I try earnestly to seek God's
grace as I preach to you, to preach to you in the power of
God's Spirit. I tremble at the thoughts of
trying to minister to your soul's needs and being left alone in
this place. I try my best to come here with
the awareness that you soon will meet God. And I want you to know it. I
want you to know it. Now understand this, the claims
of Christ that are pressed upon you in the gospel, not the invitations
of Christ, not the offers of mercy, the claims of Christ or
the claims of your sovereign king. He holds you in his hands. He
demands that you bow to him. He demands that you believe him. He is your king. He is either
your king and you are his willing subject He is your king and you
are his rebel subject, but you are his subject. You're either
loyal or you're a rebel, but you're still his subject. No
getting around that. And sooner or later, you will
bow to this king. Sooner or later, you will acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Bow to him now. and repentance and faith. Throw
up the white flag of surrender in the city of Mansoul and cry
out, O son of God, come take possession of this conquered
tale and eternal life is yours. Or refuse. Refuse. No, sir. I'll hold the gates
of my city. I will be my own master. I'll
rule my own life. I'll do as I doggone please.
I will not bow to him. Refuse, but you're going to bow. You will bow in that day of judgment
when he sends you to hell, and you'll say he's right. He's the
Lord. And eternal death will be your
portion. And so I bid you, oh, kiss the son. Kiss the son, lest
he be angry when his wrath is kindled but a little. God help
you now to bow to Him. I pray that before this hour
is over, the Lord Jesus will be pleased to establish His kingdom
in you. Oh, Son of God, come, dispossess
the strong man, bind him, spoil his goods, take all his arms,
cast him out. and set up your throne in every
heart of you. That is called salvation. That's called grace. That's called
eternal life. The title of my message tonight
is the kingdom of God is here. It's here. The kingdom of God
is not future, it's present. The kingdom of God is not something
that's going to come, it's here. The kingdom of God is not a earthly,
carnal, material, political, Jewish kingdom. It is a spiritual
kingdom, and we are it. We who are born of God are God's
Israel, God's kingdom, God's chosen Jacob, and we are the
people over whom Jesus Christ is made head over all things
for our sake, for the glory of his name and the good of his
church and kingdom. Our text is Luke chapter 11,
beginning at verse 14. And he was casting out a devil,
and it was done. And it came to pass, when the
devil was gone out, the done spoke, and the people wondered. I just stood back in awe. He
was the son of God. We're not told exactly how he
did it, but judging from the records given in other places,
more than likely, he said, come out. No fanfare, no show. He didn't call the media and
say, we're going to have a healing service. He just, as the devil
had met him, he said, come out. And that fellow who had never
spoke a word suddenly spoke as plain as I'm talking to you now.
He that was dumb spoke. And folks who stood by and saw
it, their jaws dropped to the ground. They were astonished. They wondered. Verse 50. But
some of them said, He cast out devils through Beelzebub, the
chief of devils. The Jews had a tradition, and
our Lord is here referring to it. As these Jews spoke, they
thought that there was one devil who was chief above all devils,
one demon who was chief above all demons. They said he cast
out devils through bells and bombs. In other words, he's the
biggest devil of them all. He's the chief devil. And others
tipped in him. Tipped in him. Tipped in him. Tested him. Let's see. You say you're the Christ of
God. You say you're the Messiah. You say you're the Redeemer.
You say you're the Way, the Truth, and the Life. sort of him a sign
from heaven. Just in case I forget to mention
it as we go along, isn't that astounding? Here's a dumb man
who speaks plainly because he said that the devil come out
of him, the devil walks out of him and says, show us a sign. Show
us some wonder from heaven. This other standing there with
their jaws dragging the ground in astonishment. Now we want to
see you do something. We want to see something. Show
us a sign. Verse 17, but he knowing their thoughts. He reads your mind like you read
the newspaper. He knowing their thoughts. For
the religious hypocrite, that's the most terrifying thing in
the world. He knows your thoughts. For the believers, most comforting
thing in the world. Lord, you know all things, you know that
I love you." He knows the thoughts. And said unto them, every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation, and the house
divided against itself, or house divided against the house, falls. Quite literally, he's saying
a house divided at the foundation is sure to fall. 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? You see, these
fake charlatan religionists who claim to be the Messiah's true
apostles and prophets, they're not anything new. The Jews had
charismatics among them too. Folks who claim to cast out devils,
folks who claim to have miraculous powers and so on, who had no
idea who God was, but they claim, they claim we cast out devils.
