Living Waters Christian Fellowship - Lake Nacimiento - California

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.
24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
25 “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
26 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Introduction

Introduction

I. Two Kingdoms v18, 20

18 “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

20 “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

A. God v20

B. Satan v14-15, 18, 24, 26

Notice the components:

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.”

18 “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

26 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

II. People must choose which kingdom to live in v14, 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.

This man had been on one side, now he was changing. No in between, neutral zone.

23 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

III. Demons can have a powerful effect on people v14

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.

A. Different types and assignments - a demon of muteness causes muteness. Hitler’s demons are still around.

B. Demons can cause people to not think straight - like a computer virus, causes bad thinking, bad decisions, bad actions, bad consequences.

C. A demon continues in force until removed - like a bondage, unbreakable bad habit.

D. When a demon leaves, people return to normal - the man could speak again. This is the effect demons can have on people, life altering, debilitating, degrading.

IV. Jesus has a powerful effect on demons v14, 20-22

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.

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.

V. People sometimes work for demons and against Jesus, for enslavement and against freedom v15-16

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.

This is ridiculous, it seems some people don’t want to believe.

Why would you make the leap of v15? Why not just praise God?

Why would you want a sign from heaven more than a soul set free? The best sign there is, and very powerful.

The answer is that demons don’t want to be made to leave, so they motivated people to give Jesus a hard time about it, to question Him, to accuse Him, and they do the same thing to anyone who is seeking to set people free from their power.

People will come under judgment for this v19

19 “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

Notice a couple of things:

1. The critics were older, had sons, should have known better

2. Those doing God’s work will judge those sitting back criticizing

So mark it down - the devil does not go quietly, people get sucked in.

VI. Why a kingdom stands or falls - it falls because of weakness within or from stronger outside forces

A. The principle of unity and strength, division and weakness v17-18, 23

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.

23 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

1. Anything divided falls - marriage, family, country, church. The church has been divided for millennia, and continues to split off, doing violence to the Body of Christ, depriving it of power.


2. Satan is smarter than to work against himself. He will not provide authority to cast out his own guys.

3. We need to clearly be on Jesus’ side and work with Him v23

23 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

B. Even though united, a kingdom will fall when a stronger kingdom comes against it

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.

So a kingdom can fall, either from division and weakness within, or when brought down by a stronger kingdom. There is no outside force stronger than the Kingdom of God. Our problem is that we are divided and weakened from within.

So Satan’s kingdom falls when overpowered by the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God falls when we are weakened by being divided against each other and losing our power and effectiveness. We could easily defeat the devil, but we’re divided against ourselves.

VII. The power of Jesus the Deliverer v20-22c
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.

This is the finger of God, the Kingdom of God - opposed to the devil, his works to enslave people, and it sets people free.

VIII. We must be faithful to our deliverance, our Deliverer, and His Kingdom v20-26

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.
24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
25 “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
26 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

When we have been delivered from the power of evil, it then requires greater power, loyalty to our deliverance, Deliverer and His Kingdom. It’s not enough to be swept clean, we must then fill our lives with God and all the good things of His Kingdom in order to remain free.

The work of deliverance is not to be trifled with, taken for granted. It must be secured, appreciated, acted upon, used as a foundation for the future. How many psychologists to change a light bulb? Only one, but it has to want to change.

Conclusion
Is there an area of your life, or of someone you know, which seems to be under the power of the devil? Not thinking right? Bad decisions, actions, results? Turns out to be a curse rather than a blessing? There is hope in Jesus -

20 “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

9 “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

13 “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

10 “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”