into ministers of righteousness, angels of light,
but they're actually ministers of Satan himself, doing his bidding,
preaching lies, doctrine of devils. Matthew and Mark, the scribes
and Pharisees, said these things. Why would they say that about
when the Lord really did deliver this man? And he did it quite
often. People that were in the throes
of and the grasp of and in the depths of sin and wretchedness
and devils. And the Lord would relieve them
like that demoniac had him sitting clothed in his right mind. He
turned him from a devil into a... And people resented it. The people
of that town said, leave. We liked him better before. And somebody said that man one
time whom the Lord saved, came back to the steel mill where
he was working, and they said, we liked you better before. Well, why did they say this?
Why did these scribes and Pharisees say this about what the Lord
did? Because they were Satan's ministers himself. They tried
to accuse him. And secondly, they were jealous.
They were always jealous. People were going to hear the
Lord. They were calling on the Lord, and the Pharisee, he was
taking disciples from them. He was taking away their church
members. And they were jealous. He's Satan himself. He had the devil. That's what
some of them said. It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
If they said that about the Son of God, what are they going to
say about us? That's what our Lord said. If
they said that about Me? What are they going to say about
you who just say what I say? Nothing's changed. Man hasn't
changed. They were jealous. Satan's jealous of Christ. Doctrine today of 1 Timothy 4,
1 says this. 1 Timothy 4, 1 speaks
of the latter days. Spirit speaketh expressly. People, some shall depart from
the faith, that's the truth, and give heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of devils. 1 Timothy 4.1 Speaking lies and
hypocrisy, forbidding to marry, forbidding to eat certain meats.
That sound familiar? That's clearly Roman Catholicism.
Clearly. Very clearly Roman Catholicism. Satan's deceit. which we saw
in Revelation. And his demons are all in false
religion. That's his chief work. Why is
this world in the shape that it's in? False religion. When God, sovereign God, on His
throne is not preached. When the law of God is not preached,
which convicts of sin. When there's no God, it will
punish sin. All hell breaks loose, doesn't it? And that's what's
happening. These scribes and Pharisees called
what Christ was doing and saying, doctrine, devils. And I've heard
that too. Have you ever heard that? They
call the truth of a sovereign God the doctrine of devils. His
salvation. Yes, they do. God's sovereign
election. Sovereign mercy. Choosing a people. The scriptures is full of this.
Isn't it? The word election itself is more
than 27 times. Some form of the word. Elect
or election or elect. Our Lord said it. Often. And
they call that the doctrine of devils. No, it's the doctrine
of God. It's the doctrine of Christ.
It's the truth. It's salvation. It's of the Lord. God's will. God's purpose. Eternal purpose.
Predestination. Four times the word predestination. If it's once, we should believe
it. Bow to it. Love it. Four times. Now that's the doctrine of devils,
isn't it? Well, look at verse 16. Others
tempting him sought of him a sign from heaven. And look down at verse 29. The people gathered thick together. He said, this is an evil generation.
They seek a sign. An evil, wicked, and adulterous
generation, he called it. Seeketh a sign. But no sign shall
be given, he said, except one. The sign of the prophet Jonas.
And we're going to look at that in the next hour. And you all
know what that means. Very few people do. But they said, show us a sign.
And that's what people want today. Don't preach to us. Show us something. Sing to us. Entertain us. Don't preach the Word to us.
That convicts us. That makes us feel guilty. Good. Well, look at verse 17. He knowing their thoughts. They
were saying this among themselves. They were afraid of him. They
wouldn't say it to his face. And that's so true of so many.
They won't say something to your face. They say it behind your
back. Afraid to face the truth. And they were saying this among
themselves. He's catching up to devils by the Lord knew their
thoughts. Yes, he does. And he still does. The Word of God is quick, powerful,
sharper than a two-edged sword. Hebrews 4.12. A discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart. There's not a thought
in my head. Psalm 139. Not a word in my mouth. He doesn't
know it all together. He knows what I'm thinking. That's
what struck fear in Simon Peter. When he saw that the Lord knew
every fish in the sea, he knows every thought in my head. And
it scared him. Good. Good. Because the fear of the Lord.
He knows what you're thinking right now. Whether you're listening
or not. Whether you care or not. He knows
right now. That's both a fearful thing and
a wonderful thing. And Psalm 139. That's not my
take. But God's people search me. Oh
Lord, take my mind off of You know what I'm thinking. You know
how my mind's wandering. Oh, let not the God of this world,
the fowl of the air, take away this right now. I need this.
