"The Crowd was amazed, but Some of Them..."
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Human nature is an interesting thing to say the least. Every one of us at some point in time can look back on a past behavior and ask ourselves the question, “what in the world would cause me to act in such a way?” Every one of us are cursed with a sin nature.
Romans 3:23 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” that means every one. You can not escape it and I have found that human nature and that is a nice way of saying acting out in the flesh I will add, means acting in the flesh will never come at opportune times. When we act in the flesh, none of us will ever say, “I’m glad I acted that way at that given time. That was so appropriate for the situation.” None of us will ever make that comment.
You and I have experienced this in ourselves and watching others. It can begin in what appears as innocent or it can take on the face of extremism. It begins at almost infancy when a child is getting all the attention and some other child comes and takes part of that attention and the first child will become upset.
There will be times our spirits are conforming and pleasant and at other times we are controversial or combative in nature. Sometimes our flesh can function with such subtly and we think we are camouflaging our selfish, self centered, prideful ways.
Do you know what I am talking about? A majority will be for something and the something I am speaking about is for the greater good of all parties involved and then there will always be that one or that handful that causes havoc for the group at large. Have you met those that will be on the opposite side of the fence just for spite?
You can choose a vacation destination or a restaurant or just some outdoor activity in general to do and the majority will be in total harmony and be excited about what the group at large is getting ready to do. And then there are those others. You get that one or that couple of people that just put water on the fire or simply take the wind out of your sail with their combative, nonconforming spirit. They want to do something totally different and have reasons to justify their actions.
This morning in our text, Jesus performed a miracle. He healed a demoniac that was mute. Jesus performed an exorcism on the demoniac and the person spoke.
You would think that everyone would be in awe of what Jesus just did. And, the reality is that most of the people, the scriptures state the “multitudes marveled.” The acts was magnificent. The miracle put people in awe of Jesus’ amazing power over demonic spirits. The mast majority could see nothing but good from a changed life.
The title of this morning’s message is:
“The crowd was amazed, but some of them....”
Listen closely this morning to the message. On any given day, we can be “some of them.” And I want us all to hear a very sobering statement from Jesus’ own words this morning.
Luke 11:23 “23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
I want you to meditate on those words. Jesus’ is saying to us that when we live or act in such a way that is contrary to His way and what He is trying to accomplish, if we are not for Him, we are against Him. There is no neutrality with the Lord. You do not have a play card with Jesus that allows you to straddle the fence, a come see come saw attitude or to take an abstention from a vote on what he is doing. Listen closely, there is no neutral position in our actions and when we live with apathy or indifference even, we have crossed over into enemy territory.
I initially entitled the message this morning, “Harvester or Hellion?” Our lives either draw people to Jesus or drive them away. Listen dearly beloved, our inaction to the things of God is in essence a deterrent because it teaches indifference. And when we call ourselves Christians and we have indifference to the things of God, we have stepped into enemy territory.
But as I read the text this morning to share on I was frozen by these words, “the crowd was amazed, but some of them...”
The crowd was blown away and amazed at the miracle, the handiwork of Jesus, but there were a few of them that responded differently. Let’s learn this morning that when we cross into enemy territory and we are operating in the flesh, what are signs to look for to find reconciliation and repentance with the Lord and get back within His blessings.
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Luke 11:14-23.
Luke 11:14-23
Luke 11:14-23
14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
16 Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. 17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 22 But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. 23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Prayer
Message
In today’s text we find a couple of things happening in Luke’s gospel. Opposition was growing against Jesus among the religious elite and the Lord was using life events for training. Jesus was not immune to opposition. The disciples would experience opposition and you and I experience opposition to the things of God today. Jesus was doing what we call on the job training.
Miracle of Blessedness V. 14
Miracle of Blessedness V. 14
Luke 11:14 “14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.”
On the surface, the majority of people that witnessed this scene undoubtedly knew this man (and we know he was a man from Matthew’s account, Matthew 12:22-30, Mark’s account Mark 3:22-27). Furthermore, we know from Matthew’s account he was a man and we know from both Matthew’s account and Mark’s account that the opposing groups were the Pharisees and Scribes. From Matthew’s account we know he was a man and not only could he not speak, but he was blind as well. We can only assume they had seen him for years and had never heard him speak and he must have walked with a stick to feel his way or was escorted by another person . There were enough eyewitnesses to the event to know the exorcism, the act of healing was genuine.