And the Lord said, all right, now you claim you cast them out. You claim that you have power
over him. But if I cast out devils by Beelzebub,
who do you cast them out by? In other words, you condemned
yourself. And look at this. Therefore,
shall they be your judges? But if I, if I, with the finger
of God, if I, with the finger of God,
not with the right arm of his might, not with the stretched
out arm of his omnipotence, just his finger, what does it take
for God Almighty to cast out Satan? Just his fingers. Just his fingers. That's all.
No big trouble. No big task. No difficulty. We're talking about God. We're
talking about God. If I, with the finger of God,
cast out devils, now you've got a decision to make. And you've got a decision to
make. Is this thing God's work or is it a hoax? Is he God's Messiah, or is he
a deceiver? Is Jesus Christ indeed the sent
one of God, who with the finger of God cast out devils, or is
he a liar and a deceiver? Are these his people, or are
they all deceived? Is this man speaking to you,
God's servant, God's messenger, telling you the truth of God,
or is he a deceiver of your soul? Make a decision. Because if I,
with the finger of God, cast out devils, There's no question
about this, the kingdom of God has come upon you. The kingdom of God is here, right
here, right here. And let me repeat what I tell
you so very often in interpreting scripture. It is of utmost importance
that we recognize and interpret the passage within the context
in which it's given. Yes, we must interpret it in
the context of the whole of Scripture, but we must interpret it within
its immediate context. In this case, the context is
strikingly instructive. Our Lord has just told us how
sinners obtain God's salvation in Him. He said, Ask, and it
shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. That's how you obtain God's salvation.
All you do is call on him. Call on him and he's yours. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's the
promise of God throughout the scriptures. Look unto me and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth have
God. Beside me there is none else. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That's the promise of God throughout the scriptures.
Ask and it shall be given you. Now this fact cannot be denied. All who are without Christ, all
who perish under the wrath of God, perish and go to hell. If you are without Christ, if
you are yet under the wrath of God, if the sentence of death
is yet written on your heart and conscience, it is because
Now listen to me. It is because, just one reason,
because you refuse to seek his mercy through the merits of his
darling son. But preacher, what if I'm not
chosen? You're just putting up a smoke
screen. You play games with God. But preacher, what if I hadn't
been predestinated to eternal life? You preaching eternal predestination,
what if I'm not predestinated? You're just trying to make yourself
an excuse for hiding from God. But what if Christ didn't die
for me? You're lying. You're not even concerned about
the death of Christ. You're trying to make an excuse for your unbelief
and your rebellion. You see, this book, this book,
and this is the only book that matters, this book always ascribes
a man's damnation to himself. Always. God deals with men in
justice according to the record of their own doings. And he will
deal with you in justice exactly upon the ground you choose. Either
on your own merit, on the merits of a substitute. And if you go
to hell, it'll be your fault. Altogether your fault. You won't
blame this preacher. Sorry as he may be, you won't
blame this church with all the problems we might have. You won't
blame anybody here, mama or daddy, no matter how lousy mama and
daddy might have been. You won't blame God's purpose.
You won't blame predestination and everlasting damnation. You'll
cry out, Oh my God, I'm here! Because I would not bow to Christ. And that shall be your eternal
torment, unending the fire of God burning in your soul. How many of you are yet in your
sins, yet without Christ, yet under the wrath of God? Whoever
you are, whatever your circumstance, doesn't matter how long you've
been in this church or in another, if you're without Christ, you're
under the wrath of God. And the reason is, you will not
believe. There is none that seeketh after
God. You refuse to trust Christ for that reason you're lost.
