JESUS & DEMONS

Father, we especially ask today, given what your word has said,

we especially ask today that you would be kind to us and merciful to us

and pour out your Holy Spirit upon us so that we might hear what your Son teaches,

that we might hear what he teaches, and that we might keep what he teaches.

Father, may your Holy Spirit bring the words of Scripture deeply into our lives

so that we will be disciples gripped by the Gospel living for your glory.

And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

Every fourth week I speak on CFRA radio at 6.30 in the morning.

I do the taping on a Tuesday morning a couple of weeks in advance.

I think I'm on next week.

I can't remember when I'm on.

I sort of always lose track of when I'm on.

Anyway, I'm part of a team of four different people who all take turns speaking.

And a fellow who's part of the committee that runs and the team that runs the whole thing, a layperson,

he very helpfully provided for the four speakers just recently a list of things,

like a survey of things that 20-somethings are interested in when it comes to the Bible

and it comes to religion and the Christian faith and just life in general.

And it very helpfully provided the four speakers with a list.

And I just want to let you know that what we're talking about today is not on the list.

It didn't show up on the list at all.

Because I guess 20-somethings aren't really interested in talking about hardcore demonic possession,

which is what we're going to talk about.

So if you have your Bibles, please open them to Luke chapter 11, verses 14 and following.

Luke 11:14

And if you don't have a Bible with you, there's always some Bibles here at the front of the church,

which you're welcome to use.

And if you want, you can keep it afterwards.

Take it home as a gift from us.

And it's Luke chapter 11, verse 14.

Luke 11:14

And here's how it goes.

Now, Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute.

When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the people marveled.

Now, just sort of pause.

We're going to spend a couple of minutes on this verse.

But this verse, this is just like a bit of a throwaway thing.

Notice how it begins.

It says, now.

Some of you know that I often have conversations in Starbucks or other coffee places

because I usually work on my sermons in Starbucks or places like that.

And so when you have an open Bible, eventually you start to have conversations with people.

And a very regular conversation that I have with people is that the Bible is completely and utterly untrustworthy

because it's filled with contradictions.

That it'll show things out of order.

That if you read Matthew, it'll show things following in one order.

And then you read the book of Luke and it shows things happening in a different order.

And so you can't trust it.

And so this is just a little bit of a throwaway for you.

Part of the reason that we think that is because most people are like me and don't know Greek,

which is the language that the New Testament was written in.

Because I don't know Greek, part of what I do for my preparation for sermon is read things called commentaries

where people know the Greek so I can find out if there's things going on in the original language

which don't get brought out in English.

And in the original language, there's...

So look here at verse 14.

It begins with now, right?

Now he was casting out a demon.

And in English, usually when we read now, we think,

okay, first the things in verses 1 to 13 happened.

And now these things happened.

But the actual word underneath that is really saying something like,

now I want to talk about this.

In other words, it's not making any claim that it's in any particular type of order.

The person writing the gospel basically wants to try to help us to understand who Jesus is.

And so, you know, just like if you were telling somebody a story about a friend or something like that,

you're trying to tell somebody about a friend,

and you might tell them about this really funny incident of what happened to them.

And then that funny incident makes you aware of other types of things that are like it.

And so you tell the person other things like that

because it sort of gives you a bit of a picture of the person.

And then maybe you go back to your story about something that happened after the first event.

And we all understand how that works.

And that's basically how especially Matthew and Luke are written.

So it means that you can't sort of look at Matthew and look at Luke and say,

oh, you know, he has this happening after this and this happening after this,

and it doesn't follow.

Well, no, no, in the original language, it's as if Jesus has just taught us about prayer,

and he's just taught us about the Holy Spirit.

And then Luke says, you know what, now I'd like to talk about this.

And that's what happened.

So look at verse 14 again.

We'll actually get more of my point.

Now, Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute.

When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.

Now, I'm going to try to describe the event fairly clearly.

And I'm aware of the fact that this text is actually highly problematic for social workers,

psychologists, and doctors, and probably others.

It's counselors and therapists.

It's a very, very difficult text.

In fact, of all the verses that I read, basically, we have this very, very tiny, short description of an exorcism,

and then sort of a long comment about it.

And the text is very clear.

Probably what happened is something like this.

People believe that Jesus had the power to heal, and so they bring somebody to Jesus who has been mute.

They're not able to speak, and they haven't been able to speak for quite a while.

