Alright, let's look back at Luke
chapter 11. Now, my intention in studying
this passage was to preach from verses 14 through 28, but I'm
going to divide it. And I want to do, this morning,
verses 14 through 20. I want us to re-read those verses. Here's the Lord in His earthly
ministry. It says He was casting out a
devil. Luke 11, 14. A demon. And I use that term. And it was dumb. Now, the way
translations go, it's kind of difficult to tell. Is this a
demon that was dumb itself? And anybody that this demon entered
could not speak? We know he is referring to the
demon-possessed man who could not speak because it says, and
it came to pass when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake.
And the people wondered, the people were amazed. That is what
that means. That this man who was possessed
of this demon, he couldn't speak and now he is speaking because
Christ, the Lord of glory, cast out the demon. And so they were
amazed. Verse 15 says, but some of them
said, In the book of Matthew, as this was recorded, I believe
around chapter 12, we learn that the sum here is the Pharisees.
And we'll talk about that in just a moment. But the Pharisees,
they wanted to discredit the Lord. They wanted to discredit
Jesus of Nazareth. And so some of them said, He
casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of devils. Now that
term Beelzebub, It's taken from a pagan god, but it was used
by the Jews to refer to Satan. It was a general name for Satan.
Literally means, some say it means the lord of the house,
some say it means lord of the flies. I don't know if some of
you young people may have read a book called Lord of the Flies
when you were in school, and that's where that comes from.
But it was a name for the devil, a name for Satan, Beelzebub. And so the chief of devils. So
what he's talking about here, these demons, that's the fallen
angels who fell with Satan. It's recorded in the Bible. The
angels, as Jude said, that kept not their first estate. And that's
who these are, Satan's minions. It says in verse 16, others tempting
or testing him, sought of him a sign from heaven. They said,
well, give us a sign from heaven. Ain't that amazing? He cast out
a devil. And a dumb man spoke and they
said, well, I'll give us a sign from heaven. That shows you the
natural bent of fallen man to not believe the truth. He sat
on it, you know. And it says in verse 17, but
Christ knowing their thoughts, that's a testimony to his deity.
I don't know your thoughts. I don't know what you're thinking
right now. But he knows. The Word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It goes right to the heart
of the matter. So he knew their thoughts. And
unto them, he said, every kingdom divided against itself is brought
to desolation, and a house divided against a house fall. He said,
it's not Satan casting out his demons, as if Satan is in opposition
to his own minions. He said, if Satan also be divided
against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? It would fall.
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? And he's talking about the Jewish
exorcist. And which they, they testified
that whatever they did in casting out demons, it was of God. You
can read about a few of them in Matthew chapter 7. Remember
they said, Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name? Haven't
we cast out demons? And the Pharisees would look
at fellows like that and say, well, or others who cast out,
well, that's by the hand of God, but not you, not Jesus of Nazareth
now, who claimed to be the Messiah. Not you. And so he says, therefore
they shall be your judges. In other words, You're judging
yourself because of your own self-righteous judgment and your
unbelief. It's not consistent. Now verse
20. He says, but if I with the finger of God, the power of God,
cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon
you. Now the title of the message is the kingdom of God has come.
But let me say this. This episode of our Lord and
His earthly ministry. You know He performed many, many
miracles. And it's just amazing things. And here's one of them.
Casting out this demon. I don't know that I've ever witnessed
what we could say is actual demon possession in the sense of something
like this. But let me give you four things. First of all, turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Let me give you four things that
I can tell you about demons, demon possession, the devil.