Yet, I have hope for you. I keep preaching the gospel to
you and to others like you. Because though our Savior waits
to be gracious, now listen to me, though he waits to be gracious,
his grace doesn't wait on you. He just waits for his appointed
time of love. He just waits for the time he
has set. He just waits for the time when
he will come. You're like the man in our text,
possessed of the devil and dumb, so dumb that you cannot and will
not call upon the name of the Lord. This man was possessed
of a devil and was dumb. He could not speak until the
Son of God met him in his road to hell and said to the devil,
come out of him. he spoke. And you will never
call on the name of the Lord until the Son of God sets himself
in your path and stops you in your mad rush to hell and causes
you to call on his name. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. O sweet, omnipotent,
irresistible grace, there are some from whom God will not take
no for an answer. He will call you to come. He will call you to call on his
name. He will call you to want him. He will call you to seek after
him. This great miracle recorded in
Luke 11 is intended to show us how lost sinners are compelled
by almighty grace to call upon Christ in faith. He who promises
that if we ask, it shall be given us, is he who gives us the tongues
with which to ask. It is he who binds Satan in the
hearts of men and causes us to call on him for mercy. And so
Calvary's hymn stands as true today as ever. He breaks the
power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoners free. He
makes the lame to walk again. He causes the blind to see. Hear
Him, ye deaf. His praise, ye dumb. Your loosened
tongues employ, ye blind. Behold your Savior coming. Leap,
ye lame, for joy. Well, how can that be? When He
comes. When He comes your way. The blind are made to see, the
lame are made to walk, the dead are made to live, the dumb are
made to call on him. Let me show you four or five
things in these verses that I'm confident are the things the
Spirit of God would direct our attention to. First, Satan's
devices. Satan's devices by which he seeks
to destroy our souls are leeches. We read here of a man possessed
of a devil that was dove. In other places, we read about
men who were possessed of a devil that was unclean, an unclean
spirit. Sometimes the devil possessing
them was a violent, raging spirit, causing them to cast themselves
into fire. In other places, the spirits
of hell were spirits of blindness. deafness and cleanness. Whatever
the appearance, whatever form he takes, whatever way he comes
to seek man's soul, Satan comes with many devices, and all his
devices have the intent and design of destruction. Sometimes the
devil he brings is a religious, self-righteous moralist. And
sometimes the devil he brings is unclean, vile, and reprehensible,
but his intention is destruction. Sometimes we read passages like
this and say, well, these may have good moral lessons, but
they really don't apply to us. After all, we're not Pentecostals. We're not among those charismatic
idiots who make a show of this kind of stuff. But don't imagine,
don't imagine that because demonic possession is not so glaring
and so manifest today as it was in our Lord's day that it doesn't
exist. Don't imagine that hell is less active now than then. Men and women are still taken
captive by Satan at his will. It is the responsibility of God's
servants to minister to those with meekness who oppose themselves,
who are taken captive by Satan at his will, that God may, peradventure,
grant them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Some
of you here tonight, I have no doubt, are possessed with the
same dumb spirit as this poor soul here. But preacher, that offends me.
I'm sorry. But I'm not here to entertain
you. I'm here to tell you the truth. The reason you don't call
on him because you have the same influence of hell this man has.
Exactly right. You speak so much about lots,
but you don't ever speak to God. You call on many for many things,
but you don't ever call on God. Or you might cry out to him in
desperation. You might say, Oh Jesus! How many times it happens, folks
get in trouble. That ain't calling on Him, that's cussing. That's
blasphemy. Ain't calling on Him. You won't
call on Him because you have neither the will nor the ability
to do so. You see, you're spiritually dead, spiritually dumb, have
no ability to speak, and worse than that, don't have any desire. This calling upon the name of
the Lord Look at it carefully in the scripture
sometime. It's not just speaking his name.
It's not just saying a prayer. It's worshiping him. That's what
it is to call on his name. It's not sashayed down an aisle,
popping bubblegum and some preacher tell you what's saying, you said
it and now it's all over with. I call on the name of the Lord. If you still trust in such a
refuge, that refuge of lies will take you to hell. I pray God
will destroy it. calling on the name of the Lord is worshipping
Him, is worshipping Him, bowing to Him, believing Him. Oh, thanks,
eternal thanks be to God. The Lord Jesus Christ still makes
the dumb to speak. Christ alone can raise the dead.
