This week Brian Tamaki put out a tweet
« Tonight we unleash the strike force from heaven... If your organisation or name is on Heaven’s Hitlist…you should repent or have the fear of God on you. »
He went on to name names, everyone in Government, the Police, the Judicial system, the media, all other religions, atheists and church leaders working against Destiny church.
What Brian expressed rather badly I would say will happen when Jesus comes again and judges the nations. We think this is very soon now but until then we have to do the job of winning people into his Kingdom, of taking the approach that Jesus took which is difficult - to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick and to combat against the true enemy and that isn’t people who are blind to the truth and need to be shown the light.
What we see is society reaching breaking point, the inevitable outcome of democracy without our true King Jesus.
Democracy for most people means the right to live their life how they choose. Freedom of choice is the catchphrase in everything – in daily living, life and death. The outcome is what we have today – everyone living to their own standards, not prepared to even consider the other point of view. History repeats. In the Old Testament, you can read the same thing in the Book of Judges and you’ll also see what the outcome of that was;
Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Let’s go to our passage today from Luke 11:14-32 which follows on from Jesus’s teaching on prayer, so key in spiritual warfare that we looked at a few weeks ago.
Luke 11:14-16
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. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.
Notice that there were 2 groups of people that were saying things that showed that they were resisting the good thing that was happening right before their eyes;
- Those saying Jesus was casting out demons by Beelzebub (that is the Devil!)
- Those who wanted another sign from heaven
These were the 2 groups that Jesus addressed in the passage that follows.
Firstly those who said Jesus was casting out demons by Satan;
Luke 11:17-23
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. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 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. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
That Jesus was casting out demons by God’s power and not Satan’s power should have been obvious. People were being completely healed. Right before their eyes, a mute could now speak. But rather than marvel and worship God, some were saying it was Satan, in other words, Satan deceiving men with counterfeit healings. Strangely the same type of accusations are being made today against the charismatic movement. But are the accusations correct? There is definitely a need to stand back and consider carefully what is going on.
Take for example, do you remember revival breaking out in Ashbury University in in the US on February 8, 2023, following a routine Wednesday morning chapel service. There were 16 continuous days of uninterrupted prayer, worship, and testimony and an estimated 50,000 visitors travelled from across the United States and internationally to the small campus. Rather than celebrate that a revival was happening, there were church leaders that came out and criticised the claim of revival effectively pouring cold water on the fire. Better to keep quiet than speak out against a work of the Holy Spirit.
It is a warning against sectarianism that Brian Tamaki would do well to heed. There are church leaders in all the denominations doing the work that Jesus has called them to do that may be different to the emphasis of his denomination. This is not about disregarding doctrine for the sake of unity, that is what the ecumenical movement does. We need to discuss doctrinal errors and arrive to the place the Spirit leads which is into all truth. It is sad that the Church is split today and reached the point where one church is condemning to judgment other churches. We are a house divided and it is little wonder that we are ineffective sending out contradictory messages.
Satan’s house is not divided. It may seem a curiosity that the LBGTQ community has been very outspoken in its support of Palestine when we know that gay people would be executed under a strict Islamic regime. I believe their unity is because the spirits of Islam and LBGTQ are actually on the same side. The spirits of Islam and LGBTQ are hostile to Christ and to all mankind ultimately and have the goal of taking both camps to Hell. Remember, we are not fighting against flesh and blood, against Muslim and Gay people who Jesus died for.
Surely, we can at least understand where someone is coming from even if we completely disagree when we remember who we are truly fighting against. It changes the approach altogether.
Luke 11:24-26
“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.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 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.”
Do you remember not long ago we talked about the time Jesus healed the man with a legion of demons inside him. It came right after the Jesus had calmed the storm on Galilee and ended with the disciples saying; « who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him. »
At that point the disciples still did not understand that Jesus is the Son of God. In fact, it was the demoniac who was the first person recorded as recognising Jesus for who he is and what did he do?
Mark 5:6-7
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”
Even in the worst of conditions, a person is still able to respond to God. He was full of demons but the man worshipped Jesus. No one is unreachable for Christ, that’s what we always need to remember. One day everyone will bow down to Jesus, no matter their spiritual condition. New Zealand as a country once embraced Jesus, but if you throw out Jesus who is stronger than any evil principality and power, then you have a nation that can’t protect itself against even more wicked spirits that come in as well as the original one that comes back in.
That is the state of our nation today. We need Jesus to come and save us.
Could a demon return to a Christian after being cast out? I have always thought “no” because the Holy Spirit is living inside them. That is what most denominations teach. But does that contradict what Jesus taught in today’s passage. Let’s dig a bit deeper. Firstly, remember;
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
The enemy is on the look out for anyone even weak believers. That is why Peter taught to us to be sober, to be vigilant and to resist him. He certainly had the experience of dealing with demons as did Paul. Paul taught us to put on the armour of God and to pray in the Spirit, that is the key. Having the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Then we are safe.
In our passage today, Jesus is specifically warning believers that simply cleaning up one's life or stopping bad habits is not enough. Moral reformation without Christ is empty space. If a person empties themselves of sin ("sweeps the house") but fails to actively fill that spiritual void with the presence of God and the Holy Spirit, they remain vulnerable to a worse spiritual collapse. A cleansed life must be occupied and guarded by active faith, Scripture, and the Holy Spirit. You cannot remain neutral in the spiritual realm; failing to surrender to Christ leaves room for old habits and influences to return with greater force.
Luke 11:27-28
And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
This woman, in contrast to the critics, and seemingly in his defence, recognised that what Jesus was saying and doing was of God and she bravely cries out her support in the face of the opposition from the religious teachers and other critics. This was not an easy thing to do in such a patriarchal society against so-called educated men of high standing. It was extremely brave. Jesus's response was so humble. He said that anyone who heard the Word of God and did it was just as blessed as Him. You don’t have to be a superstar for Jesus. Faithfully doing what he says, whether in the face of opposition or without recognition is blessed. Those are the ones who are in the family of God, the ones who gather with him and do not scatter. Bless the Lord !
Luke 11:29-32
And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
The signs are given so that we will believe. I bet all of us here today could testify that we have witnessed or experienced a healing at some point in our life. But miracles don’t guarantee that people will truly believe. The crowd had seen Jesus heal the mute, but they still wanted a sign!
Just ONE miracle should be enough to bring a person to repentance and into a relationship with Jesus. To understand that Jesus really did rise from the dead, is the greatest sign of all and if you believe that, you are truly blessed.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray for miracles, because everyone at some point needs a miracle. What I’m saying is, don’t keep chasing miracles, thinking that unless someone sees a miracle, they won’t believe. He has already performed the greatest miracle of all by rising from the dead. Wanting another miracle can become just an excuse for not doing what Jesus has asked us to do. Just get on with proclaiming the resurrection, you’ll see other miracles alright.
John affirmed that we have enough to believe when he said.
John 21:24-25
This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Let’s pray.
Lord, you know us only too well. It is too easy for us to put off what you are asking us to do because of unbelief or wanting another sign. Help us all to embrace the work you are doing in the world today and please fill each one of us with the Holy Spirit so that we may be protected from the Evil One. Amen.
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