Lord, help me. That's what God's people say.
You know my thoughts and forgive me. Take them out of my head. Our Lord talked about kingdoms
divided against itself. And religion is not divided. That's what he said. Satan's
not divided. Religion's not divided. They're very united against the
truth. Right? When they came to crucify the
Lord Jesus Christ, Herod and Pontius Pilate were enemies all
their life. They hated each other. They were
jealous. But when they came to crucify
Christ, they became fast friends. They got together. against the
Lord and against His anointing. Isn't that what the Scripture
says in Hebrews 2? The world and everyone in it
is against the God of heaven and the true Christ and His few
people that proclaim Him. And our Lord said, though Satan
is not divided, they're all one. They're all together. There are
many denominations in the world. Denominations. Things that denominate
or delineate or, what's the word, define or describe what this
place believes, what this place believes. You've got the Presbyterian,
you've got, I think there's about 300 denominations. And more every day. The Church
of the New Vision. Every time a building opens up,
a storefront, new vision, new sign. The Church of the Jerusalem
crosses the way of Jerusalem, Beth, Satan, Bethel, Lazarus
too. Some new thing. That's what the
Athenians, the Greeks do. The telling of, hearing of some
new thing. We've got something new. The
gospel's not new. The gospel's as old as God. If
you need to search for the old path, wherein there's a good
way, and walk therein, you'll find rest for your soul. But
Scripture says maybe we won't do it. Not that old-fashioned
religion. Religion's not divided. They
all believe the same thing. Southern Baptists, Methodists,
Catholics, they all believe the same thing. Yeah, they do. Free will. They believe in free will. They
believe God loves everybody. Jesus died for everybody. It's
up to you. Salvation is up to you. It's your decision. Your choice. You need to decide. And when you decide it, come
to our church. Put your money in our pocket. They all believe
the same thing. There's only two religions in
the world. Truth and Cain and Abel. It all started way back
in Genesis chapter 4, didn't it? Two religions in the world
started right there and they haven't changed. Cain works. Here, I'll bring it to God and
God will be pleased with me. Look what I've done. Look what
I've given up. Look what I've sacrificed. Look what I've done
for you. Jesus is going to be glad to
see me. God is so glad to see me finally come to church. That's what everybody thinks.
I get good and ready. I'll let God be God and let Jesus
into my heart and I'll go to heaven when I die. That's what
everybody thinks. No matter whether you're Catholic
or not, don't think. Free will. The gospel, the truth is free
grace. It's God's will. It's salvation
of the Lord. The gospel, the truth of Abel's
sacrifice is that God will punish sin. That God is angry with the
wicked every day. God is not in love with this
world. He's going to destroy this world.
But God is merciful, is gracious. God loves some people, not all
people. Who does He love? Those in Christ. How do they
get in Christ? God puts them there. God chooses
them. God puts them there. And what
do they do? What do they believe? They believe
salvation is in the Lord. They believe salvation is His
mercy. Salvation is His grace. Salvation is His choice. Salvation
is His Son. Salvation is Christ's blood.
That's what they believe. Not anything I've done, not anything
I ever will do, salvation is the blood of Jesus Christ. Christ
dying on the cross, taking the punishment that I deserve. The
sin that I performed, Christ took it and paid for it. That's
all my hope. That's so old fashioned. Don't
give me that bloody religion. Give me that bloody religion.
There used to be a song, give me that old time religion. I
don't know if that song was any good, Give me the old path wherein
is a good way. Christ, the way, the truth, and
the life. Nobody comes to God but by Him. I know that. I love it. Why do
I know that? He cast out this demon in me
of self-love and self-will and pride and all of that. Look at me. I struck fear in me, and I said,
Oh Lord, look on me, please, with mercy and grace. And he
cried. Well, now here's what the Lord said. Who do your sons
cast them out? There were some fellas casting
out devils. Okay? There's a story in Acts 19 I
was going to have us read. Just try to remember that and
read it for yourselves. The story of the sons of Silas.