The Scriptures state that the “multitudes marveled” at what they witnessed, what they heard as the man speak. Can’t you hear the people say, “for a man who has never spoken, he is catching up for lost words. He is not just speaking, but he is speaking clear as an adult. He speaks better than me. Oh my goodness. Praise the Lord! and notice, no stick, no escort, he is walking and finding his way perfectly. Based on the things he’s seeing far off, his eyes are better than mine. To God be the glory.....”
There was no question that the miracle had taken place. Even the Pharisees could not argue that the exorcism took place. They had taken a formal stand to be at opposition with Jesus. The question is why. The crowd irrefutably could not deny the miracle. The crowd was unanimous in recognizing the goodness of jesus and the kind act, the noble act, the righteous act that Jesus committed. There was no arguing that fact. How could there be opposition to such a kind Jesus?
To maintain their formal stand against Jesus and oppose Him they quickly deduced that Jesus’ ability to cast out the demon must have been of the devil. Others found the miracle act insufficient and would need to see another miracle to truly believe Jesus was the Messiah.
Let’s be clear what I am saying this morning, usually when we think of the crowds or the majority the first thing that comes to mind is the broad and narrow path mentioned in the Bible.
Matthew 7:13-14 “13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
There will be many times you will stand for the things of God and you will be standing by yourself. But in the case of the crowds in this morning’s text, their hearts were in the right place. What made this majority, the multitude different and recognizing such a blatantly righteous act of Jesus?
Remember, we are all made in the image of God. We all have the discernment to recognize goodness. We have the discernment to know a righteousness, blessed, good act. Anyone remotely right in their thinking recognized the kindness of Jesus in expelling the demoniac spirit that resided in the man.
You will remember our last time studying Luke, Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray.
Luke 11:11-13 “11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!””
Even those that are evil recognize kindness bestowed on another.
So the question must be asked, why would these religious elitist respond conversely to such a kind act that Jesus performed? How in the world could anyone be opposed to Jesus and His goodness?
And the better question is, why on certain days when we roll out of bed, do we wake up on the opposite side of the fence with life? We just cannot muster up a conforming spirit, we are combative, we are irritable, we seem to create enmity with everyone we come in contact with?
What was the rub? How in the world with the goodness of Jesus and the blessedness He offered to the blind, the hungry, the lame day in day out, how could someone not love Jesus? How could someone be opposed to Jesus?
Moments of Behavioral self centeredness VV. 15-16
Moments of Behavioral self centeredness VV. 15-16
Luke 11:15-16 “15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.”
The overarching theme as Jesus’ hearers that we learn from this text is that we must choose between good, following Jesus, yielding to His Holy Spirit and acting in a way that builds the kingdom OR yielding to our flesh and surrender to the influence Satan has our lives.
Dearly beloved, there are two kingdoms.
Jesus’ kingdom & Satan’s kingdom.
Encapsulated in this one verse defines what each Kingdom is about.
JOhn 10:10 “10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
We had a workshop on Tuesday night and Brother Dewayne Rembert addressed the sin nature. I am editing, but he stated that many people will state as a cop out like Flip Wilson used to say, “the devil made me do it.”
And I totally agree with what Pastor Dewayne stated. Satan is not omnipresent or omniscient like our Lord. If he is dealing you fits, he is leaving me alone. We have a sin nature birthed into us that deals us enough fits that when Satan comes along, He is just icing on the cake to our problems. Satan just promotes our flesh nature. He knows how to seduce our flesh.
Have you ever had something infected and once the puss is removed, the healing begins? Satan is the antithesis of that action. You have poison called a sin nature inside and Satan wants to draw it out in daily action.
Lyrics It is Finished by the Gaither Vocal Band
There's a line that is drawn through the ages
On that line stands that old rugged cross
On that cross a battle is raging
For the gain of a man's soul or it's loss
On one side, march the forces of evil
All the demons and all the devils of hell
On the other the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha's hill
The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
There hangs God's son in the balance
And then through the darkness he cries
It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there'll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished, and Jesus is Lord
Yet in my heart the battle was raging
Not all prisoners of war have come home
These were battlefields of my own making
I didn't know that the war had been won
Then I heard that the king of the ages
Had fought all my battles for me
And victory, victory was mine for the claiming
And now praise his name, I am free
It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there'll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished, and Jesus is Lord (Jesus is Lord)
It is finished, and Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord, woo
These lyrics to this song reminds us of an internal battle raging between good and evil and the battle at times can be fierce. And without the Lord we would never win the battle in our own power.
1 John 4:4 “4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
Let’s drill down Jesus’ rebuttal to the Pharisees and Scribes.
What can we look for what is our take home message from Jesus’ rebuttal to the religious elite?