And this is from the Scripture. And that's the problem. You know,
most people, what they think about the devil, what they think
about demons is not from the Scripture. It's from Hollywood,
mainly. But number one, I can tell you
they do exist. Satan exists, his demons exist,
his devils, his minions. They do exist. I know that from
God's Word. Christ himself was tested of
the devil in the mount of temptation. Job had to approach God to ask
permission to deal with... Satan had to approach God to
ask permission to deal with Job. But we could go to so many other
scriptures about Satan. Lucifer was his name. The fallen
angel. So he does exist. Somebody said
one time that one of the greatest deception that Satan has ever
been successful in creating in this world is to convince people
that he doesn't exist. But he does. I'd say the second
greatest deception is he's got people fooled on what he's like,
what his goal is, how he appears, all of that. So number one, he
does exist. Number two, Satan and his devils
are very, very deceptive. Deceptive. I can tell you right
now, Hollywood has it wrong. Well, they do. And the thing
about it is, if you go strictly by the Word of God, strictly
by God's Word, what does it tell us about Satan? Well, look, I'll
give you an example. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and
look at verse 13. He's talking about false apostles. For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ, claiming to be apostles of Christ. And that transformation
there is a temporary transformation. That's the way the tense of it
all reads. In other words, they transform and claim to be apostles
of Christ, but they're not true apostles. They can't stay there.
They have to transform back because that's where their heart is.
And he says in verse 14, And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Now that's very different
from horns and a tail and fangs and pitchforks. He's transformed
into an angel of light. Verse 15, therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness. Remember those false apostles
in Matthew 7, haven't we preached in your name? Wolves in sheep's
clothing. Somebody said one time that they
transform themselves as the ministers of righteousness and when they
do, they preach the righteousness of men, oh no. You see, man doesn't
have to transform to preach the righteousness of man. That's
what he does by nature. That comes natural to him. If
he changes, he has to preach the truth sometimes. And they'll
say a lot of truth. There'll be a lot of truth. Do
you know Satan quoted Scripture to the incarnate Word of God? Satan can quote Scripture, but
you see, He says, whose end shall be according to their works.
So this is a deception. And I'll tell you the very truth
that Satan attacks. Look back up there in verse 2
of 2 Corinthians 11. Paul writes here, he said, I'm
jealous over you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
But I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve,
that's Satan, beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Now there's
Satan's goal. It's to corrupt the minds of
men and women from the singleness. That's what that word simplicity
means. That single message of all of salvation all in Christ. It's all Christ. And he wants
to corrupt your mind from that. He wants to get your mind on
other things. He wants to tell you it's Christ plus. Christ
plus your worth. That singleness of Christ. It
sounds so simple, doesn't it? It's all of Christ. It's all
the forgiveness of sins. It's all by His blood. Nothing
else. Justification before a holy God.
It's all by His righteousness. Nothing else. Nothing added.
Nothing taken away. That's simple. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Somebody said, well, that's three
things. No, it's just one. Because all three are in one. He's the way. He's the truth.
He's the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by him. I was listening to a message
of Brother Tim James on a related passage here. Tim said, well,
if you only have one, you can't confuse it. But you add any more,
two, three, four, you confuse it. And that's what it is, the
simplicity, it's all one. It's all one wisdom, one righteousness,
one sanctification, one redemption, all in Christ. Now you add your
works, you start confusing it. And I'll tell you, that's where
denominationalism comes from. Man adding his works to Christ,
because you see, it's, some over here think it's, well, it's this
work. Some over here thinks, no, it's this work or plus that
work, and you start confusing it. But if it's all Christ, no
confusion. There it is. Just one. Just one thing. One person. One
righteousness. One way. One truth. And Satan
wants to corrupt your minds. And then the passage that I read
at the beginning there, 2 Corinthians 4. What's Satan's goal? Verse 3. But if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this
world That's that usurped authority that God has allowed Satan as
a judgment on this world, whom the God of this world hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. That's Satan's goal. To keep
sinners from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
And my friend, any way he can accomplish that goal, even if
it's having you in a false church, listening to a false gospel,
steeped in a false refuge of lies, that's exactly where he'd
have you. To keep you from seeing the glory of God in Christ. I'm
afraid that there's more demon possession in false churches,
false religion, that attracts the natural man than in a thousand
monsters that would scare men away. That's right. If you go by the Bible, what
it is. Satan is an attraction. How did
he deceive Eve? Through an attraction. She saw
that it was good for eating. Through an attraction. Adam knew
full well what he was doing. He took sides with his wife and
with Satan against God. So this is the issue. He is deceptive. The third thing that I know about
Satan and his demons is that our only defense against him
is the power of God's grace in Christ. In the Word of God. The only power and defense against
him. It's not holy water. It's not
holding up a cross. It's not a stake through the
heart. It's not even praying hard. Listen, pray hard. We should pray. But our only
defense against Satan, turn to Revelation chapter 12, let me
show you this. Is the power of God's grace in
Christ. The Word of God. Verse 9 talks
about the great dragon. Who is that? That's a symbol
for Satan. He's not an actual dragon. Don't go looking for
some big scaly monster with fangs and breathing fire. This is a
symbol. And he says he's a great dragon.