I love it. But these fellows started casting
out devils. They said, we adjure you in the
name of the Lord Jesus. We adjure you by Jesus, whom
Paul preaches. Casting out exorcists like some
of these so-called Catholic exorcists and so forth. Or these Pentecostal
charismatic casting out demons. That's all a fake. They're full
of demons. Whenever you hear somebody talking
like a blooming idiot, he's got a devil. He's got a devil. That's not
the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God takes the things
of Christ, makes you speak plainly. Of who? Of what? Of Christ and
Him crucified. Well, these seven sons of Seba,
the demons, the evil spirit jumped on them. And said, Jesus we know,
and Paul we know, who are you? And says they leaped on him and
overcame him, and those seven sons went running out to make him. I love that. We know the Lord Jesus Christ
and Paul. Can I say it plain? Who the hell do you think you
are? And jumped on and they went rookly
and naked before these devils. What's wrong with speaking plainly?
This generation needs to hear plain talk like this. And then
it says after that, fear came over everybody. Fear! And it says people had
all these books and all these things that they had before and
they burned them all. And buddy, that's what you'll
do when you hear the true God. I had some books. I had all these
books. And buddy, I threw them away
so fast. And when the Lord really taught me the truth, I went through
some old books and found some fellas like John Wesley and some
of these false prophets. They might be worth something
to some people. They might have been worth a hundred dollars
or more. I put them in the trash. That's right. Forgive me for
saying hell. Barnard used to say, well, I'm
going to go on. Okay. When a strong man arm keeps
his palace. Now he said, if I with the finger
of God cast out devil, no doubt the king's here. And I'm not going to apologize.
I may say it again. This generation is so full of
devils and demons, they need to be told the truth in no uncertain
term. They need to be hit between the
eyes with the truth like a sledgehammer. He said, I with the finger of
God cast out devils. Have you heard religion say this? God has no hands but your hands.
They all say that. You will not find a so-called
church in America anywhere today that doesn't believe that. God
has no hands but your hands, no feet but your hands. God can't
do anything unless you let Him. Well, that's a God with no hands.
Barnard used to say, I can whip that God with one hand tied behind
my back. He has no hands. He's a quadriplegic. No hands,
no feet. Isn't that what Psalm 115 says?
That's what the Scripture says. Then God, they've got mouths
that can't speak, they've ears that can't hear, they've hands
that can't do anything. Christ said, I'm the finger of God. When God wrote that tablet on
Mount Sinai, if that was Jesus Christ, that was his finger,
thou shalt not. Men just poke fun of and think
they can have it or take it or leave it. When Daniel, when the
handwriting was on the wall to that king, that wicked king,
that was the finger of Jesus Christ. And he came one time,
and they were all casting that woman, that guilty woman at his
feet, and he went down in the dust where she was and began
to write with his finger. And buddy, when he began to write
with his finger, it said, beginning with the oldest to the youngest,
they skied out of there. They ran naked out of there. He uncovered all their sins.
He knew their thoughts. And He started writing them down.
Dates, times, names. You were there. He knows me. Instead of running to Him and
pleading with Him, they ran from Him. This is the finger of God. Oh, don't we need the finger
of God. Christ Himself to come and take
His finger. And right on this heart, I know
you. I know you. And unless you call
on me, you're a goner. Unless I have mercy on you, you're
a goner. I may leave you to yourself. When a strong man armed, verse
21, keeps his palace, his goods are in peace. Who's that? Satan. The God of this world. Armed.
His palace is this world. People in it. His goods are in
peace. For what? Read Revelation 12
for yourself. I was going to go over there
and talk about our Lord taking hold of Satan, casting him out
of heaven, On the cross, Christ said, now is the God of this
world cast out, and yet he let him out into this world, lets
his leash out. But Satan, Revelation 12 says,
knows he's got a short season, a short leash. Don't you glad? They call this the doctrine of
devils when you say that he's God's devil, that Satan can't
do anything unless God lets him. They say, that's the doctrine
of devils. That's what they say. Brothers
and sisters, if our God doesn't have hold of Satan and his demons,
we're in trouble. But when a stronger than he comes
upon it, And that's what Christ does,
like when He wrestled with old Jacob. He came upon him. He overcame him. Paul said, I've
been apprehended. Almighty love arrests that man. Fetch him on Mephibosheth. He can't come. Won't come. Who called this stronger than
He to come upon this man? Was the man in bondage, did he
call on Christ to come help him? No. No. But God said, go get him. God in mercy, God in love, God
in grace set his love, his mercy upon that fellow and said, go
get him. Go get that girl. That's election. And buddy, when
you find out, why me? Of all these people, God says,
go get that girl. Go get that girl. Go all the
way to Grundy and bring her. Where? Lodibar. Where? Fetch her. Fetch him. Overcome him. Take hold of him. Take away his armor. And he trusted. Some of you were in religion.
