Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Few these days take seriously the idea of evil spirits inhabiting people, but demons are very real. Jesus drove demons out of many people to set them free from self-destruction.
There is a spirit realm marked by conflict between powers of darkness and the powers of light. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Wind with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, we are learning lessons from the parables of Jesus, and today you are taking us into Luke chapter 11. What will today's lesson be about? Dave, I want to encourage every listener to be sure to give attention to what Jesus has to say. It's going to be so encouraging to know that he is the strong man, and nobody can really overcome him, and because of that there is hope. There is hope for those who struggle with sins and demonization and all those things that are happening in today's world.
I've been told recently that witchcraft is on the rise here in the United States, and many people are being hooked into various demonic games, various demonic experiences. Jesus is the deliverer. That's the lesson that we need to learn. So I want us to listen carefully now to the words of Jesus and be encouraged that when we believe on him, we know that we are trusting a winner.
Listen carefully. Today it is my privilege to speak to you about the unseen spirit world. First of all, we must recognize that the spirit world is a place of great conflict, because it is there where God exists.
We don't see him with our naked eyes. It is there where angels exist, and it is there where Satan exists with all of his multiplied thousands of demons. So it's a place of activity and a place of great conflict.
Let me say also that it is a place of tremendous influence. The Bible tells us in the book of Daniel that Daniel was praying one day, and he didn't understand why his prayer wasn't heard. And after three weeks of prayer, it was revealed to him through the angel that came that the prince of Persia withstood Daniel's answer to prayer and the angel of God, the prince of Persia. That leads us to believe that Satan, who stands above it all because he is only one being, but has multiplied millions of cohorts, that Satan's standing there, he's organized it all. And that's why the Bible speaks about principalities and powers and unseen forces.
And I can imagine that he assigns one to Persia, one to the United States, one to Great Britain, and all of the different countries of the world. And then under them, there are other spirits who have responsibilities, and it gets right down to our families, where there is a tremendous amount of conflict in many homes, and it gets right down to the individual. And that's why the Bible teaches that Satan is able to put thoughts into our minds that we think are our own. The best example, of course, comes from the book of Acts, chapter 5, where you have Ananias and Sapphira deciding to tell a lie, and Peter said, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? Now, when Jesus arrives on earth, all of the forces of wickedness all converge in what we call Israel.
They were all there. And that's why you have Satan showing up so often personally. It is Satan personally who tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
It is Satan who shows up. And the reason is because with the coming of Jesus and the coming of light, all the forces of darkness converged there in the land. And that's why in the New Testament, you have so many different stories about people who were demonized. And it is because there was a special, it seems to me at least, a very special reason why you have all of this activity against Jesus. For example, when he was first born, Satan tried to kill him. And he did that using King Herod, who slew all of the boys who were two years of age and under in the environs of Bethlehem, hoping that he would also be able to capture and kill Jesus.
So Satan has always been against Jesus and trying to do him in. All of that leads us to the 11th chapter, the 11th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 11. And I want you to follow along in your Bibles because we're going to go down this passage that Jesus Christ is involved in. And if you're using the Bible that is in the seat ahead of you, it is page 869. Follow along in Luke chapter 11. Notice that it says in verse 14, and that's where we're going to pick it up, 11, 14, now he was casting out a demon that was mute when the demon had gone out. The mute man spoke and the people marveled.
I need to pause there. Critics of the New Testament say that the ancients were very primitive and they ascribed all disabilities and human weakness to Satan. And that's what you have appearing here in the New Testament.
You have it attributed to a demon. So I need to clarify that there are passages in the New Testament that show very clearly that oftentimes there are physical disabilities where Satan is not involved or any of his minions. For example, in the 9th chapter of the Gospel of John, the man who was born blind, Jesus said it's not because of any sin in his life. It's not because of the sin of his parents. There are other reasons why this man was born blind. So we can't ascribe all disability to Satan.
But there are times when the devil will actually use his authority, and we don't know why he was given authority in this case, to bring about some physical ailments. So Jesus casts out this demon and a man who could not speak because he was mute begins to talk and everyone begins to marvel. Now Jesus, at this point in his ministry, was at a place where there was a great deal of criticism against him that was building.
