Message

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BY THE FINGER OF GOD

Luke 11:14-28

Key Verse:11:20 “ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.”

  Last week we studied about the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus taught us to call God “Father”. It is a great blessing and amazing grace to us when we call God “Father” through faith in Jesus who died for our sins and reconciled between God and sinners like us. Now, as God’s dear children, what must we do? We must please God the Father and live for his glory. We must seek his kingdom first. Jesus taught us to pray that God’s kingdom may come. “Your kingdom come” should be our prayer topic and life goal. We are God’s kingdom workers in this generation through one to one bible studies and disciple-making. God’s kingdom will come when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. God’s kingdom will come when we repent of our sins and receive the Holy Spirit.

  In today’s passage Jesus heals a mute man by driving out demons. By healing the mute man, Jesus revealed his messianic compassion and the power of God the Almighty. Let us today study how Jesus healed the man and what does it means when Jesus said, “I drive out demons by the finger of God.  

First, Jesus heals a mute man (14). Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem. Why did Jesus go to Jerusalem? He was going to Jerusalem to die for our sins as the lamb of God (Jn 1:29) Jesus knew what would happen to him in Jerusalem. He would suffer, be tried and crucified on the cross for the sins of the world. Even though he is the Son of God, he should endure pain and sufferings like one of us. It is not easy for us to care others when we are in big troubles.  We become self-centered and emotional. However, Jesus was different. On the way to Jerusalem, even to the point of death, he cared others like a helpless mute man. It reminds us of what he said in John 10:11 which says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” As a good shepherd Jesus did not abandon his sheep, but he took care of his sheep to the end. A good shepherd is the one who take care of his sheep in all circumstances. I pray that God may make all of us good shepherds like Jesus. Amen.

  Look at verse 14. “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.” Jesus saw the cause of the muteness of the man as demon-possession, not as closure of the air passage. Demons are understood as evil spirits in Hebrew. Evil spirits made the man mute. Jesus drove out evil spirits and opened the mouth of the man. Imagine the joy of the man who could speak. He could speak “Mom, I love you!” “Dad, Happy Father’s Day!” He could read, sing, and praise God with loud voice. He said, “Thank you, thank you Jesus for opening my mouth to speak. Thank you Jesus!” The joy of speaking is shared with those who can speak foreign languages fluently during Bible studies. One of Bible teachers among us was amazed by himself who spoke English fluently during the Bible study even though he thought that his English is poor. He shared the joy of the mute speaking, speaking in new tongues. He experienced the power of God.

  Where there is the work of God, there is also the work of Satan. Look at verses 15,16. “But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons. Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.” According to Matthew’s gospel, some of them were the Pharisees, the hypocritical religious leaders of Jesus’ time. They were jealous of Jesus’ power and his popularity. So they accused Jesus that he drove out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Beelzebub was known as “lord of flies” in Hebrew term. But, the Pharisees used it as the prince of demons to accuse Jesus. How did Jesus defend himself and the work of God from the accusation of the Pharisees?

Second, the finger of God is the power of the Holy Spirit. (17-21) Jesus refuted their accusation with a universal truth and with logic. He said in verse 17. “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.” There is saying, “United we stand, divided we fall.” This motto tells us the consequence of division in a country as the American Civil War and the Korean War proved. Even at a home between a husband and a wife, division causes separation or divorce. In the same way, there would be destruction between Satan and Beelzebub if Jesus drove out demons by Beelzebub. So the Pharisees’ claim that Jesus drove out demons by Beelzebub was invalid. Look at verse 18. “If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.” Jesus continued.  “Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.” (19) Jesus did not say whether the followers of the Pharisees actually drove out demons; but they claimed to drive them out by the power of God, and Jesus claimed the same. So to accuse Jesus of using Satanic power was implicitly to condemn their followers as well. How did Jesus teach them to drive out demons?

  Look at verse 20. “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” Jesus claimed that he drove out demons by the finger of God. Here the finger of God indicates the power of God. The words, “the finger of God” appears in the Old Testament. God planned to liberate his people Israelites from the slavery of Egypt and delivered his message to King Pharaoh through Moses. However, Pharaoh hardened his heart until God punished him with many plagues. The stubborn Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go and worship God. Rather, he hired magicians who copied the miracles by their secret arts. However, when the magicians realized that they could not imitate the power of God any more, they came to Pharaoh and said, “This is the finger of God”. They meant that they could not stand against the power of God any more. (Ex 8:19)  The finger of God is the power of God. I have one Bible student whose heart is like King Pharaoh. He rejects to believe in God’s word and requests intellectual evidences for God’s existence. He deliberately rejects God from his heart. His heart is like as hard as flint. However, I believe that the day God touches his heart with his finger, it will be as soft as cotton. I believe that the finger of God has power to open, power to change, power to heal, and power to save. Amen. As the history proves, by his finger, God opened the Red Sea so that the Israelites could cross the Red Sea as on dry land. By his finger, God inscribed the two tablets of the Ten Commandments and gave them to Moses as their law at Mount Sinai (Ex 31:18).