And I guess they're expecting Jesus to heal the man.

But Jesus surprises them.

He doesn't heal him.

He looks at him, and he must have said something like,

Demon, be gone.

And because the crowd all recognizes that it's an exorcism.

And when Jesus says, Demon, be gone, the demon leaves.

And maybe people looking at the man who had not thought that he was demon-possessed,

maybe they saw a change in his eyes, or a relaxant of his shoulders,

or some type of physical bodily type of thing.

But the most astounding thing that they saw was that all of a sudden the man was able to speak.

And that's what the Bible is describing as having happened to Jesus.

It's all very, very terse.

Verse 14, now he was casting out a demon that was mute,

and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.

It's a public miracle he does in front of many people,

and most of the people are completely and utterly astounded by what has happened.

And, well, here's the point.

So here's the thing.

Here's the very, very, very difficult thing about this text.

If you're a doctor and you're treating somebody who can't speak,

do you suspect that there's a demon there?

If you're a therapist dealing with somebody,

or a social worker dealing with somebody,

in Canada in the year 2014,

what would happen if you went to your supervisor and said,

I don't really think that this is a social problem,

I think that they're possessed by a demon?

And I'm guessing that would be a very awkward conversation

for a social worker with their boss,

or a therapist with her boss or supervisor.

And yet, I'm going to talk a bit more about this

throughout the rest of the sermon,

but, I mean, this is the very, very first thing to notice about the text,

that if this text is true,

it's saying that some of our physical problems and symptoms

can be a sign of demonic possession.

So here's the first point.

I'm going to talk a little bit more,

but, Andrew, if you could put the first point up.

I need to pray for myself and for others

that we will remember God's Word written

and learn how it applies to our jobs and our lives.

The grammar's not really perfect.

I apologize for that.

I'll try to polish it up later on.

But you get the basic point.

I need to pray.

We need to pray.

Christians need to pray.

Congregations need to become a prayerful congregation.

And one of the things that we need to pray about

is that each of us will hear God's Word

and remember God's Word,

and that God's Word will have an impact,

an effect on how we understand our jobs

and how we understand ourselves.

I'm sure that some of you, maybe many of you,

maybe all of you, pray on a regular basis for me,

and I'm very thankful for that.

Please keep praying for me.

I need lots of prayer.

But everybody here,

everybody who's a follower of Jesus needs prayer.

Like, what does a doctor do who's a believing Christian,

who believes that texts like this are possible

when he examines people?

Should he or she be spending some time

praying for spiritual discernment?

How does he wisely handle something like this

in the medical establishment?

Should she, as the doctor,

when she sees something like this,

should she be coming to her church

and saying, you know, I'm facing this situation,

it might just be medical,

but I have a feeling there's something else.

Would you pray for this person?

Like, how does that work?

You can see it's difficult,

but it's not just difficult for doctors

and social workers and stuff like that.

What's it like for a person in financial services

or in sales,

where the boss is completely and utterly consumed with greed,

and you're in financial services or sales

and you're dealing with people who are consumed with greed.

And how do you sort of manage that?

Like, how do you manage if you maybe have a boss

that wants you to always upsell,

even when it's not really good for the client,

and on the other hand,

maybe, you know, if you're doing stocks and bonds

and you realize that what's driving this person

is a really, they worship money,

and how do you deal with that?

You know, like, that requires prayer and wisdom.

And you could multiply examples.

You know, maybe it's not specifically,

maybe if you're in some type of engineering,

there's not a specific technical engineering thing,

but there's always people issues.

There's always control issues.

There's always issues of right and wrong and conscience

and limits and all that you shouldn't go beyond

and dishonesty.

And I'm not saying that the whole world is bleak,

but it's not as if you can live years and years and years,

and you never have to face this in your job or in your life.

And so this text,

by making some very, very shocking claim to Canadians

about physical illness,

might have a spiritual component.

It's really challenging all of us to do two things.

The first is to actually remember God's Word

and know it,

because if you don't know it,

you'd never even know to look or to think about it

or just to ponder it.

And we desperately need to go into the type of congregation

where we pray for each other.

I mean, one of the very powerful things

about going to a men's group or the woman's group

or one of the small groups

is that there's an opportunity to build relationships

where some of the stresses in your life

and in your jobs can be shared,

and that you can have people who pray for you specifically.

