We all know what a terrorist is. It's easy to think of them as crazy people. They are not. They are warriors who use terror as a means to an end.
One way to understand the work of Satan is to think of him as the first terrorist. Ever since Satan was cast down from heaven, he has been trying to spread terror and chaos in this world. His end is to create a new world order, which he commands, and where God is no longer present.
It is a mistake, though to think that terror is Satan's main line of attack. Satan takes pleasure in our suffering, of course. Never think though that this is all Satan is trying to to. Terror, sickness and death are simply a means to an end to him. Our suffering is merely a tool he uses to try to rob God of His most precious possession--us.
Satan works in secrecy, indirectly, which is why we hear so little of him in the Bible. Satan appears disguised as a serpent in Genesis 3, and then does not appear again until the book of Job. Satan appears in a couple of passages in Isaiah, and possibly one passage in Ezekiel, and then disappears again. The only place in the Bible that we read much about Satan is in the Gospels, when Jesus arrives on th scene. It is only in the presence of Jesus that Satan appears unmasked for very long. Jesus is the one who unmasks him. When he does appear, we discover that he is behind most of what goes wrong in this world.
is probably the most extensive discussion of Satan in the Bible. It reveals much about his purpose and his power.
Luke 11:14 begins as a miracle story.
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.
A mute man is presented to Jesus. Today if someone is mute, we would assume that either the man had some physical damage to his voice, or he was psychologically damaged. It would never occur to us to attribute his condition to a demon. It is not until every other cause is exhausted that we would attribute anything to demonic causes.
But Jesus saw reality better than we ever could. He immediately knew that this man was mute because one of a demon.
Demons are fallen angels. Once they were in heaven with Satan, but now they are his servants in this world. They are cosmic terrorists. They roam the world creating chaos and destruction. It was one of these who had made this man mute.
So Satan wanted him mute. Why? Why did Satan want this man not to speak? Was it because he was afraid of what he would say? Was it to cause disruption in this man and the community around him? Perhaps. But it would be a mistake to attribute every sickness or problem to Satan. Even a problem like this man’s lack of speech is not necessarily to Satan’s advantage. In fact, Satan knows better than to expect our of physical illness. Too often, illness draws people towards God and towards one another, which is exactly what Satan does not want. If the purpose of sickness and natural disasters is to produce disciples for Satan, it is miserable failure.
Jesus showed just how ineffective it was. He wiped away the demonic illness with a word.
But Satan, the father of terrorists, knew that this was not the thrust of his attack. The mute demon was just a diversion for his real assault. Verse 15
But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons."
Now here was something that could have done real damage to Jesus’ reputation! His goal was to separate people from Jesus, and therefore secure their damnation. It was not to deprive a man of speech. Satan used his greater weapons—gossip, half-truths, and innuendo.
It is amazing how every time something happens in the world, the Muslim extremists blame the US and Israel. Where they are anywhere around it, they still blame us, so they can drive a wedge between us and our allies.
Satan is doing the same. He doesn't attack Jesus straight on, he just murmurs in the few ears that we ought to be suspicious about a man who commands demons.
So those who are suspicious of Jesus are even more suspicious. But they are not the true targets. The true targets of this lie are those who do not know yet what to believe. Verse 16
Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
The people in the middle had doubts. They turned to Jesus for one more miracle just to show them that He was truly from God. There is now a seed of doubt where it was not before.
As always, Jesus used the is little dustup as a teaching opportunity. Jesus gives three mini-parables that teach three lessons about Satan.
1. YOU CAN’T DEFEAT SATAN WITH WORLDLY WEAPONS. 17-20
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.
If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
By “house” Jesus is not referring to a building, but a family. If a family is divided, it will not remain a family for long. It will become two warring tribes. Either He is working for Satan or he is not. But if the only way he could cast out Satan would be to be from Satan, then how do the other teacher cast them out? If he works for Satan, he cannot hurt Satan.
The Bible reveals to us a triumvirate of evil--the world, the flesh, and the devil. These three are one and cannot be divided. Any means of fighting Satan using physical force, political maneuvering or paranormal activity are doomed to failure. Even if we succeeded in pushing him back in one place, he would return in another.
Recently we killed Usama Ben Laden, and we were all glad for this victor. But remember when we defeated Hitler? In World War 1, they called the Kaiser the devil, and called the war against Germany the “war to end all wars.” Did it work? In the Eighties our old enemy the Soviet Union fell. Did it end war? Satan can create another Hitler, a dozen Hitlers, or a thousand Ben Ladens if he wants to We cannot wipe out evil though Satan’s means.