He was cast out. We'll talk about that in just
a moment. He's that old serpent. He's called the devil and Satan. That's his name. We've got another
name, Beelzebub. We've read about. Which deceiveth
the whole world. Now is that everybody without
exception there? By nature it is. But we know who he's talking
about. He's talking about unbelievers.
He's talking about the world in opposition to Christ. And
he says he was cast out into the earth and his angels were
cast out with him. That's those demons. And I heard
a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength
and the kingdom of our God. That's when Satan was cast out.
Again, we'll talk about that. And the power of his Christ for
the accuser of our brethren is cast down. Satan accusing the
brethren. Remember he came and he accused
Job. He told God the only reason Job serves you is because you
blessed him with all these things in the world, materials and health
and all of that. He accused Job of being a hypocrite.
He said he's the accuser of the brethren which accused them before
our God day and night and look at verse 11 and they overcame
him Because they formed a prayer chain No They overcame him because
they had a building program. No, they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb And that's the one that's going to overcome
Satan the blood of the Lamb. And you know why? Because of
the blood of the Lamb, his accusations, Satan's accusations against God's
people do not stick. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
He's risen again. Who's seated at the right hand
of the Father, ever living to make intercession for Satan can
accuse a child of God all day and all night, but his accusations
will not stick. Why? That person, that sinner
is washed in the blood of the Lamb. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
And that's what he's saying. And it says, and by the word
of their testimony. Well, what is the word of our
testimony? God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I believe. That's
what you believe, isn't it? Now, go back to Luke 11. And
here's the fourth thing I know about Him. And that's the first
point in this message. And that is Christ came to destroy
the devil. That's why He came to destroy
the devil. You say, well, I thought He came to save His people from
their sins. He did. But in the process, He
destroyed the devil. That's right. The book of 1 John
chapter 3 and verse 8 says, He was manifested to destroy the
works of the devil. How did he do that? He took away
our sins. How did he do that? He was made
sin. He was our substitute, our representative,
our surety. Sin was imputed, charged, accounted
to him and he died the death that I earned and deserved. He
satisfied the justice of God. He paid my sin debt in full and
established righteousness whereby God could justify me. Now you
know these miracles, when we talk about the miracles of Christ
back here in Luke 11, one of them here. They were all done
to affirm that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of God, the
Messiah, the Anointed One. He's the one that Abel's lamb
typified and prophesied of. He's the seed of woman that was
prophesied in Genesis 3.15. Every type and shadow of the
Old Testament, every prophecy is about Him, pointed to Him. Now, in that capacity, as He
is the Son of God, the Messiah, the seed of woman. Think about
Genesis 3.15. Do you remember that scripture?
God was pronouncing the curse upon the serpent. And He said,
I'm going to send the woman seed, and you're going to bruise His
heel, That's in reference to the death of Christ, but he wouldn't
stay dead, he'd be risen again. You see, he's going to bruise
your head, he's going to destroy you. And ever since then, what
is it? There's been enmity, hatred. He said, I'll put enmity between
thee and the woman seed. There's been hatred, warfare,
opposition. So as such, Christ Jesus could
in no way, in any capacity, in any form, be in league with Satan. He could not be an ally of Satan
at all. He is Satan's confirmed enemy. Satan stands in opposition to
everything Christ is and everything that Christ represents and everything
that Christ accomplished. He's a failure, Satan is, but
he's still in opposition. In fact, when he was over there
in Revelation 12, let me just read this to you. In Revelation
12, it's talking about The church, having been redeemed by the Lord,
fleeing into the wilderness, which is this world that we're
in now, the wilderness of this world. Talking about the church
as it exists in this world. And it says in verse 13 of Revelation
12, when the dragon saw that he was cast out upon the earth.