It might be hard for us as a congregation to do it,

but as you get to know other men or other women

or youth in the youth group

or in small groups,

it becomes a way by which you can pray for each other

with knowledge and with persistence and check up on it.

Now, some of you might be saying,

okay, George, this is very, very interesting,

and yeah, yeah, yeah, we're going to do this,

but you're spending all this time in the sermon,

and then what are you going to do?

You're going to come up to yourself,

oh, and my time's up.

I guess I can't talk about demons.

Sorry.

And you sort of just bypass the whole thing.

No, we're not going to do that.

Let's look at verse 14 again.

Now Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute.

When the demon had gone out,

the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.

Here's the second thing,

not just about this,

but about the commentary that's going to happen,

because the exorcism is very brief,

but the commentary is long.

Here's the second thing,

if you could put it up, Andrew.

The Bible teaches that demons really exist,

and they will cause real harm,

and they should never be trifled with.

The Bible teaches,

Jesus teaches,

demons really exist,

and they will cause real harm,

and they should never be trifled with.

Now this isn't going to be a sermon

on demonic harassment,

and oppression,

and a whole range of different things.

Many of us might live our entire lives

without ever having to be face-to-face,

or deal with somebody

who's fully demonically possessed.

That might happen here in Canada.

Most of us experience demonic,

it's through most of us in our experience

with being influenced by demons,

it has more to do with a sense of slander against us,

an attack against us,

a self-worth,

a lack of confidence,

the type of things that cause division,

and that's our more common things,

and that would be another sermon.

That's not what the text is talking about.

But even in those, in a sense, lesser cases,

it's still clear that demons exist,

that they cause real harm,

and they're not to be trifled with.

This week,

I don't know if it was in The Citizen,

it was in other papers,

there was a big statue of Satan,

big red statue of Satan that appeared.

I was going to say Granville Road,

but it's the highway in Vancouver.

It doesn't matter,

Grandview, I think it is,

the Grandview Highway in Vancouver,

that you could see it off that.

It was a large red statue of Satan.

He had the horned salute,

and he had a massive erection,

and he was big and red,

and it appeared out of nowhere,

and then it got taken away.

And the newspaper article was about the fact

that many people liked the statue.

Some wanted it to return,

some would like to find out where they could buy it,

and have it in their house.

Or their garden,

or their front yard,

or in their dining room,

I don't know.

But here's the thing,

it was just like a curious newspaper thing,

and in pluralistic Canada,

some people like Satan, that's fine,

some people like Gaia, that's fine,

some people like Krishna,

some people like Buddha,

some people like Muhammad,

some people like Jesus,

some people like Jack Daniels,

and watching NFL football on a Sunday,

and they're just sort of all the same,

and whatever sort of turns your crank,

that's just fine.

And so in pluralistic Canada,

that's just the way it is.

But you see, the Bible here says,

the Bible is teaching that if demons really exist,

and the Bible says that they really exist,

and if they cause real harm,

then they should never be trifled with.

They should never be trifled with.

And as we read the,

I'm not going to just keep reading verse 14

over and over and over again,

not that that would be bad,

I'm not going to just keep reading it.

We'll read more,

and you get more of a picture

of the type of harm that demons cause.

But that's a fundamental takeaway for us,

that it's not to be trifled with.

Some of you might say,

George, are you just trying to kill curiosity,

and create fear,

and stop inquiry?

Well, no, not at all.

I'm well past having really tiny young children.

I have some grandchildren.

I'm not going to bore you all

with cute grandchildren stories.

But, you know, for those of you who are parents,

or those of you who observe parents,

it's a very, very tricky thing with kids.

On one hand,

a wise parent wants to encourage curiosity in their kids.

Right?

If you go and you visit somebody,

and every time the kid's trying to ask a question,

or try to touch something,

the parents are slapping them,

or verbally slapping them down,

and you think to yourself,

that's terrible.

You can't,

you know, that parent's way, way too controlling.

Like, curiosity's good in kids,

and inquiry's good in kids.

And so on one hand,

you want to encourage that with kids.

On the other hand,

there's certain things

that are just fundamentally dangerous,

and you don't want them to do it.

So, for instance,

one of my grandkids,

he's figured out,

he's very, you know, like this,

and he's figured out how to open doors.

And you don't want him opening the door

and going out on the street by himself.

Right?

So, I mean,

that's sort of an obvious type of thing.

And the Bible's trying to say

that it's the same type of thing here.