And the criticism was for various reasons. Some people said that it is because he had large crowds. He had larger crowds than the Pharisees. And they were jealous of him, the scripture says. But then Jesus was also making those deity statements, those claims that he was God. And so people came from Jerusalem, the scribes and the Pharisees. They left Jerusalem. They went into the Galilee area where this takes place. And they were there to accuse him. They couldn't deny the miracles because they were too obvious. So they did the next best thing as far as they were concerned. When people don't have a legitimate criticism, what they do is they resort to slander.
And that's what happened here. You'll notice that there were some among them, the scripture says, he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Who in the world is Beelzebul? In the Old Testament, there's a reference to Beelzebul as being the chief god of the pagans, the Canaanites. And he was their chief god. So over there in 1 Kings chapter 1, it's referred to as Beelzebub here, Beelzebul.
There are many theories as to why there is a change in spelling that we need not go into, except to say that this word that was attributed to Canaanite gods was now attributed to Satan. And so what they are saying is he is casting out demons by Satan, the prince, the prince actually of demons. So that's where they land with their criticism of Jesus, this terrible slander. Now Jesus answers them. And he does it by irrefutable logic, gives them two things that indicate that they are wrong.
Thank you very much. First of all, Jesus says this, he knowing their thoughts, verse 17, said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. Jesus says, first of all, Satan does not have a divided kingdom. Could you imagine if Satan began to cast out his own demons?
Obviously his kingdom would be weakened and his kingdom would fall. You just don't have that in the evil world, though sometimes you have it even in, quote, the good world. But there is this important point, a divided kingdom can't stand, at least very long. This is true of Satan's kingdom. It is also true of churches. If you have a church that is divided, and all of us know the history of many church splits, as we have seen them throughout the years, if you have people who have to make up their mind, are you on this side of the aisle in this debate or are you on that side, and they begin to snipe at one another and accuse one another and slander one another, that church cannot stand or else it will be greatly weakened. Families, same thing. Some of you come from homes where there is constant confusion. I cannot exaggerate too much that what the devil wants in our homes today is confusion and hostility.
So that one family member snipes at the other, one says blue, the other says red, one says green, the other says pink, and no matter where they are at, nobody rejoices in the success of another family member because all of them are hostile to one another. That is the kingdom of Satan. And no family that is divided against itself can stand very long with any sense of dignity and positive influence. So Jesus says, if you can't deny that I'm casting out demons, and they couldn't deny that, for you to say that it is satanic is foolish. Even Satan is wise enough to know he doesn't cast out those who are doing his bidding, even if they're not doing it quite right.
Then there's a second reason that Jesus gives. He says in verse 19, 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 to you. Jesus is saying, now you folks have Jewish exorcists, and they did. Since the time of Solomon, there were exorcists who had certain incantations that they used for demonized people, and perhaps they worked, perhaps they didn't work, but at least the claim was that they worked. And Jesus said, if I'm casting out demons and I'm actually doing it in the name of Beelzebul, in whose name and by whose authority do your children, your relatives, your exorcists cast them out, they must be doing it in the name of Beelzebul as well.
They will be your judges. But then I love this. Jesus said, but if I cast out demons by the finger of God, don't you love it? I mean, not even the hand of God, just the finger of God causes demons to leave. If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. Now all that to set up the parable that Jesus told in this context. Jesus, in order to illustrate and to make his point, and this is a series on parables so you can understand that we're still in that series, you'll notice that Jesus says now, and I'm picking it up in about verse 21, 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 is trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me.
Whoever does not gather with me scatters. Jesus is talking about two men, and he's talking about the strong man, the kingdom of darkness guarding his palace, and that's a picture of Satan. He has awesome power, and he wants to keep all those who are walking in darkness in obedience to him.
He wants to make sure that they are kept within his kingdom, and he doesn't want any of them to get away. And by the way, there's an interesting principle here that when we go into Satan's kingdom, it is always difficult to come out of it because he wants to hang on to those who are his own. And he is the one now who has armor, and he is the one who has various names in the Bible, Satan does, and sometimes I use the word Satan almost interchangeably with his demons because we're talking about the kingdom of darkness. And he is called, for example, in the Bible, the Adversary, because he's always standing against God. Wherever God shows up to do a work, Satan shows up. If a family is brought to reconciliation through repentance, Satan shows up to try to undo God's work.
Everything that God is for, Satan is against. He is the adversary. Now, he's also called the devil, which means slanderer, and we see the slander right here in the text where Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the prince of demons. And slander is the devil's work. If you say today, Pastor Lutzer, I'd like to do the devil's work.