Now that's his defeat when Christ died on the cross. When Satan
saw his defeat. You see, Satan is not omniscient.
He doesn't know everything. He knows more than I and you
do about different things, but he doesn't know everything. He's
not some kind of an evil counterpart to God. Satan is not everywhere. He's not omnipresent. God is. He's spirit. But Satan's limited. Now he's powerful, don't get
me wrong now. You can't handle him, I can't handle him. Christ
can and did. But it says when he saw that
he was cast out unto the earth, he persecuted the woman, that's
the church, which brought forth the man child. That's talking
about Christ who came through his people. He was made of the
seed of Abraham according to the flesh. So Satan has been
allowed to persecute the church. He can't destroy the church.
Christ said that. He said upon this rock I'll build
my church. That's himself. He said the gates of hell will
not prevail against it. But Satan is the declared and
constant enemy of Christ in his church. Satan cannot destroy
us. Satan cannot prevail over God's
people. He can test and tempt as God
allows. He's not out of control of God
now. If you think Satan's out of control, you can't believe
God's sovereign. Because at least there's that
part that's not in his control. But he can be a thorn in your
side, can't he? God allows him. But he can't,
listen, he cannot take a child of God away from the Savior.
He can't do that. Can't. But he's allowed to persecute
the church. He's allowed to sow his tears
in the world. Paul wrote by inspiration of
the Spirit in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, that you be strong
in the power and the might of the Lord. Put on the whole armor
of God that you may withstand the wiles of Satan. Be on your
guard. Why were these Pharisees? Now
look here in Luke 11, it says, but some, verse 15, of them said,
he casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils.
That was the Pharisees. Why were these Pharisees so intent
on discrediting him? Well, let me show you some passages
of scripture. Look at Matthew chapter 5. I'll tell you exactly why. Was it
because they were just jealous of him? Well, I'm sure there
was some jealousy involved. They were the spiritual leaders
of the nation. They had the positions. He had
the Sadducees, they had control of the temple, it was a political
thing then. The Pharisees were known as the
super-religious leaders of the nation. The scribes and the Pharisees,
if anybody wanted to know anything about God, about the Bible, they'd
go to these Pharisees and these scribes. And that's where they'd
get their information. But here's Christ on the Sermon
on the Mount. Look at verse 20 of Matthew chapter
5. He says, For I say unto you that
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven. You reckon that's why they wanted
to discredit him? He discredited them. He discredited
their righteousness. If anybody was going to go to
heaven, the people would say it would be those Pharisees.
Not only do they keep the law, people would say, they go above
and beyond. Remember the Pharisee that stood outside the temple?
I don't fast one time, I fast twice in a week. More than what's
required. Go above and beyond. And Christ
said, they're not righteous. They're sinners and they need
salvation by grace. Christ looked one right in the
face. It's recorded in John chapter 3. He's a member of the Sanhedrin,
the judgment court. And he told him, he says, you
must be born again or you can't see or enter the kingdom of heaven.
Talking to Nicodemus. You know what his message to
the next person he met was an old adulterous woman, Samaritan
woman at a well and he told her basically the same thing. Salvation
is by grace. It doesn't matter if you are
a Pharisee or a prostitute. Salvation is by grace. Remember there in Luke 18, that
Pharisee, he went away unjustified. Who did God justify according
to that parable in Luke 18? A publican. who cried out for
mercy. A propitiation. That's what he
was crying out for. I need Christ. I don't deserve
salvation. I can't earn it. I need mercy. And the only place to find mercy
is in Christ. Look over at John chapter 8 with
me. John chapter 8. That's why they wanted to discredit
him. They didn't look upon him as
the Messiah because they thought the Messiah was going to come
on a white horse yielding a sword and conquer their Roman enemies
and pat them on the back and set up his kingdom in Jerusalem
and they'd be his lieutenants, pat them on the back and say,
well done fellas, you all held it together until I got here.