If you read the Bible from cover to cover,

if you've listened to the sermons,

it's very, very obvious

that Jesus loves questions,

that God is able to handle honest questions.

He wants us to ask questions.

In fact,

I would suggest that probably when we die

and we get to heaven,

God will rebuke us

for not asking enough questions in our lives,

for being far too complacent,

and not, in fact,

asking more and more and more

that too many of us get old.

Like, you know,

somewhere about the time we turn six,

or, you know, or 16,

we stop asking childlike questions,

and the rest of our life

is like a withering, withering, withering,

withering consumption

with just scheming and getting,

and we've stopped wondering.

And I wouldn't be surprised if God says,

why did you stop wondering

and being so curious?

Why didn't you not just say,

even if I live to be 98,

I'm going to be curious.

I'm going to have inquiry.

One of the things we're going to see in this text

is that this text, in fact,

talks a little bit about

what it means to be human.

But at the same time,

just like with kids,

you want to encourage their curiosity,

their inquiry,

their site of experiment.

There's just,

if something's really dangerous,

you also want to say,

no, no.

Okay, Greg,

you just,

you don't go,

you don't open the door

and go exploring

out by yourself.

You're too young.

There's too much danger.

And the Bible here is saying

that demons really exist.

They will cause real harm,

and they should never be trifled with.

So,

but here's the other thing.

So,

Jesus does this miracle,

and you can ask yourself,

well,

how is it that people respond

to this exorcism?

Do they show inquiry?

Are they curious?

Do they say,

gosh,

Jesus,

how do you do that?

Like,

whoa.

Well,

let's see.

Some people go,

whoa,

and other people have

one of two other responses.

It's in verses 15 and following.

But some of them said,

so go back to the very last part

of verse 14,

and the people marveled.

Verse 15,

but some of them said,

Jesus casts out demons

by Beelzebul,

the prince of demons,

while others,

to test him,

kept seeking from him

a sign from heaven.

Just sort of pause there.

Keep your finger there.

Some of these people

have really come right up

in Jesus' face

to really insult him.

Beelzebul was one of the

Jewish names

for the devil.

And the name,

this name for the devil

was created

by taking

an ancient pagan god,

Baal,

an ancient pagan god,

Baal,

and adding the word

for poop

only said

far more foul,

which I can't say

from up front

at church on a Sunday.

And they put

this pagan name

for God

with this word

for excrement

and they call devil

the lord of excrement.

And that's why

in some versions

it's also understood

as the lord of the flies

because excrement

left out

attracts flies.

So in a sense

it was a polite way

to say

lord of,

and fill in

how you may be

on the street

here,

excrement referred to.

And that's what

they say.

Jesus is just

under the power

of the lord of excrement.

I see it right

in front of everybody

to his face.

And others just say,

you know what,

Jesus,

yeah, yeah,

I've seen you

cast out a demon

before,

I got the t-shirt,

got the hat,

got the tattoo,

come on,

show us a real sign

from heaven.

And that we sort of

going to talk about

next week

because Jesus

sort of deals

with that

like later on

in the text.

But now he focuses

on those

who say that

what he's doing

is because he's

under the power

of the devil.

So verse 17,

but Jesus,

knowing their

thoughts,

said to them,

every kingdom

divided against

itself is laid

waste,

and a divided

household falls.

And if Satan

also is divided

against himself,

how will his

kingdom stand?

For you say

that I cast out

demons by Beelzebul.

And if I cast out

demons by Beelzebul,

by whom do your

sons cast them out?

Therefore they will

be your judges.

But if it is

by the finger

of God

that I cast

out demons,

then the kingdom

of God

has come upon

you.

Just sort of

pause here.

We're going to

talk about it

more in a moment.

What we see

in Jesus'

response

is he says,

surely,

I mean,

he's talking

to a different

cultural context

than postmodern

Canada,

whereby many

of them would

accept the

reality of

demons and

have a certain

degree.

Some would be

fascinated and

want the power

that comes from

connection with

them, but many

would be

frightened of

it.

And Jesus

is in a sense

going to say,

I'm dangerous

too.

I'm dangerous

too.

I'm going to

explain it in a

moment, but

just say,

if, verse

20, but if

it is by the

finger of God

that I cast

out demons,

then the

kingdom of

God has come

upon you.

When a strong

man, fully

armed, guards

his own palace,

his goods are

safe, but when

one's stronger

than he attacks

him and

overcomes him,

he takes away

his armor in

which he trusted

and divides

his spoil.