Christ alone can give eyes to the blind. Christ alone can cause
the dumb to speak. Christ alone can cause sinners
to seek Him who would not seek Him. Christ alone can cause you
to live and bring you to Himself. Christ alone can show you the
glory of God shining in His face. Christ alone can strip you of
your righteousness and clothe you in His, wash you in His blood
and make you clean by His almighty grace. Blessed be His name. He can. if I be lifted up from the earth
will draw all men unto me." And this he spoke signifying
by what death he should die. He says, I, dying in the room
and standing my people, being lifted up upon the cursed tree
and thereby lifted up to the throne of glory, I will draw
like a magnet draws metal with irresistible force. I will draw
All men, not everybody, no, but men everywhere. Every kind of
man. That means your kind and this
kind, your kind and that kind. I'll draw men everywhere unto
me. And those I draw, they'll come. You see, he's able. He's
able. These days, religion talks a
whole lot about his willingness to save. His willingness is totally
insignificant if he doesn't have any ability. Thank God he's willing
to save, but thank God again he's able to save to the uttermost
all them that come unto God by him. Now secondly, our text speaks
about willful unbelief. Oh, I want you to see this. Unbelief, whether we talk about
yours, your children's, or your neighbors. Unbelief doesn't matter
whether we're talking about Don Fortner or Lindsay Campbell.
Unbelief doesn't matter whether we're talking about my children
or yours. Unbelief is not something about which you are passive.
No, sir. No, sir. Unbelief is not a matter
of indifference. Unbelief is not something for
which a man has no responsibility. Oh, no. All unbelief. Now, listen to me, and I'm going
to show you it from the book. All unbelief is deliberate, willful
defiance of the heart that hates God and will not bow to Him. It is willful. It is deliberate. It is the defiance of a man who
says no to God. I won't bow. I won't bow. It
could not be denied that our Lord here had cast out a devil. that he had loosened the tongue
of a man who couldn't speak before. Those who were present could
not dispute the miracle. The work of grace was a glaring,
obvious manifestation that God was in their midst. No question
about that. And still they wouldn't believe.
Some wondered and marveled. Wow, look at this. Look what
he's done. But they didn't believe. I preach to folks all over the
world. I hear from them, both personally and through correspondence,
who marvel at the doctrines of grace. Oh, they just, this is
profound. This is wonderful. Never saw
anything like this, but they don't believe. They don't believe.
Electing grace, redeeming love, justice satisfied, redemption
accomplished. Oh, they marvel at it. Kind of
like a fellow who might run up to the city of refuge and look
at the gates and say, boy, what a city. Man, isn't that, I never
saw any gates like that before. Look how those things change.
Look how they swing. Man alive. If a fellow goes in
there, he's safe. But they're standing out here
in danger. They have an internet. Somebody in the brazen, lifts
up the brazen serpent. I've read lots of good stuff
on there, some ridiculous, but Folks talk about a brazen serpent
and describe all the various things in which it was made up
of and how it must have looked in the sun, all that stuff. Can't
you imagine some fellow laying down there, burning with fever,
convulsing in pain, writhing, as he's wiggling just before
he takes his last breath and he says, now, what was that serpent
made of? And who told Moses to lift it
up? Man, if you just look, you'll
see it. But I need to have some more evidence. I need something
else to help me along the way. Can you imagine such nonsense?
And yet that's how sinners are with things of God. They marvel,
but they will not believe. Others sought to discredit the
Lord Jesus. Say He did this by the devil
himself. They said, No, sir, this isn't God's work. No, sir,
this is not God's work. God's not in this. No, sir, that
fellow, that fellow Jesus of Nazareth, he's the biggest devil
out of hell. He cast out devils by Beelzebub.
Still others pretended to be interested. They said, now this
is pretty impressive, but show us a sign. It is ever the cry
of hell. It is ever the cry of hell. Send somebody from the grave,
and I'll believe. Raise somebody from the dead,
then I'll believe. Yonder he sits. Why don't you
believe? Why? Because the Jews require
a sign. Show us something. Show us a
miracle. Show us a wonder. Show us something
that can't be explained. the Greeks he kept a wisdom.
Show us how to explain the miracle. Show us how, give us proof. Give
me some proof. I'll believe it if you give me
some proof. And we're not about to give a
sign if we had one in our right pocket. And we're not about to
give any proof. Because if your faith stands
in signs and proof, Your faith is not in the Christ of God and
his revelation. Your faith is in some temporary
evidence somebody else can take away from you. And it's not worth
the time and effort it takes to get it. Well, what do we do? We preach Christ. Crucify. To the Jews, it's a stumbling
block. To religious folks who want a sign, no, that's not good
enough. We need something else. They'll
stumble over him and go to hell. To the Greeks, he's foolishness.