Show me where he works and I'll be there to help him. What you do is you gossip, you make false accusations, you speak against other people in whispers because that is his work. He is the accuser, the slanderer, and he will make false accusations.
He will take true accusations and exaggerate them because, remember, that is his work. In Timothy, the Apostle Paul was talking about the wives of deacons. And by the way, what he said about them, of course, applies to the deacons too. But he said, let them not be slanderers. In the Greek text, it is literally, let them not be devils. Because the minute you become a slanderer, you are doing Satan's bidding.
Slander is his most important weapon. And so he is called the devil. He's also called the lion seeking whom he may devour. Young person, the devil wants you. He wants you as badly as pornography's want you to be an addict. And what he's doing is he's looking for people to sign up in his whole host of addictions because he wants to hold you bound. He wants you to keep in the kingdom of darkness and just manage it one way or another, perhaps through alcoholism or through drugs. In some way, he wants you to manage your darkness. He does not want you to come to light. He is seeking whom he may devour.
He is out to destroy you and has a terrible plan for your life. So he is spoken of as a lion. He's also spoken of as a serpent. The serpent is, of course, that deceiving, evil being, even as he was there in the Garden of Eden. So what we need to understand is that there is a strong man who holds people bound, and they can't get away on their own.
Oh, within his palace, within his household, and Jesus implies that he's got both a household and a palace in the text, both a household and a kingdom. And what you can do is you can move from one place to another in his kingdom. You can do all that you possibly can to manage the consequences of your darkness. And it'll be so important for you to call darkness light because that's part of the deception. And so many people walking in darkness think that this is a well-liten path with all of its blessings and all of its wonderful consequences. And he'll try to keep you there.
And the problem is you can only manage you can only manage it. You cannot get away from the darkness and from being held captive. So Jesus said that there's a strong man, and you and I know how strong he is, very strong.
He is Satan. But now, thankfully, in this parable, there's another man. And you'll notice it says that Jesus said that there is another man when a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe.
Ah, thank God for verse 22. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. The only way you can have freedom from this strong man is to have a stronger man come and overtake him and overtake his armor and weaken him so that you can walk away free.
You need outside help, though. You can't get from darkness to light on your own. You need somebody stronger than the kingdom of darkness.
And I'm here to announce to you something that I hope you already know. In Colossians chapter 2, verse 15, it says this, that when Jesus died, he disarmed all principalities and powers and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Jesus did that. He spoiled the devil. He took away his armor. And how did Jesus do that?
He did it by invading that kingdom of darkness and saying, I'm invading the kingdom in a rescue mission. And I'm going to turn these captives who are in condemnation, and I am going to turn them from condemnation to something much more blessed, namely restoration. So that instead of being condemned, they will be restored, reconciled to God.
And then, instead of being accused, I am going to vindicate them. And who shall lay any charge to God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemned?
It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again and is even now that is risen again and is even now on the throne of God, who also makes intercession for us. And I will vindicate them, and I will no longer charge them with their sin, no longer condemnation but restoration, no longer accusation but vindication, no longer slavery but service, and no longer hell but heaven. This is Pastor Lutzer. I have to tell you that I am so encouraged by the ministry of Running to Win. I do have to ask you the question, have you been blessed as a result of this ministry? I hope that you answer yes, and I need to tell you that Running to Win is now heard on more than a hundred stations throughout Central and South America.
It's heard, by the way, in Spanish. Why can we do that? It's because of people like you who invest in this ministry. If you've been blessed, it is because others have invested, and I want to encourage you to consider this ministry. Now, I hold in my hand a letter from someone from Central America who says, hey, brothers and sisters, God bless you. Your program has made me reflect and get right with God. And then he goes on to talk about the struggle that he's had with bitterness. Well, letters like this reflect the lives of thousands upon thousands of people, and you can help us get this message out. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner? Those are partners who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts.
And I want to emphasize not just their gifts, but their gifts. Here's how you can find out more information. I hope that you have a pen somewhere so that you can write this down. You can go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com. Click on the endurance partner button. Or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. I want to thank you in advance for joining us.
I like to think of it as joining the Running to Win family. Let me give you that info again, RTWOffer.com. Click on the endurance partner button. Or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337.
1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. In a parable, Jesus taught about a strong man and a stronger man, whose help is crucial in defeating the merely strong man. Next time on Running to Win, more lessons on how we can't go it alone. We can only defeat Satan in the name and power of Jesus. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
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