Whoever is

not with me

is against me,

and whoever

does not gather

with me

scatters.

Now, just

sort of pause

here for a

second.

The finger

of God

is a very,

we don't get

it, and the

early readers

of Luke's

gospel, who

many would

have been

pagans who

become

Christians,

without having

become Jewish

first, they

might not have

got it as

well, but for

those who

were Jewish

who were

listening,

this reference

to Jesus and

the finger of

God would

have been a

very, very

powerful type

of a statement

because two

of the most

famous texts

in the Old

Testament,

there's two

very, very

famous texts

in the Old

Testament about

the finger

of God,

and the

first one

is if you

go back to

the early

books of

the Bible

and you

look at

Exodus and

Deuteronomy,

and as God

brings the

people of

Israel out

of Egypt

and on the

way to the

promised land,

and he's

going to enter

into a

covenant with

them where he

offers, in a

sense, to be

their king

over them,

and he

accepts them

as his

treasured

possession and

his people,

and a key

foundational part

of him being

their king and

them being their

treasured possession

is that he

gives them ten

summary statements

or laws called

the Ten

Commandments,

and that's a

crucial part of

it, and how

is it written?

The Bible says

that Moses takes

stone tablets and

by the finger of

God the

commandments are

written, so

it's pointing

to God's

active presence

in gathering

of people for

himself to be

his treasured

possession, and

in a sense, the

terms of what it

means to belong to

him are actually

written by the

finger of God, and

towards the end of

the Old Testament,

there's a story in

Daniel chapter 5,

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

which also would

have been a very

telling illustration

of this.

You can go back

and read it later,

but basically, in

summary, the people

of Israel are in

captivity by the

Babylonians, and

Belshazzar, who's

the successor of

Nebuchadnezzar, he

decides to throw a

huge party, and he

asks for the

temple, stuff from

the temple of

Israel to come out

so that they could

get drunk with it,

and as they're

doing that, and

they're all having a

great time partying

and praising the

gods of gold and

of bronze and of

stone, in the

midst of it, it

appears as if the

finger of God shows

up and writes on

the wall, many,

many, tickle,

tackle, parson.

And then Daniel's

brought in, and he

interprets it that God

has written that he

has judged the

Babylonians, he's

judged Belshazzar, and

that that night the

kingdom will fall from

the Babylonians and the

Persians will take over

the empire and Belshazzar

will die.

And that's what Jesus is

saying when he says

about the finger of God.

God, he says, okay,

well, you push back,

you think I'm doing

this by satanic power,

and he gives some

reasons why that might

some, you know, some

from what if types of

things, but he says,

but if what you see is

the finger of God, it

means the kingdom of God

has come upon you.

And then he describes

himself as the strong

man that's able to

bind and that's able

to bind.

So some of you might

say, okay, so George,

okay, okay, okay, I

knew it was going to

get to this.

Okay, so George, you

don't want us to buy

big red statues of

Satan, and you don't

want us to use Ouija

boards, and you don't

want us to just, you

know, you can say,

okay, maybe you can do

yoga if you're just

stretching, but if you're

asking you to chant,

you know, Hindu gods,

you shouldn't do it.

And, you know, George,

I knew it was just

going to come to a

whole pile of negatives,

right, because that's

what you Christian and

religious types do.

All you want to do is

just talk about

negatives.

Don't do this, don't

do this, don't do

this, don't do this.

Is that now, George,

what your application's

going to be of all of

this?

Just it's going to be a

whole lot of no's?

No.

Actually, what the text

is showing is that,

well, actually, Andrew,

if you could put it up.

Only following religious

and spiritual rules

creates the illusion

of emptiness.

The kingdom of God is

primarily about the

saving presence of Jesus.

Only following religious

and spiritual rules

creates the illusion of

emptiness, like a free

space, a space where you

can just sort of be

yourself.

You learn the different

no's.

Okay, I can't do this,

I can't do this, I can't

do this, I can't do this,

I can't do this.

What it ends up leaving

is a place where you

sort of can do whatever

you want.

If it's Islam, you follow

this rule and this rule

and this rule.

If it's different ways

of Christianity being

understood as a religion,

then you don't watch

pornography and you don't

do this and you don't do

this and you have your

own thing and you learn

this ritual and you learn

this.