To the smart-alecks who think their faith is somehow connected
with their brains, he's foolishness. But to every sinner who needs
him, to every sinner whose goodness and beauty and comeliness had
been made to wither before God, to every sinner who needs mercy,
he's the power of God and the wisdom of God. Here is God's
power. Here is God's wisdom. Jesus Christ,
the sinner substituted, has taken away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. The fact is, all unbelief is inexcusable. It's blameable. This may shock you, but it's
true. The issue between you and God is not your adultery or your
fornication or your drunkenness. Are you thievery? That's not
the issue. Those are your side issues. God's not going to send
you to hell for stealing a watermelon. He's not going to do it. The
issue is God's Son. That's the issue. And the issue
of faith or unbelief is God's Son. What? Think ye of Christ. Bob Brewer, that's the issue.
And that's the only one. That's the only one. Get that
one settled, and everything else takes care of itself. That's
the issue. I'll tell you what you think
of Christ. Tell you what everybody here thinks of Christ. Everybody.
No exceptions. To you who believe, He's precious. He's everything we've got in
Him, Father. Everything. Compared to Him, there's nothing
else. He's everything. All our righteousness, all our
wisdom, all our sanctification, all our redemption. To you who
believe not, he's a rock of stumbling and a rock of offense, and you
despise him. You hate him. Nothing more galling
to you. Nothing more irking to you. Nothing
more contrary to every thought you have. that his sovereign
dominion. You can talk about sovereignty,
that's not a problem. That's not a problem. You can
talk about him ruling everywhere. You can talk about him being
God. You can talk about him being sovereign. All that stuff. But
this is the one thing you won't do. You will not bow to him. You won't do it. You won't do
it. Not unless he graciously forces you to bow. Every man by nature says no God. Not God doesn't exist. Read Psalm
14. Not there is no God. He says,
I want heaven. You've got no right to be God. I will not bow. I will not bow. So preacher, that's not my problem.
Oh, yes, it is. Oh, yes, it is. You will not
give up your righteousness. You will not acknowledge your
sin. you will not bow to the claims
of Christ. That's the only problem. Look
over in John chapter 3. Don't you see that? Unbelief
is not a matter of passive indifference. It's willful. It's deliberate.
It's blameworthy. It's damning. Verse 14. As Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. No other way for God to stay
centered but this. And here's the reason he must
be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him. I recall years
ago, a friend of mine was preaching. Somebody came up to him and said,
well, you folks, you Calvinists, they called us. They said, y'all
don't believe in whosoever will. He said, oh, yes, we do. We just
don't believe in whosoever won't. Whosoever. Who's that mean? Anybody
who will. Whosoever calleth on him, whosoever
believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, men
and women in all the four corners of the world, men and women of
every age of time, men and women of every rank and society, men
and women of every race, kindred, tribe, and tongue. God so loved
his elect throughout all the world that he gave, what a word,
God gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Look at this now. For God
sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved. Verse 18. He that believeth
on him is not condemned. There is therefore now no condemnation
to God for it. I believe him, Bob. I cast my
soul on him. Paul, everything, he's everything. I believe him. But he that believeth not is
condemned already. Now don't miss this next word.
Anybody got it? Because. Because he wasn't chosen. Because he wasn't redeemed. Because
he wasn't predestined. Because God wouldn't save him. Because he hath not believed
on the name or in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation. Light has come into the world.
Why, everybody, everybody loved that. Light's come. Everybody's
seeking light. Isn't it wonderful? Everybody's
seeking the Lord. Isn't that grand? Everybody wants
God. Everybody's searching after God. Light came. And men loved
darkness rather than light. They didn't want anything to
do with it. Verse 36. He that believeth on
the sun. shall have everlasting life. That's not what it says, is it?
He that believeth on the Son H A T H hath. O preacher, I believe now. I believe the Son of God. I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe Him. God's given me
faith. You got it now. The proof of life is faith, not
the cause. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Well, not me. not me. I need something else. I need a feeling. I need a light
to strike me from heaven. I need to hear a voice. I need
some proof. I need some evidence. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God stays on
God give you grace now to believe. I think I'll quit there. That's
the message. Believe on the Son of God and
life eternal is yours. Believe not. And the wrath of God is your
chosen portion and your damnation It's your fault. It's your fault. Amen.