  Jesus said that he drove out demons by the finger of God. In Matthew’s gospel, the finger of God is described as the Spirit of God. In Matthew 12:28 Jesus says, “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is the power of God. Jesus drove out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus drove out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God came to people. The kingdom of God came to the mute man when Jesus drove out demons. The man could speak and praise God by singing the hymn “How Great Thou Art”. Not only Jesus opened his mouth, but also opened the gate of heaven for the man.

  There was a young man who pursued real freedom. In order to enjoy freedom, he moved out from his parent’s house and went to a city where drinking bars and dancing clubs were opened 24 hours. He seemed to enjoy freedom by drinking, smoking, dating, and playing video games all nights. However, contrary to his wish, he did not become a freeman but became a slave to his sinful desires. He couldn’t control himself until he was occupied with 6,000 demons. He became a slave to demons who tortured himself day and night. When Jesus saw the man, he had compassion on him. Jesus healed him by driving out the demons. When the demons came out, the man had a right mind. He restored the image of God’s dear child. Above all, he experienced real freedom, freedom from the slavery of sin and demons. The joy of salvation began to overflow his heart. The kingdom of God came to the man. It is true as the Apostle Paul said 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

  A few months ago a legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor died at the age of 79. She married eight times. However, there was a woman who had married five times in Jesus’ day. She had married five times because she was thirsty of men’s love. She thought that she would be happy if she met Mr. Right. However, there was no Mr. Right, but wolves and thieves among men. The more she married, the more she became thirsty and felt miserable. When Jesus met her at Jacob’s well, Jesus had compassion on her. Jesus helped her to repent of her sins. Then, Jesus gave her the living water welling up to eternal life. The living water began to flow in her thirsty soul like the river while the Holy Spirit filled her soul. For the first time of her life, she tasted true love and real happiness because Jesus brought the kingdom of God in her life through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (Jn7:37,38)

  Once I was possessed with many evil spirits such as lust, selfishness, fear, despair, laziness and so on. But, Jesus drove out all demons and brought the kingdom of God to my life. I believe that I am not the only one who received the kingdom of God through Jesus. Let those who received the kingdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit give thank to God and praise Jesus with all our hearts and souls. There are many people around us who are suffering from demon-possession.  Outwardly they look okay and have no problem. But, inwardly they suffer from evil spirits. They are under the power of Satan. The answer is Jesus and the healing power for them is the Holy Spirit. We must bring them to Jesus through one to one Bible studies. Where there is the word of God, there is the work of Holy Spirit.  We prepare for the Bible academy. It is not an annual ritual event. It is a spiritual battle to fight against Satan who holds God’s sheep and to rescue them from the hand of Satan. So, let us pray that God may send many suffering and helpless sheep to the Bible Academy. Let us also pray that Jesus may drive out demons out of them by the power of the Holy Spirit so that the kingdom of God may come to their hearts. Amen.

Third, hearts occupied by the Holy Spirit (21-28) In verses 21,22 Jesus teaches the superior power of God over the power of Satan. Look at verses 21,22. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.” Here a strong man refers to Satan and a stronger man to Jesus. A man was held by Satan. But, Jesus drove out Satan and released him from the hand of Satan. The man who was released from Satan received true freedom.

  What must the man who was freed from Satan do? He must stand on the side of God and work hard for the glory of God. There is no neutral ground in the spiritual world; whether we stand on God’s side or on Satan’s side; whether we live in the kingdom of God or live in the kingdom of Satan. So Jesus said in verse 23. “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” In order to explain this verse Jesus illustrates a story.

  Look at verses 24-26. “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.’  When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 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.” This story tells us that if we leave our hearts vacant for a long time, Satan will not lose a chance to occupy us. I had a chance to look inside of a newly remodeled house but abandoned for a quite long time. Developers repaired an old house and made it new for sale. However, since it left vacant for a long time, thieves broke into the house which they made it worse than before. In the same token, when we repent of our sins, and demons were driven away by the power of God, our heart is like a newly remodeled and cleaned house. We must fill our hearts with the words of God.  Our hearts should be filled with the Holy Spirit through diligent bible study and prayer life. Otherwise, our hearts will be invaded by demons and devastated by them. That is why we study the Bible every day and write testimonies every week.

  As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” (27) The woman must have been moved by Jesus’ teaching and his wisdom. She envied Mother Mary. How did Jesus respond to her praise? Look at verse 28. “He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Who are the blessed men? The men who made big money like Bill Gates? The women who married eight times like Liz Taylor? I believe that truly blessed men and women are those who possess the kingdom of God. Money comes in and goes out. Beauty is fleeting and charm is deceptive. But those who possess the kingdom of God live forever. They are truly blessed men.

  Today we learned that Jesus healed a mute man by driving out demons. When Jesus drives out demons, the kingdom of God comes upon us. In short, when demons are gone, we are truly happy and free.  Let us pray that Jesus may drive out all demons and fill us with his spirit. Let us study the word of God diligently and live according to its teaching so that our inner man may grow as great God’s kingdom workers in this generation. May God bless our coming Bible Academy and make America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Amen.  

   

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