But all it is is creating

all these no's and in a

sense where the heart is,

where you really are as

yourself, it's like that's

just sort of empty.

You can do whatever you

want.

It's unchanged.

And spirituality, for the

spiritual, not religious,

it might be that the rules

are a bit more transgressive

and some of them are like

giving the finger to

religions or some of them

are just something which is

highly idiosyncratic but

it's still a whole pile of

no's that creates what I'm

going to suggest is an

illusion of emptiness.

But as we're going to see,

Jesus here is saying that

I'm not about emptiness and

I'm not about religious

rules.

I'm about the heart and the

real true living God in a

world where God, the living

God really exists and the

human heart, which is the

center of who we are, is

really there and it's how

God comes into the human

heart and the human heart

comes into God.

It's about presence, not

absence.

Only following religious and

spiritual rules creates the

illusion of emptiness.

The kingdom of God is

primarily about the saving

presence of Jesus.

That's what it's actually all

about.

See, it comes if you read

verses 24 to 26.

Let's read them.

When the unclean spirit has

gone out of a person, it

passes through waterless

places seeking rest.

And finding none, it says, I

will return to my house from

which I came.

And when it comes, it finds

the house swept and put in

order.

Then it goes and brings seven

other spirits more evil than

itself and they enter and

dwell there.

And the last state of that

person is worse than the

first.

So maybe they followed rules

and as a result of rules,

they're empty.

Maybe as a result of therapy,

some of the type of

harassment that a person had

been experiencing that we

might understand as having a

connection to the demonic,

that that goes away.

Maybe by doing certain

rituals, there's a type of

peace so that certain types

of harassment all don't

come.

And in a sense, it describes

what happens with mere

religion or with therapy or

mere religious principles or

mere spirituality is that it

can create a type of

emptiness within.

But what Jesus is saying is

that there's never really an

emptiness.

It's an illusion that there's

emptiness.

And it's very possible that

after what you think is

emptiness, that something

spiritual comes right back in

and something far worse.

wilderness.

Now, I'm not going to try to

explain, I'm not going to try

to explain, I'm not going to

try to explain what

wilderness means.

That's one of those things

of just, I think it means

that the demons go towards

barrenness.

It's all part of the thing

that the demons, when they,

well, how do demons harm us?

They create within us a

fascination of barrenness

instead of a fascination with

life.

They create within us a

fascination with death.

So the barrenness rather than

fruitfulness, of death rather

than life, of harm rather

than of healing, of binding

rather than of freeing.

That that's what demons do

as they come in.

Of belittling rather than

building up.

Of pushing down rather than

lifting up.

Of turning inward eyes and

being self-centered rather

than having eyes for others

and wanting to help.

Of being completely and

utterly, of not being at all

interested in the needs of

others rather than what

Jesus does which makes us

aware of the needs of others.

That that's that's what the

demons are doing and I

think that's partly why

that this image of

wilderness is there.

But that's one of those

things that we just have to

remember the scripture and

meditate upon the scripture

and ponder the scripture and

allow that scripture to

influence how we see and

understand what goes on in

our own experience and what

goes on in our life.

But Jesus is talking here

about the danger of an

illusion of emptiness that

can get filled by a

spiritual power.

So some of you might say

okay George I'm a little

bit confused by all of

this and if religion is not

just a matter about learning

certain rituals, spirituality

is not a matter of learning

certain rituals, if it's not

just a matter of learning a

whole pile of no's and the

really religious person knows

more no's than everybody

else and the spiritual person

just has different no's or

less no's, different and

less, like what?

Here's the thing.

Everything in this, remember

every week I'm going to say

this, but everything that

happens in Luke that we're

reading right now in the

weeks to come is all within

the context of Jesus going

to Jerusalem to die.

It's all about Jesus is going

to Jerusalem to die on the

cross and he's going to

regularly remind the

disciples we're heading to

Jerusalem, I'm heading to

Jerusalem to die on the

cross.

And you see, so what this

text is inviting us to say

is not to despair that all

we can do is create an

illusion of emptiness.

It's creating a context where

we ask for a saving power

that only comes from God.

If you could put up the next

point, Andrew, the context of

the book of Luke, if you read

it and you see in Luke chapter

nine, Jesus says to his

disciples, I'm going to go to

Jerusalem, I'm going to die on

the cross.

And we're going to see it

like every couple of

chapters, he says it again,

he says it again until in

Luke chapter 19, he arrives

Luke 19 · chapter mention

in Jerusalem.