Firstly, He states to them and I am editing and speaking in a modern vernacular. Why in the world would I cast out a demon in someone if I were affiliated with Beelzebub. If I was a demon or pro-demon, I would not cast out a demon and commit a good act?
Divisive Spirit
Luke 11:17 “17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.”
Jesus was saying that if He were of Satan, there would be no benefit, no profit to rid a fellow demon from doing His work.
Look closely with me at verse 19:
Luke 11:19 “19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.”
Listen guys, are you saying that some of your fellow brother Jews who have cast out demons, are you saying they are of Satan as well? There were God fearing Jews that had not had an opportunity to meet Jesus, but loved the Lord and were doing works in the name of Yahweh. You might ask, how do I know that?
Look back with me at Luke 9:49-50 “49 Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.””
God has used the heathen to do His providential work before. He used Nebuchadnezzar, Pharoah, Cyrus, Darius, and others to be His puppets to serve His mission. And He used God followers to do His work even before some had made relationship with Jesus.
Embedded within these words we need to recognize that our walk with the Lord may not be what it should be when we exerecise a divisive spirit. If you are one that always keeps something going with someone, possibly your family, you always keep something going at work, or you tend to create divisiveness at church, that action is not of God.
1 Corinthians 14:33 “33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
Divisiveness happens and the subliminal motivation is jealousy. The Pharisees and Scribes were jealous of the attention Jesus was gaining. They felt their positions of authority were diminishing. They were not in the limelight as much anymore. They were not as important.
We see these attitudes between siblings over sports. We see this unhealthy competitiveness exercised in the workplace. There is a jealousy that a new sheriff has come to town and they are the hit of the party. I am not important anymore. They are getting all the attention.
And it happens in the church. A new family or a new individual comes into the church that is fresh, has great ideas, creativity and talents and the church draws to them and draws off of their energy and they creep in on the territory of another and someone gets upset because they are getting all the attention and all the glory. Listen, who is to receive the glory?
Message of Supremacy VV. 20-23
Message of Supremacy VV. 20-23
Luke 11:20-23 “20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 22 But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. 23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
Jesus had just stated that the logic of the Pharisees and Scribes did not make sense. And since you are reasoning that if I were of Satan, nothing makes sense that I would cast out one of my fellow soldiers of darkness. Nothing about that adds up. So then, only the opposite can be true, “if I cast out demons with the finger of God which means the power of God, the kingdom of God has come upon you. Which means, I am God and I have come down to you.
Domain & Identity
Jesus describes what we all face in a parable:
Luke 11:21-22 “21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 22 But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.”
Dearly beloved, when we come into a relationship with the Lord we truly believe. We surrender to the lordship of Jesus in our lives daily. But why does the Bible say to “take up your cross daily?”
Luke 9:23-24 “23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”
Jesus described a strong man putting up a fight to protect what was his. We face a daily battle combating the flesh, wanting our way vs. the way of Jesus.
Look at the wording in verse 22:
Luke 11:22 “22 But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.”
A new believer’s life is compromised. Taking up your cross daily and dying to self means rendering over lordship to the Lord and taking away our armors, our pride, our selfishness, our desires and giving over to the Lord. He states that if we lose our life we gain peace in Him.
These Pharisees and Scribes saw Jesus as a threat. They would give up their domain, their identify, their position, their place of authority. They did not want to render control to a higher authority.
When we fall in love with Jesus and we ask Him to come into our lives and we confess our sins, we repent from our evil ways and we choose to walk a new life in Christ, from that moment onward we are saved past, present, and future sins. But because of our great love for Jesus, we want to walk and act in a way that is pleasing in His sight. And when we do not, we influence others by our actions negatively against the kingdom.
I was originally going to title the message, harvester or hellion. Which is it? Because what we learn from Luke 11:23 “23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
Jesus is not the God of middle ground. Jesus does not accept a neutral position. Jesus does not accept a vote of abstention.
Revelation 3:16 “16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
Is this morning’s message a message for the believer this morning to question your salvation? Obviously not, but I challenge you this morning. We learn from Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees and the Scribes a case study based upon their actions.
When everyone else seems to believe that something great that is happening for the betterment of everyone and you find yourself off in right field, ask yourself am I being self centered, prideful, or concerned more about how this will affect me than how it will benefit the group at large?
If subliminally something is striking your wrong and you are become divisive or insecure, your domain and identity will be threatened and you allow that to create enmity with others, ask yourself if I’m struggling giving over God’s authority and lordship over my life?
And lastly, the real issue is dominion. Are you raging a battle of falling under the lordship and power of God to reign in your life?
Luke 11:23 “23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
Which side of the fence are you on? There is no middle ground.
Let’s pray.