You trusted that you were righteous. You trusted in a God that couldn't
save. You trusted in your baptism.
A man just told this to my wife the other day. He said, I was
baptized when I was this and that and the other. And he said,
I'm counting on that. Can you believe that? Well, yeah,
that's what everybody... If you don't trust Christ alone,
you trust something. When He comes, when Christ comes
through the preaching of the gospel, He takes away everything
you trusted in, all your armor, all your protection, kills your
God. Barnabas used to say, you've
got to kill your God. Dagon's got to fall. Dagon. He'll fall at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ and divide His spoils. Does that sound familiar? What does it say about Him dividing
the spoils? Isaiah 53. After our Lord did
what He did, He said, divide the spoils. Meaning that God's
people, they belong to Him. That heathen are given unto Christ
for His people. Alright, look at
it. It says in verse 23, and I've
got to close, He's not with me is against them. He that gathers not with me scattereth. Well, that's so plain. If you're
not preaching Christ, if you're not pointing people to Christ,
you're against it. I don't care what you say, whatever
religion it is, if it's not Christ, then Christ alone. If you're
not preaching Christ and Him crucified, it's anti-Christ. Do you understand? If there's
anything that you're causing people to trust in, you're against
Christ. There's one way to be saved,
and that's Jesus Christ. Anything else, anything plus
or minus that is anti-Christ. This is why Southern Baptist
religion, free will religion, is just as bad as Roman Catholicism.
Just as bad. Reformed religion that adds your
keeping of the law is just as bad as Roman Catholicism. It's anti-Christ. It takes away
from Christ and His work, His righteousness, His blood. If
you're trusting in anything about yourself, you're against Him. But if you gather with Him, come, gather. He that gathers
not with us. God's people are united. God's
people are united. Not the people of the world are
united. God's people are united. They're one. One Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one hope, one Father, don't we? We all believe the
same thing. You can tell a believer, well, God's people, their language
is different. And it doesn't take long when you meet somebody
that you haven't known before. But to find out, we believe the
same thing, don't we? They start talking about God's
on the throne, God's suffering. Oh, God had mercy on me. Bless
the Lord. Oh, His gospel. Don't you love
it? Huh. That's a language you don't hear today. But you hear
it. That's the language of God's people. Now, let me close with
this because we read it. Verses 24 through 26. When an
unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places
seeking rest, finding none. I return to my house since I
came out. The Lord is talking about somebody getting religion. That somebody is, you know, maybe a wild fella,
drunk or whatever, and he gets religion and goes to church.
He makes a decision, gets baptized, joined the church and all that,
quits all his bad habits and all that. And look at verse 25. The devil comes back and it's
swept and garnished. The house is swept. He's got
rid of all these bad things and all that. He trusts that he's
righteous. Like the Pharisee, our Lord said,
you cleanse the outside of the cup. He said, you've got whitened
sepulchers. You whitewash the outside. You
look real clean, but on the inside. And garnished. He straightens
up and looks and, well, they sure look good. Okay, no. No. It says, then goeth the devil
and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and
they enter in and dwell there, and the last day of that man
is worse than the first. Meaning, usually, those that
have some kind of religious experience, or get religion, or quit this
or quit that, have not been born again, which is an old-fashioned,
but true truth. People get religion, and most
people that do, Leave it. Eventually. Eventually. Right? When trouble comes. I'll give you an illustration.
There was a man, a son of a believer that we knew, a grown man in
his fifties. And wowed. You know, wowed. He
was playing cards one night with all of his buddies. Sitting there
at the table, you know, playing cards. And the guy right next
to him, one of his old hunting buddies, dropped over dead. His head hit the table, he died. It struck fear in this fella. And buddy, he was in the church
next to him. Now that doesn't save anybody. Salvation is to
be convicted of what you are. Not scared out of it. Not the
hell scared out of it. May I say that again? That's
not salvation. Okay, he started coming. Well,
after they buried his old buddy, and after the memory of his old
buddy was gone, a few months later, oh so and so, he's gone
too. See, when the scare subsides, Like 9-11, everybody got patriotic
and religious at the same time. Didn't take long to forget it,
did it? The work of God is Christ coming
in to take hold of your heart and dwell in there. Dwell in
there. And there's a battle that goes
on all right. With that old, unclean spirit, he's not coming
back in. Why? Because Christ won't let
him. Christ now owns him. That's my salvation. That's my
hope, Christ in the earth. so so