It's going to be a regular

feature of his teaching.

Everything that we read is to

be understood as something

Jesus teaches as he goes to

Jerusalem to die.

And the deep mystery of what

is it all about is that Jesus

is the strong one who dies at

the hands of the weak to save

the weak.

We're going to look again in a

moment at verses 21 and 22,

but that's one of the, see,

that's the positive thing that

Jesus is saying.

He's saying, listen, the devil's

a strong man, but he's not

strong compared to me.

I'm vastly stronger.

The devil is a strong man

compared to you.

He's stronger than you, but I'm

vastly stronger than you and I'm

vastly stronger than Beelzebub.

I'm incomparably stronger.

Incomparably stronger.

And yet the profound mystery,

which is a deep offense to those

of us who worship power, even if

we don't realize it, is that Jesus

is saying this as he's on his way

to die.

Jesus is the strong one who willingly

dies at the hands of the weak to

save the weak.

You know, you'll hear me pray over

and over and over again that what

I'm hoping, what I want for myself

is I want to be a disciple of Jesus

gripped by the gospel, living for

God's glory.

What do I want to do?

I want to be used by God to make

disciples gripped by the gospel,

living for his glory.

And as we're gripped by the gospel,

we're gripped by the story of the

strong one who willingly went to

Jerusalem to die at the hands of

the weak, to save the weak.

And the Bible describes that this is

the power of God for salvation,

that God provides a power.

I can only stand naked as a weak

person, as a beggar.

And God provides a power for

salvation that comes in the strong

one, willingly out of love for you

and me, submitting to weak ones.

And by his death, the weak are

saved.

That in him submitting to weak ones

to kill him, God is providing a

power that saves if we receive.

And so Jesus tells this story, and he

tries to reveal that if it's just

about rules, and it's just about

therapy, and it's just about

principles, and it's just about

religion, and it's just about

spirituality, and it's just about

all of these types of things, it's

just about no's, it creates an

illusion of emptiness.

But what's actually needed is the

presence of a power for salvation

that all we can do is receive, that he

desires to give.

And there's sort of another image

within this that helps to put it

into its context.

Look up again at verse 21.

I'm just going to draw this to a

close.

It says something very significant

about human beings.

When a strong man, fully armed,

guards his own palace, his goods are

safe.

But when one stronger than he attacks

him and overcomes him, he takes

away his armor in which he trusted

and divides his spoil.

Look at that.

Verse 21.

When a strong man, fully armed,

guards his own palace.

Look down again to verse 24.

When the unclean spirit has gone

out of a person that passes through

waterless places, seeking rest and

finding none, it says, I will return

to my house from which I came.

What is the house or the palace of the

devil?

In this particular case, it was the man

who was deaf.

It wasn't that there's a hell down

there and that there's demons sitting

on thrones.

It's describing the man who had the

demon cast out of him, that that man

understood the man to be his palace,

his home.

And the demon sat on the throne in the

man's life.

See, here's the thing which the Bible is

opening up to us.

If you could put it up, Andrew.

The Bible teaches that every human being

has a throne at the center of who they are.

The great question is, who or what is on

the throne?

Every human being has a throne at the center

of who they are.

The great question is, who or what is on

the throne?

See, what the Bible teaches is that human

beings, each human being was ultimately,

well, human as a race, but each of us are

created by God and that God made all

things good.

And God made human beings, even though

there's an integrity to us and a

certain type of a self-possession of each

of us, God made human beings so that the

very center of who we are, which the Bible

uses the word heart, but the very center

of who we are, God placed a throne.

And in the center of whom we are, God sat

on the throne.

And what happens in Genesis 3 is that, you

know, our, in a sense, our primal ancestors,

Adam and Eve, when they reject God and desire

to be like gods themselves, it's as if they try

to say, I'm going to sit on that throne at the

very, very center of who.

But the throne is made for God.

It's not made for George.

George doesn't have a throne in the center of

who he is that he's to sit on.

George has a throne in the center of who he is

that was made for God.

It's God's throne in the very center of who I am

that he is to sit on.

And when he sits on that throne, when the

kingdom of God, in a sense, is present in

George, that's when George knows not barrenness,

but fruitfulness, not death, but life, not pain,

but joy, not ugliness, but beauty, not being

bound, but being free.

That's what happens when God is sitting on the

throne, which he built into every single human

being.