You know, that's what most people think today about his second
coming. They're wrong. Oh, he's coming
in victory. He's represented as coming on
a white horse with a sword, but it's to destroy his enemy and
gather his church. Sinners saved by the grace of
God, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Look at John 8, verse
44. Who's he talking to here? The Pharisees. Listen to him,
verse 44. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts, the unlawful desires
of your father you will do. What kind of lust do you think
he's talking about? Well, he's talking about any lust. But I'll
tell you the main lust. The main lust that covers all
lust goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when Adam
fell and he disobeyed God. He desired something that was
unlawful. And it showed up in his son Cain
who desired salvation, desired blessedness from God based on
his works. Do you know that's an unlawful
desire? That's right. What were these
Pharisees teaching? Salvation by their works. Righteousness
established by their works. He said the lust of your father
you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning.
Now how did Satan murder? Well, you know, he brought the
whole human race, ruined by the fall, into sin and death. That's what he did when Adam
fell. Adam, the representative, he fell. How did Satan do it? Well, look at the next line there
in John 8. He abode not in the truth. Total lie. What was his
lie? Well, it was a one sentence sermon.
You shall not surely die. Comes in many forms. Here's somebody
trying to work their way into salvation. Here comes a preacher. Well, you're doing the best you
can. That ought to be good enough. What's he done? He's preached
Satan's message. You shall not surely die. Peace, peace when
there is no peace. That's the kind of message it
is, you see. And he says, he abode not in the truth because
there is no truth in him. And when he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own. That means he speaks what comes
naturally to him. You know when preachers preach
salvation by the works and will of man, they are only preaching
what comes natural. It is not a divine revelation
from God. That is just what is natural
to man. And he says, for he is a liar and the father of it.
That is why the Pharisees were so intense. on discrediting him. Well, here's the second thing.
Christ came to establish the kingdom of God. Now look back
at Luke 11. In establishing the kingdom of God, he destroyed
Satan. Verse 20. He said, but if I with
the finger of God, that's an expression indicating the power
of God. This is not the power of Satan,
he says. I'm not in league with Satan. I'm running out. You are.
You've already told them that. You're of your father the devil.
Isn't that something though how people who are in league with
Satan will try to discredit somebody else by accusing them of being
in league with Satan? Now you talk about deception.
Isn't it? You see how deceptive Satan is?
I mean, these fellows weren't writhing on the ground. I mean,
I know there was a demoniac who was writhing on the ground and
all that, but that was just one incident. These fellows weren't
writhing on the ground and throwing up green pea soup and all that
stuff. They were just simply trying to protect their territory.
Claiming to be servants of God, looking for the Messiah to come.
doing their best trying to establish a righteousness of their own. Saul of Tarsus, think about it.
He preached Satan's message. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. Circumcised
the eighth day of the tribe of Benjamin of the stock of Israel.
See, all those claims that he thought made him righteous. That's
Satan's message. And all the people would sit
out there and say, Amen, brother. Isn't that right? He said, but
if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom
of God has come upon you. It's here. That's what he means.
If these miracles he performed were by the power of God Almighty,
then what does that prove? It proves he is who he says he
is. He is the Messiah, the Son of God. He is the seed of woman
who come to bruise the head of the serpent. He's the Savior
of His people. He's the consolation of Israel.
He's the Lord our righteousness. What is this kingdom of God?
Well, God's kingdom knows no end. He's sovereign over the
whole universe. Even the devil is subject to
Him. Now that doesn't mean God's the
author of sin. But here Christ speaks of the
kingdom of God's grace of salvation established by Him as the Redeemer
and Savior of His people. John the Baptist spoke of it
with the coming of Christ. He said, repent ye for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Kingdom of heaven and the kingdom
of God are the same thing. Christ Himself preached it. Matthew
4 and verse 17, from that time Jesus began to preach and say,
repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What does that mean?