The world will not be safe until Jesus comes. Which brings us to our next point. . .
2. ONLY THE STRONG MAN CAN DEFEAT THE DEVIL.21-22
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.
The only way to rob a house is to be stronger than the man inside. The Strong Man of this parable if an obvious reference to Jesus. To defeat Satan, we must call on someone bigger than he. Jesus alone has the power to defeat him.
Jesus has, in fact already defeated Satan. We were already defeated by Satan in our sins. We were his prisoners, powerless before him, because of the sins we have all committed. But Jesus took those sins with Him on the cross. Satan threw everything He had at him, but he could not shake Him. Jesus eradicated our sins in His death and gave us a new life in His resurrection. In revelation 12:11 that believers "overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony" In other words, they testified to what the blood of Jesus did for them. We no longer have to fear Satan. He is a defeated enemy. We merely have to remind Him of what Jesus’ blood did for us, and he must relinquish all claim over our souls.
I wish I could say that this is all we need to do, but I cannot. There is one more story.
3. IF WE DO NOT INVITE JESUS IN OUR LIVES, SATAN CAN AND WILL RETURN. VERSES 24-26
24 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'
25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."
Satan and his devils are not immortal and they are not all powerful. But they are persistent and they will not go away until Jesus comes. If they have had a place in your life, they will try to return. If Satan placed a bad habit in your life, that habit can return. If Satan placed fear in your life, that fear can return. If Satan has deceived you in the past, he can deceive you in the future.
You can build your walls as high as you want to, and he can come back. You can have all the willpower in the world and he can come back. You can join together and offer a combined defense but he can still come back.
There is only one way to keep him from returning. We must fill the space that he left in our lives with something stronger. We must fill our lives with Jesus.
How quickly we forget things that are important. How easily we slide into our old habits. That is why we must create new habits—habits of prayer, habits of giving, habits of love, and habits of study that will fill the empty spaces that sin left behind. Most of all, we need to invite Jesus into our lives.
he only lasting answer to the threat of Satan is constant vigilance. We must understand that the devils will return unless the Strong Man lives in our hearts. When they return, they will be worse than before, unless the Strong man is in charge. Who is in charge of your liv, to whom do yiu answer. Don't let Satan back into your house. Keep in constant touch with Jesus, and have Him in your life.
Luke 11: 14-26
They plan their attacks carefully so as to spread terror and chaos. To them, chaos is their friend. They believe that if they cause enough chaos and upheaval in a community, they will have the opportunity to create a new kind of order. Muslim terrorists want to create a Muslim world. Right-wing terrorists want to create a different kind of world. Terrorists are trying to tear down society so they can create a new society.
It is a mistake, though to think that terror is Satan's main line of attack. Satan takes pleasure in our suffering, of course. Never think though that this is all Satan is trying to to. Terror, sickness and death are simply a means to an end to him. Our suffering is merely a tool he uses to try to rob God of His most precious possession--us.
Satan works in secrecy, indirectly, which is why we hear so little of him in the Bible. Satan appears disguised as a serpent in Genesis 3, and then does not appear again until the book of Job. Satan appears in a couple of passages in Isaiah, and possibly one passage in Ezekiel, and then disappears again. The only place in the Bible that we read much about Satan is in the Gospels, when Jesus arrives on th scene. It is only in the presence of Jesus that Satan appears unmasked for very long. Jesus is the one who unmasks him. When he does appear, we discover that he is behind most of what goes wrong in this world.
is probably the most extensive discussion of Satan in the Bible. It reveals much about his purpose and his power.
Luke 11:14 begins as a miracle story.
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.
A mute man is presented to Jesus. Today if someone is mute, we would assume that either the man had some physical damage to his voice, or he was psychologically damaged. It would never occur to us to attribute his condition to a demon. It is not until every other cause is exhausted that we would attribute anything to demonic causes.
But Jesus saw reality better than we ever could. He immediately knew that this man was mute because one of a demon.
Demons are fallen angels. Once they were in heaven with Satan, but now they are his servants in this world. They are cosmic terrorists. They roam the world creating chaos and destruction. It was one of these who had made this man mute.
So Satan wanted him mute. Why? Why did Satan want this man not to speak? Was it because he was afraid of what he would say? Was it to cause disruption in this man and the community around him? Perhaps. But it would be a mistake to attribute every sickness or problem to Satan. Even a problem like this man’s lack of speech is not necessarily to Satan’s advantage. In fact, Satan knows better than to expect our of physical illness. Too often, illness draws people towards God and towards one another, which is exactly what Satan does not want. If the purpose of sickness and natural disasters is to produce disciples for Satan, it is miserable failure.