Every single one of you who are here has a

throne at the center of whom you are that was

made for God that only God should sit in.

And part of what religion and spirituality and

therapy and moral principles is all about is

that since we have vacated that, we've pushed God

out of that throne.

We've, in a sense, kicked him out.

And we can't even really sit on the throne very long.

And so what happens is that throne is filled with

idols.

And so, in a sense, the throne in the center of my

life is a very crowded throne.

Because maybe I'm trying to sit on that throne, but I

also have an idol of money.

Or I also have an idol of power.

Or I also have an idol of prestige.

Or I also maybe have an idol of my grandkids.

Or I have an idol of my job.

Or I have an idol of my political beliefs.

Or I have a whole pile of idols.

And all of these idols are sitting on the throne of my life.

And a lot of times, all that therapy and religion and

spirituality does is it kicks out the idol of Jack Daniels

and puts a Pharisaic idol in its place.

Sometimes what appears to be conversion is just a changing

of idols.

An unruly idol is replaced with a very well-ordered idol.

The unruly idol of just being completely crazy is replaced by the

soccer mom idol.

And so, what Jesus is saying here is that if there's a throne at the

center of every human heart, then he is the strong one on the way to

Jerusalem to die at the hands of weak ones for the weak.

That there is a power from God for salvation that comes.

And we're invited to say to God,

God, I have tried to kick you out of the, it's an illusion that there's this

empty throne.

It's, in fact, I can never sit on this throne.

And I acknowledge I have a constant parade of idols that I try to put on the

throne at the center of who I am.

And I'm actually helpless to try to deal with this.

I thank you, Jesus, for dying upon the cross for me.

I thank you for being the strong one who dies at the hands of the weak one for the

weak.

I am weak.

May you come and take your rightful place with saving power and healing

authority on the throne of my life.

And that's when the Christian life begins.

And the Christian life is lived not by seeking to know more religious rules and

more rituals, although there's things obviously to know, but being so gripped by

the gospel that we understand that Jesus, the one who sits at the throne at the

center of our lives, is a strong one who died for us, who became weak to die for us.

That by nothing that I have done or could do, that Jesus is a power of God for

salvation to be at the very center of who we are.

And that Jesus, when we ask him, will come and live in who we are.

He'll make his home in us, in the throne that is properly his.

Please stand.

Thank you.

I'm just going to invite you, all of us.

You know, even, you see, one of the things that's about being a Christian is that we

ask Jesus to be on the throne of our lives.

And part of what happens to us is, before we know it, we want Jesus to have a seat up

there, but we also would like him to sit beside money and power and looks.

And so partly what it means to be a Christian is to be gripped by the gospel and say, once

again, Jesus, I'm slipping into illusion.

I'm slipping into having idols be at the center of who I am.

And Jesus, I want them all out.

I only want you to be at the center of who I am.

And I understand that when you are at the center of who I am, there is freedom.

There is life.

There is fruitfulness.

There is fullness.

Even if external things in my life don't, that that's what you do as you truly reign with

saving power and healing authority at the center of who I am.

That there is fruitfulness in life and reconciliation to you with my creator.

And Jesus, once again, kick out the idols.

I really want to have you enthroned at the center of my life and you alone.

And for others, the Christian life begins by saying, I didn't realize that, Jesus.

This makes sense.

Please come in and sit in the throne of my life as my savior and as my Lord.

And I'm not going to lead you in a prayer.

I'm just going to say the Holy Spirit is convicting some of you to pray words in your own words.

And all you have to say is, Jesus, there's a throne.

You need to be on it.

Please come in and live in it.

But I'll just say a prayer in closing.

Challenge you, though, to invite Jesus to be on the throne of your life.

Let's pray.

Father, you know the different idols.

Maybe even for some demonic presence that has a presence on the throne of our lives.

You know what's going on in the lives and hearts of every single person who is here.

And we ask that, Father, in your kindness, that your Holy Spirit would fall with might

and power and deep conviction upon each of us to turn us to Jesus.

Father, deliver us, Father, from illusions of emptiness and illusions of religion and illusions of spirituality.

And, Father, grip us with the gospel.

Grip us with the gospel so that we call out, Father, upon Jesus to sit on the throne of our lives

to be the savior and the Lord of who we are.

Father, please do this.

Please rule.

May there be nothing in our lives that is not under your healing authority and saving power.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.