That means Christ has come. The Messiah is here. He is going
to do His great work. He told His disciples when He
sent them out to preach two by two, He said, go preach saying
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Messiah is here. He is here. This kingdom is the kingdom of
Christ the Messiah. Jacob spoke of it on his deathbed.
Genesis 49, 10, he was talking to his son Judah. He said, the
scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. There's the work of Christ as
the substitute, the redeemer, his kingship, and there's the
gathering of his church, his people, unto himself in the power
of the Holy Spirit as they're called into the kingdom. born
again by the Spirit of God. That's something, isn't it? He
was prophesied in the book of Numbers chapter 24 and verse
17, the star would come out of Jacob and a scepter, a king's
scepter shall rise out of Israel, shall smite the corners of Moab,
which represents opposition to God, and destroy the children
of Sheph. Paul called him the blessed and
only potentate, the king of kings, the Lord of lords. who only,
just one now, not two, who only hath immortality, dwelling in
the light which no man can approach to, whom no man hath seen, nor
can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. In Revelation
17, 14, John is given a vision of the
opposition that Satan and the two beasts will make against
Christ and his people. And listen to how he puts it
here in verse 14. He says, These shall make war
with the Lamb. What was a Lamb for in the Bible?
For sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness of sin. Christ is the Lamb of God. These
shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them.
The sacrifice shall overcome them. Isn't that something? Who is this Lamb? He is Lord
of Lords, He is King of Kings, and they that are with Him are
called and chosen and faithful. That's His people. That's amazing,
isn't it? You see, this kingdom is the
kingdom of righteousness. God the Father said unto His
Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of Thy
kingdom is a right scepter, a righteous scepter. And this kingdom, is
established by the death of the Lamb, the death of Christ for
His people whereby He put away and paid the debt for all our
sins and established the only righteousness whereby God could
justify the ungodly. Now let me show you some scripture
here. Turn to John 12. I want you to see this. Now this right here proves that
there is no way and no time that Christ was ever
in league with Satan as the Pharisees accused him. He came to destroy
the works of the devil. John 12, he's talking about his
death on the cross that's coming soon. You see in John 12, he
concludes his public ministry to the nation. And that's when
he goes into the upper room beginning there at John 13 with the disciples. And then after that's over, you
see him in the garden of Gethsemane and they come to arrest him.
And before he went into the upper room, here's what he says. Look
at verse 31 of John 12. He says, Now is the judgment
of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. That's Satan. He's going to be
cast out. How? Verse 32, and I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all unto me. This he said signifying
what death he should die. And what's he saying there? His
death is the judgment that God has against this world. He that
hath not the Son, what does the Bible say? The wrath of God abides
on him. His death is the defeat of Satan. How? Putting away all our sins. That's right. His death is the
salvation of His people. If I be lifted up, will draw
all unto me. Who's he talking about? His sheep.
He said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. This is
the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given
me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. And then I want you to turn to John 16, just over a few pages. Listen to this. The death of the Lamb. You see,
Satan did not kill the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. You know who did?
Isaiah 53 and verse 10. For it pleased who? The Father. He didn't sacrifice Himself to
Satan, or to you, or to me, or to anyone. He sacrificed Himself
unto the Father. That's right. Who had to be pleased
and satisfied with the offering? God did. That's right. It's God that justified. It's
Christ that died. God must be satisfied. God must
be just and justify. Look here in John 16. Verse 7,
He says, nevertheless I tell you, He is talking to His disciples.
I tell you the truth. It is expedient, necessary for
you that I go away. Talking about to the cross. If
I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. That
is the Holy Spirit. What does the Holy Spirit do in salvation?
He gives new life. He's the sovereign agent to apply
everything that the father purposed and everything that the son purchased.