Jesus showed just how ineffective it was. He wiped away the demonic illness with a word.
But Satan, the father of terrorists, knew that this was not the thrust of his attack. The mute demon was just a diversion for his real assault. Verse 15
But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons."
Now here was something that could have done real damage to Jesus’ reputation! His goal was to separate people from Jesus, and therefore secure their damnation. It was not to deprive a man of speech. Satan used his greater weapons—gossip, half-truths, and innuendo.
It is amazing how every time something happens in the world, the Muslim extremists blame the US and Israel. Where they are anywhere around it, they still blame us, so they can drive a wedge between us and our allies.
Satan is doing the same. He doesn't attack Jesus straight on, he just murmurs in the few ears that we ought to be suspicious about a man who commands demons.
So those who are suspicious of Jesus are even more suspicious. But they are not the true targets. The true targets of this lie are those who do not know yet what to believe. Verse 16
Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
The people in the middle had doubts. They turned to Jesus for one more miracle just to show them that He was truly from God. There is now a seed of doubt where it was not before.
As always, Jesus used the is little dustup as a teaching opportunity. Jesus gives three mini-parables that teach three lessons about Satan.
1. YOU CAN’T DEFEAT SATAN WITH WORLDLY WEAPONS. 17-20
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.
If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
By “house” Jesus is not referring to a building, but a family. If a family is divided, it will not remain a family for long. It will become two warring tribes. Either He is working for Satan or he is not. But if the only way he could cast out Satan would be to be from Satan, then how do the other teacher cast them out? If he works for Satan, he cannot hurt Satan.
The Bible reveals to us a triumvirate of evil--the world, the flesh, and the devil. These three are one and cannot be divided. Any means of fighting Satan using physical force, political maneuvering or paranormal activity are doomed to failure. Even if we succeeded in pushing him back in one place, he would return in another.
Recently we killed Usama Ben Laden, and we were all glad for this victor. But remember when we defeated Hitler? In World War 1, they called the Kaiser the devil, and called the war against Germany the “war to end all wars.” Did it work? In the Eighties our old enemy the Soviet Union fell. Did it end war? Satan can create another Hitler, a dozen Hitlers, or a thousand Ben Ladens if he wants to We cannot wipe out evil though Satan’s means.
The world will not be safe until Jesus comes. Which brings us to our next point. . .
2. ONLY THE STRONG MAN CAN DEFEAT THE DEVIL.21-22
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.
The only way to rob a house is to be stronger than the man inside. The Strong Man of this parable if an obvious reference to Jesus. To defeat Satan, we must call on someone bigger than he. Jesus alone has the power to defeat him.
Jesus has, in fact already defeated Satan. We were already defeated by Satan in our sins. We were his prisoners, powerless before him, because of the sins we have all committed. But Jesus took those sins with Him on the cross. Satan threw everything He had at him, but he could not shake Him. Jesus eradicated our sins in His death and gave us a new life in His resurrection. In revelation 12:11 that believers "overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony" In other words, they testified to what the blood of Jesus did for them. We no longer have to fear Satan. He is a defeated enemy. We merely have to remind Him of what Jesus’ blood did for us, and he must relinquish all claim over our souls.
I wish I could say that this is all we need to do, but I cannot. There is one more story.
3. IF WE DO NOT INVITE JESUS IN OUR LIVES, SATAN CAN AND WILL RETURN. VERSES 24-26
24 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'
25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."
Satan and his devils are not immortal and they are not all powerful. But they are persistent and they will not go away until Jesus comes. If they have had a place in your life, they will try to return. If Satan placed a bad habit in your life, that habit can return. If Satan placed fear in your life, that fear can return. If Satan has deceived you in the past, he can deceive you in the future.
You can build your walls as high as you want to, and he can come back. You can have all the willpower in the world and he can come back. You can join together and offer a combined defense but he can still come back.
There is only one way to keep him from returning. We must fill the space that he left in our lives with something stronger. We must fill our lives with Jesus.
How quickly we forget things that are important. How easily we slide into our old habits. That is why we must create new habits—habits of prayer, habits of giving, habits of love, and habits of study that will fill the empty spaces that sin left behind. Most of all, we need to invite Jesus into our lives.
he only lasting answer to the threat of Satan is constant vigilance. We must understand that the devils will return unless the Strong Man lives in our hearts. When they return, they will be worse than before, unless the Strong man is in charge. Who is in charge of your liv, to whom do yiu answer. Don't let Satan back into your house. Keep in constant touch with Jesus, and have Him in your life.
Luke 11: 14-26
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