He imparts spiritual life to dead sinners. That's the new
birth. He brings sinners to Christ and to repentance. And he's saying,
if I don't do my work on the cross, the Comforter, the Holy
Spirit, will not come. In other words, if Christ didn't
die, there'd be no life for the Spirit to give. There'd be no
salvation to apply if Christ did not do His work. You see,
the work of the Son for us on the cross is the ground of salvation. The work of the Spirit in us
is the fruit of His death. And so he says, but if I depart,
I will send him to you. And when he's come, verse 8,
he will reprove or convict the world of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment. Now look at it. Of sin because
they believe not on me. In other words, without Christ,
all we are and all we do is sin. Without Christ, we have no mediator.
We have no righteousness. We have no forgiveness. It's
all sin. Verse 10, of righteousness because
I go to my Father and you see me no more. Our righteousness
is in Christ. He was made sin, we're made the
righteousness of God in Him. Our sin was charged to Him, His
righteousness is imputed, charged to us. We stand before God whole,
without sin in Him. And then verse 11, of judgment.
Now listen, why? Because the prince of this world
is judged. Who's the prince of this world?
That's Satan. What's his work? He accuses the brethren. But
those accusations don't stick. You know why? Because we've already
been judged for all our sins of judgment, see? We've already
been judged of all our sins. When? When Christ died for my
sins. All my sins were judged on the
cross. When he died, I died. When he
was buried, I was buried. When he arose, I arose. I have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. God
judges me in Him. You see that? And so Satan's
work is destroyed. Then one more and we'll close.
Look at Hebrews chapter 2. Listen to this. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. For as much then as the children,
that's God's children, are partakers of flesh and blood, he also,
that's Christ himself, likewise took part of the same, that is
flesh and blood, without sin, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Now what is
the power that he's talking about here that the devil has? The
power of death. Now you know and I know, if you
read the Bible now, you know that Satan does not have power
to kill anybody. Don't we say it? That is appointed and the man
wants to die? Who did that appointing? Satan? No, God did. When Job's family
was killed. What did Job say? The Lord giveth,
the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Satan doesn't have the power to kill you. I'm not saying he,
what I'm saying he doesn't have that authority, that right. I'm
sure he has the strength to do it. But he can only do what he
does by permission from God, friend. Like I said, you remember
he came and asked permission to touch Job. God said, well,
you can touch his goods, but you can't touch him. And then
he said, you can touch him, but you can't have his soul. You
can't take it. Satan doesn't have that power. So what power
of death it is? Again, it's the power of accusation. You say, what do you mean by
that? Well, what if Satan accuses you and the accusations do stick? What happens then? If Satan comes
along and he says, now there's Ron Trebeck, Lord, Ron's a sinner. And he deserves what? Death. That's right there. But what
if they do stick? What do you deserve, Ron? Death.
The wages of sin. That's Satan's power of death.
It's his power of accusation. But if they don't stick, the
power of death's gone. It's only lie. You see, as sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Satan's
accusations will not stick to God's people, and that's what
Christ removed, that power that Satan has to accuse a sinner
that would bring him to death. If somebody accused you of a
crime, and you took you to court, and you went before the judge,
and you were guilty of the crime, The accusation sticks. The punishment
is to follow. But what if you didn't do it?
Well, it wouldn't stick. Now, we're guilty by nature,
by practice. But somebody else took our accusations,
our debt. Look here. Verse 15, And deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. That's the bondage of legalism
and the law. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
That's God's elect. That's the redeemed of the Lord.
And it says in verse 17, Wherefore in all things it behooved him. In the original Greek, you know
what that word behoove means? It means debt. It's a debt. Wherefore in all things he was
indebted to be made like unto his brethren. Why? Because he's
our surety. He's our substitute. He agreed
voluntarily to take our sins and put them away. so that when
Satan accuses us, the accusations won't stick and the power of
death is removed. We're in Christ. That he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining
to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. You
see it? This kingdom is the kingdom of
power and life unto glory, not death. So Christ has defeated
Satan really in two ways you could say. Number one, Satan's
power of accusation is broken. His charges will not stick because
the blood of the Lamb. There's no condemnation to them
which are in Christ. Righteousness is established
and we have it in Christ. And then secondly, the power
of deception is broken. His power of deception, his power
to keep us from seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
is broken. We'll talk more about that in
the next message.